Old Harden, can you handle having your vision-shifting abilities on all the time?

Xu Xing and Ma Jianguo exchanged a smile, a smile that held a tacit understanding that only they could comprehend.

And just like that, my teammates were matched with me.

Ma Jianguo lowered his voice and said with a hint of pleasure, "Xu Gong, you don't know, Li Changming has been bullying people in the museum for quite some time now."

"Relying on his connections to boss around the technical department, our porcelain restoration department has suffered a lot of mistreatment from him over the years. Today, your actions have truly helped us get revenge!"

Xu Xing smiled but didn't respond to that. Instead, he looked around the studio and said, "I'm very satisfied with this studio, Section Chief Ma. However, since I'm new here, I'd like to let my two assistants familiarize themselves with the environment and get warmed up. I also need to understand the condition of the damaged artifacts in the museum that need repair."

"Of course, of course!"

Ma Jianguo nodded repeatedly, "Mr. Xu, please feel free to do as you please. If you need anything, just let me know. I'm in the office next door. Also, I'll go get you the list of porcelain pieces that need repair."

After seeing Ma Jianguo off, Xu Xing turned to look at Zhu Yong and Liu Jian.

The two had already begun checking the equipment on the workbench. Zhu Yong was adjusting the focus of the high-powered microscope, while Liu Jian was organizing the various repair tools in the toolbox.

"Zhu Yong, go check the equipment parameters."

Xu Xing instructed, "Liu Jian, you are responsible for thoroughly cleaning the worktable, rearranging all the tools according to my habits, and then checking the operating status of the electric kiln."

"clear!"

"Okay, XCMG!"

The two immediately got to work.

Xu Xing walked to the window, took out his phone, found Liu Changhe's number, and dialed it.

The phone rang twice before being answered. Liu Changhe's voice was polite: "Mr. Xu? What brings you to call me? How's everything going at the museum?"

"Director Liu, I'm sorry to bother you."

Xu Xing's tone was calm, but with a hint of just the right amount of helplessness. "There's been a small problem at the museum that I wanted to report to you."

"Oh? What's going on?"

Liu Changhe's tone immediately turned serious.

Xu Xing briefly recounted what had happened, without embellishing the story, simply stating objectively what Li Changming had said and how he had responded.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Liu Changhe's slightly angry voice: "This Li Changming is simply outrageous! How could the deputy director of the museum say such a thing!"

He paused, his tone softening, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry you had to go through with this, XCMG. Don't worry, I will personally look into it and make sure this kind of behavior doesn't spread within the cultural heritage system."

"Then I'll have to trouble Director Liu."

Xu Xing said sincerely, "I really had no choice. I couldn't let him disrupt the normal operation of the museum."

"You did the right thing!"

Liu Changhe said firmly, "There should be zero tolerance for this kind of unhealthy practice. Xu Gong, you can focus on your work at the museum. I'll handle everything else."

"Thank you, Director Liu."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Xing thought for a moment and then dialed Wang Benquan's number again.

Wang Benquan answered quickly, his tone smiling: "Mr. Xu, how's it going at the museum? Are you settling in with the environment?"

"Mr. Wang, the environment is very nice, and Section Chief Ma is very welcoming."

Xu Xing paused for a moment, then said, "However, there was a slight hiccup."

He recounted the story again.

After listening, Wang Benquan snorted coldly: "Li Changming? I know this person. He has been in the cultural relics system for more than 20 years. His professional skills are average, but his ability to scheme is first-rate."

However, he and Lin Zhiqiang were only nodding acquaintances. He probably wanted to plant someone in the porcelain restoration department, so he's taking his anger out on you.

Xu Xing smiled and said, "I've already spoken to Director Liu."

"XCMG, you did the right thing. You should confront this kind of person directly and not give him any chance to take advantage of the situation."

Don't worry, I'll find a way to follow up on this matter and make sure you, XCMG, aren't wronged.

"Thank you, Mr. Wang."

"Why are you being so polite with me!"

Wang Benquan laughed and said, "You can focus on your work at the museum, and I'll take care of everything else."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Xing put away his phone, a wave of emotion washing over him.

This is the benefit of improved social status.

Back when I was at the Jingyang County Museum, I wouldn't have even had the chance to meet someone like Li Changming, let alone cause trouble for a deputy curator of his rank.

Now, with just one phone call, he can get the deputy director to personally intervene and the group president to help follow up.

This change gave Xu Xing an unprecedented sense of security.

He walked to the worktable, where Zhu Yong and Liu Jian had already finished their preparations and were standing by, waiting for his instructions.

"XCMG, the equipment has been checked and everything is normal."

Zhu Yong reported to the leadership.

"The tools are all set up, and the electric kiln is running well."

Liu Jian added.

Xu Xing nodded: "Okay, let's go take a look at the warehouse."

The three of them left the studio and walked down the corridor to the museum's artifact storage room.

Ma Jianguo was already waiting at the door, holding a list in his hand: "Mr. Xu, this is a list of porcelain pieces currently awaiting restoration in our museum. Do you see any that interest you?"

Xu Xing took the list and quickly scanned it.

The list contains more than fifty damaged artifacts, ranging from Ming and Qing dynasty folk kilns to Song and Yuan dynasty official kilns, each with varying degrees of damage.

His gaze finally settled on a piece of porcelain.

A celadon-glazed celestial globe vase from the Yongzheng period of the Qing dynasty, the original piece is valued at 42 million yuan.

The neck is broken into two pieces, there is a crack about twelve centimeters long on the belly, there are three glaze chips on the body, and there is a chip on the foot.

Xu Xing tapped his finger lightly on the list: "This one will do."

Ma Jianguo glanced at it and wasn't particularly surprised: "Okay, this one it is. I'll have someone bring it out right away."

The news quickly spread throughout the porcelain restoration department.

"Have you heard? Xu Gong from Chengxinzhai immediately chose that Yongzheng celadon celestial globe vase!"

"That broken artifact worth over forty million? He's incredibly audacious!"

"That's right, even Master Chen from our department didn't dare to handle that thing right away, and he, a newbie, dared to take it on?"

"I heard he restored an S-grade celadon glaze piece at Chengxinzhai, so he should be confident, right?"

"Being confident is one thing, but this is too high-profile. He just arrived and didn't even greet Master Chen before starting work. It's too disrespectful."

Similar discussions were quietly circulating within the department.

Some people think Xu Xing's skills are excellent and he has the confidence to back it up, while others think he is too high-profile and doesn't know how to respect his seniors.

But Xu Xing ignored these discussions.

He brought Zhu Yong and Liu Jian here to make money, not to build relationships with people.

After carefully transporting the fragments of the celestial globe bottle back to the restoration room, preparations for restoration began.

Meanwhile, in another office of the museum, an elderly man with gray hair was flipping through an ancient book.

He is Chen Jingchuan, a senior expert in the porcelain restoration department.

Chen Jingchuan is 63 years old this year and has been working in the field of porcelain restoration for 40 years. He is the pillar of the porcelain restoration field at Chang'an Museum.

He had overheard some of the discussions in the department earlier.

"Master Chen, the new engineer Xu has chosen that Yongzheng celestial globe vase, what do you think..."

A young restorer asked cautiously.

Chen Jingchuan put down the ancient book and smiled, "So what if they chose it? What's there to say if they have the ability?"

"But... he didn't even say hello to you, that's just too much..."

"Too much?"

Chen Jingchuan waved his hand, "He was personally invited by Director Liu of the Cultural Relics Bureau, and he's also the top restorer at Chengxinzhai. He has the credentials."

Besides, porcelain restoration relies on skill, not seniority. If he can fix it, that's his skill; if he can't, that's his problem. What does it have to do with whether I asked him beforehand?

The young restorer gave an awkward smile and said nothing more.

Chen Jingchuan picked up the ancient book again, but his gaze was somewhat unfocused.

He was indeed quite curious about this Xu Xing.

There are very few people in the entire city of Chang'an who can repair the celadon-glazed celestial globe vase from the Yongzheng era.

He wanted to see just how capable this young man really was.

……