Chapter 259: Sanxingdui Culture? They Actually Had Welding Technology... How Is That Possible
Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Sanxingdui Culture? They Actually Had Welding Technology... How Is That Possible
Zhang Zhengyi said, "I swallowed my pride and threw a tantrum at their office for days. I even set up a tent there. My students joined me, playing the victim. If they still hadn’t agreed, it would have become a public incident."
Hearing this, Gu Shengsheng could already picture the scene.
’As expected of Mr. Zhang. Age and experience really do count! He always does things so unexpectedly.’
Gu Shengsheng was genuinely impressed this time.
Zhang Zhengyi said, "You’re interested in this project too, right? This will be an unprecedented undertaking. Research on both the Mayan Civilization and Sanxingdui has been suspended. We’re going to be the ones to excavate."
"If the results are good, it’ll be a huge bonus for your graduate school admissions interview."
"But if the results are bad..."
At this, Gu Shengsheng nodded. "If the results are bad, then everyone here—you, me, Lu Shijing, and your students—we’ll all be in deep trouble."
"Yes," Zhang Zhengyi nodded. "Shengsheng, we’re under a lot of pressure."
"But this kind of pressure is also exciting." The two of them looked at each other and laughed out loud.
The more Zhang Zhengyi looked at her, the more pleased he was. ’She’s clearly cut out for research.’
Just then, Lu Shijing walked over and gently wiped Gu Shengsheng’s face with a wet wipe.
Then he said, "Come sit over here for a bit."
"Mr. Zhang is perfectly capable of looking around on his own first. If he doesn’t get familiar with the site, he won’t be able to manage this project properly."
"Isn’t that right, Mr. Zhang?"
Zhang Zhengyi: "..."
’This kid Lu Shijing says the strangest things, but he has a point.’
He said, "You young folks go on and get some rest!"
Lu Shijing pulled her over and straightened her clothes, his movements gentle and his expression practiced.
The two of them looked just like a couple that had been married for many years.
"Ahem..." Gu Shengsheng said, "Um, what are you doing?"
"Lu Shijing, our collaboration has been pleasant, but you’re crossing a line."
"I’m not," Lu Shijing said with a straight face. "Shengsheng, I remember we’re getting a divorce. Don’t worry, we’ll be respectful of one another."
"I’m only being this gentle with you to help you fend off some unnecessary trouble."
Gu Shengsheng was confused. ’How so?’
Lu Shijing continued, "Every single one of Professor Zhang’s students is looking at you with admiration and fondness. Some of the male grad students are even blushing, and others have very clear intentions."
"See? Aren’t these the kind of unwanted suitors you’d rather avoid?"
Lu Shijing explained.
Gu Shengsheng nodded in agreement. She hadn’t paid attention to the students’ faces before, but now she realized it was just as Lu Shijing had described.
Just as she was thinking this, a blushing male graduate student came over and handed her a letter. "Sister Gu, hello. This is... something I wrote for you. The things I wanted to say."
"I hope you’ll accept it."
Gu Shengsheng was speechless. She didn’t accept the letter and deftly turned him down, sending him back to rejoin the other graduate students.
She disliked complications, and getting involved with one of Professor Zhang’s students would only lead to more of them.
’Lu Shijing did have a point.’
The corners of Lu Shijing’s mouth curled in a triumphant smirk. "It’s better to have one person bothering you than a whole group, isn’t it?"
"Besides, I’m very busy, so I won’t waste your time. My main focus is finding the person who lured us to Rui City and kidnapped Grandma. I can’t just let them watch the chaos from a distance. And on top of all that, I can keep you safe."
Gu Shengsheng replied, "That makes sense. I’ll leave it to you then."
The moment she agreed, Lu Shijing swept her into his arms and called out to Zhang Zhengyi, "My wife hurt her ankle a little. I’m taking her outside to take care of it. We’ll be back in five minutes."
Holding her, he glanced around with unabashed arrogance, looking particularly smug when his eyes fell on the lovestruck graduate students.
’If he could, he would announce to the entire world that he belonged to Shengsheng.’
The moment she was lifted into his arms, Gu Shengsheng’s heart skipped a beat. A second later, she came to her senses and tried to struggle.
But she found she couldn’t move, held securely in his arms. In his broad embrace, Gu Shengsheng’s cheeks flushed involuntarily. She simply shut her eyes, refusing to look.
Lu Shijing chuckled, his chest vibrating slightly.
"Open your eyes," he said. "I’m going to apply the medicine."
She snapped out of it, and to ease the awkwardness, she glanced at the tiny scrape on her ankle and said, "This is perfectly normal. It doesn’t need any medicine."
"Mm," Lu Shijing nodded. "Since I saw it, it’s getting treated."
Then he added another explanation, "By carrying you like this, I wanted to show those little schoolboys writing you love letters that I’m yours."
Alarmed, Gu Shengsheng quickly covered his mouth. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Nothing, I’m just kidding," Lu Shijing said, gently tapping her nose.
’He found that when Gu Shengsheng got angry, she’d bristle, which was adorable.’
It was a complete departure from her usual self-possessed, composed, and even emotionally detached demeanor.
When they went back inside, Zhang Zhengyi had already finished examining the two artifacts.
His expression was extremely grave.
He walked over and said, "Shengsheng, this is all part of the Sanxingdui Culture."
"Yes," Gu Shengsheng nodded, still shining her flashlight on the soil.
"Furthermore, the golden rod and the Human-faced Bronze Statue here are even more abstract than the ones from Chuan City. This implies that the earlier speculations by scientists and archaeologists weren’t baseless."
"It’s as if this civilization appeared out of thin air. This so-called culture is entirely different from anything in the known history of Sichuan or Ruishi."
"A find like this completely contradicts the historical records. Was it all just fabricated, or is there another explanation?"
In all his years as an archaeologist, Zhang Zhengyi had actually encountered his fair share of so-called supernatural phenomena. Many things were simply inexplicable.
This was normal; what field didn’t have its own strange quirks?
Even jewelers and jadeite merchants wouldn’t dare go out to source materials during a thunderstorm—it was a taboo.
In the archaeological world, the standard response to such taboos was always to halt the research.
No one had researched the Sanxingdui Culture for a long time now, and the clear signs right before their eyes seemed to be sending the same message: stop.
But Zhang Zhengyi didn’t want to give up. In fact, he was more eager than ever to find out what came next.
Gu Shengsheng said, "Yes."
"This civilization does seem to fit the profile for an alien habitat," she continued, "but I think there’s another possibility."
As she spoke, Gu Shengsheng took out the "Moonlight Treasure Box." She had excavated it a little while ago but hadn’t brought it out until now.
This so-called "Moonlight Treasure Box" was a net-like object in the shape of a turtle shell. Its outer layer was bronze, and set within the lattice was an exquisite—and surprisingly large—piece of jade.
Nothing like it had ever been found in previous studies.
Gu Shengsheng was not unfamiliar with it; she had conducted research on this exact object in a parallel universe.
She looked at Zhang Zhengyi and said, "We have bronze artifacts, as we can see from the Human-faced Bronze Statue. But there’s also evidence of welding technology."
"How could welding technology have possibly existed in that era?"