Chapter 179 Trying it out

As dawn approached, the plastic curtains rustled in the wind.

The oil tea-soaked bread is ready from the pot, gleaming with a clear light. With a flick of the long ladle, the soup stretches into amber threads in mid-air.

One spoonful is enough for one bowl, just right.

Lin Sicheng looked around with the tray in hand, then sat down in an empty seat. The three people at the table all looked up at the same time.

Liu Dong, Wang Hong, and a sculptor from the R&D center.

Like the previous two, he must be Director Meng's apprentice.

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "It'll be more lively if we squeeze in."

The three of them were stunned, unsure of what to say.

Lin Sicheng ignored him, picked up his chopsticks, and ate a bun and sipped soup.

They ate very elegantly, but extremely quickly; in the blink of an eye, six fist-sized buns and a bowl of soup were gone.

He pushed the bowl forward, took out a tissue to wipe his mouth, and glanced at Liu Dong again.

Knowing he had something to say, Liu Dong put down his chopsticks.

"It's alright, Minister Liu, you can eat!"

Lin Sicheng leaned back: "I was just asking when Director Meng will be back!"

What are you trying to do? Trying to achieve your goal indirectly?

A sense of vigilance arose in Liu Dong's heart as he glanced around: "It's still early!"

"Minister Liu, don't be nervous, I was just asking casually."

Lin Sicheng smiled enigmatically, "I just came to tell Minister Liu: since Director Meng is still back early, we'll head back to Xi'an first. We'll see if we have a chance to visit him later..."

Are you leaving already?

It seems the arrangements for the past two days have worked. I feel that even if I observe and learn, I won't learn anything, so I might as well head home.

I should have gone back long ago, but why is it this child who came to tell me?

Looking back, I saw Professor Shang and his female teaching assistant sitting opposite Professor Du. They were a bit far apart, so I couldn't hear what they were talking about. I noticed there seemed to be a piece of paper on the table, which they kept pushing back and forth.

You can't expect them to want some information when they're about to leave, can you?

It's definitely not going to happen: without his own permission, Du Liangzhi can't even get into the archives room.

After a moment's thought, a smile finally appeared on Liu Dong's face, which had been expressionless for more than ten days: "Yes, we should go back sooner. It's windy, dusty, and full of coal smoke here. It's definitely not as comfortable as Xijing."

Lin Sicheng remained noncommittal: "Today is the last day. Let's see how Teacher Wang (Wang Hong) prepares the glaze, and also do a live summary."

In addition, we've been bothering you for almost twenty days, and the expenses haven't been small, so the outstanding fees definitely need to be settled... That's why I came to tell Minister Liu that we'd also like to calculate the lab's expenses... If it's not enough, we'll make up the difference promptly..."

As he spoke, he stood up and smiled again, "Please enjoy your meal!"

Liu Hong and the other person looked at each other in bewilderment, while Liu Dong glanced at Director Du's table: it turned out that the two of them were pushing and shoving checks back and forth.

Pretty particular?

Immediately, Shang Yan and Li Zhen also stood up. Liu Dong glanced at them and said, "Let's go ask Director Du."

Wang Hong and another person exchanged a glance and followed behind.

They must have already eaten, because the table was clean, and sure enough, there was a check in front of Du Liangzhi.

After taking a closer look, Liu Dong nodded secretly: Fifty thousand!

They stayed in an ordinary guesthouse under the Industrial Bureau and ate in the canteen of the Porcelain Research Institute. For eight people, including food and lodging, it cost a maximum of 30,000 yuan for twenty days.

With just a brief use of the lab and some additional materials, 20,000 was more than enough.

As Liu Dong looked at the check, he noticed something amiss: the stamp on it was not the financial seal of Xida University, but rather "Lin Sicheng Ancient Ceramics Restoration Studio" and Lin Sicheng's personal seal.

Hmm, did that kid pay out of his own pocket?

As he pondered this, Du Liangzhi sighed with regret, looking hesitant: "Old Liu, we've really offended someone this time!"

Liu Dong paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: No wonder it was a private seal?

Since nothing was learned, there's no point in discussing learning and exchange. Therefore, the exchange and training between the Industrial Bureau and Xida University mentioned by Dean Su is obviously meaningless.

Then, it will definitely be clear what happened. Since it has nothing to do with Xida University, naturally, every penny spent will be accounted for.

So, will you accept this money or not?

Even if I don't accept it, I won't gain any favor, so I might as well accept it.

After a moment's thought, Liu Dong chuckled again and tapped the check: "Even if we offend him, it's only this kid. What is Director Du worried about?"

Du Liangzhi was stunned and didn't know what to say.

He is a child, that's true, but it's precisely because he's a child that this matter seems strange: how could he become a successor of a skill if he didn't have some kind of power?

Du Liangzhi had long understood this principle, which is why he specifically reported it to his superiors.

The idea was good, but the result was like a crooked monk reciting crooked scriptures, getting crooked the more he recited, and in the end, it turned out like this.

But it's already come to this?

With another sigh, Du Liangzhi pushed the check aside: "Put it in the institute's account, remember to write a detailed report and submit it to the bureau... Oh, and remember to reimburse the hotel and the canteen: they've already paid for it..."

"Don't worry, Director Du, I'll take care of it myself!"

After replying, Liu Dong put the check into his pocket.

After a slight pause, Du Liangzhi thought that it was the last day for Liu Dong and should ask him to be a little more polite. But remembering Liu Dong's usual behavior, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

There's no point in saying anything, so let's just leave it at that.

With a sigh, Du Liangzhi got up and went downstairs to his office.

Then, he smoked one cigarette after another.

Based on his more than thirty years of experience in government offices, something felt off: being looked down upon like that, the child didn't seem upset at all. Was he like that on his first day, and is he still like that on his last day?

Such composure and deep cunning—this can't be an ordinary child.

No, I have to report this to my supervisor.

It was detailed and straightforward, including things Liu Donggan had done: after copying the materials, they had to be checked; during observation and learning, no questions were allowed...

The bureau chief was so angry that he started cursing.

But what good does cursing do?

I'll say it again: things have already come to this...

...

As always, the R&D center started work on time at 8:30.

There were quite a few people here today: Shang Yan, Li Zhen, Lin Sicheng, Sun Le, and Zhang Feng.

Thinking that it was the last day, and Lin Sicheng had made it clear that a summary would be needed, so there would definitely be a lot of people coming, Liu Dong ignored it.

He even greeted Shang Yan, which was unusual for him.

Shang Yan snorted coldly, but Liu Dong remained indifferent: he had gotten rid of the plague and received real money, so let him snort.

He sat down to one side, brewed a strong cup of tea, and felt both comfortable and relaxed.

The nine workbenches remained unchanged, where the final touches and finishing touches were made to the porcelain pieces.

It was still Wang Hong's side, with four people forming a circle around her.

Having met even provincial leaders, Wang Hong wasn't particularly nervous, but she always felt something was off and would glance at them every now and then.

"Professor Shang, this is Director Meng's top student, Teacher Wang Hong. A professional graphic artist, her knife skills are extremely refined… Teacher Wang, this is Professor Shang!"

Liu Dong was not far away, and Wang Hong merely nodded slightly. Shang Yan, out of hatred for Meng Shufeng's apprentice, also simply nodded, thinking that Meng Shufeng's apprentice was nothing special.

Then, she stared at the lotus-patterned jar that had already taken shape in Wang Hong's hand: "Looking at this decoration, it doesn't seem like it was made by a Ding kiln craftsman?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Yesterday, we carved the blank again, and the thickness of the blank was reduced by almost half. It's like we carved it all over again..."

Shang Yan was stunned, her eyes filled with deep disgust: No wonder the original tire from the day before yesterday was nearly a centimeter thick.

Is this a case of being misled once and then misled a second time?

Having taught for half her life and studied porcelain for the other half, she had truly rarely seen anyone so disgusting...

She suppressed her anger and examined it carefully: "What kind of carving technique is this?"

"The Yue kiln of the Five Dynasties period produced secret-color porcelain... It was restored by the Ministry of Light Industry in the 1970s, but because the glaze color and patterns were somewhat monotonous, the Jian kiln was not restored..."

"Oh, no wonder I don't remember it?"

As they exchanged questions and answers, Wang Hong's face gradually turned red.

Liu Dong had said: "That Lin Sicheng dared to apply for intangible cultural heritage status and become an inheritor of restoration techniques, so he must have some ability. He shouldn't be so unaware that the institute is fooling him."

But when someone points it out to her face, even clearly, Wang Hong can't stand it no matter how thick-skinned she is.

At the same time, she was also a little puzzled: the Ding kiln line engraving method the day before yesterday was fine, but yesterday's second carving used the deep carving method of Yue kiln.

As he said, although the technique has been restored, there is no Jian kiln, and major universities do not teach it. Very few people understand it, just like Professor Shang.

But where did he learn it?

They hadn't even spoken more than a few times, so it wasn't appropriate to ask directly. Wang Hong just made a wild guess.

After about an hour of dawdling, the repair of the body was finally completed. Liu Dong said that the body needed to be dried before starting to prepare the glaze in the afternoon.

Even though he had expected it, Lin Sicheng was still taken aback and stared at Liu Dong for a long time.

Liu Dong smiled and asked, "Does Xiao Lin have any objections?"

"No!" Lin Sicheng sighed. "As long as Minister Liu is happy!"

At first, Shang Yan didn't realize what was going on. But when she heard Lin Sicheng's tone, she belatedly realized that this man surnamed Liu was afraid they would steal the glaze formula, so he was trying to send them away.

No... it's just celadon. It was fired from the Han Dynasty to the Republic of China. Southern kilns such as Yue, Longquan, Ge, and Di kilns, as well as northern kilns such as Ru, Xing, Yaozhou, and even Ding kilns, all fired celadon.

So, what is there to keep secret?

Gritting his teeth in righteous indignation, Lin Sicheng had already reached the front door when he turned back and called out, "Professor Shang!"

Shang Yan followed angrily, saying, "That's too much!"

"Professor Shang, don't get angry yet. Maybe Minister Liu is thinking that since it's the last day, he might really want to reveal some secrets to us: Yaozhou celadon does indeed have a secret glaze recipe, tea dust glaze!"

Shang Yan didn't believe a word of it: "Lin Sicheng, do you think that's possible?"

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "What if?"

Shang Yan sneered: "Heh!"

He would check every piece of information he copied; would he ever show you the secret-color porcelain?

Lin Sicheng, what are you thinking about?

Perfect timing! We took the opportunity to pack our bags and leave the lab. We ate lunch in the cafeteria again, and at 2 PM sharp, we arrived at the R&D center.

Sure enough, the glaze had already been prepared.

They remained completely unnoticed, and Liu Dong assigned a few people to apply the glaze. Once applied, the glaze could be placed in the kiln for firing.

Shang Yan's anger came and went quickly, and she went around to each of them in turn.

But it was all for naught. Just looking at the glaze, which was a bluish-green color, Shang Yan couldn't tell whether it was the tea dust that Lin Sicheng had mentioned.

Then look at Lin Sicheng, staring at the calligraphy brush in Wang Hong's hand, and let out a "heh".

There's no tea dust involved; it's just the glaze of Yaozhou ware celadon. But this is clearly and unequivocally recorded in ancient texts…

This Minister Liu is really... I don't even know how to describe him.

Lin Sicheng watched quietly without saying another word until all the porcelain blanks were sent into the electric kiln.

That's it?

Just to fool themselves, they acted for three days straight, and in doing so, they fooled themselves as well?

There were only about twenty pieces in this batch, all of them were defective and incongruous. What was the point of firing them?

Lin Sicheng sighed deeply: "Minister Liu, one last favor: I've been here for almost twenty days and observed for so long. Regardless of whether I've learned anything, I should at least summarize and verify my findings. Could you make a few prototypes so I can try my hand at it..."

Oh right, Lin Sicheng said at the restaurant that he wanted to summarize on the spot.

But how do I summarize it... based on just these three days?

The key point is, what you're looking at isn't real technology, is it?

Liu Dong looked puzzled but said nothing. He instructed the potter to make three unglazed porcelain blanks according to Lin Sicheng's requirements.

Lin Sicheng changed into his work clothes, wearing one quick-drying layer and two moisturizing layers, and held a knife in both hands.

"Professor Shang, could you please record this video?... Li Zhen, Sun Le, take notes!"

The group of people were stunned for a moment, and then Shang Yan and Li Zhen opened their eyes wide at the same time.

I don't know what Lin Sicheng is up to, but his expression, tone, and demeanor are all too familiar to them.