"Broken pottery shards were found over here!"
"Look, this layer of soil below is clearly a cultural layer. There are a large number of pottery shards and kiln tools inside!"
"I think this porcelain kiln must have been quite large. What do you think, Old Zhang?"
Ten days later, the site where Shen Le had discovered the kiln ruins was bustling with noise and packed with people. The excavators had already stopped. Villagers and laborers stood outside the yellow line, smoking and watching the excitement.
Professors from Shen Le's alma mater enthusiastically dragged local archaeological researchers around the site, trudging over uneven ground as they surveyed the area and pointed things out.
The alumnus the old professor had invited for the "reverse salvage excavation" sat leisurely on an empty bucket. He exchanged a smile with Shen Le.
Buddy, my job's done. I can make myself scarce now!
Shen Le nodded to him from afar, then slipped into a group of junior students and stood on tiptoe to listen to the professors' discussion.
Several elderly and middle-aged scholars walked as they talked, occasionally stopping to jab a probe into the ground.
Whenever that happened, students would rush over to do the heavy work, clanking away for quite a while before bringing up a Luoyang shovel full of soil and presenting it to the professors for assessment.
After watching this happen two or three times, Shen Le could no longer stand it. He swiftly snatched up the work himself. Under his Luoyang shovel, the heavy earth was as soft as tofu—one sharp thrust drove it straight down, and another pulled it back up.
While others could drive down one shovel, he could manage at least ten, greatly improving the efficiency of the survey.
After circling the kiln site for two days, the