When I arrived at Mandar Mall, it was already midnight. The roll-up door of the pedestrian street was open, and I walked in, the darkness engulfing me.
"Yu Xiaoluo!"
I called out, but there was no answer.
Before long, Luo Bo arrived with people from the task force. They found staff members, turned on the lights, and began searching one shop after another. Luo Bo checked a few, signaled the task force to continue, and then pulled me aside.
"What did Chang She Gui tell you?"
"He said the Pirate's Gold game would continue to the very end?"
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know, but Chang She Gui isn't the type to be cryptic. He must have his reasons for saying that."
Luo Bo sighed. He turned to leave. Not only could they not find Chang She Gui, but Yu Xiaoluo was also out of contact. I thought hard, then grabbed Luo Bo, who was about to leave, "Could Uncle Li be involved?"
"He's been under our surveillance the whole time. What problem could he have?"
Luo Bo had been keeping tabs on Uncle Li's movements and didn't think this matter had anything to do with him.
"Chang She Gui is controlling everything. Although these counterfeit painters haven't explicitly said it, they seem to have only created one painting. Moreover, I think their plan was just to create one painting."
Luo Bo, who was about to leave, came back, looking at me quizzically. "I don't even understand what you're saying. Do you think others will?"
That's right. Even someone as clever as Luo Bo didn't grasp my meaning. I needed to sort out my thoughts. It might be a long shot, but back then, Tie Zhi Shan was sent by the 'Logical Paradox' to a certain coal mine to carry out a scam. Later, due to the death of an agent, a part of the scheme went wrong. Tie Zhi Shan and his group were exposed and were held hostage in a private mine by the lawless mine owner.
Before that, members of the 'Logical Paradox' from the coal mine had contacted Jin Ben Gui. But Jin Ben Gui had already amassed billions in illicit gains. With so much money, why would he still be labor for the organization? He wouldn't. Jin Ben Gui had already betrayed them.
This is what I wanted to say. Although it sounds a bit arrogant, it's probably the truth. Chang She Gui didn't even consider Jin Ben Gui a threat. He was targeting me, Lao Gui, and Qian Qian.
At that time, Chang She Gui already knew about Jin Ben Gui's betrayal. He deduced that Tie Zhi Shan would definitely seek trouble with Jin Ben Gui, and I would certainly help Tie Zhi Shan out of his predicament. Based on this, Chang She Gui began to set up the international scheme. Creating a fake painting that could fool experts wasn't easy. The canvas from Wang Tan and the pigments from Uncle Li required meticulous refinement and careful mixing.
I came to this university to study. Led by Tie Zhi Shan, I retaliated in kind and scammed Jin Ben Gui out of two hundred million. After Jin Ben Gui's death, Zhang Ke Qiang prepared to flee. It was only at this point that Chang She Gui made his move. He used a fake "Woman 3" to manipulate Director Zhou, drawing Lao Gui and Qian Qian's attention. Then, he disappeared, using the "counterfeit money scam" in Chengdu as a diversion to lure Lao Gui and Qian Qian away. Only then did he start dealing with me.
I don't know what the "counterfeit money scam" is. But for it to tie up Lao Gui and Qian Qian, Chang She Gui must have put a lot of thought into it. Otherwise, Lao Gui wouldn't have agreed to a seven-day rendezvous even though he knew I was in danger.
It's now past midnight, so it should be the sixth day.
What I want to talk about now is the famous painting that was used to bribe Director Zhou. Director Zhou couldn't tell it was a fake, but experts could. Forgery of famous paintings involves three aspects: the canvas, the pigments, and the technique.
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The canvas was Wang Tan's responsibility, the pigments were Uncle Li's, and the technique was Chang She Gui's own.
The problem now is, where did the fake painting given to Director Zhou go wrong?
Seeing me lost in thought, Luo Bo became impatient. "Tang Nan, you can take your time to reason later. We need to find Yang Zhen Zhen and Xiaoluo quickly."
"No, I have to figure this out. I arrived early, and there was no movement in the dark room. I suspect Yu Xiaoluo never came here."
"But the phone location says Chang She Gui is here."
"What if Chang She Gui knew we could locate him by phone?"
"Then he should be nearby."
"I'm asking you, there are so many residential buildings nearby, how do we search? Is our police force sufficient? Do we have the right to search house by house?"
Luo Bo looked dejected. "We shouldn't have gone after Chang She Gui in the first place."
"Brother, he already had a knife to your throat. Believe me, Chang She Gui doesn't play games like this."
At this point, Luo Bo clearly had no other ideas. The task force was searching quickly, and the person we were looking for wasn't here at all.
"Brother Luo, can you help me ask about the painting "Woman 3" that Chang She Gui gave Director Zhou? After expert appraisal, what was wrong with that famous painting?"
"Now?"
"Yes!"
"In the middle of the night."
"Ask, Brother Luo, lives are at stake!"
Luo Bo saw how anxious I was and immediately called the members of the special investigation team to find out about the forgery of "Woman 3" in Director Zhou's possession. I kept staring at him during this time. Luo Bo hung up and looked at me. "Was there a problem with the canvas?"
"So, when Chang She Gui was creating this fake painting, he didn't get help from Wang Tan, who was familiar with canvases. He only contacted Uncle Li."
As I said this, Luo Bo had an epiphany. "Uncle Li lied. He always said Wang Tan knew craftsmen. Clearly, Uncle Li and Chang She Gui also knew each other. People don't just lie once; they use more lies to cover up their previous ones. Moreover, lying always has a purpose. Let's go, we're going back to Qian Kun Art Supplies immediately."
...
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When we returned to Qian Kun Art Supplies, Uncle Li, who had promised Luo Bo to surrender himself tomorrow and admit to his involvement in the forgery, showed no sadness at all. Instead, he was leisurely sipping his wine.
Seeing us suddenly rush in, Uncle Li panicked and picked up his phone as if to delete something. The task force colleagues acted quickly and snatched the phone. On the phone, there was a transfer record showing an amount of 10 million yuan had been deposited.
"Whose account is this?"
"I don't know."
"10 million is not a small sum. Do you think we can't find out?"
As Luo Bo spoke, Uncle Li completely panicked. "Officers, this account belongs to my son's girlfriend. They aren't married yet, so you can't find it from my account. I... I..."
"You're an accomplice?"
"No, no, I don't know anything. I just lied to get this 10 million. It was that craftsman who taught me. If you catch him, you'll know I'm telling the truth. I'm telling the truth this time, really. I really dare not lie anymore."
Uncle Li confessed that besides working together to create a fake painting, the craftsman had also asked Uncle Li to create a painting separately. The craftsman said that the requirements for this painting weren't high and that an ordinary canvas would suffice to fool people. After agreeing on a price of two million, they collaborated to make this fake painting.
The advance payment and the final payment were both prompt. Uncle Li regarded the craftsman as a god of wealth. This craftsman could forge, and he had sales channels. If he followed the craftsman, would he ever worry about money again?
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For a period, Uncle Li frequently interacted with the craftsman. They became like brothers, drinking and chatting. However, on one occasion, the craftsman suddenly felt very unwell, with sweat pouring from his forehead like he was going to collapse. Later, he fainted.
At the hospital, Uncle Li learned that the craftsman had cancer. The god of wealth he had found was gone, and Uncle Li felt regretful. He didn't care about the craftsman's illness; his greed took over. Knowing that the craftsman was dying, he directly discussed with the craftsman whether they should cooperate again to earn some money for chemotherapy.
The craftsman smiled bitterly, saying there wasn't much demand for fake paintings. However, the craftsman reminded Uncle Li, "The boss still has ten million waiting for us to get!"
Uncle Li sighed. "The boss doesn't want to pay at all. Pirate's Gold, if you deduce backward, only the first person benefits. You and I might not even get any money."
They had already informed each other of their proposed order while drinking. The craftsman was fourth, and Uncle Li was fifth.
At that time, the craftsman said, "There are no absolutely clever pirates in this world, and the pirate gold model cannot exist in reality. As long as we cooperate, the money will ultimately be yours."
The craftsman said he was a painter, lonely his whole life, unmarried, and childless. Now that he was dying, and he had such a compatible friend in his final days, of course, he had to help his friend.
Uncle Li believed the craftsman's words. When we found them, he lied. He lied that he was fourth and would not get any money, and that his life was in danger. Therefore, we didn't doubt what he said at the time. Instead, we used him as bait to catch the butterfly tattoo man who was going to kill him. Then, the craftsman proposed the condition for splitting the money: 100% for him, 0% for Uncle Li. Chang She Gui took 10 million, and Uncle Li, having no money, directly vetoed it. In the end, Uncle Li received the entire 10 million. This 10 million was real, and it had already been deposited into the account provided by Uncle Li.
Luo Bo had the task force take him away for further interrogation. When it was just him and me left, he said, "What's the meaning of Chang She Gui pulling this stunt? He played himself out of the game. What was his objective?"
"Chang She Gui is not someone who lacks money. Winning or losing doesn't matter to him. If he wants to play, it's understandable for him to put up a hundred million for this game. But he has to consider the feelings of ordinary people. Too much money can lead to a sense of detachment and unreality. A few million, for greedy people, is a sum that is visible and worth fighting for."
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"Are you saying that Lao Gui's move must have a deeper meaning, right?"
"He's dying, so he's playing a very big hand this time."
"How can he be dying? Chang She Gui is a swindler. Wasn't the cancer just a lie to get Uncle Li to help him?"
"With Chang She Gui's abilities, he had many ways to make Uncle Li do his bidding. Choosing cancer was specifically to make Uncle Li tell us he was dying."
"I don't believe it," Luo Bo said, disbelieving my judgment. Such a judgment was hard to accept.
"Zhang Ying, the seller, was eliminated and died at the hands of the tool, Butterfly Man. Wang Tan was eliminated and also died at the hands of the tool, Butterfly Man. According to the order, Butterfly Man should also be eliminated, and he should die."
"Butterfly tattoo man was caught. He won't die. He..."
Just then, Luo Bo's phone rang. After answering it, Luo Bo's expression became somewhat out of control. He sat down on the ground. I watched Luo Bo. Luo Bo looked like a defeated rooster. "Butterfly tattoo man is dead. He took medicine before we caught him. On the way back to the special investigation team, the drug took effect, and he died of an illness."
I was speechless. A dying Chang She Gui would surely do things we couldn't imagine. He would be even more reckless. Yang Zhen Zhen and Yu Xiaoluo would be in greater danger. Most importantly, Luo Bo's mentality had collapsed, and I was completely at a loss.