Ruan Xiwen’s manner of speaking was intense, quite different from the slow, measured pace of other archaeologists I’ve met, and it was very persuasive.
“So, there’s a possibility of completely overturning the original conclusions?” I quickly jotted down notes in my notebook.
“I think it’s possible.”
“That’s exactly what we journalists want,” I laughed.
“Look at these bluestone slabs. We’ve basically ruled out the possibility of them being added later. But if there were already steps, why bother with wooden stakes and stone slabs? Isn’t that strange? From what I can see, it’s almost a luxury, something that might appear only in the tombs of nobles, not in a water gate.”
I nodded in understanding, casually remarking, “Isn’t that as strange as the pyramids?”
“There’s a bit of similarity, but not as inexplicable. I believe if we wait a few more days and make a little more progress, we might get an explanation.” Ruan Xiwen laughed, “The key is that we don’t know who the builders were. Neither commoners nor officials could have done this. From the current understanding of the construction motives and dates, there’s no reasonable explanation, which is why I’ve come here. I wouldn’t travel thousands of miles for something less challenging.”
“Could it have been a royal project, perhaps supervised by some royal relative, leading to such extravagance?”
“Impossible,” Ruan Xiwen denied, “You should know, whether it was during the prosperous Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty with its advancements in science and culture, this area of Shanghai was always very remote. Even the term ‘Jiangnan’ was quite distant from here, so there’s no way it could be related to the emperor.”
As I pondered the possible identities of the builders, I suddenly thought of how many believe the pyramids were built by aliens, perhaps the Zhidan Garden ruins were constructed by underwater beings? I couldn’t help but smile bitterly; I was interviewing an archaeologist, not a naive college girl. This absurd thought was quickly dismissed.
“Could it have been for some ceremony, like a sacrifice or something? I remember reading about something like that when I was young, something related to Ximen Bao…” I asked casually, but before Ruan Xiwen could respond, I immediately dismissed my own idea, “Oh, I was just talking out loud. I forgot for a moment that this is underwater, hehe.”
Three: The Archaeologist from Beijing (3)
Hearing this, Ruan Xiwen suddenly glanced at me, his eyes flickering as if he thought of something, but the spark in his eyes vanished quickly, and he just smiled at me, saying, “Mr. Du, you really are amusing.”
