News from Taiwan

Chapter 9 Something’s wrong with you
At the repair table, Shen Huaizhou put on white silicone gloves and carefully removed the fragments of the letter.

His movements were extremely gentle, with almost no pressure applied to his fingertips, as if he were handling a rare treasure, both gently and carefully.

"The letter paper used is the more common mulberry bark paper, which was very popular in the 1950s. However, the fibers of this batch look finer and the paper quality is better. It may be a special year batch, or the proportions may have been changed during the production process. The paper has certain special characteristics."

As he spoke each word in a low voice, the iPad on the repair table was automatically recording his speech to text. He leaned closer, carefully smelled the ink, and then meticulously examined it before analyzing it in a low voice: "The ink is iron-based, which turns black after oxidation and is prone to bleeding when it comes into contact with water."

This also explains why Jiang Guier was pulled out of the water immediately after falling in, and why the letter became so messed up in just a few minutes.

Jiang Guier stood to the side, watching his movements intently. Hearing this, her heart tightened, and she asked softly, "Can he still be saved?"

Shen Huaizhou did not answer immediately. He squatted down and took out a portable microscope from under the table. After adjusting the focus, he placed a corner of the letter under the microscope to observe it.

“Although the writing is blurry, the iron ions in the ink are still there.” He looked up and met her gaze. “Theoretically, we can try to restore it using chemical reduction.”

Jiang Guier's heart raced, and her brows furrowed slightly. "Theoretically, recovery can be attempted, but that means it's very difficult and the success rate can't be guaranteed?"

"Yes, all repairs come with risks, and the extent of those risks is immeasurable but manageable."

Jiang Guier's sensitivity surprised Shen Huaizhou. With just one sentence, she was able to find the crucial knowledge point. He looked up and stared into her eyes, saying word by word, "Because the letter you wrote is so badly damaged, the difficulty of repairing it has greatly increased, and it is difficult to repair using ordinary methods."

"Use unconventional methods?" Jiang Guier grasped the key point again. She understood the meaning behind Shen Huaizhou's words: if he wanted to know the contents, he probably couldn't preserve the letter, and the conservative methods wouldn't be able to repair it successfully.

Shen Huaizhou stopped what he was doing, took off his white silicone gloves, neatly folded them and placed them to one side, and continued to answer, "It depends on what you really want. If you just want to know the content and don't care about the letter, then you can reduce the need to preserve the letter during the operation, thereby increasing the success rate of content extraction. Doing so requires the use of some special potions."

He then changed the subject, saying, "There is also a possibility of failure. If it fails... the writing may disappear completely."

The room fell silent for a moment.

It wasn't what she expected!
Jiang Guier frowned. She had considered half of the possibilities, but she hadn't expected that regardless of the letter, there would be consequences of failure—complete disappearance?
This is too high a price to pay; if we fail, we'll lose everything!

Looking at the tattered letter lying quietly on the repair table, Jiang Guier thought of her great-grandmother lying in the hospital bed waiting for her. She took a deep breath and said firmly, "I'm willing to take the gamble, regardless of the outcome!"

Regardless of the outcome, at least there is still hope.

"it is good."

This answer was exactly what Shen Huaizhou expected: "I'll take your order. I'll give you some suggestions on how to fix it later after I've sorted it out. If you think it's feasible, then proceed with it."

"Can't we give it to you now?" Jiang Guier asked anxiously.

She can wait, but can her great-grandmother wait?

Shen Huaizhou pursed his lips and lowered his eyes to think.

To prevent Shen Huaizhou from saying anything unpleasant that might provoke the other party and cause the deal to fall through, Shen Lu took the initiative to speak up, "Young lady, my nephew always has his own work habits. Today is an exception for you two. I think you should go back and wait for news for now, for my sake..."

"Okay." Shen Huaizhou's voice was clear and melodious, like a jade bead falling onto a plate.

Shen Lu remained silent, his mind still stuck. He stared at Shen Huaizhou's face, wishing he could burn two holes in it.

Kid, you're trying to sabotage me.

He rolled his eyes and turned his face away. Shen Huaizhou glanced at Shen Lu's slightly angry face and then looked at Jiang Guier. "Normally, the restoration process is like this: the first stage is deacidification, which usually takes 2-3 days; the second stage is reinforcement, which also usually takes 2-3 days; and the third stage is the restoration of the handwriting, depending on the specific situation. As for your letter, because it was soaked in river water, it needs to be treated first, which will take some time."

He explained every step in great detail.

"There are four steps in total. How many days will it take? Can you give me an exact number?" Jiang Guier was very anxious. Hearing about the four steps made her head spin. If it took too long, she might have to think of some other methods.

"If this isn't enough to make a clear estimate," Shen Lu said, his hands behind his back. "It will take at least a week."

"Two days."

As soon as Shen Huaizhou finished speaking, Shen Lu's eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Are you crazy?!"

"Uncle, I know what I'm doing." Shen Huaizhou stared intently into Jiang Guier's eyes and asked seriously, "Miss Jiang, do you think it's alright?"

"Two days?" Jiang Guier's gaze moved back and forth between the speechless Shen Lu and the serious Shen Huaizhou.

“Yes.” Shen Huaizhou nodded.

"Okay, thank you for your help, Teacher Shen."

Jiang Guier made the final decision, extending her hand, and the two hands touched gently once again.

This time, Shen Huaizhou clearly felt that the hand he was holding was soft and boneless.

Shen Lu, with a stiff face, said sarcastically, "The repair work needs to be completed in the next two days. It's a complicated and huge project. If you don't have any other requests, let's call it a day."

He openly kicked people out.

"Teacher Shen, we'll be leaving now." Lin Wan suppressed a laugh and pulled Jiang Guier, who was trying to stay and help, away.

Seeing the person leave, Shen Huaizhou looked at Shen Lu disapprovingly and said, "Uncle, it was very impolite of you to kick them out just now."

"Hehe, I'm being impolite, are you?"

Shen Lu pulled the door shut and looked at Shen Huaizhou with a sarcastic tone, saying, "If I hadn't known you for so long, I would have suspected that this wasn't just your professional habit acting up, but that you were bewitched by beauty." After saying that, seeing Shen Huaizhou silently tidying up his things with his back to him, he felt a surge of anxiety and took small steps forward.

"Something's not right with you, kid. I was wondering why you agreed so readily yesterday, and I was right."

"Uncle, be careful what you say." Shen Huaizhou took out the materials from the box and arranged them neatly. "I agreed yesterday because I also had a reason why this letter became like this. Yesterday... I had some misunderstandings with Miss Jiang. It's not what you think, Uncle. It's okay to say some things to me, but you still have to be careful when the other party is a woman."

"Really?" Shen Lu still didn't believe it.

Shen Huaizhou didn't reply. "Uncle, I need to get to work."

The refusal was obvious.

Shen Lu, who had been chased away, was not about to give up. "If you won't keep your mouth shut, then I'll ask someone else!"

(End of this chapter)