S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 100

Love Murderer 07 – Art Gallery

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In the afternoon, Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, Luo Tian, and Bai Chi arrived at the entrance of the art gallery. There are a total of three art galleries in S City, one is the International Art Gallery, and another is the National Art Gallery. The first two are state-owned, and they have undertaken various high-level art exhibitions for many years. The third one is a collection art gallery, which is the one where Zhan Zhao and the others went to. Most of the private collections of private collectors are displayed there, and there are auctions every week.

S City generally has a strong artistic atmosphere. There are many antique jade shops and a large number of small galleries in the area surrounding the gallery, and it is a place where Chinese and Western cultures gather. The art street is full of small workshops, and there are a large number of folk artists and skilled craftsmen.

Luo Tian seldom walked around this area of S City, and was a little surprised to see the lively scene in the distance, “This is such a good place, I should really find a chance to bring Yang Yang here, he recently started to like painting.”

“Really?” Bai Chi asked curiously, “Yang Yang likes painting?”

“En.” Luo Tian nodded and opened his wallet to show Bai Chi. He saw that the photo in his wallet was of Luo Tian and Luoyang together. In the photo, Luoyang is holding a picture placed in a frame. Although he couldn’t tell what the picture was of, the colours were very conspicuous and the matching is very artistic.

“Yang Yang won first place in the school’s painting competition before, and he became fascinated with painting.” Luo Tian smiled and put his wallet away, “Unfortunately, I don’t know anything. I want to take him to visit the art gallery this weekend.”

“It’s serious and artistic.” Zhan Zhao glanced at the painting and exclaimed.

“But I’m afraid he won’t be interested for long. Last month he said he wanted to study law, last week he said he wanted to be a doctor, and this week he said he wanted to be a painter.” Luo Tian squinted.

The other three raised their eyebrows to look at him… ‘It’s great to have a son, look at you.’

“Why don’t I adopt a child too?” Bai Chi said, touching his chin, “Zhen can’t have a child either… does he want a little girl?”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked towards the door of the art gallery, glanced at each other, then looked at Bai Chi, “Have you discussed this with Zhao Zhen?”

Bai Chi nodded, “He said no, saying that we should wait until we are sixty years old before we adopt.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were curious, “Sixty years old?”

“En.” Bai Chi flattened his mouth, “He said that at sixty years old, I will retire and will be able raise a child. If he is allowed to raise a child, the child may die, he can’t even keep himself and Lisbon alive.”

Bai Yutang couldn’t laugh or cry. Turning his face to look at Zhan Zhao, he saw that he was also frowning, and he wondered what he was thinking.

“Cat, what do you think?” Bai Yutang asked, “Do you want to adopt a child too?”

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose, “It’s better to have a little lion.” As he spoke, he opened his wallet.

Bai Yutang leaned over to take a look, and couldn’t laugh or cry. There was a photo of them in Zhan Zhao’s wallet, and the little white lion cut from the photo was placed in the middle.

While they were talking, everyone walked into the art gallery. Bai Yutang informed the front desk that they were investigating the case of the stolen famous paintings. The front desk staff asked the security guard to take them to the scene of the theft and told Bai Yutang that Li Hao would arrive in around half an hour.

Bai Yutang nodded, and walked inside with the security guards. Zhan Zhao saw the photographic works being displayed in the exhibition hall and said to Bai Yutang, “Xiao Bai, you go, I’ll take a look around here.”

Bai Yutang nodded, and continued towards the scene with Bai Chi and Luo Tian. Zhan Zhao walked over to the exhibition photos alone.

The lady from the front desk walked over and introduced the exhibit to him, “The first floor is a photography exhibition with the theme of Africa, the second floor is a sculpture exhibit, and the third floor is a painting exhibit. The exhibitions are all classical oil paintings which are very beautiful.”

“I see.” Zhan Zhao nodded, preparing to look at them floor by floor. The photographs on the first floor were exquisite, not showing the desolation of the African savanna, but rather the occasional bright colors of the wilderness, full of artistic sense and aura.

“How are they?” A slightly familiar voice came from behind him, “Give me some advice.”

Zhan Zhao turned his head and saw a thin man with short hair standing behind him.

“Liu Fang?” Zhan Zhao was taken aback. He saw that Liu Fang’s body was completely healed. He was carrying a bag and had a camera by his chest, “Have you recovered?”

“En.” Liu Fang nodded, “I recovered a while ago, and I went to Africa.”

“So you took these photos?” Zhan Zhao was surprised.

“En.” Liu Fang nodded, “After I recovered from my injury, I quit my job at the studio and went to Africa to take this collection of photos.”

“You went there alone?” Zhan Zhao really admired Liu Fang’s courage. After all, he had suffered such a heavy blow and was still injured. In addition, he has been wandering for half of his life, and the matters in his heart are hard to heal.

“Well, I wasn’t alone, but they aren’t a person.” Liu Fang smiled and opened the zipper of the bag he was carrying, “They’re still with me.”

While he was talking, Zhan Zhao head a ‘meow’ and a white shadow pounced at him. He instinctively caught the shadow, “Lilia!”

Lilia’s injury has long since healed, and new fur has grown at the place where the surgery was performed. With her big tail, she is still a little princess. She rubbed Zhan Zhao’s chest and looked up at him as if asking — ‘Miss me?’

Zhan Zhao touched her head and looked at Liu Fang, “You are in good spirits.”

“En.” Liu Fang nodded, “I figured it out… When I was in Africa, I met someone… Well, he has been walking with me and chatting, and I somehow figured everything out. So now I am going to come back to open a studio and start living anew.”

Zhan Zhao was pleasantly surprised, and nodded, “That’s good.”

“By the way, Dr. Zhan, why are you here?” Liu Fang asked.

“I came to investigate a case.” Zhan Zhao shrugged.

Liu Fang didn’t ask more, and just smiled, “Because I rarely see you alone, it feels a bit odd.”

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, groaning in his heart — ‘The mouse and I are not conjoined, why are we always together!’

“Teacher Liu.” At that time, a tall young man ran over. He first took a look at Zhan Zhao, and then spoke to Liu Fang, “The sample publication of the photo album has been published. The publisher said that you should go and see if there is anything that needs to be fixed.”

“Oh, good.” Liu Fang turned his head back to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao smiled, “You can go ahead, I can look around myself. Contact me when you have time, and remember to come eat at my house often.”

Liu Fang shook his head and smiled, “I go more often than you.”

Zhan Zhao smiled helplessly, and returned Lilia to Liu Fang. Lilia seemed unwilling, turning her head and waving her tail — ‘I’m going to stay here for a while.’

“Lilia, why don’t you stay here for now, you can go to your aunt’s place later.” After looking at Lilia, Liu Fang spoke helplessly to Zhan Zhao, “Let her play with Luban for a while, I will picker her up later. She probably misses Luban.”

“Okay.” Zhan Zhao nodded, and Liu Fang left with the young man.

Zhan Zhao hugged Lilia and watched them leave. He saw Liu Fang and the young man walk out of the art gallery. The young man took Liu Fang’s bag and opened the door for him. Although at first glance it seemed to be out of respect, Zhan Zhao understood the faint feeling of love in the boy’s eyes… Raising his eyebrows, he patted Lilia, “Lilia, do you miss Luban?”

Lilia shook her fluffy tail and turned her face in dissatisfaction — ‘Who wants that fat man!’

Holding Lilia, Zhan Zhao finished looking at the photographs on the first floor. Without seeing Bai Yutang and the others come out, he climbed the glass steps to the second floor, and saw that the second floor housed the sculpture exhibit. The works in this collection were all imitations of Maya style. They were all works depicting the human body, embodying the beauty of sex. It looked like wood knots twisted together one by one, but following the text descriptions of each piece was quite funny, so Zhan Zhao laughed as he looked at them.

While he was concentrating on looking at one of the sculptures, there was suddenly a bright light that dazzled Zhan Zhao’s eyes. Zhan Zhao closed his eyes subconsciously, and at the same time, he heard a ‘click.’

Lilia turned her face to look aside, and she whimpered twice as if she was very dissatisfied from being dazzled just now.

Zhan Zhao turned his face and saw a man with a disposable camera standing beside him. The man looked less than thirty years old. He was tall, with a high nose and deep eyes, chestnut hair, and a decent suit. It looked like he should be of mixed origin,

Zhan Zhao looked at the camera in his hand and frowned slightly.

“Excuse me.” The man said in authentic Spanish, “I know it’s impolite to take pictures of you without consent.”

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows and saw the smile on the person’s face. He knew it clearly, as this was a common strategy. When you offend someone and you are of mixed origin, simply say a few words in a foreign language, and regardless of whether or not the other can understand you, they will never contest you.

Zhan Zhao glanced at him and replied in Spanish, “Since you know that is it immoral, you still wanted to take the photo? Are you trying to tell me that you are an immoral person, so I shouldn’t quarrel with you?” (Angel: The author uses 一般见识, which is an idiom meaning that it is common knowledge not to argue with people with low knowledge and poor cultivation. It is generally used with a derogatory meaning.)

The person was momentarily stunned. The embarrassment that flashed across his face made Zhan Zhao feel happy. He ignored the man and just left the hall full of wooden knots with Lilia, and went to the third floor.

As soon as he reached the third floor, Zhan Zhao frowned deeply. The atmosphere seemed to be familiar… this kind of atmosphere comes from the exquisite oil paintings.

All of the paintings on this floor were flowers: blood-red lisianthus, blue iris, white lily, and purple hydrangea. They are obviously ordinary flowers, but each flower was able to be painted as if it was alive. In addition to being able to tell that the person who painted these paintings is a genius, Zhan Zhao also inexplicably felt… that he knows the person who painted these paintings.

“When I first saw them, I was as shocked as you.” Behind Zhan Zhao, there was a familiar voice, but it was in standard Chinese.

Zhan Zhao came back to his senses. He was too lazy to turn back, but the speaker walked towards him; it was the person who took a photo of him earlier, “This painter has no reputation in the painting world, but in my opinion, he is a genius.”

Zhan Zhao didn’t look at him, but muttered to himself, “An IQ of 200 is not a genius.”

“Huh?” The man was puzzled, and looked at Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao turned and went downstairs because he had seen Bai Yutang and the others coming out through the glass steps. The man followed him down.

At the same time that Zhan Zhao reached the first floor, Bai Yutang and the others noticed him, and they walked towards him. At that time, they saw the man running up to Zhan Zhao and saying, “Wait, would you like to have a cup of tea together? There is a tea room on the fourth floor.”

Bai Yutang frowned slightly. He looked the man up and down, then looked up to the sky, thinking to himself, ‘If you say one more thing, you will probably be beaten.’

Seeing that Zhan Zhao ignored him and walked straight forward, the man wanted to chase after him, but he heard the lady at the front desk say, “Mr. Li, they are the police who came to investigate the theft.”

The man was taken aback and asked, “Police?”

Zhan Zhao and Bia Yutang glanced at each other — ‘Could this not very sensible person in front of them be Li Hao?’

“Oh…” Li Hao responded very quickly, reaching out to Zhan Zhao, trying to shake his hand, “I’m Li Hao, what should I call this officer?”

“I’m Bai Yutang, captain of SCI.” Bai Yutang stretched his hand out to block Zhan Zhao. He took Li Hao’s hand and raised the corner of his mouth, “Mr. Li, we have already investigated the scene, and there are some questions I would like to ask you.”

“Uh… Okay.” Li Hao nodded, but his brows showed a frown, ‘Is this police officer enthusiastic or something? His hand strength is not normal.’

When Bai Yutang retracted his hand, Li Hao felt more and more wrong. Starting from his fingers, his hand went numb slightly, and it kept traveling until it reached his shoulders, making him unable to lift his arm. When he looked down, he saw that his hand was slightly red and swollen…

Looking at Bai Yutang in surprise, he saw that he reached out and touched Lilia’s head, who was still in Zhan Zhao’s arms, and that the two were wearing the same ring on their fingers.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

We finally hit chapter 100 of volume 2, only 24 more to go until it is done!

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 24, 2021