Chapter 183 Extra 7

The restoration of the Yuan blue and white porcelain progressed even faster than expected. Song Suiyang had grown considerably over the past six months and was a truly capable assistant. In less than three weeks, the work was complete. Song Suiyang took high-definition photos of the restored pieces and sent them to the National Museum of China. The museum was delighted, having never expected such a successful conclusion after all the difficulties and obstacles. They immediately dispatched personnel to Shanghai to bring the pieces back to Beijing.

This time, the National Museum of China sent two men, but not Xie Qiongyu. Song Suiyang was pleased, knowing that Xie Qiongyu had been humiliated at the Shanghai Museum last time and would not be coming this time. Her pride had made her a little carried away.

She shared before-and-after pictures of the Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain in the university group chat, wanting to show everyone how difficult it was for her teacher, Tong, to restore a cultural relic! The Yuan Dynasty blue and white phoenix-head flat pot, which He Wu and Zheng Bing had failed to restore, found new life in Tong Zhongyuan's hands. This wasn't just the restoration of a national treasure; it was the miraculous birth of a new god.

To her surprise, fate was against her. Not long after she posted the photo, she got into trouble again.

"This cunning old man!" Song Suiyang was furious. "When the National Museum asked him to do the restoration, he said his eyesight was not good. Now that the Yuan blue and white porcelain has been restored, he jumped out!"

In the world of restoration, He Wu is the South and Zheng Bing is the North. As the names suggest, He Wu represents the Southern School of Restoration, while Zheng Bing is the leader of the Northern School. Since the National Museum of China is located in the north, Zheng Bing was the first choice when it came to restoring Yuan blue and white porcelain. Zheng Bing, then nearly 50, examined the damage and declined, citing cataracts as a reason for the high-intensity restoration. The National Museum of China then approached He Wu. He Wu, on the one hand, felt that Yuan blue and white porcelain was too difficult to restore, and on the other hand, his agreement with the British Museum had been repeatedly delayed, so he also declined.

Fifteen years later, Zheng Bing's son, Zheng Qiankun, had reached the peak of his career in restoration. The National Museum of China again invited Zheng Qiankun to join the project. He declined, citing his father's inability to gain access. Last year, the museum approached He Wu's son, Tong Zhongyuan. Initially, they held out little hope, believing Tong Zhongyuan's foreign nationality meant he didn't need a reason to refuse. Unexpectedly, he ultimately accepted the offer, and even more unexpectedly, he actually restored a piece of Yuan blue and white porcelain.

The restored photos Song Suiyang shared in the group spread quickly, from one person to ten, and then from ten to a hundred. Zheng Bing's granddaughter saw them somewhere and shared them with her father and grandfather. Old Zheng, seeing that the impossible-to-restore Yuan blue and white porcelain had actually been restored, and by He Wu's son, was so embarrassed that he went to the National Museum of China, saying he wanted to verify the authenticity with his own eyes.

The National Museum of China had originally intended to use the restoration of the Yuan blue and white porcelain as a publicity stunt. However, priorities were crucial, and the museum was unwilling to face controversy so soon. However, given Zheng Bing's high status, it would have been unreasonable not to show the work to him, so they had to invite him in.

As expected, when Old Man Zheng saw the restored Yuan blue and white porcelain, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He went back without saying a word.

The National Museum of China breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had overcome this hurdle. However, a few days later, Mr. Zheng contacted the media and raised three questions about the restoration of the Yuan blue and white porcelain.

One question is why the National Museum of China wants foreigners to repair such a national treasure.

Second, Yuan blue and white porcelain is a northern porcelain, so why is it restored using southern techniques? Is this approach appropriate?

Third, the techniques Tong Zhongyuan used to restore Yuan blue and white porcelain are clearly not pure traditional Chinese methods, but rather incorporate Western techniques. This not only smacks of desecrating a national treasure, but also raises a philosophical question: Is a national treasure restored using Western techniques still a Chinese national treasure?

The three questions are very plausible and powerful.

The National Museum of China was also speechless after seeing this and simply ignored it. At least there was no response.

After a few days of no response, the old man's clamor died down. Then, unexpectedly, his son, Zheng Qiankun, jumped in again. He said his father had dedicated his life to the restoration of Chinese cultural relics. He had spoken out out of reluctance to see precious artifacts suffer such a fate. Yet, no one answered his questions. There was no respect for this national treasure-level expert.

Qin Tian was both amused and angry. Tong Zhongyuan had put so much effort into this Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain. After finally finishing it, one after another, they popped out.

Tong Zhongyuan didn't care. His mission had been completed, and he didn't care what others thought or said about him. Besides, if it weren't for the restoration of Yuan blue and white porcelain, he and Qin Tian wouldn't have gotten together.

The National Museum of China also contacted Tong Zhongyuan privately, asking him not to take it personally. Zheng Bing is old, and a long-time industry leader, so it's inevitable that his ideas may be rigid and paranoid.

In addition, the National Museum is planning to hold an opening ceremony for the official debut of the restored Yuan blue and white porcelain, and would like to invite Tong Zhongyuan to attend the ceremony.

In the past, Tong Zhongyuan would have refused outright. But now, with his main battleground shifting from Britain to China, he couldn't be too arrogant, so he said he would consider it.

Qin Tian felt that the National Museum's invitation was reasonable, and that Tong Zhongyuan should be there no matter how he looked at it. Tong Zhongyuan knew this, but he didn't want to go to Beijing alone. He asked Qin Tian to accompany him. After all, if it weren't for Qin Tian, ​​the missing piece wouldn't have been burned. Qin Tian's presence was perfect.

Qin Tian hadn't been busy lately, except for the fact that he had to miss another class at F University. During their search for the gilded plate, she and Tong Zhongyuan had traveled to many places together, but they were always busy with tasks or arguing, never once relaxing and having fun. Now that Tong Zhongyuan's restoration work was finished, she decided to take a few days off, wait until the opening ceremony was over, and then spend some quality time in Beijing with him. They'd been to Disneyland twice, neither of which was particularly enjoyable; perhaps Universal Studios would be more of a destination for them.

She told Tong Zhongyuan about this idea, and Tong Zhongyuan happily accepted the invitation from the National Museum.

But plans couldn't change. A week before her departure, the collection from the Chunjun Tomb was invited to an exhibition in Hangzhou. The opening ceremony took place on the same day as the Yuan blue and white porcelain, and Qin Tian was invited to attend. Furthermore, there were three days of lectures to attend. Reasonably, the Chunjun Tomb held a far greater connection to her than the Yuan blue and white porcelain. With such a sincere invitation, she had no reason not to go.

Tong Zhongyuan was very depressed. If he had known this would happen, he would never have agreed to go to the opening ceremony. But now that things had come to this, there was no way he could go back on his word.

The day before the opening ceremony, Qin Tian sent a gloomy Tong Zhongyuan to the airport, where he met Song Suiyang. Song Suiyang also contributed to the restoration of Yuan blue and white porcelain. She was also invited by the National Museum and was on the same flight as Tong Zhongyuan.

This was the first time Song Suiyang's boyfriend had seen Tong Zhongyuan. He looked at Song Suiyang angrily. This was clearly different from the photo he had seen last time! Song Suiyang rolled his eyes at him and pointed at the two men with his chin.

Tong Zhongyuan was holding Qin Tian's face and kissing her hair and forehead. Those who didn't know would think he was going abroad and wouldn't be back for a few years.

The boyfriend was moved by this scene and pulled Song Suiyang over, trying to copy her, but she slapped him away. Song Suiyang looked at him with disdain, then imitated her and pushed her luggage to the security check.

Qin Tian left the airport and drove directly to Hangzhou. This car had just arrived two weeks ago, and this was his first long-distance trip. Since he was invited to attend, the organizers had booked a high-end hotel near West Lake and sent someone to meet him there.

She parked her car in the hotel garage, made some adjustments, had lunch, and changed her clothes. Tong Zhongyuan's video call came in. He had already landed in Beijing and was on his way to the hotel.

Qin Tian showed him the beautiful view of West Lake from the window, and his face darkened even more. He should have been here too.

Seeing Tong Zhongyuan still in the car, Song Suiyang couldn't wait to video call his girlfriend. He really didn't treat her as an outsider. She had to hold her breath and pretend she wasn't in the car. When the call ended, Tong Zhongyuan put away his phone, calmly holding his chin and looking out the window. Only then did Song Suiyang vaguely understand that Tong Zhongyuan didn't treat her as an outsider, but as a person.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Tian walked to the organizer's venue. Tomorrow morning was the opening ceremony, and the first lecture was in the afternoon. The three-day lecture featured different speakers, ranging from internet celebrities specializing in history to authors famous for their work on tomb raiding. The electronic screen at the entrance had already displayed the lecture information, and the advertisements were already up. Surprisingly, her photo was featured prominently, and in front of her, a familiar figure was looking at the advertisement.

"Mu Yanrui, why are you here?" she blurted out.