Chapter 57: Am I Working Hard with a Hammer?

Can soaking new jade in alkaline water imitate Chicken Bone White ancient jade, and even deceive scientific instruments?

Section Chief Shen, who had been silent the whole time, expressed deep skepticism.

Even Wang Qi Zhi and Guan Xingmin were half-doubting.

But both men understood Lin Sicheng: without absolute certainty, how could he say something like "one hundred percent"?

Guan Xingmin frowned: "Is there any way to verify this?"

"Yes, and many!"

Lin Sicheng pointed at the Paperweight, "Deep sampling, first perform X-ray fluorescence and XRD. If it has been in a high-alkali water immersion environment for a long time, the original crystals inside the jade will have completely dissolved, and the secondary crystals will be absolutely intact..."

"Secondly, send another sample to the Provincial Department to perform Raman Spectroscopy to analyze the mineral phase changes inside the jade: if it were natural soil infiltration, there would inevitably be metal particles such as Al and Fe deposited inside the jade..."

"At the same time, we can also test for traces of microbial activity on the jade surface, as well as analyze the organic components..."

They were all experts; they understood as soon as they heard it.

There is no need to mention the first two points; just take the last one: long-term burial underground inevitably leaves soil microbial remains, which must secrete acidic substances that corrode the jade surface.

If this "long time" is seven or eight hundred years, how heavy should the quantity of microbes and the traces of corrosion be?

Furthermore, is it difficult to analyze whether the oil components in the patina belong to a human, or to a sheep or a dog?

Of course it is not difficult; what is difficult is the sampling: a small amount won't do, it must be several grams at a time, and it must be drilled.

For example: if this Paperweight is genuine, drilling three or four holes in a row would turn it into a damaged object, if not already one.

But at this point, even if it means scrapping it, it must be done...

Guan Xingmin gritted his teeth: "Turn on the machine, take the samples!"

Section Chief Shen's eyes went wide, but just as his mouth opened and before he could speak, he was rebuffed by Guan Xingmin: "Can't you understand plain language?"

With the leader having such an attitude, how could he dare to question it? He immediately put down the Folder and picked up the Paperweight: "I understand, Director, don't worry, ten minutes at most!"

"Perform simultaneous testing and send samples to the Provincial Department for inspection!"

"Understood!"

Guan Xingmin patted Lin Sicheng on the shoulder, then looked at Wang Qi Zhi and sighed: "Secretary Wang, excuse me!"

Wang Qi Zhi smiled: "Director Guan, no need to be formal, you go ahead and get busy!"

Guan Xingmin nodded and called away most of his colleagues; the evidence room suddenly emptied.

Several professors had been drinking tea next door, and hearing the commotion, they swarmed back in.

"Eh, where is everyone?"

"Secretary Wang, what happened?"

"I don't know either!" Wang Qi Zhi gave a perfunctory reply and checked his watch, "It's about time, let's go eat first."

Assuming he really didn't know, the professors didn't press further. One professor who studied ceramics made a joke: "Lin Sicheng, I saw you busy all morning with a radiation gun; did you detect anything?"

Lin Sicheng just smiled.

Another professor pretended to have just remembered: "Eh, it seems only the Bronze remains to be tested. Does Professor Wang have to come back another day?"

Wang Qi Zhi also just smiled.

At this point, how could the Appraisal Center still care about appraising any Bronze?

Just take that Imitation Xuande Censer that Guan Xingmin mentioned while at the College Office as the most important item in this study guidance:

No matter how important this thing is, or how serious the nature of the case is, it is still in the review and prosecution stage. It's nothing more than a delay, and a few more appraisals. If it really doesn't work, send it to Beijing; at worst, be laughed at by peers for a while.

But that Paperweight was evidence from over a year ago, meaning the case had long been judged. But suddenly, the ancient jade became imitation jade; what does this mean?

It means that a case value of over a million suddenly became a few thousand. Does that mean one has to weigh whether the sentencing was too heavy, and whether it belongs to a case of injustice?

Next, is there a need for supplementary interrogation, a need for reinvestigation, or even a retrial?

But is a case that has already been judged so easy to overturn?

Lin Sicheng and Wang Qi Zhi could already imagine how busy and chaotic the Municipal Bureau would be next.

Once the appraisal results come out, after the Procuratorate and the Court that prosecuted and judged this case receive the news, what kind of "holy shit" moment it will be.

In any case, the Bronze and the Xuande Incense Burner definitely couldn't be attended to, including the rest that hadn't been appraised yet. They could only wait for the chaos triggered by this imitation jade to subside before rescheduling.

Just then, the Deputy Section Chief in charge of reception came over to greet them, saying that a sumptuous lunch had been prepared in the dining hall, and the group swarmed downstairs.

The teacher and student trailed at the very back, silent and wordless.

Arriving at the entrance of the dining hall, Wang Qi Zhi stopped, a strange look appearing on his face: "You appraising jade by first measuring radiation values, did you learn that from a book too?"

"Just a coincidence!"

Lin Sicheng was dead serious, "Professor Wang, if it were you doing the testing, and you saw the jade's radiation value was only 0.2, wouldn't you be suspicious?"

Nonsense.

The problem is, what normal person would take a radiation gun to scan an antique?

So, Lin Sicheng could be considered to have set a precedent, and twice in a row at that. At the very least, from now on, the provincial and municipal Appraisal Centers will definitely add this to their list.

"Then that method you mentioned of using alkaline water immersion to promote jade calcification, there are many steps in between; what are they?"

Lin Sicheng replied without hesitation: "First, constant temperature: above forty degrees and below fifty degrees to accelerate the calcification reaction. Second, constant humidity: maintain between 60%-80% to promote mineral infiltration..."

"Third, water immersion to simulate weathering... Fourth, mechanical assistance: low-power Ultrasound vibration to enhance solution penetration. Fifth, temperature-controlled heating and temperature-controlled freezing to form cracks..."

"Repeating this, at most eight to ten weeks, can promote jade calcification and naturally produce Chicken Bone White calcification. If one has a bit of patience and manually polishes the patina, the whole process won't exceed three years..."

Wang Qi Zhi was stunned.

Even though he has his own area of expertise, he is still a professor of Cultural Relics Protection and an appraisal Expert. Yet, he had never even heard of this method Lin Sicheng described?

The key is, is it really that simple?

No acid soaking needed, no rusting needed, no high pressure needed, and no splicing needed... just ask, relying only on eye appraisal, how would you appraise it?

And without deep sampling, even instruments can't detect it?

And in ordinary collection transactions, how many people would take items to a professional institution for testing, let alone drill holes?

Wang Qi Zhi was dumbfounded: "In that case, doesn't it mean anyone could forge it?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: "It's not that easy: first, the lye ratio is hard to master, and second, it requires a specific Ultrasound frequency..."

Wang Qi Zhi was just about to ask further, but after thinking for a moment, he shut his mouth: if this method were to spread, how many people would it fucking kill?

He said half-jokingly: "Learned this from a book again?"

Lin Sicheng nodded vigorously: "Of course!"

Wang Qi Zhi sighed, and the two entered the dining hall.

Not long after finishing their meal, just an hour later, Lin Sicheng and Wang Qi Zhi were invited to the director's office.

Several reports were placed on the table:

One, there are original crystal residues inside the Jade, proving the water immersion process has not exceeded three years.

Two, there are no metal ion deposits in the patina or cracks that match the soil composition of Yulin; let alone seven or eight hundred years, it was never buried in Yulin at all.

Especially the third point: no microbial traces similar to Yulin soil were detected, and more importantly, no human tissue was detected, but quite a bit of dog tissue was?

The two leaders who had only left in the morning had returned; they looked at the test reports on the table, then looked at Lin Sicheng. For a moment, they were overwhelmed with mixed feelings, not knowing what to say.

To tell the truth, in the morning, the Bureau Chief had just said it casually, completely with the mindset of "might as well try since we're idle," just taking a swing at the tree to see if any dates would fall.

As it turned out, no dates fell, but a bolt from the blue struck first?

When they received the call from Guan Xingmin, the two leaders were shocked into a daze, at a loss: Lin Sicheng was testing a Radioactive Source, and he really detected a problematic antique?

And, the nature of it was so serious?

Even now, the two leaders still had lingering fears: fortunately, the judgment was passed recently, and there is still room for remedy. If they had waited until the parties involved were released from prison and then sought out the news media... haha!

The two leaders took turns expressing their gratitude, with a belly full of words, shaking Lin Sicheng's hand incessantly:

"Thank you for your hard work... truly, thank you for your hard work..."

"Little Lin, don't be in a rush to leave, the Bureau Chief will be here shortly... I've already had the dining hall make arrangements, let's have a good chat this afternoon..."

Lin Sicheng smiled and politely declined: "Thank you, Bureau Chief, but I have many things to do, another time will be fine!"

He was indeed swamped, and the leader didn't insist, sighing earnestly: "Alright, then another time!"

After a round of thanks, the two leaders saw Lin Sicheng and Wang Qi Zhi downstairs and into their car.

It is no exaggeration to say that the professors and teaching assistants in the car were so shocked their eyeballs were about to pop out...

The Coaster started moving, and the Deputy Bureau Chief smiled and waved, then looked at Guan Xingmin behind him:

"Lao Guan, I heard from Lao Zhang (the actual director) that you intend to recruit Little Lin to our Appraisal Center?"

No... how could the director's mouth be so fast?

"Bureau Chief, I was just thinking about it casually..."

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the Bureau Chief: "That's a good idea!"

Guan Xingmin's face turned bitter: "Leader, really, the difficulty is very high!"

"I know, but where there's a will, there's a way!" The leader patted Guan Xingmin on the shoulder, "The bureau will fully support you!"

Director Zhang also had a beaming smile: "Lao Guan, put in the effort!"

Guan Xingmin piled a smile on his face and kept saying yes, but in his heart, he was cursing: what the hell am I supposed to use to put in the effort?

Did you see the watch on his teacher's wrist?

Lin Sicheng's brain hasn't been kicked by a donkey; why would he pass up a golden thigh to hug and come to the Municipal Bureau to be a laborer?