next day Saturday.
Qi Linqing is going to attend the birthday party of classmate Gu Demao.
This is an important plot in the article. After the credit card was blocked, the original owner could not afford expensive gifts, so he gave two copies of May 3, but was ridiculed and humiliated by everyone.
Qi Linqing didn't have to go. But when he first passed through, the original owner was running away from home.
And he, ignorant of the world, accidentally crosses the road.
Had it not been for Gu Demao's rescue, he might have been hit by a car and died.
Qi Linqing is a person who knows how to repay her kindness.
Although he really has no money now, and no presents that he can afford.
Qi Linqing thought about it for a while, and finally decided to take the ancient painting he bought by mistake yesterday as his birthday gift.
Qiao Zhou said that Yuan Sihao's paintings are very expensive now, and one can sell for several million. Although half of them are his sequels, the value may be greatly reduced, but it should be worth some money.
When he was about to leave, Qi Linqing had already cleaned up the painting and wrapped it with a layer of newspaper.
"Second Young Master, the car is ready." The driver walked in and said.
"Okay, thank you." Qi Linqing put the painting in his schoolbag and carried it on his back. He didn't rush to get in the car, but walked to the back garden of the villa first, picked up the water bottle and watered the tulips he had planted a few days ago.
The seeds have germinated. A little greenish-white spike emerges.
As the sun set, the boy in white bent down to water.
The splashing water was like a sparkling diamond, coating him with a layer of shimmer.
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room can just see the back garden. Qi Yingjun, who was paying attention to his every move, was slightly stunned when he saw this, and didn't even notice that the magazine in his hand was knocked down.
Not long after Qi Linqing left, Qi Yingjun received a call from his uncle Qiao Zhou.
Qiao Zhou: "Is Linqing at home now?"
Qi Yingjun: "He just left."
Qiao Zhou paused, then asked, "Where are your parents?"
Qi Yingjun: "My dad is at the company, and my mom took Lele out for shopping."
Qiao Zhou sighed, "Actually, I have something to tell you about Linqing."
Qi Yingjun subconsciously asked: "Did he cause any trouble?"
"No." Qiao Zhou simply told the whole process of Qi Linqing picking up leaks in the antique shop yesterday on the phone.
Then he concluded: "This painting is too expensive, I can't accept it, I can send it to you some other day."
Qi Yingjun suffered a cardiac arrest.
Qi Linqing missed two famous paintings worth millions? ?
Seeing that there was no sound from the other end of the phone for a long time, Qiao Zhou couldn't help being surprised: "Is the signal bad? I can't hear you."
Qi Yingjun: "..."
No, it's just that he was so scared that he threw the phone out just now.
It was dusk, and the streets were dappled with light and shadow.
A Maybach was parked on the side of the road, and the hood of the car kept emitting white smoke.
The driver opened the car door and came down with panic on his face: "Second Young Master, the car has broken down. Why don't you wait a moment, I'll call the car right away."
Qi Linqing: "OK."
The driver opened the online car-hailing software, but saw that there were 99 people waiting in line.
driver:"… "
Driver: "Can you wait, it may be the evening rush hour."
Qi Linqing asked, "How long will it take?"
The driver trembled: "One hour... two hours."
Qi Linqing frowned, and asked again: "How far is it from the destination now?"
He felt that the car had been on the road for a long time just now.
The driver replied: "There is still less than eight minutes' drive, about two kilometers."
It's such a waste of time waiting.
Qi Linqing cast his eyes out of the window and stopped on the rows of two-wheeled vehicles parked on the side of the road, with large characters printed on them: Scan the code to rent, as low as 1 yuan/hour.
He knew their names were bicycles.
The Qi family also has one, it was a 15th birthday present for Qi Lele by Qi's parents airlifted it from abroad at a high price.
Later, Qi Lele gave it to the original owner. When Qi Linqing first came over from wearing a book, he tried to learn to ride.
"Can I trouble you to borrow one for me?" Qi Linqing pointed to them and asked the driver.
A few minutes later, Zhong Chen saw a familiar figure riding a shared bicycle on the road.
The boy was carrying a black schoolbag, the zipper was not fully closed, and half of the scroll was exposed on the top.
The butler sitting in the driver's seat said, "Master Zhong, that's the second young master of the Qi family."
Zhong Chen: "I know."
The car continued to drive.
Zhong Chen leaned halfway on the back seat. From his angle, he could clearly see Qi Linqing in the rearview mirror slowly pedaling uphill. His shirt was soaked in sweat, and it stuck tightly to his body, outlining the Thin and strong waist.
Zhong Chen: "Stop."
The Rolls-Royce braked suddenly and stopped halfway up the slope.
Zhong Chen opened the car door and walked down, calling from a distance: "Hello."
But Qi Linqing seemed to be wearing earphones and didn't hear it. Zhong Chen frowned, walked a few steps closer, and called the other party's name again.
This time Qi Linqing heard it, took off half of the earphones, and said, "What a coincidence, are you going to Gudemao's house too?"
"Yeah." Zhong Chen said: "My housekeeper told you not to ride this car, get on my car."
Qi Linqing took out his mobile phone from his pocket, exited the navigation clumsily, and clicked on the car return page as the driver taught him, but it failed.
Qi Linqing had no choice but to say, "Sorry, it seems that you can't return the car here."
Zhong Chen: "..."
Zhong Chen: "Then you ride slowly."
Qi Linqing nodded and said, "Okay."
Zhong Chen turned around and walked back, and slammed the car door with a "bang".
When Qi Linqing arrived at Gu Demao's house, it was completely dark.
The Gu family is a prominent family in City B, and its most famous property is the Guardian Auction House. Today is the 18th birthday of the only son of the Gu family. The visitors are all celebrities from the business world, and there are a lot of dazzling luxury cars parked at the door.
Among them, the shared bicycle that Qi Linqing rode over looked particularly glaring.
The second floor of the ancient house.
The rich boys and girls from Class 18 of the middle school are gathering together and chatting in full swing.
Jiang Bai: "Hey, I saw Qi Linqing when I first arrived at the door. Guess what, he came here on a shared bicycle."
"Fuck."
"Hahahahahaha."
"No, no, isn't he so poor that he can't even afford a car?"
"The Qi family has sealed his card. I guess he is really poor now."
"Then why is he here?"
"Qi Lele is here, Brother Zhong will definitely come. Why do you think Qi Linqing is here?"
"I understand everything, their love triangle."
For those second-generation circles like them, it's not like they can't give away things worth tens of thousands of yuan. Whether Qi Lin came to the birthday party empty-handed, or gave a small gift of tens or hundreds of dollars, he would inevitably be laughed at.
Not to mention that Qi Lele gave Gu Demao an ancient jade worth 100,000 just now. Even the fake young master of the Qi family can give out 100,000. If the real young master Qi Linqing gives a gift lower than this amount, he will die on the spot.
"De Mao, guess what Qi Linqing will give you?" Jiang Bai asked.
Gu Demao waved his hand, "It's okay, we are all classmates, it doesn't matter what you give."
In the corner, Zhong Chen also heard everyone's discussion. He subconsciously thought of the scroll that was exposed in Qi Linqing's schoolbag just now. Did the other party give him his own painting? Although this makes sense, it is likely to be criticized by everyone.
This person is so poor that he rides a shared bicycle, and he even gave him a famous watch worth 700,000 yuan... Zhong Chen picked up a glass of wine, his eyes wandering.
half an hour later.
"Happy birthday." Qi Linqing stepped into the door and handed the scroll to Gu Demao.
Gu Demao looked down and landed on the crumpled roll wrapped in newspaper.
"Uh... what is this?" His expression was a bit indescribable.
Seeing that the other party didn't answer, Qi Linqing put it on the table beside him and said, "Yuan Sihao's painting."
"..."
At this moment, Gu Demao thought without doubt that Qi Linqing had that serious illness.
If you want to play tricks, at least tell a normal lie, right?
"Who is Yuan Sihao?" someone asked.
This group of second generations only care about having fun and not studying. They don't know that it's normal for this famous painter in history.
Gu Demao explained in a low voice: "Tangchao's master painter, a painting is at least several million, and there is no market for the price."
Everyone: "..."
Preconceived, they didn't believe that Qi Linqing would have millions to buy real goods.
Qi Lele's face was gloomy, but she smiled at everyone when she came over, and then walked out while pulling Qi Linqing's sleeve.
"you?"
Qi Lele's strength was unexpectedly strong, and Qi Linqing felt that his arm was almost crushed. He frowned tightly and wanted to shake off, but was quickly restrained by the other party.
Qi Lele: "Follow me outside and talk."
Qi Linqing: "Then let me go first."
Qi Lele let go of her hand.
Qi Linqing rolled up his sleeves and looked, and sure enough, his skin was purple and blue.
Wait to walk outside to the yard.
Seeing that there was no one around, Qi Lele turned up the volume and asked him red-eyed: "Brother, why did you do this? Do you know that you have completely embarrassed the Qi family! You can tell me if you don't have money, If I borrow from you, you don't even have to come to this birthday party at all... "
Qi Lele was almost pissed off by Qi Linqing's selfishness. He actually sent out a ridiculous fake for his own face! If the news gets out, it will definitely deal a huge blow to the Qi family's reputation.
"Sorry, I didn't know that doing this would cause trouble to you." Qi Linqing said.
"You're always like this." Qi Lele looked at him and said, "Brother, you always make yourself a joke."
This sentence hurts.
Qi Linqing had no expression on his face.
The moonlight cast a dark gray silhouette on the lawn of the yard, and he turned and walked towards Gu's house.
"What are you doing again?!" Qi Lele shouted.
"Go get that painting back."
Tang Quan walked into the hall of the Gu family, and saw a group of teenagers pointing around an ancient painting.
The painting was spread out and thrown on the ground, and several passers-by stomped on it at will. Although they were wearing slippers, there were already several obvious footprints on the painting.
"What's going on?" He stopped Gu Demao and asked.
Gu Demao respected the highly respected appraiser of his own auction house very much, and immediately explained:
"... This is a birthday present from the second young master of the Qi family. He said it was Yuan Sihao's painting, but it was a fake."
Tang Quan's complexion changed suddenly, and he sprinted 100 meters towards the painting.
Isn't Qiao Zhou's nephew the young master of the Qi family
Since Qiao Zhou's painting is genuine, the one in front of him is likely to be as well.
After seeing the painting, Tang Quan fell into silence involuntarily.
This is not just Yuan Sihao's work. The remaining half of the handwriting is more mature, as if it was written by someone else...
According to unofficial history records, Yuan Sihao and painter Fu Yi were best friends. When Yuan Sihao was too busy, Fu Yi would occasionally help him write.
If the other half of this painting is Fu Yi Xudai... then it is priceless!
"Wait here for a while, I'll call Professor Yan over." Tang Quan held up the painting with both hands, as if holding a precious and fragile object.
Gu Demao was puzzled: "Professor Yan from the United States?"
"Yes." Tang Quan said: "I saw him outside just now. Professor Yan is a professional who studies Fu Yi. I will go to him to ask about the situation..."
"Wait!" Gu Demao was almost dizzy, confused: "What does this have to do with Fu Yi?"
Tang Quan glared at him, "This painting was written by Yuan Sihao himself!"
Gu Demao: "???"
"Even half of them may be inherited by Fu Yi..." Tang Quan muttered to himself.
click.
The goblet in Gu Demao's hand fell to the ground with a sound, and glass shards splashed.
He didn't see that Zhong Chen behind him raised his head suddenly when he heard the word "Fu Yi".
Tang Quan closed the painting and carefully placed it on the empty table. He turned his head and told Gu Demao: "Don't let others touch it. You prodigals! You even stepped on it a few times just now..."
Tang Quan's tone was heartbroken.
Gu Demao: "Oh."
He is now completely dumbfounded.
After Tang Quan left, Zhong Chen immediately stood up and walked towards the painting.
Gu Demao: "Hey...Young Master Zhong—"
Zhong Chen: "I'll just take a look."
Gu Demao couldn't say anything immediately. Although Tang Quan had just told him not to let others touch the painting, Zhong Shao did not belong to the category of "others".
It's someone he can't afford to mess with.
When Zhong Chen turned over the scroll, his fingertips trembled slightly because he was too nervous.
This is a snow landscape painting.
The gauze is mottled and yellowed, and there are still a few gray footprints on it.
In Zhong Chen's mind, the scene that Master once painted it appeared.
In the pavilion, the young man smiled at him while flicking his sleeves and brushing: "Brother Yuan has taken a lot of orders recently, and he can't rest until midnight. I just happen to be free for a while, and I can help paint his ink bones."
But the truth was that Master hadn't received orders for a long time and was too poor to afford food.
Yuan Sihao couldn't bear it, so he distributed his list to the master.
For several drowsy afternoons, he sat aside and helped the master grind ink.
He knows this painting better than anyone else, and half of it is Fu Yi's continuation.
Zhong Chen caressed the edge of the gauze, but accidentally got his finger pricked by a piece of broken glass.
Bright red blood scrambled out, and he squeezed the wound tightly.
Although this would cause the glass shards to penetrate deeper into the flesh, it could temporarily stop the bleeding and prevent the painting from being stained with bright red.
"Young Master Zhong, you are bleeding!" Gu Demao looked panicked.
Zhong Chen took a few steps back, palms facing up. More blood flowed, ticking, soaking the carpet.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhong.. It's all my fault. I broke the glass just now. It's my fault... Uh, hiccup!" Gu Demao was so frightened that he belched.
There was emotion in Zhong Chen's eyes, but he didn't speak.
Gu Demao was terrified.
A group of people started scrambling to call doctors and find first aid kits.
No one noticed that at this moment Qi Linqing came in and took the scroll on the table.
Zhong Chen casually bandaged the wound twice, turned his head and found that the painting was gone, and his face immediately sank.
Gu Demao stomped: "Who the hell took it??"
A person who was watching by the window shouted, "It's Qi Linqing! He took the painting and left!"
Gu Demao: "..."
The master's painting was taken away by the master, and there seems to be nothing wrong with it.
He can only blame himself for being blind, he didn't recognize that it was the real thing at first, and he allowed everyone to ridicule Qi Linqing.
No one will be angry about this.
"Demao, you have lost millions." Jiang Bai said awkwardly.
Gu Demao felt a burning pain on his face, and thought that he would not know how to explain to Tang Quan later.
He was about to speak when suddenly a figure flashed in front of him.
Zhong Chen pushed open the door like a gust of wind and rushed out.
In the yard, Qi Lele first saw Qi Linqing leaving on a shared bicycle, and then Zhong Chen also came out.
"Zhong Chen!" He called the other party's name.
Zhong Chen must have heard it, but ran out without looking back.
Qi Lele: "..."
He thought he had to go back and ask Gu Demao what was going on.
Qi Lele didn't take a few steps when she heard a male voice coming from the front.
"According to what you said, the painting given by the young master of the Qi family is indeed very likely to be Fu Yi's continuation."
"I recently checked the relevant literature. Yuan Sihao is often urged to accept too many commissions and promises from his clients. He has a close personal relationship with Fu Yi, which can fully explain why he asked the other party to help him paint and set colors... Hurry up! Let's go quickly Dot! I can't wait to see it."
Qi Lele turned her head stiffly.
He recognized the two people who were talking, and one of them was Tang Quan, an antique appraisal master at Guardian Auction House.
So the painting just now is real
Qi Linqing didn't know how to use navigation, so he lost his way by relying on his previous impression.
He returned the bicycle, stood for a while on the unfamiliar street full of traffic, and finally called the driver.
The driver promised to pick him up soon.
After typing, Qi Linqing touched the change in his pocket, and wanted to go to the convenience store opposite to buy a steamed stuffed bun.
But he is not very familiar with the traffic rules, so he can only follow an aunt to cross the road step by step.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, there was a sudden noise from behind:
"Catch the thief! Stop him!!"
Before Qi Linqing could react, his body was bumped violently by the man who was running away.
The painting scroll in his hand also fell to the ground, rolled, and stopped in the middle of the road.
The green light came on.
boom.
The sound of the engine starting.
A big white truck is about to run over—
Zhong Chen, who had just arrived and witnessed this scene, didn't even think about it, and ran across the road to grab the painting scroll on the ground.
The moment the dazzling headlights came, Zhong Chen subconsciously closed his eyes.
However, a huge resistance hugged him and staggered to the side.
"Die!"
The driver screamed as he stepped on the brakes.
Zhong Chen opened his eyes and found that he had been rescued by Qi Linqing.
Qi Linqing endured the pain in his left leg, frowned and reprimanded:
"You don't want to die?"
Zhong Chen pursed his lips and got up without saying a word.
Only then did Qi Linqing see that what he was holding tightly in his arms was the painting.
"I have a friend who wants to buy your painting." Zhong Chen said straight to the point.
It was very late after the traffic accident was dealt with, and the streets were empty.
They stand under a street lamp. The dim light elongated the shadows.
Zhong Chen didn't ask how Qi Linqing got the painting, anyway, he could find out everything when he went back tonight. He raised his head, always alert to the change of the other party's expression.
And Qi Linqing's face was still so flat that he couldn't pick out any subtle emotions.
"Sorry." He held out his hand to Zhong Chen.
Zhong Chen bit his lip and said, "That friend of mine is willing to write a blank check."
Qi Linqing: "Not for sale."
Reason told Zhong Chen that he should not blame the other party for this. Buying and selling pictures is what you love and what I want. Since people don't want to, they should let it go.
However, he was controlled by his emotions, and he turned around and left in anger.
Just walked a few steps.
etc.
It seems that something is not quite right.
Zhong Chen stopped and took out his trouser pocket, but there was nothing in it.
He fumbled through his coat pockets again, only to confirm and affirm the fact that he forgot to bring his mobile phone.
Zhong Chen: "..."
Now, at 12 in the morning, how scary it is to walk outside alone without a mobile phone.
While worrying about what to do, Zhong Chen suddenly saw a lady in a hurry passing by in front of him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly chased after him, patted the other person's back and asked, "Hi, may I borrow my phone?"
The lady turned her head.
In the night, she couldn't see the boy's face clearly, but could only see a frightening dragon tattoo on the boy's arm. It's like the bad young and Dangerous boy in the dark society movie.
The lady turned and fled in fright.
Zhong Chen: "..."
He looked back at the empty street, and had no choice but to turn around.
The 24-hour convenience store clerk listlessly put the buns and milk in a bag and handed them over, "It's 19 yuan in total."
Qi Linqing fumbled and took out a 20-yuan banknote.
Clerk: "Sorry, I don't have any change right now and I can't change it. Would you like WeChat or zfb?"
Qi Linqing: "I only have cash."
Clerk: "Then you choose another item that costs one yuan."
Qi Linqing: "There's no need for change."
He felt that this was too troublesome.
But the clerk insisted: "No way! It will be inconvenient for us to settle accounts!"
Qi Linqing had no choice but to take a lollipop at the clerk's gesture.
He walked out with his things, and the door opened automatically: "Welcome".
He took a step back and the door closed automatically.
He took a step forward and the door opened again.
The corner of Qi Linqing's mouth curled slightly, and he tried a few more times. When he raised his head again, he saw the boy squatting in the corner.
Zhong Chen leaned against the trash can, folded his hands on his chest, and stared at him for an unknown amount of time.
At this time, the car arrived and was parked on the side of the road. The night wind blew away a napkin next to the trash can.
"Second Young Master!" The driver rolled down the window and waved to him.
Qi Linqing picked up the tissue and walked over quickly.
However, just when he passed by Zhong Chen—
grunt.
Qi Linqing clearly heard a strange sound coming from the other party's stomach.
Zhong Chen: "..."
Zhong Chen: "It's not me."
Qi Linqing turned his head and caught a glimpse of the young man's calm expression, but the crimson on the tip of his ear was particularly conspicuous.
He raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. After throwing the tissue into the dry trash recycle bin, he took out something from the convenience store bag and stuffed it into Zhong Chen's palm.
Zhong Chen: "I don't care...."
Before he finished speaking, Zhong Chen watched Qi Linqing bypass him and get on the back seat of the car.
Maybach and black blend together, and leave in a low-key manner.
The idea of borrowing a mobile phone from the other party was completely ruined.
Zhong Chen couldn't help but began to doubt the plot of the novel, does Qi Linqing really like him
"It's strange that this kind of steel straight man can find a partner." Zhong Chen said to himself.
Suddenly a gust of cold wind blew by, Zhong Chen shrank his neck.
He was just about to put his hands in his pockets when he belatedly realized that he was clutching something hard.
I wanted to throw it away.
But he opened his palm and saw that it was a pink lollipop.
Zhong Chen hesitated to tear off the plastic paper and put the candy in his mouth.
After taking a sip of the sugar ball, his expression was a little dazed.
It turned out to be strawberry flavored.
inside the car.
Qi Linqing just took two bites of the steamed stuffed bun when he suddenly remembered something.
"What does a blank check mean?" he asked the driver.
Driver: "Uh, you can withdraw money from the bank and fill out a check for any amount you want."
Qi Linqing: "..."