C3 Chapter 3

The painting slowly spread out under the incandescent light, taking up nearly two-thirds of the square table's surface.

The painting was of a woman dressed in an ancient palace dress who was leisurely singing along the banks of a clear stream, like a gentle willow swaying in the wind. Looking carefully, her hair was as black as the clouds, her face as white as jade, her eyebrows were bright without touching it, her lips were red without touching it. Her pair of large eyes were like two limpid pools of water on the xuan paper. Looking from afar, it seemed to be sparkling with a lustering autumn light. It was mesmerizing enough to stir up countless living creatures.

Wei Tianmin held the scroll with one hand and the edge of the table with the other. After a moment of silence, he raised his head and asked his girlfriend Su Wen, "Is this the painting that Cheng Shi gave to you? "He really painted this girl as beautiful as a fairy!"

"Of course! — don't you realize that more than 80% of the beauty in this painting is based on this lady's beautiful image?" Su Wen smiled slightly and spoke with pride, "That's why he gave me this portrait of the Palace Lady as a gift …"

"So that's the case!" Hearing that, Wei Tianmin immediately looked down again, "Heh! Don't even mention it — the figure, body, face … "He does look a bit like you!" But... "But …" He started to hesitate a little. Although the appearance of the girl in the painting was based on Su Wen, it gave off the impression that she and Su Wen in reality were not the same. Her temperament and charm was like that of another woman. However, as he continued to carefully observe the painting, he was once again unable to pinpoint the biggest "difference" between Su Wen and the woman in the painting.

"What are you 'just' and 'just' about?" Su Wen said coquettishly, "Don't tell me that you think I'm not as pretty as this girl?"

"No …" "It's not …" Wei Tianmin hurriedly denied it. In order to divert the conversation, he pointed to a few square lines of words on the lower left corner of the painting and asked, "What is that piece of text here? It was written very densely... "

"That's the caption for this painting." Su Wen glanced at the piece of text he pointed to and explained seriously, "These words are the artistic conception, the idea and the main theme that the author left behind in this painting. However, the inscriptions on Teacher Cheng's painting have been left behind for too long — — Do you want me to read them out to you? "

"That won't be necessary …" I recognize the words. I didn't expect Cheng Shi, who has always been a modernist painter, to bring you into such an antiquated mood... " Wei Tianmin's tone slightly paused, and his gaze slowly fell on that piece of paper, slowly identifying it, and it turned out to be a passage in Chinese, so he read it out loud, "King Taiyuan had left a long time ago. Heart in love, asked: 'He Su Ye walked alone?' Woman's Day: 'A man on the road of justice cannot relieve his worries. Why bother asking questions?' Birthday: 'Why worry? It may be effective. ' And then, I shall travel hand in hand, and through all the tribulation and tribulation, I will eventually become a blessed family. "

After reading it, Wei Tianmin and Su Wen both quieted down and stared at the painting in silence. Literally, this is obviously a watercolor painting of ancient love stories.

"Although this painting is very different from some of the more modern works by Cheng Shi, you can still store it well …" Finally, Wei Tianmin raised his gaze from the screen and stared at Su Wen. He said slowly, "This is one of his few classical works …"

"A masterpiece?" Su Wen was surprised. "Could it be that something happened to Teacher Cheng?"

"Oh …" Our criminal investigation team has just compiled a piece of material and is basically inclined to believe that he committed suicide. As he himself is an important and well-known person in our city, the City Council's Propaganda Department has given the media an 'order of silence', strictly ordering him not to report to the outside world. "No wonder you don't know either …" Wei Tianmin couldn't help but be slightly surprised by Su Wen's intense reaction. He asked, "But, why are you so surprised about his suicide?"

"No …." "Nothing." Su Wen's face paled as she slowly sat down on a chair. Her gaze, however, was deeply fixated on the "palace painting of a woman" as she muttered, "Teacher Cheng is truly a kind-hearted person! "It's a pity he died so young …

Wei Tianmin glanced at her and casually asked: "Oh yeah, I want to ask you, why did he give you such a painting? It was rare for him to be so generous! I hear his paintings are very valuable. "

"That day, he came to our Ningchuan Academy of Fine Arts to give a speech. He probably saw me doing everything in earnest for his speech, so when he was happy, he gave me this painting!" Su Wen was the Secretary of the Committee for Ningchuan and Fine Arts Academy. During the speech Cheng Shi gave that day, she was always the most hardworking organizer and host for the event.

"Oh …" "Right …" Just as she was speaking, she seemed to have thought of something, and said to Wei Tianmin seriously, "He seems to know that I'm your girlfriend, and enthusiastically praised you as a 'case expert'. It seems that he appreciates you very much! After the speech ended, he even gave me two permanent free tickets to the Ningchuan and Arts Exhibition, inviting me and you to visit that exhibition hall and see more of his paintings when you are free … "

"What?" Does he even know that I'm a 'case expert'? " Wei Tianmin's heart couldn't help but skip a beat when he heard that. For a moment he remembered that Shen Hong had said the same thing to him on the phone this morning. He was silent for a moment, then asked her, "Do you think he had any tendency to be pessimistic, judging by his speech, manner, and mentality at that time?"

"This... I can't see through this. The feeling he gives others is that he is a model image of a young literary person with a broken spirit, standing against the wind, and eventually becoming a great artiste! " Su Wen shook her head and said with some emotion, "At the speech that day, he could be said to be in high spirits and surging with passion. He was so energetic that he swept the world of painting to set a new record … Who would have thought that he would commit suicide half a month later … "Sigh …"

"That's right …" Wei Tianmin reached out his hand and gently caressed the painting, sighed deeply and said, "It's really hard to understand why such a young literary person who was in the prime of his life would suddenly abandon the world just when his artistic attainment was about to reach its peak!"

As he slowly shifted his gaze to the bright, round, and vivid eyes of the woman in the painting, his mind suddenly flashed — he finally realized the biggest difference between Su Wen and the woman in the painting: that pair of eyes! Su Wen's eyes were pure and bright, while the eyes of the woman in the painting were charming, spirited, and enticing …

The colorful lights in the "Lovers' Bar" were flowing in a blur. The music drifting in the space was beautiful and deep, soothing and melodious. It slowly dissolved people's consciousness and flowed towards the deepest state of intoxication.

Wei Tianmin found a private room and sat down. He silently enjoyed the music. This music was played with a piano. The melody was like flowing water, flowing over a thousand miles in a single go. It was crystal clear and exciting, giving people an intriguing feeling.

"Hello! Are you Officer Wei? " The familiar, melodious voice interrupted his listening by a slight pause in the piano.

Hearing this sound, Wei Tianmin immediately felt his heart beating rapidly. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down, trying to make sure that the agitation in his mind was not reflected in his expression. Then, he slowly raised his head and saw a tall and slender woman standing in front of him. She was dressed in a black silk dress. Her long black hair fell down to her waist, accentuating her exquisite and smooth curves.

Especially when Wei Tianmin came into contact with her pair of eyes, he almost stopped breathing for a split-second. Her black gem-like eyes rippled with bright and moving light, making people intoxicated from looking at her. Furthermore, Wei Tianmin felt that the eyes were very familiar — it was as if the eyes of the beauty on that "palace lady's portrait" was vividly displayed in front of his eyes!

However, Wei Tianmin was indeed Wei Tianmin. After being slightly absent-minded after witnessing Shen Hong's beauty for a moment, he quickly regained his composure and returned to normal. He stood up and smiled, "That's right, I am Wei Tianmin. "Miss Shen, please take a seat."

Shen Hong gave him a deep look. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, making her look even more beautiful than before. She smiled lightly and said, "Officer Wei, we seem to have met somewhere before, right? I have a sense of déjà vu. " Wei Tianmin didn't expect her to speak so directly and was at a loss of what to do. His face turned red in embarrassment: "Maybe? Available... "But I don't remember …

Then he asked dumbly, "Are the models very busy?" I heard that in the whole province, only the models with Pingshan City can compare to your Black Swan. "

"Officer Wei, you're wrong." Shen Hong's face was always carrying a faint smile as she sat down opposite of him, "'Hongxiao Tavern' is' Hongxiao Tavern ', and' Black Swan 'is' Black Swan '. We're not like them. "

At the same time, she said to the waiter, "I want a cup of 'iced wine'." The waiter secretly sized up her beauty as he replied and left.

Wei Tianmin and her looked at each other for a while. Then, he coughed lightly and spoke to break the silence, "How have you been recently?" Somehow the words came to his lips as a kind of greeting from a friend.