Chapter 181 Think about the consequences

The ingredients are complete, from the Tang to the Qing dynasties, since the establishment of the Yaozhou kiln, all the glazes mentioned in the literature are available.

Moreover, all methods are followed: for example, black soil, red soil, aging soil... the original soil is used, and then it is ground, magnetically absorbed, and filtered.

After quickly scanning the area, Lin Sicheng put on gloves:

"Tea dust glaze was originally a kiln-transformed porcelain produced during the Tang Dynasty when black glaze porcelain was overfired (at too high a temperature). It was produced in large quantities during the Song Dynasty, but due to the immature technology, the glaze was coarse and the color was uneven, so it was mostly used by ordinary people. Lu You was referring to this kind of porcelain as: extremely rough and poor quality, but restaurants use it because of its durability."

"Until the mid-Ming Dynasty, the imperial kilns began to imitate the firing process, and the quality improved significantly. Later, in the Qing Dynasty, when the Jingdezhen imperial kilns were able to maintain a kiln temperature of over 1300 degrees Celsius, the quality of the tea-dust glaze reached its peak... Especially during the reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, it was once a royal ware, known as the 'secret glaze'..."

The Qing Dynasty text *Tao Ya* states: "Tea dust is a mixture of yellow and green; the most prized qualities are its moistness, brightness, and vibrancy... It is delicate yet refined, more beautiful than flowers, and as lovely as jade. When molded into a vase, it is most pleasing to the eye..."

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng picked up the hopper and opened the ball mill cover.

Liu Dong gave a signal, and the two sculptors immediately understood and rushed over: "Teacher Lin, we can't trouble you, we'll do it..."

"You're coming?" Lin Sicheng smiled and took a step back. "Alright, come on!"

One of them took the bucket and picked up the shovel, while the other brought over the electronic scale. Then, they quietly watched Lin Sicheng.

Lin Sicheng smiled enigmatically: "Please continue, teachers!"

The two sculptors were completely stunned: No... what are you asking us to continue? You should be the one continuing.

If you don't provide the recipe, how are we supposed to prepare the ingredients?

Lin Sicheng: Hehe... You want the formula? What are you thinking?

After glancing at Liu Dong from afar, the two carving craftsmen gave an awkward smile: "Teacher Lin, are you going to mix the materials yourself? But they're all quite heavy. Which one do you want to use? We'll help you carry it over."

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "No need!"

The glaze table was very large, and a great many kinds of glaze were prepared, each type stored in a vat.

Lin Sicheng picked up a bucket and a shovel and walked straight over.

Liu Dong didn't even need to give them a signal; everyone stared wide-eyed. Some even picked up paper and pen: the glaze ratio, even a slight error of one percentage point, would drastically change the final color.

Therefore, it is essential to weigh it, and the weight must be accurate to the gram. As long as you remember the exact weight, it's equivalent to the standard recipe.

But then, the group of people were stunned: after shoveling several buckets of black soil, Lin Sicheng did not put it on the scale, but instead shoveled in several more buckets of red soil.

No... you didn't even weigh it?

Wang Hong couldn't help but step forward: "Teacher Lin, wouldn't it be more accurate to weigh it?"

"No need!" Lin Sicheng said without turning his head, and continued shoveling other ingredients. "It's just a trial anyway, it doesn't matter if I make a mistake!"

Everyone was stunned and speechless: With your casual approach, digging in half a scoop at a time, it would be a miracle if you got it right.

But it wasn't that no one was on guard. Just like the unglazed peony vase on the table, Lin Sicheng appeared nonchalant and indecisive from beginning to end.

At first, nobody took it seriously, but what happened in the end?

So several people still meticulously wrote it down in their notebooks: six shovels of black soil, two shovels of red soil... wait, the last shovel shook, so it should count as two-thirds of a shovel.

And so, Lin Sicheng went around the material table: black soil, red soil, kaolin, quartz, potassium feldspar, calcite, talc powder, agate powder, wood ash... whatever ingredients were on the table, he would scoop a little into the bucket, more or less.

The group of people found it increasingly strange: with so many ingredients, so many different kinds, and no clear formula, what kind of glaze would it end up with?

But despite the doubts, I still have to keep a record... just in case.

After that, they didn't even know how to take notes anymore: probably feeling that the amount was not enough or the proportions were wrong, Lin Sicheng returned.

But instead of using a shovel, they grabbed directly with their hands. Some grabbed a handful, some grabbed half a handful, some grabbed a little in and then pulled a little out.

In fact, after grabbing some of the other ingredients, Lin Sicheng went back and grabbed another handful and a half.

Then he reached forward again, picked out a few items, and then surprisingly turned back and picked out a few more.

Some were done twice, some three or five times, and the most was black soil, which was caught twelve times.

I remember the number of rounds clearly, including how many handfuls I grabbed each time. But whether each handful was a whole handful or half a handful, and how much each handful was, God the hell knows.

How the hell am I supposed to remember this?

But it still needs to be recorded.

In the end, the stainless steel bucket, which was as thick as a person's waist, was half full, weighing at least sixty or seventy pounds.

Lin Sicheng stopped and thought for a moment: "Add some antimony white, stibnite will also work!"

A group of people were stunned: that thing was indeed used to produce white porcelain in ancient times, but it was only used for white porcelain, and it was poisonous.

The R&D center certainly doesn't have that, but the lab does.

They were just one floor apart, and the items were brought over in about three minutes.

This time, instead of using his hands, Lin Sicheng used a spoon the size of an egg to scoop out the food seven or eight times.

Just like he did, he should remember to write down what he should remember.

Lin Sicheng began preparing the slurry at the ball mill, 200 mesh.

Still very casual: I poured half of the ground glaze powder into the container, and then directly took a bucket to the tap to collect water. First, I collected about half a bucket, then about a quarter of it, and then about a third of it.

Five or six times in total, the large vat with a diameter of one meter was filled to more than half.

Then, Lin Sicheng poured the half-bucket of stale tea from the table into it.

Looking at the bubbling glaze, the group was speechless: How the hell are we supposed to remember this?

How much tea and how much water?

A bubble appears, then explodes, followed by a plume of smoke; this definitely indicates a chemical reaction. But what exactly is the reaction, what is the reaction formula, what are the compounds produced, and how much of each are present?

God knows...

Just as he was wondering what to say, Lin Sicheng pointed and said, "Stir at a constant speed!"

After saying that, he picked up the bucket again and began to mix the ingredients again.

Everyone belatedly realized: This means we need to use two kinds of glaze?

Surprised, Lin Sicheng would shovel half a shovelful or grab a handful, and in the blink of an eye, there was another half bucket.

Ball mill, mix, stir, then seal and age.

It was left there for six hours at a time.

It was nearly midnight, but no one had left, including Shang Yan.

Looking at his watch, Lin Sicheng got up, lifted the lid of the jar, removed the plastic wrap, and then stirred.

Everyone crowded around.

The glaze is extremely thick, giving it a honey-like texture. Visually, the Baume degree (solution concentration) is at least 50%.

The key is that the colors are very mixed: red, blue, gray and green, like seven or eight different colored ice creams piled up together and mixed together after melting.

Based on experience, this is because the glaze reacts chemically to produce new compounds, which in turn causes the pigments to separate.

Speak like a human being, you're useless!

But strangely, as Lin Sicheng kept stirring, the glaze... seemed to be slowly blending together?

First it was a bit gray, then a bit bluish, then it turned dark green, then turquoise, and finally deep green...

In the end, the color no longer changes, but tends to stabilize as a bluish-green.

The formula has long been lost, and no one has ever seen the original color of the crab-shell green glaze. What surprised them wasn't that, but rather the process of the color gradually changing as it was stirred…

Shang Yan was stunned and speechless, while the others were even more dumbfounded: they had studied porcelain for half their lives and this was the first time they had ever seen a temporary reaction, a temporary fusion of glaze.

Lin Sicheng stirred another vat, just like always: it was like spilling a paint jar, the colors changing.

When Lin Sicheng stopped stirring, everyone had the same expression: wide-eyed and mouths agape, their pupils reflecting golden light.

This vat of glaze has turned into a pale gold color?

No… they're all ingredients for celadon glaze, including the so-called tea dust glaze, which is also celadon glaze. How could Lin Sicheng, with his haphazard mixing, possibly produce a vat of glazes of other colors?

The key is the concentration, the key is the color, this clearly means it has been successfully prepared?

Thinking back to his previous nonsensical actions, it seems utterly absurd: he spent half his life studying porcelain, only to learn nothing from dogs?

Just as he was taken aback, Lin Sicheng took off his gloves: "Half an hour!"

Liu Dong was completely bewildered: "What?"

"After half an hour, the glaze will react again, the compounds will gradually precipitate, and the color will become lighter and lighter until it turns into clear water where the glaze and slurry separate..."

Lin Sicheng carefully wiped his hands. "So, you only have half an hour. Soak them as quickly as possible, soak as much as you can. Don't worry, they'll definitely sell..."

Liu Dong was completely stunned, his face turning as black as the bottom of a pot: "So, I want to analyze the composition of the glaze, but I can't?"

He suppressed his anger: "The color is wrong, this is definitely not the tea dust glaze described in the literature..."

That's why I say, it's better to have no books than to believe everything in them!

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, “According to Tang Ying’s ‘Records of Porcelain Production’ written during the Kangxi era: ‘The yellow glaze of the imperial kilns (specifically referring to the tea dust glaze imitated by the Qing dynasty imperial kilns) is rather greasy, with tea (large patches) but no dust (finer glaze spots), resembling eel skin... The green glaze with no broken spots is called crab shell green…’”

Lin Sicheng pointed to the green jar: "It's mostly green with tea leaves but no broken pieces, it's like crab shell green!"

Then, pointing to the yellow tank: "The yellow ones have spots but no ends, the eels are yellow!"

"impossible?"

Staring at the two glaze vats, Liu Dong's eyelids twitched uncontrollably. "Long lost to time?"

"Nothing is impossible. Yaozhou porcelain was also lost, but in the end, it was still restored by the National Porcelain Institute and Mr. Li Guozhen."

You're talking nonsense... That was recreated by my teacher...

The words of cursing welled up in Liu Dong's mouth, but he swallowed them back down.

"Minister Liu, let's not delay: there are only 25 minutes left before the glaze is ruined. Wouldn't it be a waste to let it go to waste?"

Lin Sicheng glanced at his watch again. "You might not believe me when I tell you, but I don't know the specific principles or how to preserve it for a longer period of time... But one thing I'm sure of: you can't deduce it..."

Liu Dong's face turned ashen: He didn't even know the principle. Let alone the glaze slurry being ruined in half an hour, even if it wasn't ruined, could he even derive it?

He gritted his teeth: "The recipe... what's the recipe?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned, his face full of disbelief: he couldn't understand where Liu Dong got the nerve and what kind of mentality he had to ask such a question.

“Minister Liu, do you remember three days ago, when you felt I had recognized that Teacher Wang (Wang Hong) was using the Dingzhou carving method instead of the Yaozhou double-knife technique, you stood next to me and said: ‘The method is not lightly passed on, and the way is not cheaply taught!’”

"Honestly, if you had said that on the first day I met Dean Su, I wouldn't have cared too much: after all, it's core technology, the culmination of Director Meng and your team's hard work over the past ten or twenty years..."

"If you had asked me then and there, 'You're here to steal technology, aren't you?' I wouldn't have been angry. After all, I was too young, and it's normal for you to have such suspicions... But you dragged this out for a full twenty days..."

They kept using bait to lure me in, telling me every time: "Focus on learning from the existing data first, and we'll give you the core data when Director Meng comes back..." Even when I tried to communicate with the researchers, they always took it as me trying to trick them into revealing information... In the end, I had no choice but to force the issue with the samples..."

Lin Sicheng then pointed to the two vats of glaze: "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you... The glaze slurry is right here. After firing, it will be a ready-made sample. If you are capable, you can work backward from the sample, just like me!"

Oh, by the way, Professor Fang Hao, Director Meng's senior colleague and a clay and glaze expert at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, published an academic paper in 1989 entitled "A Study on the Main Crystal Phase of Tea Dust Crystallized Glaze," which can also be used as a reference..."

"Minister Liu, let me remind you again: tea-dust glaze originated from Yaozhou porcelain, that's correct. But what did Lu You say? Yaozhou produces celadon ware, called Yue ware, seemingly because it resembles Yuyao secret-color porcelain... However, it is extremely rough and of poor quality, only restaurants use it because of its durability..."

What you perceive as tea dust is not the same as crab shell green or eel yellow tea, nor was it invented by the Yaozhou kiln. Rather, it originated from the imperial kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties, specifically Jingdezhen…

These two types are genuine imperial porcelain, using secret glazes from the palace. They even had their own name: Factory Official Glaze! But the technique was lost during the Guangxu era... So, what reason do you have, and how dare you ask me for the formula with your red lips and white teeth?

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng exhaled: "I'm not afraid to tell you, even a semi-finished product that changes color after two and a half hours can still be patented. If we apply for intangible cultural heritage status, getting it to the national level is hard to say, but getting it to the provincial level is a piece of cake..."

Liu Dong was both shocked and furious: the Yaozhou porcelain they were researching, the one they were applying for World Heritage status for, and even the second phase of the research plan that Director Meng went to Beijing to report to and apply for with the Ministry of Culture was tea dust glaze.

But suddenly, the pinnacle of Yaozhou porcelain, the tea dust glaze technique, was patented by someone else, who even wanted to apply for intangible cultural heritage status.

What about their more than 20 years of painstaking research? And what did they manage to get listed as a World Heritage Site?

The more Liu Dong thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the angrier he got. His lips turned purple: "You dare...you fucking dare? You try applying for one..."

Lin Sicheng paused for a moment, then sneered, "I can apply whenever I want, who do you think you are?"

Shang Yan was stunned, Li Zhen was stunned, and Sun Lezhangfeng was also stunned.

Everyone, including Ge Xu, Xu Gaolan, who were waiting at the door to take Lin Sicheng back, and everyone in the research and development room, was stunned.

I've known him for so long, and I've never seen Lin Sicheng swear at anyone—no, I've never seen him get angry. This includes Shang Yan and Li Zhen, who have known him the longest.

He suddenly swore at something that wasn't too vulgar, but the expression and look in his eyes that seemed to be looking at a latrine... it felt even dirtier than cursing his mother.

Liu Dong trembled with anger, raising his finger shakily: "You just wait...you just wait..."

What the hell am I waiting for?

Lin Sicheng sneered and stood up. Liu Dong rushed over and blocked his way, as if to prevent him from leaving.

But before he could even open his mouth properly and say a word, Ge Xu and Xu Gaolan burst through the door with a bang.

Zhang Feng was even faster; in a flash, a towering giant appeared between the two. He didn't speak, only stared coldly at Liu Dong with his bulging eyes.

For some reason, Liu Dong felt a chill run down his spine.

Lin Sicheng gave him a deep look: "Let's go!"

As they turned, the group left the research lab in a large procession. Just as they were about to go downstairs, Wang Hong suddenly snapped out of her daze and rushed after them: "Professor Lin, how exactly do I soak it, how do I boil it… please…"

Lin Sicheng stopped in his tracks: "There are less than ten minutes left. How many items can you soak? The question is, will Minister Liu allow you to soak them or burn them?"

Wang Hong's expression changed, and she gritted her teeth: "No...he wouldn't dare?"

Now that things have come to this, what is there that he wouldn't dare to do?

Lin Sicheng sighed, “First stir well, then immerse each piece for three seconds, then let the glaze settle for one minute, stir well again, and immerse again… After entering the kiln, gradually increase the temperature in an oxidizing atmosphere (sufficient gas supply, complete combustion of fuel) for eight hours, then raise it to 980 degrees Celsius, and switch to a reducing atmosphere (producing carbon monoxide, reducing ferrous oxide in the glaze)…”

Be careful to control the time. Gradually raise the temperature to 1300 degrees Celsius within two hours of creating the reducing atmosphere, then maintain the temperature for half an hour, and finally turn off the heat and let it cool naturally... This is Crab Shell Green..."

"As for eel roe, the rest of the steps are the same, the temperature is the same, the time is the same, you just need to maintain an oxidizing atmosphere..."

Wang Hong stammered, "Thank you, Teacher Lin, thank you, Teacher Lin..."

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Teacher Wang, there's nothing to thank me for. Just don't hate me in the future!"

Wang Hong couldn't understand at all: Why hate?

Lin Sicheng didn't say anything, turned around and went downstairs.

Shang Yan was rather reluctant: "We've already completely fallen out, why should I tell him how to burn it at the end?"

Lin Sicheng sighed, but did not speak.

Why do you think Liu Dong would rather argue and waste time than remind his subordinates to dip the glaze and put it in the kiln?

Because he has eyes, he can see that the two glazes were clearly mixed correctly. Therefore, he dared not let them be fired; what if they actually produced a crab-shell blue and eel-yellow glaze?

It's essentially just exchanging their existing technology for five, eight, or even ten years of time for Director Meng and the Porcelain Research Institute. How much manpower, material resources, and financial resources could be saved?

As a result, because of his prejudice and stubbornness, he ended up making a complete mess of things. Even the core technology he had painstakingly guarded against was completely cracked by himself?

If the items are actually burned, how much responsibility will Liu Dong bear?

If it's not burned, and there's no finished product, Liu Dong can find countless excuses: Lin Sicheng didn't weigh the ingredients, let alone the water, he just mixed them haphazardly.

Lin Sicheng definitely wouldn't do that; he's just trying to retaliate by deliberately disrupting our research plans... and so on and so forth!

So, you can choose not to burn it just because you want to?

Just then, a heated argument broke out behind him: "Liu Dong, who do you think you are? You think you can just say no to soaking or no to burning? Soak it..."

It looks like Wang Hong?

Immediately afterwards, there was a series of loud crashes and crashes.

Something must have been knocked over; there seemed to be a scream...

No... did those researchers suddenly rebel?

They were so obedient and honest before?

Shang Yan looked on in disbelief, turned her head, and listened for a long time.

About two minutes later, Wang Hong's shout rang out again: "Open the furnace!"

Then, there was another loud crashing sound, followed by several muffled groans and a shout: "Liu Dong, what the hell do you want to do?"

The glaze had been applied, but Liu Dong wouldn't let it be fired, so he smashed it.

Then, someone hit him twice with a hammer?

Suddenly, Shang Yan remembered the conversation between Lin Sicheng and Wang Hong: Teacher Wang, does Minister Liu allow you to burn it?

Don't worry, he wouldn't dare...

See, does he dare?

Then she recalled what Wang Qizhi had said on the phone the day before yesterday: "Professor Shang, don't worry, Lin Sicheng can handle it himself without anyone's help or any connections."

What, impossible? Then you wait and see what it means to be manipulated and what it means to control people's hearts.

At that moment, Wang Qizhi silently muttered to himself: Lin Sicheng either doesn't do anything, or he does it to the extreme.

The incident of smashing the ewer at the cultural relics company was just the beginning; the purchase of the Qianlong iron seal by Baoli was just a small test; and when he encountered the group of tomb raiders later, he completely unleashed his true nature.

You want to trick me, want to kill me? Fine, come on...

It's not an exaggeration at all. He sells you out, and you still have to say thank you and help him count the money: just like Yu Dahai now...

Shang Yan thought for a long time before finally going downstairs, getting into the car, and arriving at the hotel.

She could roughly figure out how the conflict in the research lab had occurred, but it felt too abrupt: "Lin Sicheng, those people were so obedient before? It's too sudden..."

"It's just a facade under high pressure."

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "How should I put Liu Dong? Basically, he's like this: I'm your boss, so I can't allow you to be better than me... I also won't allow you to be closer to the teachers than I am, and you can't even show any outstanding performance... If you keep putting him under pressure for too long, the accumulated resentment under his command will explode when the right opportunity arises..."

So you artificially created an opportunity?

Then she remembered something else: "But what about Wang Hong? I thought Liu Dong was quite polite to her?"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "His father used to be a leader in the Municipal Bureau of Industry. In the 1990s, he took a leave of absence without pay to go into business and founded the Municipal Porcelain Company. I heard the business is quite good. And nearly half of Director Meng's research funding over the years has been funded by him, and all the patents of the Porcelain Research Institute are shared with him..."

Shang Yan suddenly realized: No wonder Wang Hong was the first one to jump out as soon as Lin Sicheng left?

So, you even included this in your calculations?

Hmm... wait a minute?

Once Lin Sicheng's patent application is successful, what will happen to Wang Hong's company, the Porcelain Research Institute, and Director Meng's cooperation?

Let's cooperate; our technology is inferior. Once Lin Sicheng's patent is approved, it will be difficult for their products not to become unsaleable.

Therefore, parting ways was inevitable.

The key issue is Liu Dong. Not only will he bear political responsibility, but how will he be able to get along in Tongchuan after this?

Suddenly, Shang Yan remembered what Wang Qizhi had said: "Follow people's noses and manipulate their hearts!"

Then, Shang Yan's mind was filled with that sentence until she went upstairs. She even thought about it while lying in bed…

...

As dawn broke, the research lab was filled with smoke, and one crimson cigarette butt after another was littered with smoke.

Normally, Liu Dong requires everyone to wear shoe covers when entering, but now nobody pays any attention to him.

A group of people surrounded the two vats.

On the surface, they are just two tanks of water, which have been sitting for many days and are somewhat murky sewage.

Stir again, and particles about the size of rice grains rise from the bottom. They are grayish-green with a hint of yellow.

Having studied celadon for half their lives, they certainly knew that it was a compound of iron and manganese.

How did it form? I don't know. Where did the other ingredients go? I don't know either.

But Lin Sicheng said it was half an hour, and the two vats of glaze remained for half an hour, not a minute more. Then it became clearer and clearer, and there was more and more of this stuff.

No matter how much they stirred it, or whether they heated or kept it warm, the two vats of glaze were ruined right before everyone's eyes.

They didn't even know the reason...

Du Liangzhi had a stubble beard and smoked one cigarette after another.

Liu Dong sat in the corner, his face pale, his eyes fixed on the kiln. His gaze revealed unease, doubt, anxiety, and fear.

The bureau chief stood by the kiln, while the others were scattered around.

There were more than a dozen people in the research and safety room, but it was eerily quiet.

Suddenly, with a "ding," all the researchers jumped and swarmed around again.

Ten and a half hours, not a minute off, not a second less.

All procedures, temperature and humidity controls were strictly in accordance with the instructions given by Lin Sicheng before he left.

Whether it will be successful, or whether it will turn red or black, is still unknown. Natural cooling is required, and the glaze layer must be completely oxidized or reduced by the high-temperature gas inside the kiln.

A whole night has passed, so two more hours won't make a difference.

Continue waiting until noon.

Wang Hong glanced at her watch and said in a low voice, "Director, we should be able to start the furnace now!"

The bureau chief nodded vigorously: "Open!"

Wang Hong carefully unscrewed the door bolt.

The moment the kiln door was opened, a wave of heat rushed out, followed by two beams of light, one yellow and one green, that came into view.

Whether they were experts or not, their pupils contracted simultaneously.

A piece of jade-green jade with light-colored spots inside, like the shell of a blue crab about to emerge from the water, yet even more crystal clear and lustrous.

The other piece is as yellow as bronze, as smooth as chicken fat, and has an inner tassel, covered with yellowish-brown patterns.

The crab shells are green, the eel is yellow... The food is right in front of me, still steaming. Is this still fake?

But Liu Dong insisted on stopping them, and only burned these two items...

So, how bad must this person be?

Suddenly, a surge of anger rushed to the top of his head, and the bureau chief turned around abruptly.

Those eyes were like two arrows, shooting straight at him.

Liu Dong's face turned ashen, his lips moved but he didn't know how to defend himself.

How can he possibly argue his way out of this?

But who the hell could have imagined this?

The thought of what would happen next made Liu Dong tremble uncontrollably...

But no one cared about Liu Dong anymore; even if they killed him, it wouldn't make a difference.

The key point is how to remedy the situation: Liu Dong did the deed, but when it was reported initially, it was a decision made jointly by the bureau chief and Director Du.

Even Director Meng, who is far away in Beijing, can't escape this: without his usual indulgence and support, where would Liu Dong have gotten the audacity to always disregard Du Liangzhi?

The bureau chief took a deep breath and glanced at Du Liangzhi.

Director Du understood immediately and quickly took out his phone: "Director, I'll contact them right now!"

He immediately started calling, first to Lin Sicheng, but Lin didn't answer. Then he tried Shang Yan, but she still didn't answer. Finally, he called Dean Su, but not only did she not answer, she hung up on him.

Then the second time, the third time...

Suddenly, a text message came in on my phone, saved as "Dean Su": Director Du, is the budget insufficient?

It's alright, just give me the amount, and I'll have the studio's finance department settle it...

Those twenty-odd words felt like needles piercing his eyes, and beads of sweat appeared on Director Du's forehead.

He gritted his teeth and handed his phone forward: "Boss, look!"

The bureau chief glanced at it, and his expression changed.

Stop making phone calls, there's absolutely no room for negotiation on this matter... That's what Dean Su means!

But even if there's no other way, we have to find a way to turn things around...

"I'll go report to the leadership... You all start researching now, by whatever method you choose: whether you study these two vats of glaze, or you break these two pieces to study the glaze layer..."

“Du Liangzhi, ask Meng Shufeng again. If someone else registers the patent and even applies for intangible cultural heritage status, what does that make of our Yaozhou porcelain? What about him, the applicant and inheritor?”

Everyone was startled: Was he a clown, or a joke?

The bureau chief sighed, then looked around again. "Think about the consequences..."

What are the consequences?

When that day actually comes, what good things can you expect from bonuses, subsidies, professional titles, and even honors?

If we hold anyone accountable, every single one of them present will be implicated...

In an instant, more than a dozen gazes were fixed on Liu Dong, as if he were looking at a dead man...