Chapter 175: Needle in a Haystack

The world is wrapped in plain white, ten thousand miles of snow.

Wang Qi Zhi leans against the railing, his eyes hollow and vacant. The cigarette butt between his fingers has burned down to the filter, yet he remains completely unaware.

Suddenly, he gives a start and shakes his hand vigorously.

Lin Sicheng glances over and hands him a wet wipe.

Wang Qi Zhi takes it, covers his blistered fingers, and frowns: "Your father-in-law did say that the history must be long enough, the social influence must be great, and the coverage must be wide. But Lin Sicheng, is there really a need to cover ten provinces and cities, and two or thirty kiln sites?"

Lin Sicheng bows his head: "Teacher, if we travel more and learn more, and prepare more comprehensively, our chances of success will be greater when the time comes."

"I know!" Wang Qi Zhi nods, "But Lin Sicheng, is there enough time?"

He hadn't felt it before, but after a phone call from his father-in-law, he suddenly feels like his eyebrows are being singed by fire.

The Hebei Museum has already applied for the Provincial Level, and he imagines that in three, five, or six months at most, it will be listed in the provincial directory.

The Shanghai Museum is even further ahead; once the Ministry of Culture's requirement of "must be listed in the provincial directory for two full years" is met, they can apply to the National Level department.

It is not just these two; the Jingde Imperial Kiln Museum, the Nanjing Museum, and the Cultural Relics and Museology Department of Fudan University have basically reached the stage of passing the municipal-level review and applying to the provincial-level department.

And for Xida, he and Lin Sicheng have only just established the project?

Wang Qi Zhi looks at the inspection plan in his hand, his face full of distress:

Yaozhou Kiln (Shaanxi), Pingding Kiln (Shanxi), Changsha Kiln (Hunan), Xing Kiln (Hebei), Jingdezhen (Jiangxi), Dengfeng Kiln (Henan), Wuzhou Kiln (Zhejiang)...

Looking at it this way, Lin Sicheng won't stop until he has run through all the famous kiln sites in the country?

After a long while, he scratches his brow: "Lin Sicheng, it is true that making your basic skills solid and preparing your techniques thoroughly is correct, but you cannot be too stubborn... I will tell you the truth: your grand-teacher was afraid I would take shortcuts and act opportunistically, which is why he spoke so severely. Do you believe me?"

Lin Sicheng remains silent.

Because what Director Dan said was by no means alarmist: take the Shanghai Museum, for example; they started applying when the trial measures for the World Heritage Application were first issued in 2004. At that time, there were no district, city, provincial, or national level restrictions, let alone time limits.

As a result, they applied once and were rejected once, then applied again and were rejected again.

The main reason was exactly the same as Wang Qi Zhi's current mindset: afraid of being beaten to the punch, they took shortcuts. They basically applied for whatever was famous and expensive: first Blue and White Porcelain, then Ming and Qing Imperial Porcelain, and the third time they added Song Porcelain.

Secondly, there were considerations regarding research costs, time span, manpower, material resources, and funding, so the project's coverage was not wide enough and public recognition was not high enough.

Yet they ignored the core of the World Heritage Application: continuing the genetic code of civilization, strengthening public identification and sense of belonging to traditional culture, and even creating an international calling card to increase international influence and enhance international discourse power.

To put it bluntly, how many pieces of Imperial Porcelain and Song Porcelain have been passed down, and how many have the public actually seen?

Therefore, they fought repeatedly and were defeated repeatedly... From the first application in 2004, stumbling and falling, they wasted seventeen whole years until they finally succeeded in 2021.

As for the Hebei Museum, they suffered two consecutive defeats and gave up entirely afterward.

Therefore, Lin Sicheng feels: sharpening the knife does not delay the wood-chopping; rather than fighting and losing repeatedly, it is better to strike directly at the heart of the matter.

There is also no need to compete with the Shanghai Museum or the Hebei Museum for a moment's lead; the preliminary review and re-examination are at a unified time, and it is not as if the earlier one applies, the higher the success rate.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Sicheng explains patiently: "Teacher, it is indeed a bit slow in the beginning, but the inspection and learning will basically come to an end in about a year. By then, the city will surely have passed it, and we can apply for the Provincial Level simultaneously. Then, according to the time requirement: after two full years, it will just be 2010, the timing is just right..."

"Teacher, if you are still worried, then I will do my inspections, and you can do your applications. The first year, plus the following two years, three years in total, I will definitely be able to finish the inspections... If it really doesn't work, then you can pull some strings first: get into the provincial directory first, then supplement the materials bit by bit, and gradually perfect the inheritance genealogy..."

"Of course I know how to operate, Lin Sicheng, what I am worried about is that with ten or twenty types of kilns spanning several dynasties, can you even learn them all?"

Wang Qi Zhi looks left and right, lowering his voice, "The district and city levels are definitely no problem, and there is no need, and the provincial level is not impossible to maneuver, but once it reaches Beijing... your teacher wants to help you cheat, but I have no way?"

Lin Sicheng is between laughter and tears: where is the need to cheat?

Eight years at the Forbidden City, following the old Mrs. Wang, he has almost vomited from all the remedial work he has done.

As the saying goes, once you master one method, you master them all; even if he doesn't know something, learning it is definitely not as difficult as Wang thinks...

Thinking secretly, Lin Sicheng smiles again: "Teacher, how about this: we will apply for as many types as I eventually master... will that work?"

Wang Qi Zhi is silent: he is stuck in a dead end, there is no cure!

It is freezing cold, the depths of winter, and he could just ask for some materials and study them in the studio, but he insists on running outside?

Sighing, he waves his hand impatiently: "Go, go, go..."

Lin Sicheng smiles, pats Wang Qi Zhi on the shoulder, and waves at Dan Wangshu and Ye Anning: "Teacher's wife, Cousin Ye, goodbye!"

Dan Wangshu nods: "Wear more clothes when you are out in the field... remember to call often. Tongchuan is only sixty or seventy kilometers away, come back when it's the weekend..."

"Okay, Teacher's wife!"

Lin Sicheng replies, smiles at Ye Anning, and turns to get into the business van.

Zhang Feng starts the engine, and the car drives into the highway entrance, merging into the traffic.

Once the taillights are out of sight, Dan Wangshu glares at Ye Anning: "What is wrong with you today, are you mute?"

Ye Anning purses her lips: "On the day of the review, my uncle was half-drunk, and he took my uncle home... Before leaving, he said to me: Goodbye, Sister Anning... I said, don't call me Sister Anning in the future... Then, he called me Cousin Ye..."

Dan Wangshu is stunned for a moment, then laughs: "Lin... Lin Sicheng is really... it's just a name, right?"

For a moment, she doesn't know what to say.

Wang Qi Zhi has a strange look on his face: is it just changing the form of address, just calling a name?

He looks at Ye Anning again: "Your aunt taught you this, right? Lin Sicheng is already busy as a dog, and you are still putting psychological pressure on him?"

"If you don't understand, stay out of it!" Dan Wangshu glares at him, "If you have the ability, why don't you find Lin Sicheng a new Assistant?"

Change the Assistant, Li Zhen?

Wang Qi Zhi chuckles: worrying about nothing.

Didn't you see that Shang Yan is also there? Li Zhen, this Assistant, is currently assisting Shang Yan, okay?

The one mainly assisting Lin Sicheng is the male Master they just hired. Besides, having spent so much time together, don't you know what kind of character Lin Sicheng has?

Just as he is feeling dismissive, he suddenly pauses: Oh no, he forgot to tell Lin Sicheng to listen less to the nonsense from those three Police officers...

In a flash, he hurriedly takes out his phone.

In the car, Lin Sicheng holds a character relationship chart, and the accompanying Captain of the Criminal Investigation Division explains one by one:

"Zhou Xiaojun, nickname Black Eight, apprentice of Gao Zhengang (the second-in-command of the Yu Dahai gang, the 'eye' who identifies artifacts), started working alone around 2000, served three years in prison..."

"Liu Kui, nickname Liu the Top, was once a skilled tomb raider under Yu Dahai..."

"These two are currently active in the Tongchuan area..."

Lin Sicheng listened quietly, sighing inwardly: impressive?

He had only just said he was going to Tongchuan, and Bureau Chief Chen had already dug up the relevant figures in the Tongchuan area?

One could truly say he knows how to insert a Needle wherever there is a gap...