1170 Her Birthday

Shen Li’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You mentioned before that one of Professor Carroll’s students saw that painting in a small shop on Seventh Street in Leland, but the shop was sold off later, right?”

“Yes.”

Shen Li remembered this incident well. At that time, she had thought that she could find out more about this from this bit of information, but in the end, she had returned empty-handed because the store had already been sold.

At Lu Huaiyu’s sudden mention of this matter, a sudden hunch appeared in her mind.

As expected, at the very next moment, Lu Huaiyu said, “The real owner of that shop was Tao Siwen.”

Even though she had already guessed this possibility, Shen Li’s heart still skipped a beat when she heard the answer.

Lu Huaiyu’s thin lips curled up slightly.

“In fact, during the past five years, Tao Siwen has opened more than one store in Leland. However, most of them were only open for a year, or even just a few months before they were quickly sold again. In total, there have been eleven.”

“So many?” Shen Li was shocked.

If Tao Siwen wanted to make money in Leland, this business model obviously would not work. If he continued to go back and forth like this, he would probably end up owing money.

Moreover, he already had quite a few businesses in China. He was already busy enough, so why would he bother to put so much effort in these businesses in Leland?

What was more interesting was that his shops did not seem to be very organized. It did not seem as if he had a specific purpose.

Shen Li paused.

“Second Brother, do you mean that… these businesses are just a cover? Does he have other private businesses?”

She had always been smart.

Lu Huaiyu smiled and reminded her, “You’ve forgotten the biggest feature of the city of Leland.”

Leland, the holy capital of the arts.

This place had a long history, ancient buildings, a variety of cultures, and an extremely rich artistic atmosphere.

In the big streets and small alleys, people carrying drawing boards could be seen everywhere.

Shen Li was silent for a while.

“So, the fake copy of my painting really appeared in Leland first?”

“Tao Siwen and the Vice President of Yitang Gallery, Chai Shiming, are distant relatives,” Lu Huaiyu replied, “The two of them don’t usually interact much, so many people don’t know about this.”

He had also specially investigated this matter to learn more about it.

Hearing this, Shen Li could already make a rough guess.

“So…?”

“There are a lot of people who are good painters in Leland, and they produce a lot of paintings every year. A considerable number of them are sold in the domestic market.”

Lu Huaiyu said, “As for those paintings themselves, whether they’re genuine works or counterfeits, only Tao Siwen would know.”

Shen Li’s eyelids lowerede as she fell into deep thought.

She knew that the market for counterfeit paintings in the country was actually very large because the profit margin was amazing.

The cost of a counterfeit was extremely low, but if one could pass it off as the real one, they could earn hundreds of millions, or even tens of millions in profit.

This was almost equivalent to gaining nothing.

When all of them were added up, it would be a terrifying number.

Tao Siwen went to Leland every once in a while. He never brought his family, only taking his secretary and assistant.

He had opened a shop there before, but had not seemed to have put much thought into it.

The relationship between him and Yitong Gallery was worth pondering.

Besides, this was not the first time he had come into contact with fake paintings.

Shen Li said slowly, “Senior Brother once mentioned something to me before. Tao Siwen really liked one of Master’s paintings. He visited him many times to persuade him to sell it, but Master didn’t agree. In the end, Master donated that painting. As a result, Tao Siwen simply bought a counterfeit and placed it in his home.”

“Oh?” Lu Huaiyu’s eyes narrowed.

Shen Li continued, “It’s said that they do look quite similar. If the person who saw the painting didn’t know about Master’s painting and knew that Master had already donated the painting, he probably wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was fake.”

Mei Yanqing was one of the top figures in the Chinese painting world, so it was normal that someone would copy his painting.

However, to be able to achieve such a degree of similarity and still be part of Tao Siwen’s collection was obviously a little abnormal.

Lu Huaiyu pondered for a moment.

“The evidence in my hands can basically prove that Tao Siwen deliberately found someone overseas to produce the fake paintings and secretly transported them back to his country. However, more evidence is needed on whether those paintings had entered the domestic market and were sold at a high price. This part will probably take some effort.”

“I understand,” Shen Li nodded.

It was convenient for Tao Siwen to do things in Leland, but at the same time, there were many restrictions.

That was why Lu Huaiyu had been able to find the clues he had left behind so quickly and deduce what he had done in Leland.

However, they were only halfway through the investigation.

More importantly, he had to confirm that the fake paintings had been sold as genuine.

However, the domestic market was a mix of good and bad, and Tao Siwen had been in this circle for many years. It was not that easy to catch him.

“My people have been investigating for a while, but there are many obstacles.”

Lu Huaiyu paused.

“Ah Li, does Tao Siwen have anything to do with the National Art Association?”

This question was already quite clear.

Shen Li replied, “I don’t think so. Senior Brother said that most of the people in the National Art Association have no contact with him. On one hand, it was because they knew that Tao Siwen had previously offended Master because of that counterfeit painting of his. On the other hand, they probably didn’t think much of him in the first place anyway.”

On the surface, Tao Siwen always pretended to like art, but in reality, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was just faking it and pretending to be an art aficionado.

As Shen Li spoke, she thought of another matter.

“But… I’ve seen Tao Siwen and some people from the National Art Association gathering together in private before.”

Lu Huaiyu asked, “From the National Art Association? Who were there?”

Shen Li paused for a few seconds.

“Shi Yang,”

…

The next day was Friday.

At ten in the morning, Shen Li carried a painting on her back and prepared to leave.

Shen Zhijin was in the living room, trimming off some of the red camellia leaves that he had just bought and placing them into the vase.

The bouquet of red flowers that stretched out in his hands seemed to indicate a warm and blooming gesture.

Hearing footsteps, Shen Zhijin looked up and saw her carrying the painting. He asked, “Are you going to Elder Mei’s place?”

Shen Li nodded, “It’s been a while since I’ve painted so I told Master that I would bring this one to show him.”

Shen Zhijin replied with a “hmm”.

As Shen Li went to the entrance, she suddenly thought of something. She turned around and asked, “Dad, aren’t you going to school today?”

Shen Zhijin paused his movements, and a faint smile spread across his handsome face.

“Today is Yin Yin’s birthday.”

At the mention of this, even his clear and clean voice became gentler.

He had promised her that this day would only belong to her.

Shen Li was stunned.

Shen Zhijin said, “Come back early today.”

Shen Li said softly, “Alright.”

…

Shen Li put the painting in the car and drove to Jinse Bay.

She called Yu Pingchuan on the way.

“Senior Brother, I’m preparing to go to Jinse Bay now. If you’re free at noon, would you like to have lunch together? ”

Yu Pingchuan was pleased.

“Sure, I’m at the art association now. I’ll be there after the meeting.”

The National Art Association was very close to Jinse Bay. Shen Li thought for a while before saying, “Then shall I go and pick you up?”

“Sure!” Yu Pingchuan was very happy.

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