Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 599 - 395: Worthy of Divine Craftsmanship!_2

Chapter 599: Chapter 395: Worthy of Divine Craftsmanship!_2

"Kid, the item is just what it should be. You... I heard from Little Ye that you got it from abroad?"

"Yes, from the Russians." Sean Knight said, "An ancestor of that person was a diplomat during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance. He took back a lot of good stuff at that time."

"Sigh!" Elder Moore sighed, "So many good things were taken away during that era... Let’s not talk about it. I heard from Little Ye that you want to restore it privately without making it public?"

When the Old Master asked this, there was a hint of interrogation in his tone.

Sean could understand that people of their age had given their entire lives to the cause, so their belief in the country was unquestionable.

Sean admired them but didn’t plan to be that kind of person.

He was just an ordinary person, and he couldn’t do it.

So he said:

"Old Master, I think it is very meaningful to get some things back and display them so that everyone can see them and experts can study them, like the Acupuncture Bronze Figure, and the inscribed Bronze ware.

But some things, I think personal collections are also quite good. Even if they were put on display, apart from amazing people, there wouldn’t be much significance.

After all, there is a golden crown domestically. This one doesn’t have anything special, so I don’t want to bring it out."

As soon as he said this, both Elder Moore and Melvin Richardson understood.

Sean had brought back a lot of things from domestic sources before.

And most of these things had been made public, such as the Acupuncture Bronze Figure which was directly rented to a university for people to visit, learn, and study.

The bronze big plate was also rented out, allowing the Xinjiang Museum to make a huge splash nationwide, and many scholars took the initiative to apply to visit and study the Xinjiang Museum.

And other items like bamboo slips and the Yongle Encyclopedia were shared without any reservation.

Insiders knew very well that the study of these objects had very positive implications for advancing the understanding of China’s culture and history.

So Sean’s actions earned him praise from many people, especially those in the industry, within the country.

To be honest, if it weren’t for Melvin Richardson mentioning Sean, and Elder Moore just happened to know about Sean’s deeds, Sean certainly wouldn’t have made this trip.

Having served for nearly 60 years, Elder Moore, who was in his twilight years, had almost stopped working altogether.

A lifetime was enough.

But Sean was different.

Although Sean was not as well-known to the general public as celebrities, he was highly regarded by industry insiders as a promising young talent!

The few things he had done were exemplary.

And this time, Sean’s decision, although not unexpected, was also reasonable.

He did not make any extra demands for the things he had done before.

The peace of mind was all he was asking for.

Now, this gold crown was a rare item.

It definitely had a role in studying China’s civilization, but compared to the inscribed bronze big plate and the Acupuncture Bronze Figure, the contribution was much smaller.

So they understood Sean’s thoughts.

"Young man, not bad." Timothy Bailey suddenly said, "But, if you want this old man to restore this gold crown, the price won’t be low."

"Don’t worry, money won’t be a problem." Sean said with a smile, "Of course, I have a request."

Elder Moore raised an eyebrow:

"Kid, you dare to make a request to me?"

"Of course, we are now having a serious business negotiation. You can’t always be the one to set the price while I can’t make any requests, right?" Sean said with a smile.

"Good kid..." The anger on Elder Moore’s face suddenly disappeared without a trace, "Interesting, go ahead, what’s your request?"

"No photographs, confidentiality required." Sean said, "In my opinion, the restoration of this golden crown may be a bit complicated, but I don’t think the difficulty should be too great for you, so I’d like to observe."

After hearing Sean’s words, Elder Moore thought about it while stroking his chin, nodded, and said:

"Fine. That’s it then."

He glanced at Melvin Richardson again and then looked at Sean Knight:

"Young man, you don’t look old, but you’re very shrewd in handling things!"

"I’ll just take that as a compliment." Sean Knight replied with a smile.

Melvin Richardson didn’t dare to interrupt much and asked:

"So, Old Master, when will you be free?"

"It’s better to start today than to wait for another day. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can see the true face of this golden crown!"

At this point, even Howard Richardson was excited!

"Come on, you young fellows, follow me." Elder Moore took the lead and headed inside the house.

He led Sean and the others to a closed door, while taking out a key, he sighed and said:

"This room hasn’t been opened for nearly half a year. Even my son can’t enter in here."

The door was opened, and inside there was a small room, with the most noticeable object being a table - or rather a workbench.

"After I retired, I didn’t intend to continue working in this field," Elder Moore put on his glasses from the table, then prepared his tools and mixed some unknown liquid while speaking:

"But after all, I’ve been doing this for nearly sixty years; it’s impossible to quit all of a sudden. I feel like these things have been ingrained in me throughout my lifetime, and without having this set of things at home, it seems as if life is incomplete."

Everyone could understand what he was saying.

"Kid, bring the stuff over," Elder Moore ordered Sean Knight. "This gold crown actually isn’t severely damaged. There’s just some dirt on it, and some parts have been deformed from being hit.

But the main body is undamaged, and there aren’t any missing pieces. This kind of restoration is actually the simplest. Any apprentice from my team could handle it."

Once he had said this, Sean Knight felt a twinge of regret for a moment.

If only he had found someone else to restore it casually, he wouldn’t have had to deal with this hassle.

However, he quickly abandoned this idea. Having a national treasure-level restoration expert restore it, and he was still unsatisfied?

Was his brain faulty?

As Elder Moore brushed the liquid onto the gold crown, he looked at Howard Richardson and said:

"You thought the golden crown was a bit ugly at first - and that’s understandable. After all, in the eyes of ordinary people, the cultural relics they see are clean, beautiful, and complete; this is all the result of restoration."

Elder Moore continued his work without stopping, and he also kept educating everyone, especially Howard Richardson, about this knowledge:

"But if you had seen what these things looked like initially, you would probably be disappointed - this golden crown is already considered to be in very good condition. Those popular Sanxingdui Bronze Figures - the real items are all broken pieces! Experts have spent a lot of time and energy to piece them together to what they are now.

What you see, the Bronze Giant Statues and the Bronze Divine Tree, are all pieced together from small fragments of bronze - this is much more difficult than building blocks!"

"Dealing with bronze artifacts may still be fine, but those silk textiles are the most difficult to restore..." Elder Moore spoke while his hands continued to work at a steady pace, "Especially the severely damaged ones. To restore them, it would take at least three to five years - it’s really difficult."

As the liquid was brushed onto the golden crown, Sean Knight noticed that the stains were slowly disappearing!

Seeing Sean’s astonishment, Elder Moore chuckled contentedly:

"This is actually a simple matter. We have our own specialization in this trade, and after doing this a lot, we gain experience."

After cleaning the stains on the golden crown, Elder Moore took out his tools again, fixed the crown in place, and gently tapped it.

At this moment, there was a knock at the door, followed by the voice of an elderly woman:

"Old man, do we have guests? Are you using your tools again?"

"Mind your own business," Elder Moore didn’t stop his work, "There’s something going on here, we’ll talk about it later."

"Alright, I’m going to cook." The elderly lady finished speaking, her footsteps grew distant, and then came the sound of water.

"My wife told me before that I could never let go of this craft, and that I would eventually have to open this door again. In the end, she was right..."

Sean and the others didn’t comment, their eyes wide open, watching as Elder Moore skillfully used a small hammer and a piece of hardwood to strike the dents in the golden crown back into shape, whether it was the gold wire, the gold frame, or the gold ornaments!

It was amazing that the fine gold threads, as thin as hair, didn’t break at all during this process!

It truly was a work of a master!