Chapter 73: The Founding Senior Disciple, The Sect's Head Senior Brother

As soon as she entered the door, Shang Yan's face sank with a "whoosh."

Her face was full of fury, just like a lioness.

"Professor Shang, don't get worked up!" Wang Qi Zhi signaled for Ye Anning to pour some tea. "If you have something to say, say it slowly!"

The less urgent he was, the angrier Shang Yan became. Just as she was about to scold him for something, Wang Qi Zhi glanced at her:

"Professor Shang, I'll just ask you this: if it were in the ceramics room, would you dare to let Lin Sicheng sell that Plum Vase from just now?"

Shang Yan was suddenly stunned, her expression shifting between cloudy and clear, her anger receding like the tide.

That's right, if you can't even guarantee a student's basic rights, what right do you have to blame Wang Qi Zhi for snatching a student from you?

After a long while, she gritted her teeth again: "This is a school!"

"Yes, this is a school, a place to cultivate talent, to establish words, virtues, and conduct, not a place for moral kidnapping... What if—I'm saying, what if—the school didn't allow it to be sold? If I were Lin Sicheng, do you believe I would dare to drop out?"

Wang Qi Zhi spoke while gesturing, "Then he takes this Plum Vase, along with the Sunflower-mouth Plate from last time, and finds any university of the same level or higher. Do you think other schools would refuse him?"

Shang Yan stared wide-eyed: Did that even need guessing?

Just this Blue Pointing skill, just this technique of mending porcelain with gold: the gates of Peking University are always open, opening their arms to wait for him...

Wang Qi Zhi spread his hands: "So, I am helping the school retain talent. Of course, I also know why Professor Shang is so angry: because you feel I deceived you, and that's why you didn't recruit Lin Sicheng under your banner in time..."

"But then you turned around and discovered that I had actually coaxed Lin Sicheng into my own group? So, the more outstanding Lin Sicheng is, the angrier you get..."

Wang Qi Zhi smiled again, "That's right, I did say: Lin Sicheng's ability is too outstanding; recruiting such a student is like a wolf jumping into a flock of sheep... However, in this world, ordinary talents are the majority, so it is unfair to other students and even more detrimental to management..."

"But I'm not lying to you. If you ask me now, I would still say the same thing... Professor Shang, if you don't believe me, just recall carefully: what is different about Teaching Assistant Li today compared to before?"

Shang Yan was taken aback and glared fiercely at Wang Qi Zhi.

Outside the door, Hao Jun had been stubbornly lingering for a while, and having happened to hear this sentence, he took a curious peek.

Suddenly, Li Zhen's face turned red with a "thump," blushing from her earlobes all the way to the base of her neck...

"Admiration for the strong is human nature, especially regarding the opposite sex, and unfortunately, you have quite a few female students among your graduate students... Isn't this clearly going to split your originally perfectly harmonious research team into two opposing factions? So, to Professor Shang, if Lin Sicheng isn't a disaster, what is he?"

Seeing signs that Shang Yan was about to flare up again, Wang Qi Zhi changed the subject, "Anyway, he really is hard to manage, wouldn't you say?"

Shang Yan snorted: "And you are easy to manage?"

"Of course. Feng Lin is already thirty, so Lin Sicheng definitely wouldn't be interested... More importantly, my research group was just established, and Lin Sicheng was the first to join. Do you know what that means?"

Wang Qi Zhi waved his hand, his gaze indescribably sharp, "This is the founding senior disciple, the sect's head Senior Brother. Who dares to prick me and find out?"

Shang Yan opened her mouth, unable to speak for a long time.

She really hadn't thought about this issue before. The problem was, what Wang Qi Zhi said made so much sense?

Unsurprisingly, whether it was new graduate students or teaching assistants who had already stayed on at the school, Wang Qi Zhi would hand them all over to Lin Sicheng to manage. He would certainly make it clear in advance: those who don't submit should get out early.

She could even imagine how Wang Qi Zhi would proceed once he had recruited everyone: the first research project would inevitably revolve around Lin Sicheng.

Don't believe it?

Just that fish scale from today, just the golden branches on that Plum Vase, would be enough to start two small projects:

The craft manifestation of Hammering in ancient armor restoration;

Gold art, Engraving Flowers, ancient porcelain!

Wouldn't Lin Sicheng be writing Thesis after Thesis until his hands went numb?

But what about herself?

She couldn't just open a new project for him to accommodate Lin Sicheng, could she?

But what about the other eleven students?

Or should she pick one of the existing projects and put Lin Sicheng in charge?

But then what should she do about the student previously in charge?

The more she thought, the more tired Shang Yan felt, and the more she felt that Wang Qi Zhi's words made perfect sense: he is indeed a talent, but how do you arrange and manage him?

But she couldn't just let it go.

Even if she knew it was certain death, she had to try.

Shang Yan gritted her teeth: "Professor Wang, I admit what you say makes sense. But you can't mislead your students just to keep them comfortable, can you?"

"You know better than I do: our school, and even the entire province and the country, have countless institutions and talents researching Bronze, and the major, high-level research directions have long been occupied by others..."

"So, you can only put effort into subdivided topics, but for you, and for Lin Sicheng, what kind of future is there to speak of? But porcelain is different: there are enough dynasties, and even more kiln sites... The Cizhou Kiln in this province alone is enough to study for a lifetime..."

"Haha..." Wang Qi Zhi laughed, "Professor Shang, when did I ever say that the main direction Lin Sicheng and I are researching is Bronze?"

Wang Qi Zhi said firmly: "It is iron, it is iron Cultural Relics!"

The sentence was like a sledgehammer, smashing fiercely onto Shang Yan's forehead.

Her head went "boom," and her complexion gradually turned pale.

Subconsciously, her mind flashed back to the day Wang Qi Zhi brought Lin Sicheng to the Ceramics Laboratory to mend the Sunflower-mouth Plate:

"Professor Wang, how does Lin Sicheng know X Fluorescence Spectrum?"

"He said he learned it from books..."

"He also knows surface-penetrating imaging for iron specimens... This technology was only published in a Thesis by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last year... He told me he just learned it by reading the Thesis..."

"He also knows the systematic processes for Desalination, Dechlorination, Corrosion Inhibition, and Sealing and Protection... This set of technology was only patented by the Beijing University of Technology at the beginning of the year, and the National Museum of China and the National Cultural Heritage Administration are still in the trial stage... He also said he learned it by reading the Thesis, impressive, right?"

So, Wang Qi Zhi and Lin Sicheng didn't intend to practice their craft in the tiny shell of Bronze at all, but rather wanted to... overturn the heavens?

At first thought, it felt ridiculous: if it were that easy to research, why would the state establish special projects and provide key support?

The problem was, what if?

What if Wang Qi Zhi wasn't lying, and what if Lin Sicheng could really deduce technology based on a Thesis?

It wouldn't even take much; even if it were just one-tenth, even if he only deduced the surface, even if he just followed behind the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Cultural Relics Bureau, and the National Museum of China eating dust, it would still mean round after round of support policies and round after round of key funding.

If they packaged it well and operated it, it was even possible for the Heritage College to apply to the school to open a new major...

Thinking about it again: Wang Qi Zhi was at least researching Bronze Cultural Relics, which belongs to the same "metal cultural relic classification" as ironware, so he could switch directions whenever he wanted.

But what I am researching is ceramics, how can I switch?

Suddenly, Shang Yan felt disheartened:

No wonder when I asked Li Zhen to sound him out, Lin Sicheng refused without a second thought? No wonder every time I wanted to talk to him in person, Lin Sicheng avoided me whenever he could?

Yet the moment Wang Qi Zhi cast a flirtatious glance, the two of them hooked up?

If it were her, she would be the same as Lin Sicheng.

So, what is the point of fighting for it?