Chapter 70: There Is No Reasoning With Him

Last time when repairing the Sunflower-mouth Plate, Shang Yan had an illusion: once he put on the white lab coat, Lin Sicheng seemed like a different person, with a special flair.

This flair did not refer to him being handsome or good-looking... though, of course, he was indeed quite good-looking.

It referred to that composure coming from the heart, and the self-confidence that seeped into his bones.

It felt as if Lin Sicheng entering the laboratory was like returning home; no matter how advanced the machine, or how complex and difficult the experiment, it was all a trifle to him.

What was even harder to understand was the level of proficiency Lin Sicheng showed when repairing the Sunflower-mouth Plate: every time he succeeded on the first attempt, as if he had already repaired such a basin a thousand or eight hundred times?

But to speak the truth, let alone entering the furnace six times or applying blue six times, even for Cold Repair Glaze Adjustment, Shang Yan could not do it perfectly in one go without the slightest discrepancy.

And today was even faster; before even reaching the step of glaze adjustment, Lin Sicheng had already made her experience it once again:

Over a hundred Ju Eyes, done in less than an hour?

Over seventy staples, in just a little over an hour?

Always using one person as an example is annoying, but Shang Yan truly could not find a more suitable subject: if it were Professor Lin, how long would these two processes take?

Being conservative, one day!

If given to her, at least two days!

Don't disbelieve it: the process of porcelain stapling is actually not too complex; the difference lies in whether it is coarse or fine. If this were a clay jar, she and Professor Lin could still finish it within two hours.

But the problem is, this is a porcelain Cultural Relics, and it is a White Glazed Glutinous Rice Body where the glaze and body combined are barely five millimeters thick; a slight carelessness, and tens of thousands are gone.

If you don't want to pay for damages, you can only work slowly to produce fine results.

But the feeling Lin Sicheng gave people was that he was repairing a clay jar, focusing on being as fast as possible.

The problem is, the quality he produced was no different from what an expert working for over a week would produce?

This is quite ghostly...

After the staples were finished, then came the gluing and filling of gaps.

Li Zhen could handle these well without much instruction.

Lin Sicheng turned his head and began to make Gold Foil.

At a thickness of 5 millimeters, it was far from being "foil," at most it could be called a gold plate. It still needed to be made thinner through Hammering.

Lin Sicheng's ideal thickness was 2: first, to save material, and second, to reduce the weight of the gold ornament so it would fit tightly against the porcelain.

But it couldn't be too thin either, as it would easily deform.

Previously, Feng Lin had been idle, so Lin Sicheng had her preheat the furnace, keeping the temperature controlled at six hundred degrees, so the gold sheet remained a dark red.

Changing into a Protective Suit in a few quick moves, Lin Sicheng clamped out the red-hot gold sheet and fixed it on the anvil. With a flat-headed hammer the size of an egg, every strike sent out a wisp of sparks.

Suddenly, crisp "Clang, clang, clang, clang" sounds rang out in the laboratory, accompanied by a faint smell of burnt iron, as if one had entered a blacksmith's shop.

After hammering once and then tempering, it was nearly a third thinner. Hammering again, the originally palm-sized gold sheet was now a full basin-sized.

Held in the hand, it fluttered like a sheet of paper.

Wang Qi Zhi secretly praised him, finally understanding the feelings of Shang Yan and Hao Jun just now:

First is speed; the hammer in Lin Sicheng's hand basically never stopped, thousands of strikes in one breath—how much stamina must that take?

For him, he would have to rest at least seven or eight times.

Second is stability: one anvil after another, one hammer after another, as if measured by a ruler; the hammered gold sheet looked like spread-out fish scales: one row aligned with another, one line following another.

The more Wang Qi Zhi looked, the stranger his expression became: this piece of gold sheet could be used directly in a Museum; if pasted onto a statue of a warrior, who would dare say this wasn't ancient gold scale armor?

No exaggeration: without ten years of accumulation, don't even think about hammering to this extent.

But ten years ago, Lin Sicheng was still wearing split-crotch pants... this is simply outrageous?

Shang Yan narrowed her eyes: Does Wang Qi Zhi have this skill?

He probably has it, but he is definitely not proficient to this extent.

"Professor Wang, if it were you, how many days would it take to hammer to this level?"

Wang Qi Zhi rolled his eyes: "Two or three hours?"

Heh... you surnamed Wang, do you still have any shame?

The reason is simple: as time passes, the temperature of the gold sheet is constantly dropping. Even if every strike has the same force, the force used to hammer the gold sheet to make it extend and deform is constantly decreasing.

But from beginning to end, the scale-shaped patterns Lin Sicheng hammered were all the same size and spacing, which shows to what extent his understanding of gold ductility and his control of temperature and force have reached?

So, don't look at it as just a thin sheet of gold; if Wang Qi Zhi took a "day," she would dare to take Wang Qi Zhi's surname.

Perhaps thinking that Shang Yan would say this, Wang Qi Zhi moved two steps to the side without a sound.

Shang Yan wore a mocking expression and was just about to make a sarcastic remark when Lin Sicheng clamped the gold sheet back into the furnace.

After heating for a short while, Lin Sicheng clamped out the gold sheet and began to hammer; this time he switched to a Flat Anvil and a wood hammer wrapped in iron.

The force was much smaller, so the gold sheet did not get thinner, but with the crisp sounds, the places he hammered became as smooth as a mirror.

Watching the fish scales gradually disappear, Wang Qi Zhi sighed secretly: If I had known, I should have brought a camera...

After hammering, while it was still warm, Lin Sicheng picked up scissors and cut the gold sheet into thin strips the width of chopsticks.

When he asked Feng Lin to change the engraving tool, Wang Qi Zhi realized that Lin Sicheng was planning to do it all in one go and was about to start Engraving Flowers.

Amazing, kid; even I, your teacher, wouldn't dare to do it like this...

Seeing Wang Qi Zhi's shocked expression, Hao Jun leaned in quietly: "No sketching, no layout design, he's just carving directly like this?"

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be possible, but when it comes to Lin Sicheng, sometimes there really is no way to reason with him.

Just like that fish scale piece earlier: who would dare say it could be hammered out in a day? Wang Qi Zhi would bet his life on it.

But Lin Sicheng did it in just over an hour?

It was the same with the porcelain stapling; he was as proficient as if he had already repaired a hundred or eighty Plum Vases of the same size, same shape, and even the same damage locations?

With this, how can you reason with him?

Wang Qi Zhi sighed: "The so-called thousand hammerings and hundred refinements, it's all mastered in his heart!"

"I know!" Hao Jun nodded vigorously, "The problem is, where did he practice it?"

Holding it in for a long time, Wang Qi Zhi spat out two words: "In the books!"

Hao Jun stretched his neck, wishing he could roll his eyes all the way to his forehead.

Isn't this just talking bullshit?

Just as he was cursing inwardly, the sound of dense hammering came again, and Hao Jun steadied his focus to look ahead.

With a flat-headed engraving chisel, tapping incessantly, gold strips about a finger long and roughly the width of a match head were being engraved and cut down.

The base was slightly thicker, the tip slightly thinner, slightly raised, convex on the outside and concave on the inside, but without any patterns.

Being an expert himself, Hao Jun knew at a glance that this was the "Flat Chisel Pressing Ground" technique in engraving, and he also knew the use of these slender gold strips: tree branches.

Then came the leaves, also using Flat Chisel Pressing Ground, one after another. For a time, leaves of various shapes, sizes, patterns, and even different thicknesses fell from the chisel's edge like golden snowflakes.

Afterward, he engraved the leaf buds, and then even finer leaf stems; everyone felt dazzled and overwhelmed, feeling that the short engraving chisel was being played like a flower by Lin Sicheng.

Only Wang Qi Zhi felt a complex mix of emotions, accompanied by a deep sense of powerlessness.

Just like that day at Qishan, just like those seven Kaiyuan Tongbao Combined Back Coins.

Lin Sicheng, this is gold engraving, not blacksmithing. Why are you so casual, so composed?

Being casual is secondary; engraving it well is the key.

If given to an old master, a single leaf that Lin Sicheng engraved in three or four minutes would take at least ten minutes to engrave.

Because no matter how steady an old master's hand is, it is impossible to be like Lin Sicheng, where every leaf can be formed in one go and engraved to be so lifelike and vivid.

Hao Jun is right there; if you don't believe it, ask him what his feelings are.

This is just gold; if this were dyed green, who would dare say these leaves and buds weren't cut down from a tree?