Chapter 57: How Am I Supposed to Try Hard With a Hammer?

Soaking new jade in alkaline water can replicate chicken-bone-white antique jade, and it can even fool technological instruments?

Section Chief Shen, who had remained silent all along, expressed deep skepticism.

Even Wang Zhizhi and Guan Xingmin were half-doubtful.

However, both of them understood Lin Sicheng: without absolute certainty, how could he possibly utter words like "one hundred percent"?

Guan Xingmin frowned and asked, "Is there a way to verify this?"

"Yes, and many!"

Lin Sicheng pointed at the paperweight. "Deep-level sampling. First, run X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. If it has been immersed in an alkali-rich water environment for a long time, the original crystals inside the jade will completely dissolve, while the secondary crystals will remain absolutely intact..."

"Secondly, take another sample and send it to the provincial department for Raman spectroscopy to analyze the changes in the internal mineral phases of the jade: if it was naturally penetrated by soil, there will inevitably be depositions of metal microparticles such as Al and Fe inside the jade..."

"At the same time, we can also test for traces of microbial activity on the surface of the jade and perform an organic matter composition analysis..."

They were all insiders and understood immediately.

There was no need to dwell on the first two points; let's talk about the last one: prolonged underground burial would inevitably leave behind traces of soil microorganisms, which would secrete acidic substances and corrode the jade's surface.

If this "prolonged period" was seven or eight hundred years, how heavy would the microbial count and corrosion traces be?

Secondly, was it really that difficult to analyze whether the grease components in the patina belonged to a human, a sheep, or a dog?

Of course not. The difficult part was the sampling: a small amount wouldn't do; each extraction required several grams, and drilling was mandatory.

To put it into perspective: if this paperweight were genuine, drilling into it three or four times would ruin it, turning it into a damaged artifact even if it weren't one before.

Yet, at this stage, it had to be done even if it meant scrapping the item...

Guan Xingmin clenched his teeth. "Boot up the machine and take the samples!"

Section Chief Shen's eyes widened in shock. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Guan Xingmin cut him off: "Did you not understand what I said?"

Faced with such an attitude from his superior, how could he dare to hesitate? He immediately put down his folder, picked up the paperweight, and said, "Understood. Don't worry, Director, ten minutes at most!"

"Perform simultaneous testing and send samples to the provincial department as well!"

"Understood!"

Guan Xingmin patted Lin Sicheng on the shoulder, looked at Wang Zhizhi, and sighed, "Secretary Wang, please excuse me!"

Wang Zhizhi smiled. "Director Guan, please don't be formal. Attend to your business first!"

Guan Xingmin nodded and called away most of his colleagues, leaving the evidence room suddenly empty.

The professors, who had been drinking tea in the next room, swarmed in upon hearing the commotion.

"Huh? Where is everyone?"

"Secretary Wang, what happened?"

"I have no idea!" Wang Zhizhi gave a perfunctory reply and checked his watch. "It's about time. Let's go eat."

Assuming he truly knew nothing, the professors didn't press further. One of the professors specializing in ceramics joked, "Lin Sicheng, I saw you busy all morning with a radiation gun. Did you detect anything?"

Lin Sicheng merely smiled.

Another professor chimed in, pretending to have just remembered, "Oh right, it seems only the bronze ware hasn't been tested yet. Will Professor Wang have to make another trip another day?"

Wang Zhizhi just smiled as well.

***

At this point, how could the authentication center possibly care about authenticating any bronze ware?

Take the example of the fake Xuande censer that Guan Xingmin mentioned during the briefing as the most crucial piece in this study-inspection:

No matter how important the object was, and no matter how serious the nature of the case, it was still at the stage of prosecution review. At most, it meant an extension and a few more rounds of authentication. If all else failed, it would be sent to the capital, and the worst that could happen would be a few laughs from peers.

But that paperweight was a piece of physical evidence from over a year ago, which meant the case had long since been judged. Yet suddenly, the ancient jade turned out to be a fake. What did that signify?

It meant that an item valued at over a million had suddenly plummeted to a few thousand. Shouldn't they re-evaluate whether the sentencing was excessively harsh and whether this constituted a wrongful conviction?

Next came the question: should they supplement the interrogation, reinvestigate, or even overturn the verdict?

However, was a case that had already been judged all that easy to overturn?

Lin Sicheng and Wang Zhizhi could already imagine how busy and chaotic the municipal bureau was about to become.

Once the authentication results came out, one could only imagine the "what the fucks" that the procuratorate and the court—which had prosecuted and sentenced the case—would utter upon receiving the news.

Who would still care about bronze ware and Xuande censers?

Just then, the deputy section chief in charge of reception came over to announce that a lavish lunch had been prepared in the dining hall, and the group trooped downstairs.

The master and disciple lagged behind at the very end, walking in silence.

At the entrance of the dining hall, Wang Zhizhi stopped, a peculiar expression crossing his face. "Did you also learn to test for radiation levels when authenticating jade from a book?"

"Just a coincidence!" Lin Sicheng said with a straight face. "Professor Wang, if you were the one testing and saw that the radiation level of a piece of jade was merely 0.02, wouldn't you be suspicious?"

Nonsense.

The problem was, what sane person would scan antiques with a radiation gun?

Therefore, Lin Sicheng had set a precedent, and he had done it twice in a row. At the very least, both provincial and municipal authentication centers would definitely add this step to their procedures from now on.

"Then what about that method you mentioned—soaking it in alkaline water to accelerate the calcination of the jade's texture? There were many steps involved. What were they?"

Lin Sicheng answered without hesitation: "First, constant temperature: keep it above forty degrees and below fifty degrees to accelerate the calcination reaction. Second, constant humidity: maintain it between 60% and 80% to promote mineral penetration..."

"Third, water immersion to simulate weathering... Fourth, mechanical assistance: low-power ultrasonic vibration to enhance solution penetration. Fifth, controlled heating and controlled freezing to create cracks..."

"Repeat this process for at most eight to ten weeks, and you can induce the calcination of the jade texture and naturally generate chicken-bone-white calcification spots. If you have a bit of patience and manually polish it to develop a patina, the entire process won't take more than three years..."

Wang Zhizhi was stunned.

Even though everyone had their own specialized field of study, he was still a professor of cultural heritage preservation and an authentication expert. Yet he had never even heard of the method Lin Sicheng described.

The crucial part was: could it really be this simple?

No acid soaking, no artificial rusting, no high pressure, and no piecing together... Just tell me, relying solely on visual inspection, how on earth would you authenticate it?

Without deep-level sampling, even instruments wouldn't be able to detect it!

And in ordinary antique collecting and trading, how many people would take items to professional institutions for testing, let alone allow them to drill holes?

Wang Zhizhi was dumbfounded. "Does that mean anyone can forge it?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head. "It's not that easy. First, the alkaline solution ratio is hard to master, and second, it requires a specific ultrasonic frequency..."

Wang Zhizhi was about to ask further, but after a moment of thought, he closed his mouth. If this method were to spread, how many people would it fucking ruin?

He asked half-jokingly, "Did you learn that from a book too?"

***

Lin Sicheng nodded firmly. "Of course!"

Wang Zhizhi sighed, and the two of them entered the dining hall.

Not long after lunch—about an hour later—Lin Sicheng and Wang Zhizhi were invited to the director's office.

Several reports lay on the desk:

First, there were residual primary crystals inside the jade, proving that the water immersion process had not exceeded three years.

Second, there were no metal ion depositions matching the soil composition of Yulin within the patination spots and cracks. Forget seven or eight hundred years—it had never even been buried in Yulin in the first place.

Particularly the third point: no traces of microorganisms similar to Yulin soil were detected. More crucially, no human biological tissue was found, while quite a few traces of dog tissue had been detected instead!

The two leaders who had left in the morning returned. They looked at the test report on the desk and then at Lin Sicheng. For a moment, a whirlwind of emotions washed over them, leaving them at a loss for words.

To be honest, back in the morning, the bureau chief had just made that offhand remark completely out of the mindset of "since we have nothing better to do, let's take a wild swing and see if we hit anything."

As it turned out, they didn't hit any dates, but a bolt from the blue struck first instead!

When they received Guan Xingmin's phone call, both leaders were shaken into a state of utter bewilderment and helplessness: Lin Sicheng had tested a radiation source and genuinely found a problematic antique?

And the nature of the issue was this severe?

Even now, both leaders still felt lingering fear: thank goodness the judgment had been handed down recently, leaving room for remedy. What if the parties involved had already served their time and then sought out the news media... Haha!

The two leaders took turns expressing their gratitude. With a bellyful of unexpressed words, they shook Lin Sicheng's hand and pumped it continuously:

"Thank you for your hard work... Truly, thank you for your hard work..."

"Xiao Lin, don't rush to leave. The bureau chief will be here shortly... I've already arranged things at the dining hall. Let's socialize properly this afternoon..."

Lin Sicheng smiled and politely declined. "Thank you, Director, but I have a lot on my plate. Another time will be fine!"

Indeed, he was snowed under with matters, and the leader didn't push further. Sighing earnestly, he said, "Alright, then let's make it another time!"

After a profusion of thanks, the two leaders escorted Lin Sicheng and Wang Zhizhi downstairs and saw them into their car.

Without exaggeration, the busload of professors and teaching assistants looked ready to pop their eyeballs out in shock...

The coaster bus started moving. The deputy bureau chief smiled and waved goodbye, then looked at Guan Xingmin standing behind him:

"Old Guan, I heard Old Zhang [the primary director] say that you're planning to recruit Xiao Lin into our authentication center?"

Wait... how could the director have such a loose tongue?

Guan Xingmin's face twitched bitterly. "Director, honestly, the difficulty is immense!"

"I know, but where there's a will, there's a way!" The leader patted Guan Xingmin on the shoulder. "The bureau will give you its full support!"

Director Zhang also smiled from ear to ear. "Old Guan, give it your best effort!"

Guan Xingmin forced a smile and repeatedly agreed, while internally cursing, *What the hell am I supposed to use to make an effort?*

Did they see the watch on his teacher's wrist?

Was Lin Sicheng's brain kicked by a donkey?