Chapter 209 Heart Arsonist

Let’s go back 25 years.

Although Lao Gao was not as young and flamboyant as he is now, he was also the most popular person in this museum.

Because he looked very similar to the singer who sang "The Waves Remain", he was very popular with the opposite sex. With the help of the then museum director, he married his wife, who had just graduated from college and was assigned to the museum.

Unexpectedly, people did not come for other people, but for the cultural relics in the museum.

At that time, Lao Gao was learning from the old curator how to copy cultural relics, mainly some gold, silver, jade and stone artifacts in the museum's collection.

Because of this relationship, his wife was assigned to a position responsible for the registration and management of cultural relics in the museum.

Lao Gao and his master never imagined that when their child was just one year old, his wife would take out the original work as a replica during a loan exhibition.

Then he shipped all the cultural relics abroad and sold them, and he left Lao Gao and his son behind to live a "free" life in America.

"The old curator was directly dismissed because of this incident, but he took all the responsibility on himself, which saved Lao Gao."

After the aunt finished speaking, she sighed.

She was assigned here together with Lao Gao's wife. If it were now, she would at least be a bridesmaid or something to witness their happiness.

Who could have imagined that the situation would be like this.

"Uncle Gao, this is not your fault."

After listening to this, Shen Yiyi analyzed very seriously:

"The trend of going abroad in the late 1990s was a fatal attraction for young women who had received higher education at that time."

"Like one of my mom's cousins, she also abandoned her husband and children and went to France. Now she washes dishes for people."

"This is not your problem at all. It is created by the individual and the times."

"Yes." Zhang Yang also agreed: "That is to say, there are more college students now, but if we count the college students with the highest academic qualifications, many of them are actually abroad."

"I think you are just simply unlucky, Lao Gao."

"Then I am too unlucky." Lao Gao smiled bitterly and responded to Zhang Yang reluctantly.

For an old man in his fifties with gray hair, such comfort is better than nothing.

Because of the incident involving his wife, the cultural relic thief, almost all the precious cultural relics in the museum here were handed over.

Although Lao Gao still has a job, because of what happened before, when others imitate his works, they only need to write an application and take the original to observe carefully.

He could only look at what was in the display cabinet.

This is also the main reason why it took him three years to replicate this complex gold crown.

Moreover, due to his limited level, other people's imitations can be exhibited nationwide, but his imitations can only be displayed in this small exhibition hall of several dozen square meters, and will also be exported due to bad reviews.

"Hey, Lao Gao, it's okay."

Zhang Yang sat down next to Lao Gao, patted him on the shoulder encouragingly, and said something from the bottom of his heart:
"In fact, the biggest problem with the gold-thread Yishan crown you copied is not the craftsmanship, but the material, that is, the gold thread."

"If you have the chance, go to Dachang County in Langfang. It has been the source of filigree inlay for the imperial court since the Ming Dynasty."

"You can buy some high-quality gold wire from them and try again."

To some extent, Dachang is more important to filigree inlay than Jingdi Town is to porcelain.

Lao Gao is an old hand in this field, so of course he knows.

But Zhang Yang's appearance and his identity as a tourist made it seem very suspicious that he could say such things.

"Brother, do you understand this too?"

"Know a little bit."

Although Zhang Yang was being modest, Shen Yiyi, who was familiar with him, knew that this was actually a more low-key way of showing off. "Then what's the problem with the gold thread I pulled myself?" Lao Gao asked in confusion.

After Zhang Yang pointed this out, he could actually grasp a little bit of it, but he couldn't figure it out completely for a while.

There are eight techniques for filigree inlay, including pinching, filling, gathering, welding, piling, stacking, weaving and plaiting, and Lao Gao has confidence in each of them.

The only thing he overlooked was the gold thread.

"It's not your problem."

"It's mainly because we have no money." Zhang Yang said with a smile.

This is not a big secret, and there is no harm in telling it. Anyway, Lao Gao is helping the official to copy cultural relics, not for his own personal profit.

"When the ancients made filigree inlays, they didn't just have enough gold wire, but also divided it into different grades according to its thickness."

"For items like the Golden Wire Wing Shan Crown used by the emperor, the craftsmen would strive to make every strand of gold thread perfect, and also pay attention to the matching of thickness."

"Back then, the craftsmen who made gold thread weaving usually practiced weaving with straw and bamboo, so if you look closely at the things they weave, you can feel the tendons and veins."

"So if you have enough money to buy gold, you can make a pretty good imitation."

"But the gold threads produced by big factories can't achieve the effect you mentioned, right?" Lao Gao asked puzzledly.

The gold threads sold outside nowadays are all drawn by machines, and there is no difference in thickness.

This is why he chose to do the wire drawing by hand at that time.

"It's not as good as that, but it's better than what you draw by hand."

"And when you weave with that kind of gold thread, tourists will only sigh and say, 'It turns out that during the Ming Dynasty, our ability to process gold thread was so strong...'"

While Zhang Yang was talking to Lao Gao, the aunt quietly moved to Shi Nannan's side and asked:
"Hey, sorry to bother asking."

"Who is this guy? What is your relationship?"

"Him?" Shi Nannan smiled, pulled Shen Yiyi's sleeve, and told the aunt at the same time: "This man is a famous arsonist in Qingzhou."

"As for why, let this girl tell you."

"What criminal?" The old lady looked at Shen Yiyi with confusion.

"My senior brother is not a criminal. He is the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage skills, and he mainly makes bronze ware. Our lineage and the lineage of the Forbidden City were at the same level back then."

"This time we came to Yenching mainly for academic exchanges."

Shen Yiyi kept in mind what Zhang Yang said. When you go out, your identity is given by yourself.

So she cleverly concealed the "county level" in front of the inheritor, and directly referred to the Forbidden City in the back.

After hearing this, the aunt's expression changed immediately.

When I looked back at Zhang Yang, listening to the professional terms that popped out of his mouth from time to time, I felt a sense of admiration like a passerby seeing the protagonist.

Seeing that the two craftsmen were about to finish their conversation, the aunt took the initiative to suggest:

"Lao Gao, why don't you take this young man to your workshop? He knows so much. Wouldn't it be easier for him to find the problem if he takes a look?"

When Lao Gao heard this, he thought it made sense and immediately invited Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang was busy and wanted to refuse, but the aunt noticed his expression and immediately said:
"Mr. Zhang, Lao Gao is also an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage and the inheritor of our provincial-level gold and silver craftsmanship. You two can have a good communication."

"Oh?" Zhang Yang didn't expect that Lao Gao had such an identity.

Well, now we have to communicate.

I don’t know if there is any internal recommendation. Zhang Yang feels that his level of gold and silver jewelry should be able to get provincial level now.

(End of this chapter)