Top game producer

"You took the painting? When did you take it?"

"A couple of days ago, why?"

Li Jun stroked his chin: "Looks like Ma, the secretary, was the first to steal the real painting?"

However, only a corner of the foggy incident has been revealed, and no conclusions can be easily drawn.

Just then, President Liu's phone rang again. He said awkwardly, "Haha, an urgent business matter. Can I take this call?"

Without waiting for Secretary Ma to answer, he hurriedly got up and went outside.

"Before, when chatting with Curator Jin, President Liu wasn't in a hurry to answer the phone. Now that Secretary Ma has the painting and important information, he suddenly has to go out because of an urgent business matter? It feels like he deliberately made an excuse."

After President Liu went out, he answered the phone in the corner above the lounge.

Although he kept his voice as low as a mosquito's buzz, this time there were no other sound sources interfering in the hall. Li Jun listened carefully several times and finally heard what he said.

"Hey, I've verified it. Yours is fake!" President Liu urged anxiously, "Oh, yours is fake! You better run!"

Oh?

President Liu arranged for someone to steal the painting? And it seems they succeeded?

Li Jun reasoned: "President Liu was talking to someone when he came out of the curator's office, judging by his lowered voice and tone. The person kept calling several times, most likely because they succeeded in stealing the painting and were eager to inform President Liu."

In that case...

President Liu told him to run, which means the person who stole the painting is still in the exhibition hall.

I'll listen to what he and President Liu said when I get closer to the person who stole the painting later.

Li Jun decided to follow President Liu's lead and finish listening to this audio clip first.

After President Liu finished talking to the person who stole the painting, he returned to the lounge.

Seeing that President Liu was hesitant and worried, Secretary Ma coaxed him, "This doesn't violate the master's wishes. Anyway, it's going to be stolen. Instead of letting a clueless thief take it, it's better to give it to a true collector like you, President Liu."

The flattery of "true collector" seemed to hit President Liu's sweet spot, and he finally made up his mind to buy the painting that Secretary Ma had stolen, saying a little awkwardly, "I'm really a bit rushed today. This is all the cash I have. Look..."

Secretary Ma smiled lightly: "The money is a bit short, but considering how straightforward you are, President Liu, deal."

Then, he instructed President Liu not to reveal the news of the painting in the short term, to avoid suspicion. President Liu, who got the painting he wanted, was also in a great mood and repeatedly agreed: "I understand, I understand. The collecting circle is all about enduring loneliness..."

A dirty deal was thus concluded.

The two walked out of the lounge, and this audio clip was nearing its end.

President Liu met with someone, but at this time, the exhibition was about to begin, and the sound was not very clear.

Li Jun stood beside him, listening carefully.

"Ah, you have one too?"

In the distance, someone seemed to be shouting: "I'm here to find the stolen painting!"

President Liu and the other person said in unison: "Ah? There's another one?"

Li Jun thought: "From this last part, it seems another painting was discovered. President Liu bought one from Secretary Ma, his subordinate stole one, so there are at least 3 paintings. Which one is real and which one is fake cannot be confirmed, and even Secretary Ma cannot be completely trusted.

Everything is set, I need to go to the front and gather some more information. The main problem to figure out now is: how did the master arrange the theft of the paintings?

If I want to find the real painting, I should start with the master, after all, it's his painting. Following the master, I can find out where the real painting started.

Secondly, I need to figure out the movements of President Liu's subordinate and see what he did."

After listening to the audio, Li Jun adjusted the time to when President Liu went out to answer the phone after talking with Curator Jin.

At that time, when he followed President Liu out, he noticed a white circle entering the curator's office afterwards.

The person who can enter the curator's office is most likely the master.

After entering the curator's office, the white circle closed the door and sat on the sofa where President Liu had just sat, very familiarly saying, "Hey, Old Jin!"

"Old Xu, I was just looking for you." Curator Jin got up from behind his desk and sat next to this Old Xu. Compared to the polite and distant attitude he had towards President Liu, this gesture was much more intimate and enthusiastic, also showing Old Xu's extraordinary status.

Li Jun conveniently marked Old Xu's name, further confirming his guess: "This Old Xu should be the master, right?"

"I saw your work a couple of days ago. But when I went to see it just now, there was only an empty frame left. I asked Little Ma, and she said that you just wanted to bring an empty frame for the exhibition." Curator Jin smiled and asked politely, "What does this mean?"

Old Xu's speech also had a bit of an accent, sounding full and energetic, making people imagine a chubby old man with a rosy complexion and bright eyes: "Hehe, Old Jin, do you know why the theme of this exhibition is called Lost Aesthetics?"

"Look at the circle of people outside! They're commenting on that empty frame!" Old Xu's dissatisfaction was obvious, and he emphasized the words "empty frame" a bit more when he said them, "There are so many excellent works by younger generations in the art museum, are they not as valuable as a random empty frame put up by an old man like me! Where is the aesthetic sense!!"

Li Jun nodded: "I see."

Many artworks are indeed incomprehensible.

For example, a work by the famous minimalist artist Fontana, which was simply a slash in the middle of a white canvas.

This work, which looks like anyone could do, was auctioned for about 185 million Chinese yuan at Christie's.

In his words, "The process of exploring the universe is the discovery of infinite space. Slashing the canvas and leaving a mark is my way of exploring endless space."

There are also Picasso's abstract paintings, etc. Their artistic value has been recognized, but ordinary people find it difficult to appreciate and understand where the value of art lies.

Anyway, incomprehensible artworks are like doing reading comprehension questions in language class, just analyze them randomly. Maybe even the author doesn't know that his article contains so many profound meanings.

Old Xu's current grief is aimed at this phenomenon.

There are many good paintings that people don't look at, and just because of his master's title, a bunch of people are surrounding an empty frame and commenting on it.

Li Jun already knows some of the later situation, and stroked his chin: "Perhaps after the exhibition starts, the master will be shocked to say that the painting was stolen, and Curator Jin will also cooperate in acting out a double act, saying, I thought your work was this empty frame?

The onlookers just now analyzed it so eloquently, saying that this empty frame represents a future; represents a non-existent beauty; everyone can imagine this painting through the traces on the edge of the frame, it is an open painting, an advanced art form... As a result, after hearing these words, their faces are immediately slapped swollen.

Afterwards, the security guard said that the stolen painting had been found, and the masses therefore began to reflect. What Old Xu wants to arrange may be this script, it's quite fun to think about, isn't it?"