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墨書 Inktalez
During his university years, Li Jianxin painted an oil portrait of Wang Ruolin.
Since Wang Ruolin rarely took photographs during her lifetime, this painting became incredibly precious, embodying the love and memories shared between the two. For Li Jianxin, it was the most valuable possession in his life.
However, after Wang Ruolin's death, the painting was kept by Wang Anyi at the headquarters of Xiyan Pavilion. Despite Li Jianxin's repeated requests to reclaim it, he was unsuccessful. His obsession deepened, leading him to ultimately decide to steal the painting back.
Wang Anyi's second daughter, Wang Xiaoying, was also a classmate of Li Jianxin. Kind-hearted and saddened by her father's role in her sister's death, she felt a deep sympathy for Li Jianxin.
After much inner turmoil and conflict, she stole her father's key and gave it to Li Jianxin, hoping to help him retrieve the precious painting as a way to honor her sister's memory.
With Wang Xiaoying's assistance, Li Jianxin carefully infiltrated the Xiyan Pavilion exhibition hall and successfully retrieved the painting he had once gifted to his beloved. However, he worried that Wang Anyi might use surveillance footage to accuse him of theft. To mitigate this risk, he also stole another painting that Wang Anyi had smuggled in, deliberately ensuring that the camera captured it clearly.
He believed that by doing so, Wang Anyi would be too afraid of exposing his smuggling activities to report him to the police about the stolen artwork.
Yet, Li Jianxin underestimated Wang Anyi's attachment to his daughter's portrait.
Upon discovering that both paintings had been stolen, Wang Anyi was furious. His anger and frustration clouded his judgment.
He hired a private investigator to track down Li Jianxin and demanded that he retrieve the paintings at any cost. To him, the artwork represented more than just a painting; it was a symbol of his daughter, and he could not afford to lose it.
On the night of January 20, 1990, the private investigator returned with the paintings.
After paying the agreed fee, Wang Anyi placed the paintings back in the exhibition room, while the investigator vanished without a trace thereafter.
No one knew what had happened that night, or where the detective had gone; everything had become a mystery.
The day after Wang Anyi retrieved the painting, his second daughter, Wang Xiaoying, disappeared without a word, leaving behind a brief letter expressing her longing for her sister and her disappointment with the family.
She left this sorrowful place and has since been out of touch, never to return.
Wang Anyi searched everywhere but could not find any trace of her, filled with regret and self-blame.
“Are you saying you didn’t know Li Jianxin was dead?” I asked, frowning, my mind swirling with confusion and disbelief.
“I hardly think I need to deceive you,” Wang Anyi replied with a relieved smile, though it carried a hint of bitterness and helplessness, as if he had set down a heavy burden only to sink deeper into pain.
Zhou Fan nodded silently, his eyes revealing a glimmer of contemplation, as if pondering the hidden truths behind the entire incident.
“Are you going to report me? Ha, go ahead. I really feel like my life has been a failure... a failure in familial ties,” Wang Anyi said softly, his voice filled with loneliness and weariness.
I could perhaps understand his feelings; it must be incredibly difficult for someone to keep a secret that tormented them for ten long years buried deep within.
If I had previously held some prejudice against this so-called top art dealer, now I found him truly admirable. He had endured far too much pain and pressure within himself.
“Indeed,” I replied. “So what shall we do next?”
Zhou Fan looked at me, a familiar smile crossing his face, filled with confidence and wisdom, as if everything was under his control. “That painting hasn’t been found yet, has it? That’s the last piece of this case—”
"Puzzle." Zhou Fan and I exchanged a knowing smile, as if we had already glimpsed the dawn of the truth behind the case. We understood that to find the final piece of the puzzle, there was still a long road ahead and many mysteries to unravel.
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