Chapter 145: Geniuses Need No Reason

Lin Sicheng stood at the very center of the laboratory bench.

About five minutes later, the materials team delivered the already-turned lian body (the inner mold for the Lacquer Box).

They used an electric lathe; by inputting various data and pressing a button, it was finished very quickly.

Another five minutes later, they delivered the degreased ramie cloth. This material is used to form the skeleton of the lacquer box; wood is also used, but it is not impact-resistant and is overly thick, heavy, and clumsy.

After about another five minutes, the materials team delivered the materials for the mounting and lacquer ash as Lin Sicheng had requested: they were actually both glues, the former being the adhesive used to stick the ramie cloth onto the wooden mold, and the latter used for shaping and reinforcing the base.

These were about all the materials; Lin Sicheng put on his gloves and began to mix the lacquer.

Huang Zhifeng stared without blinking, and Yao Hansong also narrowed his eyes.

It wasn't that the people from the Provincial Museum were not composed, but rather: Lin Sicheng was too young.

Being proficient in theory, knowing it by heart, or even deducing techniques from a Thesis—this is difficult, but not without precedent.

But to say that someone in their early twenties has such rich experience and such seasoned skills, to be honest, is truly a bit difficult to believe.

What's more, he was self-taught?

The more critical point was: the difficulty of the Inlaid Gold Technique is inherently high, and the difficulty of a lian with figure and floral patterns is even higher. They didn't quite believe that Lin Sicheng could have learned it through self-study.

Just like the people in this laboratory, including Yao Hansong and Huang Zhifeng, who would dare claim they could deduce ancient techniques through self-study?

That was why they were curious about the extent of Lin Sicheng's learning.

Anyone who didn't have work in their hands basically gathered around.

Lin Sicheng was unhurried and methodical: grinding, sieving, weighing, proportioning, mounting, and then drying.

Seven dryings and seven mountings took about two hours, with simultaneous scraping of ash for fine finishing, which is to say, reinforcing the base with each layer.

Huang Zhifeng's spirits lifted slightly: Here it comes!

Before the engraving and Inlaid Gold, reinforcing the base is considered the most difficult process, with each layer requiring four steps:

The first pass of Coarse Ash fills the texture of the ramie cloth. The second pass of Medium Ash levels the surface. The third pass of Fine Ash, also known as light ash, is mainly for increasing luster. The fourth pass involves polishing the box base to a mirror finish.

The difficulty of the craft lies in the thickness: according to the requirements of Song Dynasty craftsmanship, seven layers of ramie cloth plus seven layers of mounting, plus twenty-one layers of lacquer ash, must not exceed a total thickness of 3 millimeters.

But seven layers of ramie cloth alone are already about that thick when pressed. So where did the mounting and lacquer ash go?

The secret lies in the mixing of the lacquer: the mounting and lacquer ash penetrate the ramie cloth, which not only prevents the formation of separate layers but also allows the lacquer base to be shaped and reinforced.

Furthermore, good lacquer glue can soften the ramie fibers, and then, during the process of coagulation, increase the density of the ramie layer and reduce its thickness.

This is also known as Ganqi Jiazhu; a master of Jiazhu with high-level skills can control the thickness to around 5mm.

How thin could Lin Sicheng make it?

Huang Zhifeng felt that, forget three millimeters, even if he relaxed it to double that, a ramie base thickness not exceeding six millimeters would count as a pass.

The others had similar thoughts, watching without blinking.

Wang Qi Zhi, however, slowly picked up his Tea Cup: he couldn't judge how thin Lin Sicheng could make it, but he had seen Lin Sicheng mix raw lacquer: holding both ends with two hands, he could stretch a lacquer thread over a meter long, as thin as a hair, without it breaking.

That was even more difficult than what was before them.

But Huang Zhifeng hadn't seen it, and the others hadn't seen it either.

When they saw Lin Sicheng finish scraping the first layer of lacquer ash, the crowd hadn't realized anything yet. They just felt that this kid had definitely practiced, otherwise he wouldn't be so proficient.

Even Huang Zhifeng secretly sighed: whether he was self-taught or not, he didn't know, but he definitely had experience, and it was sufficiently rich.

But when Lin Sicheng finished scraping the second layer, Huang Zhifeng noticed something wrong: two layers of ash had already been applied. Why didn't the base shell seem to have thickened much?

When it was dried for the third time and he was scraping the third layer of lacquer ash, Huang Zhifeng leaned in a little closer.

But after looking for only a few moments, his pupils constricted: the third pass of Fine Ash had been scraped on, yet the base shell was still as thick as it was before?

It was equivalent to saying that not a single bit of thickness had been added; where did all that ash that was applied go?

Surely this kid didn't apply it so thinly just to show off?

Subconsciously, Huang Zhifeng and Yao Hansong exchanged a look, but Professor Yao shook his head.

He had also noticed, but it was too early to draw a conclusion; they would have to wait until the final drying and shaping, and then remove the inner mold to see.

Huang Zhifeng let out a breath and waited patiently.

It went back into the furnace for rapid drying and balanced drying; after about half an hour, the lacquer base was formed.

The clay board in the interlayer was pulled out, and with a gentle tug, "Zzz—" the wooden base came off.

Huang Zhifeng's gaze was burning: "Little Lin, shall we test it?"

Of course, it had to be tested.

Lin Sicheng nodded and handed the lacquer base to the testing personnel.

The machine was right there, and the speed was very fast, taking about ten minutes.

Looking at the display screen, more than a dozen people, men and women, young and old, looked at each other: how were these data measured?

Circumferential tensile strength: ≥25MPa.

Flexural modulus: ≥4GPa (three-point bending test).

Impact toughness: ≥9kJ/m (Charpy impact test)……

It could be said: this data performance was even higher in strength and toughness than a lacquer base with over ten layers of mounting and a thickness of over five millimeters?

But looking at the thickness: 2……

The laboratory gradually fell silent.

Yao Hansong didn't speak, just stared at the test report. Huang Zhifeng's eyes were burning, as if they were nailed to Lin Sicheng's face: "How did you do it?"

Lin Sicheng was concise: "Lacquer piling!"

Huh, raw lacquer…… could he do Ceramic Repair?

No, he could already do Ceramic Repair; it was specifically mentioned during the introduction: it was a family craft, and his grandfather's ancient ceramic repairs were extremely good and famous in the industry.

But it wasn't said that he could also use lacquer threads for Ceramic Repair?

With such high tensile strength and such strong toughness, how thin and how long could he pull a lacquer thread?

Huang Zhifeng did not make a sound, looking at Yao Hansong: "Didn't you say he was self-taught?"

Yao Hansong also did not make a sound: "You only heard him say his grandfather could repair antique porcelain, but you didn't ask what kind of porcelain his grandfather repaired?"

"Qing Dynasty Famille Rose!"

"Go ask again, whose family uses raw lacquer to repair Famille Rose?"

The two looked at each other in silence, then Huang Zhifeng grabbed Lin Sicheng's hand again, a faint smile on his face: "Next is the polishing, followed by the lacquer coating (applying vermilion lacquer to build up the thickness of the lacquer layers); these two are relatively simple, just leave them to the lacquer workers."

"Of course, you must mix the lacquer yourself, so for the next few weeks, Little Lin, you will need to come over every other day... Don't be in a rush to leave when you get here, let's have a good discussion..."

Yao Hansong also nodded: "After all, the equipment is complete and the materials are sufficient; if you want to practice, you can get to work anytime!"

Lin Sicheng grasped Huang Zhifeng's hand: "I will definitely have to trouble Professor Huang in the future!"

Huang Zhifeng smiled even more happily: "No trouble, no trouble at all!"

The teacher and student looked at each other again: having one more person's support also meant one more source of technical strength.

Their main goal in the near term was the World Heritage Application, so even if Huang Zhifeng didn't mention it, they would come often. Even if they couldn't come once every two days, they would have to come once or twice a week.

The main reason was to borrow the Provincial Museum's laboratory: traditional tools were easy to get, but those high-end, precision processing and testing instruments were not even available at the school.

Wang Qi Zhi's idea was to ask the principal to see if the school could purchase a set. But Lin Sicheng estimated that the principal would not agree: a single small multi-functional machine tool alone cost eight or nine hundred thousand to a million US dollars, which was six or seven million RMB.

Once the iron-ware project was officially approved, the school would naturally buy them.

For this current stage, they could only freeload...

They roughly agreed on the time for the next visit, and upon checking the watch, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon without them realizing it.

Lin Sicheng thanked everyone one by one again; whether it was the Researchers or the technicians, their attitudes were completely different from before.

Surprise was mixed with a few traces of curiosity, and politeness was mixed with a few traces of admiration.

The two sides said their goodbyes, and Yao Hansong and Huang Zhifeng personally saw them downstairs.

Sitting in the car, Wang Qi Zhi rubbed his brow: "There is basically no problem here at the Provincial Museum; after we go back, I will sort things out and see which day I can run over to the district."

"Teacher, it would be fine to go after we finish talking with the Provincial Museum." Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "How about we let Grandfather go move around first to test the waters!"

Wang Qi Zhi's eyes lit up: "That's right!"

A Consultant is a Consultant; they don't necessarily have to be just a technical advisor.

Wang Qi Zhi's status was too sensitive; it would be like playing a trump card the moment he entered the field, which was too eye-catching.

The old man was just right: he understood the technology and had extensive connections...

The more Wang Qi Zhi thought about it, the more appropriate he felt it was: "Are you going to talk to him, or am I?"

"Teacher, you talk to him!"

Lin Sicheng sighed: suddenly knowing too much really would scare the old man.

As soon as Wang Qi Zhi looked at him, he knew what he was thinking, and he chuckled: "It's fine, you'll get used to it!"

Just like him, he was now too lazy to even ask, and he couldn't keep up with the questions anyway: just like Lin Sicheng, who had never mentioned before that he could find tombs?

And today's Gold-Inlaid Lacquer Box—from the time Lin Sicheng brought it back until today, it had only been four or five days. He had only looked up some information and pondered it for a few days, and he was already able to replicate it?

This was something he had seen with his own eyes; he could only say: geniuses don't need a reason...