Page 7

Gu Jiuque reflexively closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the world before him had changed abruptly.

Every furnishing in the study—including the paperweights, brush washers, Duan inkstones, books, calligraphy, and paintings on the desk, as well as the ornaments and rare editions displayed on the bookshelves and antique stands—gave off halos of varying brightness. These were all old items Grandpa Gu had spent decades collecting from all over.

Gu Jiuque recalled how the book had described Bai Yuesheng acquiring Jade Celestial Pivot's ability to appraise treasures and pick up bargains. Whenever Bai Yuesheng touched something genuine, his right palm would grow warm. Gu Jiuque faintly understood something.

As he pondered, a line of writing suddenly appeared before him, neither quite seal script nor not: [A damaged calligraphy and painting has been discovered. Would you like to remount it?]

Gu Jiuque froze for a moment, then quickly realized what had happened. While he had been lost in thought, his gaze had unconsciously fallen on a worn calligraphy and painting before the desk.

This painting had been sent to Antique Appreciation Studio by an old client, who had asked for it to be restored and remounted. It was said to be the work of an elder in the client's family, discovered by chance while they were clearing out their old residence. Unable to bear seeing the elder's work stained and filthy, they had entrusted it to Antique Appreciation Studio for remounting, so they could keep it as a memento.

After Grandma Gu had spoken with the client, she assigned the job to Gu Jiuque. Ten years later, Gu Jiuque had long since forgotten all about it.

A trace of doubt crossed Gu Jiuque's mind. After Bai Yuesheng had "intercepted" Jade Celestial Pivot in the book, no such abnormality had appeared. Why was Jade Celestial Pivot asking him whether he wanted to remount the painting in his eyes?

Could Jade Celestial Pivot possess intelligence as well?

"Can you speak?" Gu Jiuque asked cautiously.

For a long while, Jade Celestial Pivot gave no response. The words [A damaged calligraphy and painting has been discovered. Would you like to remount it?] merely continued flashing before Gu Jiuque.

After pondering for a moment, Gu Jiuque simply focused all his attention on the painting.

It was a Willow-Branch Guanyin Portrait. The Medicine King Guanyin in the painting had a full, serene face and a solemn, majestic bearing. Her left hand cradled a pure vase, while her right held a willow branch. Her expression was compassionate, and she looked lifelike. Above the image of Guanyin was a passage from the Heart Sutra written in running regular script. The handwriting was graceful and dignified, its strokes steady yet light, and a vermilion seal stood in the lower right corner.

Unfortunately, the painting had not been properly preserved. Not only had its mounting roller, border materials, first backing paper, and final backing paper long since become damaged and detached, but the painting itself was covered in extensive mold, insect damage, and stained spots. Dust and grime coated the work, with the occasional fly or insect dropping mixed in. The paper had yellowed and become brittle with age. The previous mounter's workmanship had also been mediocre. The paste used to line the painting had been thick and uneven, and over time, heat and damp caused the work to expand and contract, making the painting detach from its backing and wrinkle. Several areas of the painting itself were damaged as well.

Looking at the painting, now ruined from improper preservation, Gu Jiuque silently sighed. He picked it up and went to the mounting room next door.

Gu Jiuque laid the damaged painting flat on the mounting table. Just as he was about to remove all the ruined mounting materials, another line flashed before his eyes: [A damaged calligraphy and painting has been discovered. Condition assessment complete. Begin mounting?]

A condition assessment referred to the process by which a calligraphy and painting restorer, upon receiving an old work that required restoration and mounting, first identified its material, components, age, artist, and even its production background. They also carefully assessed the extent of its damage before deciding on a subsequent restoration plan. In other words, it was the judgment Gu Jiuque had just made.

Under ordinary circumstances, highly skilled ancient mounters could complete this step through their wealth of experience. In modern restoration of ancient calligraphy and paintings, however, testing the paper and analyzing the pigments in damaged works, as well as determining the causes and chemical composition of various contaminants, could all be carried out using electronic equipment.

The Gu family's mounting room also contained some equipment, such as scanning electron microscopes, laser Raman spectrometers, and infrared spectrometers, which could perform basic material analyses and tests.

As an inheritor of the Gu family, Gu Jiuque had grown up surrounded by the craft and had long mastered the use of these instruments. But restoring and mounting ancient calligraphy and paintings with the aid of an ability was a first for him. He was also curious to see just how far he could go with Jade Celestial Pivot's help.

With curiosity, Gu Jiuque silently answered, "Yes," but nothing changed before his eyes.

Gu Jiuque examined the area carefully but found nothing unusual. He could only bend over the mounting table and cautiously remove all the damaged mounting materials, leaving only the painting itself. Then, using a feather duster and a small flat brush, he gently brushed away the mold spots on the painting. He placed water-and-oil paper beneath it and laid it flat on the mounting table. He casually found two wooden blocks and raised the legs on one side of the table, tilting it so the water could drain away later.

Because the painting had been neglected for so many years, not only were there mold spots in several places, but its surface was also covered in various kinds of grime, leaving the image dim and dirty. Gu Jiuque therefore prepared loquat-seed water according to an old method to clean the painting.

Loquat-seed water was made by crushing loquat seeds and steeping them in boiling water. Once the impurities settled and the water cooled, the resulting liquid was loquat-seed water. However, paper cleaned with loquat-seed water would have a slightly elevated pH value, so after cleaning, it needed to be rinsed more often with clean water to wash away every trace of the loquat-seed water.

Once all the preparations were complete, Gu Jiuque held a flat brush in one hand and a kettle in the other, using the brush to slowly drizzle loquat-seed water over the painting. After patiently waiting until the paper had become sufficiently damp, he used a white towel to absorb the dirty water, then continued rinsing it with clean water. Next, he rolled a clean white towel into a cylinder, placed it over the painting, and carefully rolled it with both hands—

This step was an extreme test of a restorer's skill. Too much force would damage the painting paper, and the slightest carelessness could "rub it apart." Too little force, on the other hand, would fail to remove the grime and mold spots.

After repeating the process several times, the rolling towel gradually squeezed the dirty water from the painting, while the remaining loquat-seed water was rinsed away. Once the water draining from the mounting table became clear again, he used a clean towel roll to absorb the moisture from the painting paper.

Looking at it again, the painting was still damaged, but the color of the paper and the ink and pigments in the image had visibly taken on a new appearance.

Only then did Gu Jiuque let out a soft breath and straighten up, preparing to proceed to the next step of removing the backing. Another line of text appeared before his eyes: [Repeat the painting-washing process?]