When Yan Su saw that the new arrival was a young girl, his already unhappy face turned even gloomier. He let out a snort from his nose.
The old man smiled and said, "My surname is Wang. My name is Wang Lide. I'm the team leader of the cultural relic restoration group."
Hearing the name Wang Lide, Xu Qingqing's mind immediately filled with relevant information about him.
Wang Lide was a world - renowned restorer. He had participated in many domestic cultural relic restoration projects and made great contributions to cultural relic restoration.
There had been rumors in the past few years that Wang Lide had retired due to his old age, and he had rarely appeared in public. Unexpectedly, he had come to the cultural relic restoration group.
"These two are Gu Yuan and Chen Jiashu, members of the cultural relic restoration group. If you have any questions in the future, just ask them."
"Hello." Gu Yuan was an optimist. He grinned and took the initiative to reach out his hand to shake hands with Xu Qingqing.
"Hello. I'm Xu Qingqing." Xu Qingqing gently shook his hand in return.
Chen Jiashu, however, had a bit of a bad temper. He said bluntly, "You know the treatment here, right? The salary is not high, and the work requires great precision. If you can't stay, just leave quickly. Don't waste our time."
Wang Lide also let out a soft sigh. "Qingqing, don't take what Jiashu said to heart. We can't make much money here. We're just dedicated to restoring cultural relics, and the work is very difficult."
"A few newbies have come and gone. Now, only the three of us are still holding on here."
Xu Qingqing felt that she had come to the right place. She needed challenging work to improve her abilities.
Moreover, she needed to find out who was behind the Gu family, and the protection of the state was crucial.
Xu Qingqing said respectfully to Wang Lide, "Teacher Wang, I want to stay."
"Good. Later, the police station will send over a batch of Song Dynasty antiques dug out by a group of tomb robbers. Many of them are damaged. You can start working on them first."
Hearing Xu Qingqing's definite answer, there was not much surprise on Wang Lide's face. After all, every new member would say the same thing when they came here. The important thing was whether they could persevere.
"Xiao Zhou told me that you were the one who discovered and protected that batch of cultural relics. If it weren't for you, those cultural relics might have ended up overseas."
Wang Lide really appreciated and was grateful to Xu Qingqing for her timely protection of the cultural relics.
"They are our country's cultural relics. Anyone else would have tried their best to protect them too." Xu Qingqing said modestly. As she said this, her eyes sparkled with light.
Both Wang Lide and Gu Yuan were shocked by Xu Qingqing's belief. Even the cold - faced Chen Jiashu couldn't find any words to discourage her. He put on his mask and continued to restore the cultural relics.
Wang Lide showed Xu Qingqing around the villa. Each room had been converted into a studio for restoring different cultural relics.
From Wang Lide's story, Xu Qingqing learned that this villa was voluntarily provided by Wang Lide himself so that cultural relics could be restored better.
Xu Qingqing was touched by Wang Lide's dedication once again.
Half an hour later, Professor Zhou brought over the cultural relics seized last night.
"Qingqing, you're here?" Professor Zhou said happily when he saw Xu Qingqing. There were dark circles under his eyes, and stubble had grown on his chin. It was obvious that he hadn't slept all night, but his excitement was hard to hide.
"All the cultural relics have been transported out. Apart from a small number of damaged ones, the most regrettable one is the portrait of the White Queen. It's been severely damaged."
Several guards in blue police uniforms carried over foam boxes filled with broken porcelain.
The portrait of the White Queen that Professor Zhou had mentioned was stored separately in a brocade box. Professor Zhou carefully opened it and took out the tattered painting.
It was extremely fragile, as if it would turn into pieces with a little extra force.
Seeing the portrait of the White Queen in such a state, Xu Qingqing said regretfully and angrily, "It's so pitiful. How could it have ended up like this?"
"I heard that two gangs fought over this portrait. During the scuffle, the already fragile portrait was torn apart." Professor Zhou said helplessly. Then he turned to Wang Lide. "Teacher Wang, can this painting be restored to its original state?"
It was extremely difficult to unfurl the scroll. Wang Lide and Gu Yuan placed the scroll on the table.
One at the front and the other at the back, they slowly unfurled it. The ruined scroll was in such a state that even a layman would feel heart - broken, let alone them, the cultural relic restorers.
There was deep regret in Wang Lide's eyes. "There are so many tiny holes. Even if we want to restore it, we'll have to repaint it."
"Leave this painting here. I'll restore it as soon as possible."
Wang Lide looked at Xu Qingqing. "Choose one to restore."
Xu Qingqing knew that this was a test of her professional ability. She scanned the other damaged cultural relics. The difficulty level was quite low for her, something she could easily handle.
Xu Qingqing's gaze fell back on the brocade box in Wang Lide's hand. "I want to restore the portrait of the White Queen."
"No!"
Before Wang Lide could say anything, Chen Jiashu disagreed.
"Do you know how precious the portrait of the White Queen is? If you can't restore it well and something goes wrong, can you afford to compensate?"
The portrait of the White Queen was too fragile. A slight mistake or carelessness could destroy the whole painting.
Chen Jiashu would never trust such a delicate task to a newbie.
"Please trust me. I can restore this painting well." Xu Qingqing looked at Chen Jiashu sincerely.
Professor Zhou also came out to smooth things over. "Qingqing is first - rate at restoring ancient paintings. The 'Picture of Seeing a Friend Off for a Thousand Miles' she restored was perfect. Let her have a try."
Wang Lide thought for a moment and then handed the brocade box to Xu Qingqing. He warned, "If you're not sure about anything, stop immediately. Leave the rest to me."
"Okay, I understand." Xu Qingqing solemnly took the brocade box. It wasn't heavy, but it felt like it carried a great weight.
Xu Qingqing asked, "Teacher Wang, can I borrow your restoration tools?"
"Sure." Wang Lide asked Gu Yuan to fetch his toolbox.
Xu Qingqing first spread a layer of rice paper on the table. She moved the portrait onto the rice paper, then carefully cleaned the dust on the scroll with a brush. She slowly and dry - mounted it... Xu Qingqing did every step extremely meticulously.
Wang Lide and Chen Jiashu, who were sitting beside her to supervise, were unconsciously attracted by her restoration work. By the time it came to the final bonding process, Xu Qingqing remained highly focused.
She persisted from seven in the morning until seven in the evening. When she successfully held up the scroll, her whole body was so stiff from exhaustion.
The long - time high concentration and standing had made her body extremely tired.
"Perfect!" Wang Lide excitedly held up the intact scroll against the light.
Except for the final step of repainting, Xu Qingqing had restored 90% of the painting.
Wang Lide had never seen such a high - efficiency and high - quality painting restoration technique.
Although Chen Jiashu didn't say a word, his bright eyes showed his approval. He had already accepted this new member.