An hour later.
The experts returned, and Zhou Ning was astonishingly surprised by the setup inside.
There were many faces Zhou Ning recognized, of course not from the R&D center, but all were real heavyweights in their respective disciplines. The fact that Qin University had sent such an expert team clearly showed their serious commitnt.
Mr. Lu, naturally, was among them. Seeing Zhou Ning, he winked at him with animated expression but did not go over to greet him familiarly, understanding that Zhou Ning was busy and that Zhou Ning also knew Mr. Lu needed to establish his authority. They silently nodded to each other in a perfect understanding.
People trickled in, followed by two elders. Zhou Ning recognized one of them and hurriedly stood up, reaching out with both hands towards the elder.
"Elder Hu, long ti no see, I didn’t expect you to co along."
Elder Hu cracked a smile.
"From what you’re saying, it doesn’t sound very welcoming!"
"How could that be? But since you’ve co, does that an you are going to introduce so new disciplines at Hexi College?"
Elder Hu nodded and pointed to the elder beside him, saying:
"You’re quite sharp, lad. Just a hint and you can guess the intentions of the school leaders. We old folks have been mulling over it all the way here and still couldn’t figure it out, so we decided not to bother guessing.
Let introduce him to you. This is my old friend, Zhu Guozheng. He has delved into a wide range of disciplines, and powder materials, which everyone is familiar with, were his creation. Of course, he also spent a considerable amount of ti in his youth working with the people from the Forbidden City on the restoration of ancient materials."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning’s eyes lit up and he hurriedly shook Zhu Guozheng’s hand. Zhu Guozheng smiled and looked at Elder Hu.
"I say, the way this young man looks at is odd, and I feel a chill down my spine. Did you say sothing you shouldn’t have?"
Elder Hu waved his hand dismissively.
"Stop nagging. Among the young people, he’s the only one I admire, and Li Chengbin snatched him away. Otherwise, I would have dragged him to be my apprentice. Alas, what a pity."
Zhou Ning, not a bit embarrassed, leaned in between the two and whispered eagerly:
"It’s an honor to et you, Elder Zhu. I’ve encountered a problem. Just now, Elder Hu introduced your research on materials and restoration, and I would like you to help look at sothing. It’s a file on an antique, very old, and I’m not sure if it has been affected by moisture or sared with sothing, but now it has beco like a wooden board, and I want to separate them."
Xu Dayuan appeared to have heard Zhou Ning speaking and quickly walked over. Seeing Zhou Ning stopping Elder Hu and Zhu Guozheng, Xu Dayuan laughed.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you know how to find the right people. Alright, don’t stand here talking. Co and have a look at the object. I guarantee Elder Zhu will find it imnsely interesting, and it’s sothing you can’t stop him from seeing."
Zhu Guozheng rubbed his chin, looked alternately at Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning, and finally set his gaze on his old friend.
"Why do I get the feeling that you’ve sold out?"
Elder Hu glared at him.
"You’re nearly seventy, what else could we want from you? Make the most of your abilities and contribute to the field, and here we are offering you a chance to head a new departnt. Are you not interested, or what? If you don’t want the industry to progress, you’d better say so now!"
Zhu Guozheng waved his hand and burst out laughing.
"Quit your kidding, let’s go have a look. I’m quite curious to know what that thing you’ve ntioned is."
With that, the group proceeded to the next room. After all, they were about to hold a field eting on the deepened cooperation for the developnt of the next steps for Qin University and Hexi College. In truth, everything was already settled; it was a matter of conducting a ceremony and signing a docunt. Once the television station broadcast it, the partnership would be effectively publicized.
Elder Hu, Zhu Guozheng, Mr. Huang, Xu Dayuan, Mr. Zhao, and Zhou Ning took their seats.
Elder Feng was busy examining those painted coffins and also looking into the thod of their opening, but Liu Yufei and Fang Dongsheng were nowhere to be seen, which had Zhou Ning slightly worried, since Xia Momo was with them.
"They haven’t co back from their investigation?"
Xu Dayuan coughed.
"They’re on their way back. Don’t worry about their safety. Okay, now take out those things you’ve found and let the experts have a look."
Mr. Zhao placed the sorting box on the table. Zhou Ning, wearing gloves, opened the two topmost docunt bags, which looked like two compressed bricks of tea on the table, quite tactile to the touch.
"When we found these things, they were in a tal box, unlocked. The preservation environnt was a dark and damp cave, but the seal was very good. I’ve opened all the docunt bags and looked inside; their conditions are much the sa.
The docunts seed to have been soaked in sothing, and then clamped tight with a hydraulic press, compact as a brick. Moreover, the docunts inside are separate from the docunt bags. In other words, they were in this state when put inside; the edges are not cut, but very neat. Please have a look."
The others all leaned in closer, Mr. Zhao quickly distributed latex gloves to everyone, and Zhu Guozheng examined one, then brought it to his nose for a sniff. Elder Hu peered at him.
"I say, do you all do your testing with your nose now?"
"You old man, why so much chatter? When I opened the bag, I didn’t sll any mold. How could there be no moldy sll in a dark and damp cave? I think these materials must’ve been sprayed with so special chemical, then compressed. An unknowing person might soak them in water or forcefully tear them apart, ruining everything. I’ve read a record about this before, but I need to search for it."
Everyone was surprised, not expecting Zhu Guozheng to find a solution so quickly. Xu Dayuan stared at Zhu Guozheng, and under that gaze, Zhu Guozheng subconsciously stepped back a bit.
"Elder Zhu, are you suggesting that if we use the right thod, these docunts can be restored to their original state, is that it?"
"Theoretically, yes. First, I’m going to look for that article, then find the materials and try to restore them. I think it’s feasible, but I can’t guarantee it outright!"
At that mont, Elder Hu set down the docunt bag and took another look at the front page of those files.
"From the handwriting, this ’military, land forces, telegram’ was written with a left-hand fountain pen, the script flowing smoothly. The signatures at the bottom are also in different handwriting.
Based on the three characters ’land, machine, report,’ this habit of writing telegrams would place it between 1930 and 1940, because after 1940, Sapporo’s script beca sowhat like our Chinese script, with partial simplification of the characters.
As for this ’Plan to Destroy the City of the Eleventh Garrison District,’ dated March 20th, 1966, although there are many traditional characters inside, a few characters’ usage has retained unique features.
I believe the person who wrote this learned simplified characters, but still retains the writing habits from their missionary school days, for instance, ’twenty,’ ’book,’ and so on. Hence, this person must have been educated before the founding of the nation."
Xu Dayuan narrowed his eyes and glanced at the characters Elder Hu had pointed out. There’s a reason why professionals are professionals; he imdiately grasped the essence.
Those characters, indeed, elderly people are prone to writing in traditional characters.
But this particular style of writing was still different, especially the word ’book.’ The bottom characters were unlike the familiar traditional ’書,’ with the ’day’ character standing vertical.
"Based on Elder Hu’s analysis, the person who wrote this was educated before the nation’s founding and had a special status, surely an adult by then. So, in 1966, he would have been at least in his forties. Too young to retain the original habits, too old to completely accept simplified characters, is that what you’re saying?"
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