180: Chapter 180 Ah, it really is young friend Hu!

Among the three, the one walking on the far left was a thin old man. His silver hair was combed meticulously, he wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his face was deeply lined, but his expression was gentle. This was Professor Jiang Peiyuan, a veteran professor at the Capital Academy of Archaeology. He had been researching ancient porcelain for decades, and in this field domestically, calling him "a leading authority" would not be an exaggeration.

Walking in the middle was a slightly shorter old man with a round face and warm, gentle eyes. He wore a dark gray cotton jacket with a plaid scarf draped over his shoulders. This was Professor Su Huairen, who specialized in the authentication of Ming and Qing dynasty calligraphy and paintings. Hu Tian had witnessed this old gentleman's discerning eye last time at the Museum in Jinling.

The one walking on the far right was the one who had just called out.

Professor Fang Jiye was slightly more robust than the other two. He wore wide-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, had a booming voice, and specialized in bronze ware and ancient metal craftsmanship.

As the three were walking into the academy, Fang Jiye caught sight of Hu Tian standing at the entrance and immediately stopped.

That was the reason for the shout.

After Hu Tian turned around, Fang Jiye was finally certain, so he called out with a smile: "Ah, it really is Young Friend Hu!"

Hu Tian recognized the three, put away his phone, walked up to them, and nodded respectfully: "Professor Jiang, Professor Su, Professor Fang, long time no see."

Jiang Peiyuan pushed up his glasses and looked him over with a smile: "Why are you here?"

"I'm dropping my girlfriend off at the academy." Hu Tian explained.

Su Huairen looked up at the sign for the Academy of Archaeology, then looked at Hu Tian, and said with a smile: "Coming to the Academy of Archaeology to drop someone off? Could it be that your friend is a student here?"

"No, she's an exchange student from Jinling."

"Jinling?" Su Huairen stroked his gray beard and asked: "Is she a student of Prof. Lin Ru?"

Hu Tian nodded.

At this moment, Professor Fang Jiye laughed heartily and patted Hu Tian on the shoulder with considerable force. Hu Tian didn't budge an inch. Fang Jiye was clearly quite satisfied with this, and nodded: "Good lad, solid foundation."

Then, without waiting for Hu Tian to reply, Fang Jiye changed the subject. He straightened his expression and said: "Young Friend Hu, are you free today? The three of us happen to be going to a seminar. If you have time, why don't you come along?"

Hu Tian asked curiously: "What seminar?"

"It's about ancient bronze restoration techniques."

Hearing these words, Hu Tian was stunned, remembering what Wan'er had said last night about the seminar exchange.

Hu Tian smiled to himself, thinking: What kind of expression will Wan'er have when she sees me at the exchange meeting? I bet that girl's eyes will go wide.

Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He nodded and replied to Fang Jiye: "I'm free. I don't have any plans today anyway. I accept your kind invitation, so I will trouble the three professors then."

Upon hearing this, Fang Jiye laughed loudly and clapped his hands: "Good! I knew Young Friend Hu would be straightforward!"

Su Huairen adjusted his scarf and said with a smile: "Just based on Young Friend Hu's performance at the Museum in Jinling, I'm afraid some people at today's seminar might not be able to outtalk you."

At this point, Fang Jiye said with a serious tone: "The scale of this seminar is not low. It is jointly organized by several top universities in the country and has invited over a dozen experts from the domestic restoration field. Originally, it was supposed to be a very normal academic exchange, but..." He paused.

Jiang Peiyuan took over, his expression calm, but there was something not so calm in his eyes: "But this time, Japan and South Korea have also sent people."

Hu Tian's brows twitched slightly: "To challenge us?"

Su Huairen sighed: "Pretty much."

Fang Jiye snorted coldly: "From over there, Japan has sent a few people from the Tokyo Cultural Relics Restoration Research Institute. The leader is named Kenji Hashimoto, who is over sixty. He is very famous in the Japanese restoration field, specializes in the restoration of metal artifacts, and is skilled in so-called 'seamless restoration technology'. They say they are here for an exchange, but I've inquired about his personality—he's arrogant, never takes anyone else seriously, and especially..." He paused, lowering his voice slightly. "Especially regarding our Chinese restoration technology, he has quite a few criticisms."

Hu Tian understood; this was not a simple academic exchange. It was likely a situation where they would have to show their real skills.

Su Huairen added: "The team from South Korea is from the Seoul Cultural Heritage Institute. The leader is named Park Jae-soo, in his early thirties. He is young, but it is said his practical skills are extremely strong. In recent years, they have published several influential papers internationally on ancient metal restoration. Before coming, they put out word that they were coming to 'learn advanced experience,' but between the lines..." He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Hu Tian understood. Using "learning" as a pretext to step on others' turf—this wasn't the first time such things had happened in academic circles.

Fang Jiye looked at Hu Tian with an earnest tone: "Young Friend Hu, last time at the Museum in Jinling, all three of us witnessed your restoration techniques with our own eyes. That skill—not to mention domestically, even looking at the whole world, I haven't seen many who can compare. At this seminar, there will inevitably be some practical demonstration sessions. The restoration experts we have here in the country are not lacking in skill, but..." He sighed. "But to be honest, when it comes to the extreme of restoration techniques, the kind that can be shown off to outdo others internationally, people of my age can do it, but for someone of Park Jae-soo's age, the domestic side is still a bit lacking."

Jiang Peiyuan added from the side: "So we want to invite Young Friend Hu to go. It's not to let you show off, it's just... to represent our side and hold down the fort, so that South Korea doesn't use age to pick a fight later."

Hu Tian looked at the three professors, and roughly understood the situation.

He had originally planned to go back and take a nap.

But after hearing this, that bit of sleepiness dissipated for the most part.

What does "holding down the fort" mean? Simply put, a group of people came wanting to step on Chinese restoration technology on Chinese soil, and the domestic side needed someone to stand up and fight back.

Hu Tian was silent for two seconds.

"Where is the seminar?"

Fang Jiye's eyes lit up: "The Capital Cultural Relics Exchange Center, right on the East Third Ring Road. It's about a thirty-minute drive from here."

"What time does it start?"

"Two o'clock in the afternoon."

Hu Tian thought about it and nodded: "Fine, I'll go."

Fang Jiye laughed immediately and patted his shoulder: "Good! I knew Young Friend Hu would be straightforward! Let's go, let's go, let's enter the academy first, and we'll go over together after lunch!"

Fang Jiye's studio was very spacious. Bookshelves covered three walls from floor to ceiling, stuffed with various classics. By the window stood a heavy old oak table, covered with a dark velvet cloth. A few ancient artifacts were scattered on it: a rusty bronze pot, a broken jade disc, and a fragmented iron sword with a broken handle.

Hu Tian sat in this studio for over two hours, during which the conversation was constant.

At first, Fang Jiye started it off, casually pointing to the bronze pot on the table and asking for Hu Tian's opinion.

Hu Tian took one look and said four words: "Song, folk kiln ware."

Fang Jiye narrowed his eyes and asked for his reasoning.

Hu Tian took gloves out of his pocket, put them on, and reached out to flip the bronze pot over.

He pointed to a very thin casting line on the bottom of the pot and said: "These are the traces of the mold joining during casting. The position of this seam is off, left by a craftsman who wasn't skilled enough. The bronze ware from the song dynasty Official Kiln is almost seamless; only folk kilns have this kind of flaw. Look at the rim again; it was added later. The color of the copper material is half a shade different from the pot body. This method of repairing the rim was very common in folk repairs from the late Northern Song to the early Southern song dynasty. Because of the wars, many artifacts were damaged, and people couldn't bear to throw them away, so they found craftsmen to make parts and continue using them. The pot itself is Northern Song, but the rim added is Southern Song; the eras differ by about half a century."

Fang Jiye was silent for quite a while, then slowly nodded: "I've been studying this pot for nearly three years, and the conclusion I reached is exactly the same as what you said, but you took less than ten seconds."

Hu Tian didn't explain, just smiled.

He couldn't explain. The System radar provided the basic data, but relying on the radar alone, he wouldn't be able to speak in such detail. The detailed part was accumulated from grinding through dozens of books and struggling in markets everywhere. The two stacked together resulted in his current ability to date things at a glance.

Jiang Peiyuan then took out the broken jade disc, saying it was brought back from Henan by a student a few days ago, who said it was acquired from a local villager, and asked Hu Tian to take a look.

Hu Tian took it in his hand, weighed it, and leaned in to look closely.

The jade disc was missing nearly a third. The cross-section at the break had traces of natural oxidation, not a fresh man-made break. Hu Tian flipped the disc over, squinted at it in the sunlight, and then gently rubbed the jade texture with his fingertips.

"Warring States period." He said, "The jade material from the Chu region is slightly blue with a grayish tone. This kind of material is found frequently in Warring States tombs in the southern and northern Hunan regions. The patina is genuine; this brownish-red is iron staining, meaning it has been buried long enough. But..." He paused and held the disc up to the light. "But the pattern on this disc is a bit interesting. This circle of grain patterns here, the carving method is from the Warring States period, but here," he pointed with his fingertip to a spot near the break, "this local intaglio carving, the knife work is different from the rest. The control of depth is different. I estimate that it was already damaged at the time, and later someone re-carved a section. When it was re-carved, a different craftsman was used, and his skill level was a notch lower."

Jiang Peiyuan leaned over to look carefully. After a long while, he raised his head, his expression somewhat complicated: "I only judged it to be from the Warring States Chu region; I really didn't notice this re-carving. But now that you've pointed it out, comparing them..." He sighed: "Yes, the knife work is indeed different. I previously thought it was the same craftsman changing positions and the carving gesture had changed, but your theory of re-carving is more reasonable."

Su Huairen had been listening from the side, stroking his beard for a long time. At this moment, he took over the conversation and pushed the broken piece of the iron sword in front of Hu Tian: "What about this?"

Hu Tian picked it up and weighed it, not rushing to speak. He first leaned in and sniffed it gently with his nose, then looked carefully at the rust layer.

"Han dynasty, but not of military standard. The forging process is much rougher than the standard military swords. I estimate it was privately cast by civilians. This rust layer..." He brought the fragment close to his eyes, "This layered rust—a layer of red rust, a layer of green rust, alternating and stacked—can only form in a specific soil environment. In dry places with little water, it is common in the north, but rare in the south. The place where this sword fragment was unearthed is most likely the northern loess region."