The Antique Restorer of 1970s Hong Kong

In the 1970s, Hong Kong entered a golden age of booming economic growth and rising Cantonese pop culture.

It was also a time when the gap between rich and poor widened even further. The wealthy lived in drunken luxury, while those without money crammed into subdivided flats and cage homes.

Jiang Muzhi and her entire family were squeezed into a cramped tenement building in Kowloon. Eleven people shared just thirty square meters, and she didn't even have her own bed. At night, she had to sleep with her cousin on the dining table.

They were already so crowded they could barely breathe, but splitting up the family wasn't an option: nobody could afford Hong Kong's sky-high rent.

Still, the family did have a framing shop. In the early years, Grandma had supported her children with her extraordinary skills in framing paintings and calligraphy.

But now Grandma was old and could no longer work, while the next generation's skills were all mediocre. They couldn't restore paintings and calligraphy, let alone manage even the most basic framing.

So the older generation urged Grandma to close the shop. It might be small, but at least they could fit a few beds inside, couldn't they?

Grandma clasped Jiang Muzhi's hand and lamented through her tears that the Jiang family framing shop's sign would be ruined in her hands.

Just then, a series of System notifications rang in Jiang Muzhi's mind:

[Ding! Want to learn the art of antique restoration? Welcome to the Chinese Antique Restoration System!]

[Want to learn the Beijing School's "Pearl and Jade Joined as One" technique, which repairs worm-eaten paintings and calligraphy without leaving a trace? Welcome to the Chinese Antique Restoration System!]

[Want to learn the Sichuan School's "Borrowing a Corpse to Revive a Soul" technique, which transfers old ink marks onto new paper? Welcome to the Chinese Antique Restoration System!]

[Want to learn the Tianjin School's "Thousand-Wave Knife" technique, which splits a sheet of paper into layers without damaging the ink? Welcome to the Chinese Antique Restoration System!]

[...]

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Hong Kong's most famous collector of paintings and calligraphy had acquired an authentic work by Mi Fu and invited every collector in the city over to show it off (crossed out), enjoy tea and admire it.

Grandma had framed many paintings and calligraphy works for the collector in the past, so she was invited too. Jiang Muzhi accompanied her.

As soon as the scroll was opened, the System's voice sounded in Jiang Muzhi's ear: [One imitation painting and calligraphy work, made last week.]

Jiang Muzhi: ...

It turned out the collector's young grandson had damaged the artwork, then secretly bought a fake to replace it. The original had already been cut into dozens of pieces by the little brat.

The collector was so heartbroken he nearly went to join Mi Fu right then and there.

As all the guests stood at a loss, Jiang Muzhi's grandma pushed her forward. The old woman beamed with pride. "A seamless restoration? My Muzhi can do that."

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Before long, the cultural heritage world knew that Hong Kong was home to an exceptionally skilled antique restorer. Her restoration work could make the rotten seem miraculous.

Theme: Preserving intangible cultural heritage and saving cultural relics