Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 74: Founding Disciple, Sect Master
As soon as she entered the door, Shang Yan's face sank.

Her face was full of anger, like a lioness.

"Professor Shang, don't get angry!" Wang Qizhi gestured for Ye Anning to pour some tea. "If you have something to say, speak slowly!"

The less anxious he was, the angrier Shang Yan became. Just as she was about to curse, Wang Qizhi glanced at her:
"Professor Shang, let me ask you, if we were in the porcelain room, would you dare let Lin Sicheng sell that plum vase?"

Shang Yan was stunned, her face changed from gloomy to bright, and her anger receded like a tide.

Yes, you can’t even guarantee the basic rights of students, so why do you blame Wang Qizhi for competing with you for students?
After a long while, she gritted her teeth again: "This is school!"

"Yes, this is a school, a place to cultivate talents, establish words and morals, and act accordingly, not a place for moral kidnapping... What if, I mean what if: if the school doesn't allow the sale, if I were Lin Sicheng, I would dare to drop out. Do you believe it?
Wang Qizhi gestured and said, "Then he took this plum vase and the sunflower-shaped plate from last time and found a university of the same or higher level. Do you think the other school would accept them?"

Shang Yan stared: Do you still need to guess?

With this hand that touches the blue, with this skill that mends porcelain and chisels gold: Peking University's gate is always open, and its arms are open to welcome you...

Wang Qizhi spread his hands and said, "So, I'm helping the school retain talent. Of course, I also know why Professor Shang is so angry: because you feel that I deceived you, so you didn't recruit Lin Sicheng in time...

But when I turned around, I realized that I had actually coaxed Lin Sicheng into my team? So, the more outstanding Lin Sicheng is, the angrier you get..."

Wang Qizhi smiled again. "Yes, I did say that Lin Sicheng is too talented. Recruiting a student like him is like a wolf jumping among sheep... However, in this world, ordinary people are the majority, so it would be unfair to other students and even more detrimental to management...

But I'm not lying to you. If you ask me now, I'll still say the same thing... Professor Shang, if you don't believe me, just think carefully: What's different about Assistant Professor Li today compared to before?"

Shang Yan was stunned for a moment and glared at Wang Qizhi fiercely.

Outside the door, Hao Jun dragged on for a while and happened to hear this sentence. He took a look out of curiosity.

Suddenly, Li Zhen's face flushed red from the tips of her ears to the base of her neck...

"It's human nature to admire the strong, especially those of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, there are quite a few female graduate students among you... Isn't this clearly intended to split your once harmonious research team into two opposing factions? So, for Professor Shang, what else is Lin Sicheng but a scourge?"

Seeing Shang Yan showing signs of getting angry again, Wang Qizhi changed the subject, "It's really hard to manage anyway, don't you think?"

Shang Yan snorted: "You are easy to manage?"

"Of course, Feng Lin is already thirty, so Lin Sicheng definitely wouldn't look down on her... More importantly, my research group has just been established, and Lin Sicheng is the first one to join. What does this mean?"

Wang Qizhi waved his hand, his eyes indescribably sharp. "This is the founding disciple, the sect's senior brother. Who can give me a thorn and try to blow it up?"

Shang Yan opened her mouth but couldn't say anything for a long time.

She had never thought about this question before. The question was, did Wang Qizhi's words make sense?

If nothing unexpected happens, Wang Qizhi will hand over all the junior group members, whether they are newly admitted graduate students or teaching assistants who have stayed on campus, to Lin Sicheng for management. He will also definitely make it clear in advance: If you don't obey, get out as soon as possible.

She could even imagine what Wang Qizhi would do after recruiting all the people: the first topic would definitely revolve around Lin Sicheng.

Do not believe?

Just the fish scales and the golden branches on the plum vase today are enough to start two small topics:
The craftsmanship of hammering in the restoration of ancient armor;
Gold art, engraving, and ancient porcelain!

Isn’t Lin Sicheng tired of writing papers?
But what about me? I can't just give Lin Sicheng a new project to appease him.

But what about the other eleven students?
Or, how about picking one of the existing topics and assigning it to Lin Sicheng?

But what about the students who were previously in charge?
The more Shang Yan thought about it, the more tired she became, and the more she felt that Wang Qizhi's words made sense: He is indeed a talent, but how do you arrange and manage him?

But we can't just let it go like this.

Even if you know you will die, you have to fight for it.

Shang Yan gritted her teeth and said, "Professor Wang, I admit that what you said makes sense. But you can't mislead students just to make them feel comfortable.
You know better than me: in our school, and even in the province and the country, there are countless institutions and talents researching bronzeware. The large and high-level research directions have long been taken up...

So, you can only work on specific topics, but what future do you and Lin Sicheng have? But porcelain is different: there are enough dynasties and even more kilns... Just the Cizhou kilns in this province are enough to study for a lifetime..."

"Haha..." Wang Qizhi laughed. "Professor Shang, when did I ever tell you that Lin Sicheng and I's main research area is copper?"

Wang Qizhi said firmly: "It is iron, an iron artifact!"

This sentence was like a hammer, hitting Shang Yan's forehead hard.

There was a sudden buzzing in his head and his face gradually turned pale.

Subconsciously, the day when Wang Qizhi took Lin Sicheng to the ceramic laboratory to repair the sunflower-mouthed plate emerged in his mind:
"Professor Wang, how come Lin Sicheng knows X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy?"

"He said he learned it from a book..."

"He also has the ability to perform surface-penetrating imaging of iron specimens... This technology was only published in a paper by the Academy of Social Sciences last year... He told me that he learned it from reading the paper..."

"He also has a systematic desalination, chlorine removal, corrosion inhibition, and sealing process... This technology, which Beijing University of Technology just applied for a patent at the beginning of the year, is still in the trial phase at the National Museum of China and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage... He also said that he was interested in literature. Isn't that impressive?"

Therefore, Wang Qizhi and Lin Sicheng never thought of building a Taoist temple in the snail shell of bronzeware, but wanted to... turn Tiangang against them?

At first glance, it seems quite funny: if it is so easy to research, why would the country set up a special project and provide key support?
The question is, what if?
What if Wang Qizhi didn’t lie, what if Lin Sicheng could really deduce the technology based on the paper?

It doesn't need to be much, even if it's just one-tenth, even if you only deduce the superficial aspects, even if you follow behind the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Cultural Relics Bureau, and the National Museum, it is equivalent to rounds of support policies and rounds of key funds.

With some good packaging and operation, the Heritage College could even apply to the university to open a single major...

On second thought: Wang Qizhi was studying copper artifacts, which belong to the same "metal artifact classification" as iron artifacts, so he could change direction at will.

But my research is ceramics, how can I switch?
Suddenly, Shang Yan became disheartened:

No wonder Lin Sicheng refused without a second thought when he asked Li Zhen to sound him out? He tried to talk to him face to face many times, but Lin Sicheng avoided him whenever possible.

Instead, Wang Qizhi just threw a wink and the two of them became lovers?
If it were her, she would be the same as Lin Sicheng.

So, what's the point of arguing?

(End of this chapter)