Chapter 218: Shocking Just to Think About

After the holidays, everything got back on track.

Lin Sicheng carried a document bag and walked toward the conference room.

Today was the first general meeting since the Center was established a month ago. Everyone attended, except for one receptionist at the front desk and one security guard outside the exhibition hall.

The newly hired assistant was waiting in the hallway early; seeing him from afar, he first smiled, then bowed slightly.

"Teacher Lin!"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Senior Brother Fang, no need to be so formal, relax!"

With another faint smile, Assistant Fang nodded.

By title, he should have been called Director, but Lin Sicheng was not used to it, so everyone at the Center uniformly called him Teacher.

Lin Sicheng's personality could not be called anything but good—soft-spoken, gentle, and modest. He had emphasized many times that the assistant should be more casual, but the assistant dared not be, and even if he wanted to be, he couldn't.

Not to mention anything else, just look at the college's leaders and professors—who among them still addressed him directly by name when they saw him now?

Those more distant called him Director Lin, while those closer all called him Teacher Lin...

With these thoughts, he helped Lin Sicheng open the conference room door.

The two walked in, one after the other.

Just as he crossed the threshold, Lin Sicheng paused slightly: No... why were there so many people?

This was the internal conference room, which also served as the Center's multi-functional classroom.

In the middle was a U-shaped table, and behind it were rows of seats, about fifty or sixty in total, and they were almost full.

But how could the Center have so many people?

Looking closer, several people from the School Office and College Office had come, and there were many professors from the Porcelain Research Group. Besides them, there were also several leaders and technicians from the District Cultural Bureau, Tourism Bureau, and Industrial Bureau.

A rough count showed there were not many fewer of them than the Center's own staff.

After a brief pause, Lin Sicheng hurriedly smiled: "Leaders, I apologize, I'm late!"

"Not late, not late, it is we who arrived early..."

The one speaking was Section Chief Han from the Cultural Bureau, who also served as the director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center. He had arrived before the New Year and had been stationed at Xida for a month.

The two people beside him were deputy directors; they didn't come often, but they had eaten together several times, and every time they ate, they were forced to drink by Wang Qi Zhi, so they were already very familiar.

With a laugh, Section Chief Han patted the seat beside him: "Come, Teacher Lin, sit here!"

This was the main seat; if it were an internal meeting, Lin Sicheng would certainly have sat there. But with so many people suddenly arriving, Lin Sicheng didn't quite understand the nature of today's meeting.

Just as he was pondering, Section Chief Han pulled him: "Teacher Lin, don't mind us. We came this morning and heard from Professor Wang that the Center was holding a meeting, so we thought we'd learn a thing or two... Don't worry, we're just observing, we won't cause any trouble!"

Lin Sicheng suddenly understood.

Since the supervising authority wanted to observe the meeting, the College Office and School Office, as the applicant units, certainly had to accompany them. The college's Porcelain Research Group was the guiding unit, so they were naturally indispensable.

Naturally, the number of people nearly doubled, turning it into an enlarged meeting.

In the moment before sitting down, he scanned the room again: excluding the school and the superior units, there were only about twenty people from within the Center. This included the three guiding Consultants: Grandpa, Professor Wang, and Professor Shang.

Underneath were five departments of varying sizes.

The R&D Department was personally headed by Lin Sicheng, with two core Researchers beneath him, both recruited through the alumni association—one a Doctor, one a Master. They had worked in large laboratories for many years and were very experienced.

If Lin Sicheng was away, Shang Yan would take care of things on his behalf.

Training and archives were concurrently managed by Shang Yan, to be gradually handed over once Li Zhen matured further.

The School Office had provided a deputy director, responsible for personnel, outreach, and the Center's daily operations, which was roughly the office side of things.

For finance, they hired a professional firm, and after Wang Qi Zhi discussed it with the old man, they also arranged for a trustworthy cashier.

Finally, there was the Ministry of Commerce; they didn't hire anyone for this, as it was directly handled by General Manager Zhao, who was also assigned a professional Assistant.

Below them were Technicians, Data Clerks, Archivists, Apprentices (Zhao Da and Zhao Er), Interns, and logistics personnel.

Though the staff was small, their strength was not weak.

First, look at the scale: the equipment of the two ceramic experimental centers at the archaeology and cultural relics protection colleges combined barely exceeded ten million. Lin Sicheng had spent over six million here, more than half of the college's total.

Then look at the R&D Department's storage: of the experimental samples General Manager Zhao brought in, which one wasn't from a famous kiln or a famous porcelain?

They might not compare in quantity, but in terms of value, the quality of their sample reserves was several times higher than the college's Porcelain Research Group.

Then look at the exhibits in the exhibition hall; although most had been replaced with replicas now, when they were first placed there, every single piece was an authentic, precious item.

Not to mention the several pieces Lin Sicheng had picked up like bargains just a couple of days ago?

And these were secondary; the most important and critical factor was Lin Sicheng's R&D capability:

From the start of preparations until now, a full six months, the Center had already listed six patent projects in its registration plan:

A method for repairing hairline cracks in ancient porcelain without damage, a Porcelain Defect Repair Method (for missing parts), Kaolin Clay geopolymer repair materials, lacquer materials for repairing ceramic bodies, and two restored innovative crafts: Qing Dynasty Factory Official Glaze (Tea Dust) and the Yaozhou Inverted Flow Pot.

One must know that the latter two could directly support the establishment of a factory.

Even setting that aside, just speaking of restoration: General Manager Zhao's younger brother had been here for nearly half a month, his eyes turning blue with longing. If Lin Sicheng just nodded, he could bring countless broken vessels from Beijing—if not blue and white, then doucai, or else enamel, famille rose; the worst were Sacrificial Glaze Porcelain and Wucai.

At Lin Sicheng's speed, he could repair at least one piece a day; if he charged a little less, say fifty thousand per piece, how much would that be in a month?

But whether it was Wang Qi Zhi, Lin Zhangqing, or Lin Sicheng himself, they all felt it was better not to commercialize too early; the focus in the early stages should still be on R&D.

Even if they were to generate revenue in the medium term, the target group should be cultural and museum institutions. It wasn't that they couldn't take private restoration work, but they had to be cautious.

The reason was simple: given the current environment of the antique trade, you might repair it as a damaged vessel, but when others sell it after the repair, they don't sell it as a damaged vessel.

It wouldn't go so far as to cause a lawsuit, but it would be too damaging to their reputation.

Therefore, they had to constantly research and learn, and try to perfect the technical crafts of every famous kiln and kiln system.

Not to mention the long term, if they could thoroughly research the main kilns and famous porcelains of the surrounding provinces, as long as they could become the best in the Northwest, he wouldn't be able to finish repairing the porcelain collections of the various provincial museums alone.

Including now, although they hadn't generated revenue and the Center was still constantly spending money, the staff's compensation was not low, exceeding the city average for the same positions by over twenty percent. This included receptionists, cleaners, and security guards.

It is no exaggeration: let alone researchers, in the month before and after the New Year, the interns coming to the Center to apply for positions could line up from here to the school gate.

Therefore, there was no need for Lin Sicheng to paint a big picture; from top to bottom, everyone at the Center was fired up.

Those who knew, knew; Lin Sicheng didn't say much, just mentioned things generally, and then talked about the recent plans and work arrangements.

There are three points: continue the study and inspection, synchronize research and development with training, and perfect the archives and World Heritage Application materials to prepare for the municipal-level World Heritage Application.

Lin Sicheng spoke with eloquence, and Wang Qi Zhi and Lin Zhangqing, who were sitting at the lower end of the table, exchanged a glance, feeling deeply gratified:

You didn't teach him, right? I didn't teach him either.

But the plan, the arrangements, they were all put together quite well.

The others were even more filled with emotion: if compared to a company, the Center's assets had long since exceeded ten million. If calculating the valuation, it was now at least around thirty or forty million.

It was tiresome to talk about it too much, but every time she thought of it, and then looked at Lin Sicheng's face, which still seemed not fully grown and slightly immature, Shang Yan couldn't help but think:

How much longer would it take for Lin Sicheng to expand the Center's asset scale and valuation to over one hundred million?

Half a year, or a year?

Just thinking about it was enough to feel shocked...