Chapter 31: I’ll Get Out Right Now!

The sun had just begun to dip in the west, with the clock pointing to five.

"Creak," the laboratory door pushed open, and Lin Sicheng walked in.

Feng Lin and Xu Bo looked up instinctively.

Isn't that the student they bumped into at the cafeteria this morning?

Xu Bo frowned. "Who let you in? Get out!"

Lin Sicheng was stunned. *What the hell, did you eat gunpowder for breakfast?*

Wang Qizhi followed close behind, carrying an iron tile. He took one look and said, "Xiao Xu, you can head home for the day."

"Ah, Professor Wang? I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you..."

"Go home!"

Wang Qizhi’s expression was stern. Xu Bo dared not argue further and took off his gloves. As soon as he left, Wang Qizhi looked at Feng Lin. "How did you recruit this person?"

Feng Lin lowered her head. "Professor Wang, I'm sorry!" She hadn't expected Xu Bo to be so jealous. No mentor would like such a personality, as no one wanted a second Zhu Ling in their lab. "Professor Wang, I will go to the research coordination center tomorrow to straighten this out!"

"Hmm." Wang Qizhi’s expression softened slightly. He set down the iron tile and gestured. "Come here!"

If he’s invited, he’ll go.

Lin Sicheng took off his coat, put on a protective suit, and entered the infrared reflection imaging room.

Feng Lin was startled. The equipment inside was worth millions; even Xu Bo rarely had the clearance to touch it, let alone operate it. She hurried over. "Student Lin, do you need help?"

"Leave him be!" Wang Qizhi waved her off. "You take the notes!"

With such instructions from her mentor, Feng Lin dared not object. She obediently took the folder and pulled out a form. Still, she was uneasy, her eyes glued to the monitor.

After warming up the machine and tossing the iron tile into the refrigerator, Lin Sicheng began setting the parameters.

"Emissivity 0.07!"

"Blackbody source calibration: Humidity 10-40 HR, temperature differential -20°C to 150°C."

"Pseudo-rainbow mapping: Iron-red mode!"

Feng Lin looked up sharply, staring at Wang Qizhi. *No way... does he actually understand this?*

Emissivity was one thing, but unless one was a graduate student in cultural heritage conservation, who would know about blackbody source calibration or pseudo-rainbow mapping? Forget about adjusting the parameters—they wouldn't even recognize the terms.

Wang Qizhi tapped the table. "Why are you looking at me? Write!"

"Oh, right!" She lowered her head, glanced at the monitor, and scribbled frantically.

Wang Qizhi was equally puzzled. Lin Sicheng had mentioned that he had followed a Professor Lin into labs before, and more than once. He spoke with such authority that he clearly understood the basic operating procedures. Otherwise, Wang Qizhi wouldn't have let him into the equipment room.

What struck Wang Qizhi was Lin Sicheng’s casual, relaxed demeanor and his familiarity. He didn't even need to turn his head to know where the dashboard, the tray, the light source, or the sensors were. A single glance was enough to tell him the angle and how to adjust it. He couldn't possibly be this proficient without having been in a lab hundreds of times.

Compared to him, even Feng Lin seemed a step behind. No, several steps behind. The kid had already started the analysis: multi-point scanning, dynamic monitoring, image freezing, labeling, matrix data export, thermal map overlay, precise defect localization, linear temperature differential marking, and analysis.

Wang Qizhi watched in a daze. As the saying goes, different trades are worlds apart. Even within metal artifact restoration, copper and iron were vastly different, let alone ceramics. One shouldn't assume that just because the same instrument is used, the workflow and requirements are the same. Wang Qizhi had been ready to offer guidance at any moment, but before he could, Lin Sicheng had already completed most of the inspection.

Wait, something wasn't right. Why was the exported image so strange?

Wang Qizhi blinked. "Iron artifact surface penetration imaging... No, where did he learn this?"

Feng Lin’s eyes were wide. It was no exaggeration to say that she didn't know how to do what Lin Sicheng was doing now. This instrument did have a function for iron artifact penetration imaging, but she had never been taught how to use it. To be precise, West University didn't teach it. Only one school in the country offered such a course: Peking University's School of Archaeology and Museology. And only graduate students specializing in iron artifact conservation ever learned it.

As they stood there dumbfounded, Lin Sicheng’s voice came over the intercom: "Record!"

"Surface rust composition: Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄..."

"Middle and bottom layers: α-FeOOH, β-FeOOH, γ-FeOOH..."

"Hydroxides: Fe(OH)₂, Fe(OH)₃... Chloride compounds: FeCl₂, FeCl₃..."

"Sulfates: FeSO₄... Carbonates: such as FePO₄..."

Feng Lin’s head was spinning. She picked up her pen, but she couldn't remember a thing. Was that it? This was all based on Lin Sicheng’s visual assessment; the machine didn't display any of it. The worst part was that her moment of distraction meant she hadn't recorded any of it.

Before she knew what to do, Lin Sicheng emerged from the imaging room carrying the iron tile.

Wang Qizhi looked at him suspiciously. "Where did you learn penetration imaging?"

"From books!"

What? "Which books?"

Lin Sicheng took off his protective suit at a leisurely pace. "Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, *Archaeology Journal*, 2006, Issue 8. CASS, *Archaeology*, 2006, Issue 11. Peking University, *Archaeological Research*, 2006, Issue 6!"

Wang Qizhi was dumbfounded. "Lin Sicheng, are you messing with me?"

Lin Sicheng sighed inwardly. It wasn't exactly messing with him, but he was being a bit perfunctory. But he couldn't just hide his skills, could he? That would be inviting unnecessary trouble. Besides, it wasn't exactly top-secret technology.

Lin Sicheng set down the iron tile, put on gloves and a mask, and began mixing chemicals. "Professor Wang, I’m not lying. Check it if you don't believe me!"

Wang Qizhi’s lips twitched; a string of curses was at the tip of his tongue. Was this a question of checking journals? If Lin Sicheng’s logic held up—that one could master advanced scientific detection just by flipping through journals—wouldn't the world be crawling with scientists?

But on the other hand, only Peking University taught these techniques. If he hadn't learned it from books, where could he have learned it?

As he pondered, a pungent smell drifted over. Wang Qizhi squinted. Lin Sicheng was mixing a bunch of vials: oxalic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, hydrochloric acid...

Wang Qizhi’s eyelid twitched. "What are you doing?"

Lin Sicheng sounded perfectly matter-of-fact. "Removing the rust."

"No... why not use the ultrasonic cleaner?"

"Too slow, and it needs to be washed afterward anyway."

"Then why not use tea? Electrolytes work, too."

"That takes too many steps. It's better to get it done in one go."

Wash and dry, dry and wash, and you couldn't even bake it dry. By the time he finished washing it, the electric kiln would have already arrived.

"Get it done in one go, my foot!"

Even if their specialties were different, how could Wang Qizhi not understand the damage acid caused to metal artifacts? And he was doing it right in front of him, in his own lab! What was this? It was a blatant insult to a cultural heritage conservator.

Wang Qizhi was so angry his liver ached. He grabbed Lin Sicheng by the collar. "Get up!"

Lin Sicheng was caught between laughter and tears. "Professor Wang, I'm really short on cash and in a hurry!"

Wang Qizhi paused, then gritted his teeth. "Five hundred thousand!"

"What?"

"Five hundred thousand. I'll transfer it to your card in a bit." Wang Qizhi’s face was dark as he pointed at the door. "Now get out!"

*Haha, how much?* Lin Sicheng had previously thought that even if Professor Wang knew his stuff, he’d get at most three hundred thousand. As it turned out, Professor Wang got so angry he nearly doubled the price?

He quickly took off his gloves, beamed, and bowed. "Alright, Professor Wang, I'm leaving right now!"