Chapter 2435: Sonia (XII)

Sonia reinserted the freshly degreased blue magpie skull back into the skin pouch and carefully adjusted its position. Then she took out another box.

"This is camphor powder—a natural spice with strong insect-repelling properties. The one I'm using happens to come from Taiwan," she explained. "We've already treated the bird skin with arsenic paste for preservation, but the degreased kapok also needs treatment to prevent insect damage."

She spread the degreased kapok flat on the operating table, sprinkled a layer of camphor powder over it, then gripped one side with tweezers, rolled it tight, and began stuffing the bird skin.

"When stuffing, follow the order of head, neck, wings, chest, legs, abdomen, tail. Stuff bit by bit, making each part full—but don't overstuff either..."

She emphasized the importance of grasping the bird's form in its natural state and stuffing according to that natural shape, paying special attention to the natural history illustration as reference.

"If you don't have a detailed reference image, it's best not to make taxidermy specimens. Otherwise, the animal you stuff will be severely distorted—a completely different creature."

Then she continued guiding while stuffing: places with more muscle tissue in the specimen can receive more stuffing. The chest and abdomen should be stuffed solid; the neck gets less, but gaps cannot be left. If not packed firmly, sunken areas will appear after the specimen completely dries, affecting its appearance.

She explained while stuffing, her movements skilled and confident. The apprentices clicked their tongues in admiration. But for Sonia, making specimens was fundamental work, and conditions here in Lingao were considerably better than what she was used to.

After stuffing was complete, the blue magpie's form had been basically restored. She used pins to secure the openings in the bird skin together one by one.

"Don't rush to sew the opening now. The feather condition hasn't recovered yet. After grooming the feathers, we'll observe the stuffing effect. Unsatisfactory areas can be corrected. Only after complete satisfaction do we sew with needle and thread."

According to the "Australian specimen-making method" Sonia had learned, after stuffing was complete, a hair dryer should be used to blow-dry the specimen's fur and restore its fluffy texture.

Though hair dryers seemed to have no technical barriers, they still presented some difficulties in the Senate's industrial system. This device had never been mass-produced. Instead, specimen making used a fully automatic baking oven that slowly dried the fur through low-temperature radiation. To prevent feathers from scorching during prolonged baking, the specimen was fixed on a turntable constantly rotated at low speed by hand using a handle.

This almost "Turkish doner kebab" style of drying required great patience—otherwise, feathers easily scorched. Sonia handed the specimen to Dawen and Xiaowen for baking, while seizing the time to complete the final steps of repairing the marlin specimen.

The marlin specimen was now basically dry. She inspected various parts for any remaining damage, then began scraping latex at the skin's pinned joints to cover the nail heads.

"When applying latex, definitely be careful to use small amounts, repeatedly applying and then scraping. Don't apply too much at once. Scrape repeatedly multiple times—avoid surface depressions from latex setting in one go. The function is like a carpenter applying putty: filling gaps, making it flush with the surrounding skin."

"After latex scraping is done, we just need to wait quietly for the latex to dry and set," Sonia put down her tools. "The final work is coloring the repaired areas. This isn't work I'm skilled at—tomorrow Assavi will handle it."

After the marlin specimen was moved away, the blue magpie specimen with dried feathers was brought back. The blue magpie specimen began its final steps: shaping and grooming.

Bird specimens' main poses are only flying and standing. But when shaping, based on the collected specimen's condition and needs, further scene-based subdivisions can be made on these two basic postures—surveying, foraging, seeking mates, and other pose variations.

Sonia decided against an overly complex pose—just the simplest standing posture. She fixed the blue magpie specimen on a section of preservation-treated tree branch according to the pre-selected form, added wooden frame support, then made posture fine-tuning. Finally, she secured everything with wire.

At last, she selected a pair of appropriately sized and colored glass eyes from a multi-drawer cabinet resembling a treasure chest and carefully installed them into the blue magpie specimen's empty eye sockets. Because the skull was stuffed inside, the eyes fit into the skull's sockets with excellent effect. A lifelike blue magpie specimen was thus born. Sonia carefully groomed the specimen's feathers, still collecting fallen feathers and placing them in a special kraft paper pouch.

"Although the specimen is now finished, we still need daily observation. Deformed, twisted, discolored, and feather-loss areas can be promptly corrected, painted, and have feathers glued on. After one week, the specimen will completely dry, and then we attach the label with scientific name, characteristics, and habits. Thus, the specimen is complete." Sonia examined it with considerable satisfaction. "Does everyone now understand how to make specimens?"

"This is too complicated!"

"You need incredibly deft hands to do this."

"And extreme patience!"

"I'd definitely forget many steps..."

"Teacher Suo, how can you multitask like this?"

...

The apprentices fell into lively discussion. Sonia didn't participate further. After a few perfunctory words, she hurried back to her own research room.

The watch hands were already approaching six o'clock. Just as Sonia was preparing to pack up and leave, Dawen delivered a new memorandum.

"Sending a memorandum this late!" she grumbled, picking up the envelope.

Grumbling aside, official documents had to be opened and read immediately—Lin Hanlong had repeatedly emphasized this to her.

On the envelope's sealing wax was stamped a Senator's coat of arms. Though Sonia couldn't possibly remember every Senator's heraldic pattern, she did know the common elements of Senator coats of arms.

Without doubt, this was a private memorandum from some Senator.

Who could it be?

Sonia grew curious. Her reputation in the Senate was considerable—almost every Senator knew her, even recognized her. But her actual interactions with Senators weren't extensive, mainly limited to several from the Science Department's Remote Survey Department and a few from the industrial sector who worked on optical equipment.

But the sender's name—Du Yibin—she not only didn't know, she had never even heard of him.

An unfamiliar Senator—why would he send her a memorandum? From the official document file number, this wasn't sent solely to her; it had also been sent to several other Senators connected to the Natural History Museum.

With curiosity, Sonia broke the sealing wax and took out the letter inside.

The letter began with a self-introduction. Honestly, Sonia didn't quite understand it. To ensure her comprehension was correct, she called in Ju Wenyi and had her read it aloud.

Ju Wenyi picked up the memorandum and hesitated. "Teacher Suo, this is a private memorandum."

"So what?"

"Private memoranda can only be seen by the addressee. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to look..."

"What does that matter? It's about official business anyway. Besides, my Chinese reading isn't good." Sonia dismissed the concern. "Go on, read it!"

Ju Wenyi had no choice but to begin.

The letter opened with a passage expressing admiration for Sonia, but the grammar was confused and jumbled, and some vocabulary was quite inappropriate. Ju Wenyi was sweating as she read—she feared this was a romantic admiration letter from some Senator who didn't know better. Reading it would surely bring her terrible luck! But then she reconsidered—memoranda had to leave copies at the General Office. Though called "private," it was really just "private opinion," not truly private correspondence. Her heart settled somewhat.

"What is this writing?" Sonia frowned. "He greatly admires me? Says I have beauty and knowledge combined? As beautiful as a fish sinking to the bottom, and saying I shot a wild goose? I have indeed collected wild goose specimens, but not while it was flying."

"Y-yes, that's what it means," Ju Wenyi said carefully. "The fish and wild goose are just metaphors..."

"Oh, I understand now—figurative expression." Sonia nodded. "Then?"

Ju Wenyi looked at the second paragraph and muttered to herself. This Senator Du rambled on introducing himself, with lengthy passages about how he loved natural history and had considerable "experience in raising and breeding animals," as well as "deep understanding of and strong interest in animal habits."

If he's so interested, why not go feed pigs at the farm? Ju Wenyi grumbled internally. She wondered if this Senator Du was trying to suggest he shared interests with Teacher Suo. This could be very problematic...

Yet the foreign woman seemed completely oblivious. Hearing these words, her face actually lit up with a smile as she praised: "So he's also a gentleman who loves natural history! This is wonderful! It seems he knows more about zoology. And can raise animals—that's not simple!"

The next paragraph made Ju Wenyi breathe a sigh of relief. It turned out this Senator Du Yibin was writing to propose establishing a "small zoo" within the Natural History Museum to "raise representative rare animals." Then he listed a lengthy roster of names—all animals Ju Wenyi had never heard of. Some names sounded very strange, like "dodo bird," "elephant bird," "giant tortoise," and so on. He then wrote lengthy passages about these creatures' habitats and current situations. Chief Du specifically noted that "many animals are already in critical danger." He seemed quite anxious about it.

Though Ju Wenyi felt this Chief Du's writing wasn't particularly impressive, Teacher Suo clearly didn't mind. Especially when hearing the third paragraph's descriptions of various animals, her face revealed a mixed expression of delight and curiosity. This paragraph seemed very much to her taste.

(End of Chapter)