Early the next morning, Chen Mo specially put on a washed-white shirt—bought from a roadside second-hand stall for a few yuan, which was a "huge sum" for him. He rushed to the museum at dawn. Captain Wang was already waiting at the entrance of the security room, with Xiao Li standing beside him looking reluctant.
"Here?" Captain Wang looked him up and down, nodded, "Still energetic. Come with me, I'll take you to report to the security team and get familiar with the patrol route."
The security team's office was in a small bungalow on the west side of the museum, with extremely simple furnishings: four wooden desks, two chairs, several old batons and flashlights piled in the corner, and a yellowed "Security Duties Regulations" posted on the wall. Three security guards were already drinking tea and chatting inside. When they saw Chen Mo coming in, they stopped talking, and their eyes fell on him all at once.
"Let me introduce you. This is Chen Mo, the new guy. He will work the night patrol shift with Xiao Li from now on." Captain Wang pointed to Chen Mo, then said to him, "These are Lao Yang, Lao Zhao, and Lao Qian, all old employees of the museum. Learn from them more in the future."
"Hello, Brother Yang, Brother Zhao, Brother Qian." Chen Mo quickly greeted them with a polite smile. He knew that in the workplace of this era, getting along well with others was very important, especially in a place like the security team where seniority was valued.
Lao Yang was a round-faced fat man, looking very friendly, waving his hand: "No need to be polite, we are all colleagues, we should take care of each other in the future." Lao Zhao and Lao Qian only nodded faintly, with a hint of scrutiny in their eyes—after all, Chen Mo was "of unknown origin" and was suddenly hired by Captain Wang, which inevitably made people suspicious.
Only Xiao Li stood aside, snorting coldly, and said sarcastically: "Some people are just lucky. They can enter the museum without a recommendation letter or ID card. I don't know what back door they used."
Chen Mo's heart sank, knowing that this guy was deliberately targeting him. He didn't want to argue with him, so he just smiled: "Good luck is also part of strength. Please give me more guidance in the future, Brother Li."
"I don't dare to be. I can't guide a 'master' who knows about cultural relics like you." Xiao Li rolled his eyes, turned around and sat at his desk, picked up his teacup and took a big sip.
Captain Wang noticed the tension between the two, coughed, and said: "Okay, you are all colleagues, don't be tit for tat. Xiao Li, take Chen Mo to get familiar with the patrol route. You two will work the night shift together tonight."
"Got it, Captain Wang." Xiao Li replied reluctantly, stood up and walked out, walking very fast, not intending to wait for Chen Mo at all.
Chen Mo shook his head helplessly and quickly followed. He complained in his heart: "Xiao Li is so petty. Is it necessary to target me like this just because he didn't get his way? Workplace PUA in the 1980s is even more direct than modern times!"
Xiao Li took Chen Mo around the museum once, perfunctorily introducing: "This is the front yard, that's the exhibition hall, and that's the warehouse. The patrol route is to walk around the museum once an hour. Focus on checking if anyone climbs over the wall and if there's anything abnormal with the exhibits. Got it?"
He held a messy route map in his hand, with crooked lines and vague markings. Chen Mo took it and looked at it, almost laughing out loud—this route map was messier than the treasure map he drew in primary school. It would be a miracle if he didn't get lost following it.
"Brother Li, is this route map a bit unclear?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.
"Unclear? I think it's very clear!" Xiao Li glared at him, "When I first came, Captain Wang gave me this, and I remembered it after one look. Are you stupid?"
Chen Mo cursed "idiot" in his heart, but didn't say anything more. He knew that arguing with someone like Xiao Li was useless and would only bring more trouble. While following Xiao Li, he silently memorized the route in his heart and took the opportunity to observe the museum's environment.
The museum was large, divided into the front yard, exhibition hall, warehouse, office area and restoration room. The exhibition hall was the key area, displaying various cultural relics, from bronzes, porcelains to calligraphy and paintings, jade artifacts, a feast for the eyes. The warehouse was behind the exhibition hall, heavily guarded, with a special security guard on duty at the door. The restoration room was next to the warehouse, with its door tightly closed and a sign hanging at the entrance: "No entry for non-staff", looking very mysterious.
"What's the restoration room for?" Chen Mo couldn't help asking.
"What else? Restoring cultural relics!" Xiao Li said impatiently, "But except for the curator and his secretary, no one can enter this place. You'd better not be curious, otherwise you'll be in trouble."
Chen Mo nodded and kept the restoration room in mind. He thought of the spare key he found in the secretary's office yesterday, and became even more curious—what secrets were hidden in this restoration room?
It was almost noon after getting familiar with the route. Captain Wang gave Chen Mo a set of security uniform, a baton and a flashlight, explaining: "The night shift is from seven o'clock in the evening to seven o'clock in the morning. Be careful when patrolling, especially the exhibition hall and warehouse. There must be no mistakes. All the cultural relics in the museum are national treasures. If one is lost, neither you nor I can afford it."
"Got it, Captain Wang. I will definitely patrol carefully." Chen Mo quickly agreed.
At lunchtime, the food in the cafeteria was very simple: a bowl of rice, a plate of green vegetables, and a few pieces of braised pork. Chen Mo was so hungry that he gobbled it up. Xiao Li sat opposite him, deliberately clinking his chopsticks loudly and glaring at him from time to time.
Lao Yang sat next to him, noticing Xiao Li's harassment, quietly said to Chen Mo: "That's Xiao Li's temper—petty. Don't take it to heart. He originally thought he could get the job for sure this time, but you came, so he's unbalanced."
"I see, Brother Yang." Chen Mo smiled, "I just arrived. It's better to avoid trouble. I won't argue with him."
"It's good that you think so." Lao Yang nodded, "If Xiao Li goes too far in the future, you can tell me, and I'll mediate for you."
Chen Mo felt warm in his heart, not expecting there to be such a friendly person in the security team. He quickly thanked him: "Thank you, Brother Yang. I appreciate your help."
There was nothing to do in the afternoon, so Chen Mo stayed in the security room to familiarize himself with the "Security Duties Regulations" and the distribution of cultural relics in the museum. He found that although there were many cultural relics in the museum, the management was relatively extensive. Many exhibits had no detailed records, and patrols were just simple walks around without fixed checkpoints or recording methods.
"This won't work. If an exhibit is damaged or lost, it will be impossible to find out when the problem occurred." Chen Mo muttered. As someone used to modern refined management, he really couldn't stand this crude way of working.
At seven o'clock in the evening, it was time for the night shift. Xiao Li threw a flashlight to Chen Mo: "Here, take it, follow me. Remember, don't talk or be lazy when patrolling. Walk around the museum once an hour and sign the logbook on time."
Chen Mo took the flashlight and followed Xiao Li out of the security room. As night fell, the museum was quiet, with only the faint light of street lamps. Xiao Li walked in front, his pace fast, not caring whether Chen Mo could keep up.
When they reached the entrance of the exhibition hall, Xiao Li suddenly stopped: "Wait here, I'll go check the warehouse." Without waiting for Chen Mo's response, he turned around and left.
Chen Mo was stunned for a moment, thinking: "Is he deliberately leaving me here? If something happens, there won't be anyone to help." But he had no choice but to stand guard at the entrance of the exhibition hall, carefully observing the surrounding environment.
When he was bored, Chen Mo thought of his modern thinking. He took out his mini notepad from his pocket and began to number the exhibits and record their characteristics by the light of the street lamp. He numbered each exhibit according to the area of the exhibition hall, then recorded the key characteristics of the exhibits, such as "Bronze Tripod: No. 1, 3 scratches on the left ear, moss marks on the base" and "Blue and White Porcelain: No. 2, 'Xuande Reign Period' mark at the bottom, uniform glaze".
This way, during future patrols, as long as he checked against the logbook, he could quickly find out if there was anything abnormal with the exhibits. He also drew a simple map of the exhibition hall, marking the location of each exhibit and the key inspection points—much clearer than the messy route map Xiao Li gave him.
Just as he was focusing on recording, he suddenly heard a "sizzling" sound from the exhibition hall. His heart tightened, and he quickly picked up the flashlight and walked into the exhibition hall. Following the sound, he found that the wires in the corner of the exhibition hall were aging, the insulation layer was cracked, and there was a slight leakage of electricity, making a "sizzling" current sound.
"Damn it, this is too dangerous!" Chen Mo was shocked. The exhibition hall was full of cultural relics, many of which were flammable wooden structures. Once a leakage-induced fire broke out, the consequences would be unthinkable. He quickly found the nearby power switch, turned off the power of that circuit, then recorded the location and situation of the aging wires in his notepad, planning to report it early the next morning.
After dealing with the wire problem, Chen Mo continued his patrol. According to the map he drew, he checked each exhibit one by one and found everything was normal. When he walked to the warehouse gate, he saw Xiao Li leaning against the wall smoking, not intending to patrol at all.
"Brother Li, why are you smoking here? The warehouse is full of cultural relics—smoking is very dangerous." Chen Mo quickly reminded him.
Xiao Li glanced at him, disdainfully said: "Mind your own business! What does it have to do with you if I smoke here? Just take care of yourself."
Chen Mo frowned and didn't say anything else. He knew that reasoning with Xiao Li was useless, so he could only be more careful himself.
In the next few days, Chen Mo patrolled in his own way every night, carefully recording the situation of the exhibits. He also successively found several potential safety hazards, such as the warehouse window not being closed tightly and the fire extinguishers in the exhibition hall being expired, all of which he reported to Captain Wang one by one.
Captain Wang didn't believe it at first, but later checked in person and found that what Chen Mo said was true. His attitude towards Chen Mo gradually changed. Lao Yang, Lao Zhao and Lao Qian also looked at Chen Mo with newfound respect, thinking that although this young man was of unknown origin, he was serious and responsible in his work—much more reliable than Xiao Li.
Only Xiao Li's hostility towards Chen Mo grew deeper and deeper. Seeing Chen Mo being recognized by everyone, he became even more jealous and often deliberately made things difficult for him—such as hiding his logbook and making him re-record it; or deliberately making noise to disturb him when he was patrolling and checking the exhibits.
Once, Xiao Li hid Chen Mo's flashlight. When patrolling at night, Chen Mo found that the flashlight was gone, so he had to patrol by the light of his mobile phone screen (a spare mobile phone he had secretly hidden in the sole of his shoe before time-traveling, which was fortunately still charged). As a result, when he walked to the entrance of the exhibition hall, he accidentally tripped over the threshold and fell on his face.
"Hahaha, can't even walk without looking—what a loser!" Xiao Li hid in the dark, laughing triumphantly.
Chen Mo got up from the ground, patted the dust off his body, and felt a surge of anger in his heart. He knew it was Xiao Li's doing, but he didn't lose his temper. He just silently picked up his mobile phone and continued patrolling. He secretly swore in his heart: "Xiao Li, just wait. One day, I'll let you know that playing tricks is useless."
A turning point came on a late night a week later. That night, as usual, Chen Mo was patrolling to the warehouse gate when he suddenly saw a familiar figure standing in the exhibition hall, carefully observing a bronze tripod. He walked closer and was surprised to find that it was Curator Zhou Hong.
Zhou Hong was wearing a Zhongshan suit, holding a magnifying glass in his hand, looking extremely focused. Chen Mo didn't want to disturb him and was about to leave quietly when he saw Zhou Hong reaching out to touch the bronze tripod.
"Curator, be careful!" Chen Mo quickly spoke up to remind him, "The humidity is low at night, and bronze artifacts are prone to oxidation. Touching them directly with your hands will leave fingerprints, which affects the protection of cultural relics."
Zhou Hong was stunned for a moment, turned around and saw Chen Mo, and a surprised expression appeared on his face: "It's you? Chen Mo? What are you doing here?"
"Curator, I'm a night shift security guard, and I'm on patrol." Chen Mo quickly replied, "Why are you still in the exhibition hall so late?"
"I came to take a look at this bronze tripod. I've been feeling that its color is a bit off recently." Zhou Hong smiled, put down the magnifying glass, "What you just said is very correct. Bronze artifacts really can't be touched directly with hands. As a security guard, you also know this?"
"I usually like to read some books about cultural relic protection, so I know a little bit." Chen Mo said modestly. He couldn't exactly say that he was a time-traveler who had seen a lot of introductions to cultural relic protection in modern museums.
"Not bad, not bad. You're a thoughtful young man." Zhou Hong nodded in satisfaction, looking Chen Mo up and down, "I heard that you've been working very hard recently, found several potential safety hazards, and organized the patrol work very well. Is that true?"
"It's all what I should do, Curator." Chen Mo scratched his head embarrassedly.
"There are not many young people like you who are serious, responsible and know about cultural relics now." Zhou Hong patted him on the shoulder, "Do a good job. The museum needs talents like you."
After speaking, Zhou Hong took another look at the bronze tripod and turned to leave the exhibition hall.
Chen Mo looked at Zhou Hong's back, feeling secretly happy: "It seems that the curator has a good impression of me. This is a good opportunity." He knew that in this era, gaining the appreciation of leaders meant hope for promotion and a raise.
Before long, the opportunity really came.
Early that morning, as soon as Chen Mo got off work, he was called to the security room by Captain Wang. Captain Wang had a smile on his face and said: "Chen Mo, the curator is looking for you. He wants you to go to his office right now."
"The curator is looking for me?" Chen Mo was stunned for a moment, feeling a little nervous, "Captain Wang, do you know what the curator wants me for?"
"I don't know, but judging from the curator's expression, it should be a good thing." Captain Wang patted him on the shoulder, "Go ahead and perform well."
Chen Mo nodded, tidied up his clothes, and walked towards the curator's office.
The curator's office was on the second floor of the museum's office area, decorated quite elegantly. There were several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls, and the bookshelves were filled with cultural relic books and antique ornaments. Zhou Hong was sitting behind the desk. When he saw Chen Mo coming in, he smiled and said: "Sit down, Chen Mo."
After Chen Mo sat down, he felt even more nervous: "Curator, what do you want me for?"
"Well, my secretary recently had to resign and go home to take care of her mother who is seriously ill." Zhou Hong looked at him, "I have observed you for a while and think you are careful, responsible and know about cultural relics—very suitable for the position of secretary. I want to promote you by exception to be my personal secretary. Would you like it?"
"Secretary?" Chen Mo was shocked. He never expected that he could be directly promoted from a security guard to the curator's secretary—it was like jumping from the bottom to the top in one step!
"Why? You don't want to?" Zhou Hong asked with a smile.
"Yes! Of course I do!" Chen Mo quickly nodded, so excited that he almost stood up from his chair, "Thank you for your trust, Curator. I will definitely work hard and live up to your expectations!"
"Good, then it's settled." Zhou Hong nodded in satisfaction, "The secretary's work is very important. First, you must be tight-lipped—don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't say what you shouldn't say. Second, you must be efficient in handling things. Finally, core documents must not be leaked. Without my permission, no one is allowed to enter the restoration room—including you."
"I understand, Curator. I will strictly abide by your requirements." Chen Mo quickly agreed.
"Tomorrow you will move to the secretary's office to work. I will ask Sister Zhao from the Administration Department to take you to get familiar with the work." Zhou Hong handed Chen Mo a key, "This is the key to the secretary's office. Go clean it up first."
Chen Mo took the key, feeling overjoyed. He finally didn't have to work the night shift or be harassed by Xiao Li anymore! Moreover, becoming the curator's secretary would allow him to get in touch with the core affairs of the museum. Maybe he could find that bronze pendant faster and find out the secret of the restoration room!
He held the key and walked out of the curator's office, feeling that the sun was particularly bright. He quickly walked to the secretary's office, opened the door and walked in.
The secretary's office was not big, but it was neatly arranged, with a desk, a bookcase and a chair. There were still things left by the previous secretary on the desk: several notebooks, a fountain pen, and an unlocked drawer.
Curious, Chen Mo opened the drawer to see if there was anything important inside. As soon as he opened it, he was stunned—a bronze key was hidden in the drawer, with three characters "Restoration Room" carved on it!
"A spare key to the restoration room?" Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat. He picked up the key and looked at it carefully, confirming it was correct.
Why did the previous secretary have a spare key to the restoration room? Why didn't he take it away? Could there really be a secret hidden in the restoration room?
Chen Mo held the key, feeling full of curiosity and doubt. He faintly felt that behind this key, there was a huge secret—and this secret might be related to Zhou Hong...
He quietly put the key into his pocket, then began to clean up the things on the desk. He knew that from tomorrow on, he would be the curator's secretary, and his workplace career would usher in new challenges and unknown dangers. But he was not afraid; instead, he was full of expectation—he believed that as long as he was careful, he would definitely find out the truth and find his way back.