Chapter 468: The Young Are Formidable

They were famished after an exhausting morning, so they devoured all the food. They even got a container of cabbage and tofu soup from the cafeteria and drank every last drop.

Zhao Nuan Yang noticed there were still some crispy pastries in his bag and said, "I have a lot of pastries here. I’ll share some with you. You can have some this afternoon if you get hungry."

Pan Ling’er’s eyes lit up. She was too full to eat anymore, but she didn’t refuse them either. An idea struck her, and she said, "I’m so busy running around, I don’t have a proper place to rest. If I get hungry later, I’ll come find you in your office! I can slack off a bit then, have a snack, and drink some tea!"

"That works too." Zhao Nuan Yang put the pastries away, saving them to eat together in the afternoon.

That afternoon, shortly after Zhao Nuan Yang arrived at his office, Dean Xin personally came by with the registration log to review his work assignments. Each record in the book for a completed and submitted item had a checkmark; the others were still blank.

"Ah, Zhao Nuan Yang, if you haven’t finished, you can just come back next year and keep working on it. There’s no rush." Dean Xin was extremely grateful to the man who had saved his life, so he was happy to be lenient and make things easier for him.

Zhao Nuan Yang smiled, but his attitude was very respectful. He said, "Dean Xin, there’s no need to trouble the leadership to change their plans. I’ve already completed all the tasks on the list. I’ve put them all in this safe. Since you, sir, and the other supervisors are here, you can go ahead and inspect them. If they pass, you can take them. If not, I’ll keep working hard and strive to finish the tasks before the new year."

’With such a major incident at the museum, I can’t cause more trouble for anyone. Besides, this is my job. Since I’m drawing a salary from the institution, I have to do my work and can’t slack off.’

Hearing Zhao Nuan Yang’s words, the few people who came with Dean Xin formed an even better impression of him. Even after performing such a great service, Zhao Nuan Yang was still so responsible. He was a young man worth mentoring.

"Huh?" Dean Xin was taken aback. He looked closely at the quantity and variety of items registered in the log—it was an even heavier workload than usual. ’Did Zhao Nuan Yang really finish it all?’ "Well, since you say you’re done, I’ll have to take a close look at your work!"

’This is a perfect opportunity to ask for advice from these renowned masters.’ So, Zhao Nuan Yang took out the key to the safe, opened the door, and took out all the items he had finished restoring one by one, arranging them neatly on his desk.

"Everyone, come take a look!" When Dean Xin saw one of the decorative pieces, he froze. He couldn’t see where Zhao Nuan Yang had made any repairs.

The others also gathered around the table, examining the items one by one.

In the end, although their expert eyes could spot where repairs had been made, an ordinary person absolutely would not be able to tell. Not only had he preserved the appearance of the damaged antiques and paintings to the greatest extent possible, but he had also enhanced their historical significance.

Zhao Nuan Yang’s restoration notes were concise and clear, yet also incredibly detailed. They perfectly reflected each object’s history, origin, the damage it had sustained, and the repairs it had undergone.

After about an hour, Dean Xin finally looked up at Zhao Nuan Yang, his eyes filled with admiration and immense satisfaction. ’Perhaps we could achieve this level of craftsmanship at our age, but we’re getting old. We don’t have the stamina anymore. There’s no way we could complete so much restoration work in such a short time.’

"Excellent!" Dean Xin laughed heartily and said with gratification, "This is truly a case of the new generation of Qianshui surpassing the old. Each one is stronger than the last. We have a worthy successor now."

Hearing such high praise from Dean Xin, Zhao Nuan Yang felt a bit embarrassed and quickly said, "You’re too kind, Dean Xin. I don’t deserve it!"

"Not at all, not at all. I’m telling the truth. You can tell I’m not lying from the looks on these old-timers’ faces," Dean Xin said. "I was planning to praise you properly, but time is tight right now. If you have no objections, we’ll inventory these items and submit them, and then you can go home. Rest well. You don’t need to come back to work until we reopen on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year."

Hearing this, Zhao Nuan Yang nodded. "Thank you, Dean Xin, and all the supervisors."

Everyone had already inspected the items one by one, so now they just needed to check the records and put a checkmark next to each one. With that, Zhao Nuan Yang had completed all of his tasks.

After everyone had placed the items into boxes and locked them, Dean Xin was about to leave when Zhao Nuan Yang quickly said, "Dean Xin, I have a question to ask. Could you spare me a minute?"

"Haha, feel free to speak your mind." Even though Dean Xin was busy, he could spare a minute. He was naturally happy to talk with Zhao Nuan Yang.

Zhao Nuan Yang smiled and asked in a low voice, "I wanted to ask if it’s possible to borrow ancient books from the museum. If not, I was wondering which library in Jincheng City might have a copy of the ’Earth Book’ to borrow. My younger sister, Little Red Carp, is especially fond of it, and I’d like to make a handwritten copy for her."

At first, Dean Xin thought Zhao Nuan Yang wanted to borrow an ancient book from the museum, which was of course forbidden by the rules. But when he heard the rest, he realized Zhao Nuan Yang just wanted to borrow a book from a library. ’Well, that’s much easier.’

"Haha, you’ve come to the right person," Dean Xin said with a chuckle. "I do know which library has that book. It’s in the Jincheng University library. If you don’t know anyone there, I can give you an introduction!"

These days, borrowing a book from the Jincheng University library was no easy task.

"Jincheng University?" Zhao Nuan Yang said, surprised. "I do know a couple of people there, but I’m not sure if I’d be able to borrow it. To be safe, I’d still like to ask you for an introduction, if you don’t mind."

"No problem!" Dean Xin nodded. He wrote a short sentence on a piece of paper from Zhao Nuan Yang’s desk, then took out his personal seal and stamped it. "Take this note to Jincheng University and find Professor Liang. He’ll help you borrow the book."

Zhao Nuan Yang took the paper from Dean Xin and said gratefully, "Thank you, Dean Xin!"

"It was no trouble at all, not worth mentioning," Dean Xin said with a smile. "Alright, we still have things to do today, so we can’t chat any longer. I’ll be sure to pay you a formal visit to thank you another day."

’That was four lives he saved!’

’Even though everyone was injured, the wounds weren’t fatal. But if they had been delayed any longer, with all that smoke inside, they would have suffocated.’

"Please, don’t stand on ceremony. Take care, Dean and supervisors," Zhao Nuan Yang said respectfully. After they left, he carefully put the note away. Then he began to tidy up his office, cleaning it until it was spotless. Seeing some red paper nearby, he also wrote a few characters for "good fortune" and pasted them on his desk, chair, window, and door.