Chapter 14 (The Rescue)
Xiaobeipo is located at the northernmost part of Zhaojiagang.
The village roads are all dirt roads, which are not easy to travel on to begin with. In addition, the sun has been shining brightly these days, making the road surface hard and dry. Even though Yang Yongqing was driving slowly, he almost made Yan Ruyi fall apart.
Once you leave the village, it's all farmland.
The corn is already as tall as a person, rustling in the summer breeze.
After driving for about 7 or 8 minutes, a river appeared on the left. The river was flowing from west to east and was flowing smoothly, but suddenly it made a 90-degree turn and started flowing from south to north instead of from west to east.
This river is probably the one Zhao Chunzhi mentioned, the one where the village kids used to skip porcelain shards across the water.
Yang Yongqing pointed to Yan Ruyi and said, "We're almost there. You see those tents? Just walk a little further in from there and we'll be there."
Yan Ruyi saw several green tents ahead. As she got closer, she indeed saw People's Liberation Army soldiers on duty.
Yang Yongqing let Yan Ruyi get out first, and went to find a place to park. After parking, he saw Yan Ruyi standing there looking around. He thought she was looking for Jiang Dongming, so he said to her, "Teacher Jiang and the others are not here. We need to go further in."
Yan Ruyi was not looking for Jiang Dongming.
When she saw the green military uniform, she remembered the soldier she had seen in the photo studio, and instinctively wanted to see if that person was here.
I looked around but didn't see him. He must not be here, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
Last time she peeked at someone, and they caught her. She'd be quite embarrassed if they met again.
Yang Yongqing led Yan Ruyi to see Jiang Dongming.
Jiang Dongming and the others were eating, each holding a large bowl, squatting in the shade, in groups of three.
To keep up with the schedule, they ate in shifts, and eating was like fighting a battle, with them holding big bowls and burying their heads in their food.
Jiang Dongming had been keeping an eye on the intersection. He saw Yang Yongqing and Yan Ruyi coming this way from afar, put down the bowl he was holding, stood up and said to Gu Shusheng, "Little Yan is here."
Gu Shusheng spends most of his time in the field and is rarely in the office, so he has never met Yan Ruyi. However, he is very familiar with the name.
Jiang Dongming would nag him at least two or three times a day. He was so used to hearing it that he was practically numb to it. How could he not be familiar with it?
He originally thought that the person Jiang Dongming would praise must be just like Jiang Dongming, a rigid and serious person who wears black-rimmed glasses and does things meticulously.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a beautiful young girl.
Gu Shusheng frowned, thinking to himself, "This person is too young. Where does he get the expertise to identify Song Dynasty celadon?"
Could it be that I just stumbled upon a dead mouse by sheer luck?
He looked down on her and snorted, "She's the Xiao Yan you mentioned. She's so young, what could she possibly know? Is it worth you going to all this way to call her over?"
Jiang Dongming was fond of Yan Ruyi and already regarded her as his apprentice. He subconsciously protected her, saying, "She just graduated, so it's normal that she lacks experience. When I first entered this industry, I was not as good as her."
After saying that, he called out to Yan Ruyi, "Little Yan, you've come at the right time. I'll take you to see the scene."
Yang Yongqing: "Teacher Jiang, Xiao Yan hasn't eaten yet."
Jiang Dongming hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's eat first."
Although Gu Shusheng didn't think much of Yan Ruyi, he wouldn't let the girl go hungry, so he shouted, "Qiangzi, go and bring two bowls of rice over."
Yan Ruyi was eager to know why she had been called over, so she said to Jiang Dongming, "Teacher Jiang, I'm not hungry right now, so I'm not in a hurry to eat."
Gu Shusheng shoveled a mouthful of rice onto his plate, then stood up and said without ceremony, "If that's the case, let's go to the scene first, and eat later."
He chuckled to himself: "We'll find out what's what once it's made of him!"
Jiang Dongming pushed up his glasses, quite pleased: That's right, how can eating be more important than work?
He then led Yan Ruyi to the archaeological site, and Gu Shusheng followed along with her, carrying a bowl.
This was Yang Yongqing's first time visiting an archaeological site. He wasn't in a hurry to eat and went along to see the rare sights, wanting to see what the ancient kiln porcelain, comparable to national treasures, actually looked like.
After walking about 200 meters, we first saw a huge military green tent. Under the tent was the site of an ancient porcelain kiln. Several archaeologists were using small brushes to clean the pit walls bit by bit.
There was a lot of cleaned-out celadon porcelain piled up along the edge of the pit.
Unfortunately, they were all broken.
Yan Ruyi glanced at it, exclaimed "Huh?", picked up a porcelain shard and looked at it. "Teacher Jiang, isn't this a Song Dynasty kiln? How come there's Tang Dynasty celadon here!"
It wasn't a question, but a very certain statement, without the slightest ambiguity.
As soon as she finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent. No one spoke, and even the archaeological team members who were cleaning the pit walls stopped and stared blankly at Yan Ruyi.
Gu Shusheng had just taken a bite of rice when he forgot to swallow it, his mouth agape wide enough to swallow a large egg.
Yan Ruyi thought she was seeing things, so she looked down and glanced at it again. Yes, it was celadon from the late Tang Dynasty.
For experts, it is not difficult to distinguish between Tang celadon and Song celadon.
Tang dynasty celadon has a slightly rougher body and glaze, while Song dynasty celadon has a harder and finer body and glaze, a thinner body, and a softer and clearer glaze than Tang dynasty celadon.
But Yan Ruyi is a newbie who has just graduated and started working.
This overturned Gu Shusheng's understanding of the newbie. He came to his senses and turned to ask Yang Yongqing, "Did you tell her?"
Yang Yongqing looked bewildered. "What did I say to her?"
Gu Shusheng asked this question subconsciously.
These porcelain shards were unearthed yesterday afternoon, and this morning he and Jiang Dongming made a preliminary determination that they were Tang Dynasty celadon.
This is an extremely rare ancient porcelain kiln that spans two dynasties!
Yang Yongqing has been at the bureau for the past two days. The reason for calling him over today is to ask him to take these Tang Dynasty celadon pieces back to the bureau for further research.
This matter has not been made public yet, and Yang Yongqing had no way of knowing about it beforehand.
Since Yang Yongqing didn't tell Yan Ruyi, then she must have figured it out herself.
And he recognized it at a glance; his eyesight is amazing!
Gu Shusheng stopped eating, shoved the bowl into Yang Yongqing's hand, wiped his mouth casually, and asked Yan Ruyi with shining eyes, "How did you determine that this is Tang celadon?"
How else can you be sure? You just had a dream, and that's it!
If I had to name it, it would be a skill bestowed upon me by God.
However, Yan Ruyi dared not say this, otherwise Gu Shusheng would be furious.
As she was trying to figure out how to explain, Jiang Dongming came to her rescue, as always concise and to the point: "Talent plus comprehension."
That's not entirely wrong. Antique appraisal is all about talent. If someone has little talent, you can't teach them even if you teach them hand-in-hand every day.
Those with high talent can grasp things instantly.
In Jiang Dongming's view, Yan Ruyi belongs to the category of those with exceptionally high talent.
Gu Shusheng sensed a hint of smugness in Jiang Dongming's words and thought to himself, "He's not your apprentice, what are you so smug about?"
His eyes lit up and he had an idea. He had heard from Jiang Dongming that Yan Ruyi had been assigned to the antique shop.
That Tang Zhengjun is a terrible person. I don't know what that young girl did to offend him. Such a promising talent was transferred to an antique shop. What a waste of talent!
They call it exercise, but who knows when it will actually take?
Tang Zhengjun is in charge of personnel transfers, and if he doesn't give in, it will be difficult for Yan Ruyi to return to the bureau.
In that case, why not join their archaeological team and make the best use of everyone's talents?
As partners for over a decade, Gu Shusheng guessed that Jiang Dongming was thinking the same thing and also wanted to get Yan Ruyi under his control.
So he wanted to get Yan Ruyi to the archaeological team before Jiang Dongming could!
However, the director was away on a business trip and no one knew when he would return, so he turned to Yang Yongqing and asked, "When is Director Liu coming back?"
Yang Yongqing was puzzled. Weren't we just talking about porcelain? Why did he suddenly ask about the bureau chief?
He replied truthfully, "I don't know the specifics, but it will probably be in the next few days."
Gu Shusheng whispered to Yang Yongqing, "When Director Liu comes back, call the village committee and let me know. Please remember that."
Yang Yongqing didn't understand, but he still nodded and said, "Okay."
Gu Shusheng said, "This matter is known only to Heaven, Earth, you, and me, but don't let Chiang Kai-shek know. Not a single word can be leaked."
Yang Yongqing was completely baffled, having no idea what Gu Shusheng was up to.
However, Gu Shusheng and Jiang Dongming had always been on good terms, and since he wouldn't want to cheat Jiang Dongming, he agreed.
Jiang Dongming caught a glimpse of Gu Shusheng whispering to Yang Yongqing out of the corner of his eye.
As partners for over a decade, Jiang Dongming knows Gu Shusheng all too well.
It's no exaggeration to say that Gu Shusheng could tell what he was up to the moment he saw Gu Shusheng's eyes darted around.
Needless to say, they are definitely after Yan Ruyi right now, trying to strike first and get her into the archaeological team.
Haha, wishful thinking. It's too late. Long before he came to Zhaojiagang, he had already called Director Liu and asked him for the man.
Director Liu agreed, and Xu Licheng couldn't possibly refuse to release the person; now all that's left is to complete the formalities.
This was already a done deal; otherwise, he wouldn't have called Yan Ruyi over.
Talent is important, but you also need sufficient knowledge and experience to support it; otherwise, you won't go very far.
He called Yan Ruyi over so that she could gain experience.
After all, it is truly rare to find an ancient porcelain kiln that spans two dynasties and also preserves fragments from the previous dynasty.
Jiang Dongming wouldn't tell Gu Shusheng any of this; he just wanted to see Gu Shusheng get furious when he found out he was a step behind in the bidding.
Yan Ruyi was completely unaware that these two experts were each playing tricks on each other; her attention was entirely focused on the porcelain kiln ruins.
Although the porcelain kilns only unearthed fragments, they were exquisitely crafted, and it's hard to imagine how stunning the finished products would be!
Unfortunately, no complete piece of porcelain has been unearthed so far.
These fragments are already stunning enough, and they haven't been released to the public yet. Once they are, it's hard to imagine the sensation they'll cause.
Yan Ruyi stayed in Zhao Jiagang for a week before Jiang Dongming told her to go back.
After all, she is still nominally under Xu Licheng's command, so he can't keep Yan Ruyi following him around forever.
There were no rides available on the way back, so I had to take the bus.
The village sent a tractor to take her to the town. She needed to take a bus from the town to the county seat first, and then transfer to another bus back to the city.
Upon arriving in the county town, Yan Ruyi went straight to the ticket window, took out some money from her bag, and handed it to the ticket seller. "Comrade, I'd like to buy a ticket to Beijing."
The ticket seller handed her the ticket and the change, saying, "The bus leaves in three minutes. Hurry up, you might still catch it. Otherwise, you'll have to wait an hour if you miss it."
"Thanks!"
Yan Ruyi didn't bother to put the money back in her handbag. With the money and ticket in one hand and her travel bag in the other, she hurried into the station.
As soon as she entered the station, she saw that the train she was supposed to take had already departed.
Missing this bus meant waiting an hour for the next one, so Yan Ruyi took off running, shouting, "Driver, wait a minute!"
The driver seemed not to hear and continued driving forward.
There happened to be a soldier in military uniform right next to the car, so she ran and shouted to the People's Liberation Army soldiers, "Comrade PLA soldier, please help me stop this car!"
A note from the author:
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