Chapter 2578

Su Xinghui said, "You're doing the right thing. You can also learn to write articles yourself. Once your theoretical foundation is solid, you will be able to better apply theoretical knowledge in practice later on."

Xia Song nodded, accepting the instruction. Although he was a graduate of the Chinese department, he still had to learn well how to write such theoretical articles; this was quite different from writing those lyrical pieces.

The two drove around the streets for half the day and indeed saw that many Sihe Academy walls had large "Demolish" characters written on them, circled in white lime, appearing shocking. Some Sihe Academy were already in the process of being torn down, with massive construction machinery pushing over their courtyard walls.

Whenever they reached such a place, Xia Song would stop the car and use his camera to photograph the scene. Su Xinghui needed to show these photos to Premier Nan; this was the most detailed first-hand information. Only by seeing that so many Sihe Academy had been demolished would the Premier feel a sense of urgency.

Outside a Sihe Academy currently being demolished, Su Xinghui got out of the car and walked into the construction site. The courtyard walls and rooms of this Sihe Academy had already been pushed over by machinery, with only a group of workers cleaning up the construction waste.

Su Xinghui walked over the construction debris covering the ground, searching for useful items in the pile. A worker shouted, "Big brother, what are you looking for here?"

Su Xinghui asked, "Big brother, is everything here useless?"

The worker shouted, "Of course it's useless. It's already demolished, what use could it have?"

Su Xinghui said, "Then, can I take some bricks and tiles back with me?"

The worker said, "Sure, big brother. Are you planning to build a pigsty or something at home?"

Su Xinghui nodded and smiled, "Yes, thank you!"

The worker said, "No problem. Go ahead and look yourself, we have work to do."

Su Xinghui waved at him and began rummaging through the pile of bricks and tiles, while Xia Song parked the car and came over to help.

Xia Song asked, "Director, what are you looking for here?"

Su Xinghui said, "I see the materials used for this Sihe Academy are quite good; the bricks and tiles are top-quality. I'm checking to see if there are any roof ridge beasts or eave tiles. These things are treasures; it's a pity to just throw them away."

Xia Song had been with Su Xinghui for quite some time and had also been to Su Xinghui's home, so he wasn't unfamiliar with roof ridge beasts and eave tiles. He nodded and followed Su Xinghui to search.

Before long, the two did find some roof ridge beasts and eave tiles. These items were likely from the Ming or Qing dynasties. Unfortunately, because the courtyard had been pushed over by machinery, many were incomplete, with quite a few shattered. However, Su Xinghui picked up even the broken pieces, gathered them into a snakeskin bag, and planned to repair them slowly at home.

Xia Song asked, "Director, I often hear you talk about roof ridge beasts and such. What exactly are these?"

Su Xinghui said, "Roof ridge beasts are the small animals on the five roof ridges, collectively known as the 'six beasts.' There are many forms of these small animals; the largest is usually the dragon kiss. The smaller ones include immortals, xiezhi, lions, heavenly horses, seahorses, fighting bulls, suanni, phoenixes, and fish-dragons. Look at this one; it should be a suanni."

Su Xinghui took a relatively complete small beast to show Xia Song. The suanni had a ferocious face and a vivid appearance. Xia Song said, "This is a suanni? It looks quite creepy."

Su Xinghui said, "These small beasts on the roof ridges were originally meant to guard the house and ward off evil. Naturally, they have to look ferocious to make those demons and monsters retreat."

Xia Song nodded and said, "Oh, I understand."

Su Xinghui said, "In the past, these roof ridge beasts were generally only allowed on imperial palaces. However, some high-ranking officials with great achievements were granted special permission by the Emperor to have them installed, which was called an 'instrumental ridge' to show special honor. Therefore, the owner of this courtyard must have been a person of status many years ago."

Xia Song said, "Director, then the Sihe Academy you live in now must have been lived in by someone of status in the past, right?"

Su Xinghui nodded, "Yes. Our ancestors created so much brilliant architectural art, but unfortunately, now, for the sake of profit, these buildings are being torn down. Although these items are precious, they are only truly precious when placed on the roof ridge of a Sihe Academy."

Xia Song said, "These people are too outrageous. Why tear down such good Sihe Academy?"

Su Xinghui said, "This is naturally because there is profit in tearing them down. Think about it: if you tear down this courtyard and build a twenty or thirty-story high-rise, how much money would that sell for? This is the city center, and also the center of the country. Housing prices here have risen to four or five thousand; what a huge profit that is."

Xia Song nodded, "Now that you put it that way, I understand."

Su Xinghui silently rummaged through the rubble. After a long time, he had filled the snakeskin bag with the items he found. He greeted the workers and carried the bag to the trunk of the car.

He knew that even if he found more such items, it would only be a drop in the bucket for the protection work, but doing this allowed him to have peace of mind.

That day, Su Xinghui and Xia Song visited many places, took many photos, and found many roof ridge beasts and eave tiles, only returning home in the evening.

Xia Song helped him move these items into his storage room, and Su Xinghui prepared to repair them when he had time.

Su Xinghui spent several days traveling across Jingcheng with Xia Song. He had taken at least several hundred photos, and the items he brought home filled half of his storage room. He thought self-deprecatingly that if he were to repair all these, he probably wouldn't finish even if he spent a year doing nothing else.

However, the current state of Jingcheng's Sihe Academy was truly shocking to Su Xinghui. Dozens of Sihe Academy were disappearing in Jingcheng almost every day. In another ten-plus years, no matter how many Sihe Academy Jingcheng had, they would likely all be gone.

Such a situation could not be allowed to continue.

Su Xinghui worked an extra shift to write the investigative report. He also had Xia Song develop all those hundreds of photos, put them into a file folder, and went to see Premier Nan.

Premier Nan read the investigative report and looked at the hundreds of photos one by one; his expression was very solemn.

After finishing the photos, he placed them on the table and asked, "Is this the result of your investigation these past few days? Are there really so many Sihe Academy being demolished?"

Su Xinghui nodded, "Yes. These are just the ones currently being demolished. There's no telling how many have already been torn down and are being built over, or how many have been approved for demolition but haven't started yet. It's truly a pity to tear down these Sihe Academy; many of them are fine works of art. I even picked up some bargains at the demolition sites."

Premier Nan asked with interest, "You picked up bargains? What kind of bargains?"

Su Xinghui took out a few more photos and said, "Take a look at this."

Premier Nan looked at the photos. They were all of the small beasts and eave tiles Su Xinghui had picked up; two were relatively complete, while several others were shattered.

Premier Nan said, "These are roof ridge beasts? And eave tiles?"

The courtyard where Premier Nan lived also had these items on its roof ridges, so he recognized them.

Su Xinghui said, "Yes, these are all good things. It's a pity that once the courtyard is torn down, these things are ruined; many were shattered. But it was my gain; I tried to pick up the more complete ones and have half a room full of them at home. If it weren't for the fact that my house is large, I really wouldn't have anywhere to put them." ===== CHAPTER 2580 =====