Chen Nuonuo never expected to meet Li Younan here again.
She was someone who naturally got along easily with others, and she was very aware of this trait.
However, this natural sociability hadn’t given her any advantage in the realm of romance.
She felt she was quite unfortunate—though she wasn’t bad-looking, she graduated from college without ever having dated. Finally meeting a handsome guy who approached her, yet he showed no interest in reciprocating.
It made her question that supposedly universal truth—"A woman pursuing a man is like a layer of gauze."
Originally, it was just a simple chance encounter, yet she didn’t expect there to be a sequel.
She immediately became excited.
It wasn’t until the staff introduced Li Younan that she realized the handsome guy before her was actually a top-tier streamer with millions of followers.
Oh my god, a streamer with millions of followers!
Then, the staff also introduced Master Chen and his granddaughter Chen Nuonuo to Li Younan.
The staff took the opportunity to explain to Li Younan the model of master-disciple training in cultural artifact restoration.
He said, "In the field of traditional crafts in China, the inheritance of skills generally follows two models: family inheritance and apprenticeship training."
"As cultural artifact restoration is part of traditional crafts, the apprenticeship model is more common."
"After all, we are restoring ancient artifacts, and in ancient times, there were specialized craftsmen who took on this task."
"Many of our restorers here come from two or three generations of practitioners, with their skills even passed down since the Qing Dynasty."
"It’s only by combining these inherited skills with modern technology that we can truly restore these artifacts to their authentic states."
"Though this model is being impacted by modern education and training, the master-disciple approach still holds a significant place in our field."
Li Younan naturally recorded the staff’s explanation.
Master Chen greeted Li Younan before returning to his work.
Across his long career, he had encountered many journalists.
Having grown accustomed to media coverage, he wouldn’t disrupt his work rhythm unless someone actively asked questions, and he understood that they were after capturing the real work environment.
He playfully knocked on his granddaughter’s head and said, "Let’s continue, stop spacing out."
The staff told Li Younan, "Working in artifact restoration really tests one’s patience, so you’ll find that in our field, the masters who endure are generally quite mild-tempered."
Li Younan nodded.
At this moment, Master Chen was explaining some restoration knowledge to the recently initiated Chen Nuonuo.
A couple of porcelain vessels were placed in front of them, with no other artifacts in the room, just some tools.
Master Chen said, "To learn artifact restoration well, first you must learn to forge."
"Of course, learning to forge doesn’t mean making counterfeits but training the ability to replicate and imitate in restoration."
"You must imitate the material, craftsmanship, patterns, and even the traces of age of ancient objects to fully understand the logic of an artifact’s creation."
At this moment, Chen Nuonuo focused on her grandfather’s explanation, nodding in understanding.
Her grandfather then picked up one of the porcelain bowls and said, "You see, in this imitation bowl of yours, you still can’t even understand the simplest touch-ups... keep practicing!"
Li Younan was also listening attentively from the side, not forgetting to record the material.
Meanwhile, the grandfather and granddaughter engrossed in their work seemed to forget about the presence of Li Younan.
They worked for a while until Master Chen received a phone call, speaking in agreement a few times before finally replying, "Alright, I’ll come over right away."
The staff curiously asked, "Are you heading out, Master Chen?"
Master Chen nodded, "Isn’t it almost the anniversary celebration? They want to try the revolving pastel hollow vase again and have asked us to attend a meeting. As you know, restoring that vase is a global challenge, and the institute has held numerous meetings about it."
The staff knowingly nodded, "That piece is indeed hard to restore. I’ve heard it’s impossible to handle with just one team."
The staff then apologized to Li Younan, "But you won’t be able to attend the meeting for interview records over there. How about I show you around elsewhere?"
Li Younan shook his head and smiled, "It’s alright, I think there’s plenty of good material here. I’d like to stay here for a while."
The staff smiled, "Alright then."
Then he hesitated a bit, "How long do you plan to stay here?"
"Hmm, why?"
"Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that if you’re staying here for long, I’d like to deal with something significant, and have Miss Chen chat with you."
"Oh, it’s fine, you go ahead with your work."
Li Younan blinked.
The staff said, "Then I’ll take my leave for a while, Miss Chen, have a good chat with Teacher Li."
Chen Nuonuo nodded, "Sure, you go ahead."
Once the staff left, curiosity sparked in Li Younan’s eyes.
Chen Nuonuo laughed and said, "Do you know what big important thing the staff went to do?"
Li Younan shook his head.
"Let me tell you, it’s our local slang for going outside the Forbidden City to smoke."
Li Younan was momentarily stunned, "Going outside the Forbidden City to smoke?"
The place was at least a twenty to thirty-minute walk from the outside of the Forbidden City.
However, he immediately understood that smoking was certainly prohibited within the Forbidden City.
In the Forbidden City, particularly in the areas that are not open to the public, management is extremely strict. You can’t even boil your own water; all drinking water is purified, because the chlorine in tap water can corrode the cultural artifacts.
However, what surprised Li Younan more was that these artisans and experts were not at all nervous around these artifacts; instead, they were quite composed.
At this moment, only Li Younan and Chen Nuonuo were left in the room.
However, Chen Nuonuo seemed completely different from when they first met.
Once she started working seriously, she became very focused, with no interest in chatting with Li Younan, all her attention concentrated on the fake porcelain in front of her.
To be honest, the porcelain that Chen Nuonuo had made was obviously fake at first glance.
From Li Younan’s point of view, the biggest issue was not the material, because with modern technology, the material and shape of the porcelain could be replicated. The key was that it had to look genuine.
When restoring porcelain artifacts, besides the body repair and glaze restoration, the re-painting of the decoration is one of the biggest challenges.
This fake created by Chen Nuonuo was for her to practice re-painting.
The re-painting required matching the original artist’s brushstrokes and color layers.
It was clear that Chen Nuonuo had some painting skills, perhaps her grandfather had intentionally cultivated these abilities in her from a young age.
But re-painting on porcelain is different from regular painting; even just getting the colors to match the original was already quite challenging for her.
She pouted as she mixed paint, always finding the colors to be slightly off from the original.
Li Younan watched with interest for a while before saying, "There’s no need to add cinnabar."
Chen Nuonuo paused, looking at Li Younan with a puzzled expression.
Li Younan stroked his chin and then, without a word, started mixing colors with the paints in front of Chen Nuonuo.
The paints in front of Chen Nuonuo were not artifacts.
Chen Nuonuo hesitated for a moment but did not stop Li Younan—since she was not dealing with genuine artifacts, just practicing with a fake, it wasn’t a big deal.
As Li Younan mixed several colors to produce that particular hue, Chen Nuonuo’s eyes widened.
The pigments used in ancient porcelain were primarily extracted from natural minerals or plants, complex in composition without a fixed formula.
Moreover, the color tone had to be closely linked with the glazing method and firing conditions, and the restoration must mimic this dynamic adaptation, along with the effects of natural aging, making it difficult to control. It required trying out options little by little.
Especially the piece her grandfather gave her to practice on was a genuine one with some faded areas.
Although it was relatively simple to replicate, it was still quite challenging for her, requiring many attempts to possibly find the best solution.
Yet, unexpectedly, Li Younan managed to casually and effortlessly mix the color in moments?
What?
Then what was all the time I spent on this for?
To the naked eye, it seemed impossible to distinguish it from the original!
After mixing the color, Li Younan felt even more intrigued and asked, "May I?"
While he asked, his brush had already touched the paint, then he pointed to the fake porcelain.
Chen Nuonuo was stunned: "What? What are you doing?"
Li Younan shrugged: "I find this craft fascinating and want to give it a try. Is that okay?"
Once again, Li Younan sought Chen Nuonuo’s permission.
Unable to hold back, Chen Nuonuo asked, "Who are you exactly?"
Li Younan replied seriously, "Oh, some places refer to me as China’s intangible cultural heritage demon king."
"Ah?"
"If you don’t object, I’ll get started."
Li Younan glanced a few times at the painted floral patterns on the original.
It’s undeniable, replicating this fake to match the original was indeed very challenging.
This was a Yongzheng pink enamel bowl with a plum blossom pattern circling, requiring meticulous replication of the original’s intricate details. The floral color needed to transition naturally from deep to light, avoiding the stiffness of modern brushwork, demanding a high level of skill from the artist.
Additionally, the original’s pigments had some localized fading, so after painting a few strokes, Li Younan diluted it gradually with a solvent, then checked the original again, feeling it reached about ninety-nine percent similarity, and nodded with satisfaction.
To be honest, the base laid by Chen Nuonuo was a little rough; otherwise, the final product would have been even closer to the real one.
Chen Nuonuo was completely silent.
Li Younan smiled and said, "So, how is it? Not bad, right? Hey, what’s up with you, did you change your name to Chen Momo?"
Chen Nuonuo shook her head, looking at Li Younan with a very complex expression.
A master!
The person in front of her absolutely had the level of a master!
Just from the few casual demonstrations by Li Younan, Chen Nuonuo realized that even if she practiced for several years, she might never achieve that level.
Li Younan was incredibly fast; just a few glances and he knew how to mix the paints and how to paint, nearly achieving a lifelike illusion.
If he were to work in this field, he would surely be a significant asset to the entire artifact restoration community.
At the same time, she became even more curious about Li Younan, asking once more, "Who are you really?"
Just at that moment, the staff member finally returned.
Upon entering, they saw the table with the fake porcelain that Chen Nuonuo had been practicing on and immediately exclaimed in amazement: "Wow, Nuonuo, you’ve already mastered this? Finished so quickly?"
With a complex expression, Chen Nuonuo replied: "It’s not something I can explain in just a few words... This wasn’t done by me."

Comments

Loading...