top appraiser

197 Theft
Chapter 197. Theft
This woman is about 40 to [-] years old, has a good face, and is dressed young and intellectually. She is not from an ordinary background at first glance, but these words still make people stunned:
"Stolen what?"

"This word! When did you steal it?"

The woman repeated it again, pointing to the five hundred-character pictures on the stage.

Everyone was taken aback, and didn't know what these words meant for a moment. Aren't these five characters newly acquired by Liu Shitang recently?How could it be stealing?

Some got used to flattering Liu Shitang, so they immediately stopped sternly:
"What is stealing? Be careful what you say!"

"What kind of place is this? It's your turn to play wild! Will the Tangtang Calligraphy Association steal your calligraphy!"

"Exactly! This word is clearly Mr. Liu..."

The voice stopped abruptly, and then everyone remembered that although these five characters have been circulated in the industry for a long time, and there are endless praises, there has never been a statement about its origin, and no one has ever mentioned it.

Now they looked at Liu Shitang together.

Liu Shitang's face was as deep as water, and he didn't know what to think. After a while, he ignored the crowd and the woman, but turned to Ren Ping: "What is Mr. Ren doing? Do you think you can slander people casually?"

"Haha, blame me, I forgot to introduce,"

Ren Ping smiled all over his face, and pointed to the woman, "This is Ms. Mo, a well-known collector in the industry."

"Ms. Mo? Nanling has never heard of a female collector named Mo."

"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. Her father, Mr. Liu, must know."

"Who?" Liu Shitang snorted, obviously thinking that Ren Ping was making a fool of himself, but then he remembered something and frowned: "What did you say her last name was? Mo?"

Ren Ping nodded, smiled and said nothing.

At this time, some people present also realized that there must be a collector with the surname of Mo in Nanling, of course, and his name is Mo Tan.

But this person is an octogenarian old man, not a middle-aged woman, and she just passed away not long ago.

unless……

"Ms. Mo? Is your father Mr. Mo Tan?"

As soon as the words came out, everyone looked at them in unison. Seeing Ms. Mo nodding, they all exclaimed, thinking that with Mr. Mo's status in the industry, it's no wonder she is so unscrupulous, but what does this have to do with the five hundred-character pictures? Woolen cloth?

Seeing suspicious faces on the faces of some people present, Ms. Mo took out a small box from her handbag. After opening it, there was a small seal inside, engraved with the four seal characters of "Don't talk about business":
"Everyone, this is the private seal used by my father during his lifetime. Please don't talk about other things. It is unique in the whole of China. If you don't believe it, please come and verify it with your own eyes!"

As he spoke, he raised the seal and turned it around.

Those present who had friendship with old Mr. Mo Tan knew that what they said was true as soon as they saw this chapter.

Ren Ping smiled slightly:
"Ms. Mo is the youngest daughter of old Mr. Mo Tan. She has never been in Nanling. No wonder everyone doesn't know her. However, she has inherited the mantle of her family and is a well-known collector in the industry. If you don't believe me, you can go to the industry to inquire."

"More than half a month ago, Mr. Mo passed away. Ms. Mo rushed back to Nanling to take care of the funeral. When sorting out Mr. Mo's belongings, she found that a few things were missing,"

"Although these things are not very valuable, they have special meaning to Mr. Mo, so Ms. Mo checked carefully, and later found out that they were stolen."

Speaking of this, everyone has heard that the things Ren Ping refers to are naturally the set of hundred-character pictures, and it turns out that the original owner of these five pictures is actually Mo Tan.

Some people know that Mo Tan was particularly fond of collecting calligraphy during his lifetime, and they find it more believable, but how did it fall into the hands of Liu Shitang later?
Could it be that the dignified boss of Shanglong Decoration would commit theft?
Seeing everyone looking at him suspiciously, Liu Shitang snorted coldly: "What happened after that? Did Ms. Mo call the police?"

"It's about my father's belongings, so it's natural to report it."

"The results of it?"

"It turned out that the thieves who stole things were a few thieves who took advantage of Mr. Mo's death and the family was in a hurry to steal. It was just because they didn't know how to collect, so what they stole were not precious antiques, but a few calligraphy. "

"What word?"

"Five Hundred-Character Pictures, these thieves have been caught now, and the police station has also interrogated the cause and effect of the matter. It's just that it is not easy to recover the stolen goods. It took a lot of effort to find out later that they actually fell into the hands of Mr. Liu. Isn’t this a coincidence?”

After finishing speaking, Ren Ping made a gesture of laughing out loud, with a look of no malice.

The rest of the people looked at each other in confusion. They all felt that there were many details in these words that were not explained clearly, and there was something fishy about them. However, no one dared to comment on the details.

After a while, Yang Song still coughed, and accompanied Ms. Mo with a smiling face:

"Ms. Mo, don't be offended. I'm Yang Song, the president of the Nanling Calligraphy Association. I used to have some friendship with my father. I take the liberty to call you a junior. You have never been in Nanling. No wonder you didn't know about it."

"This Mr. Liu is the head of Shanglong Decoration, the leader of the city's home decoration industry. He is young and promising, and is well-known in the industry. How could he steal? I dare to guarantee my personality. He has nothing to do!"

Ms. Mo snorted, as if she didn't appreciate his intentional flattery.

Yang Song looked embarrassed and looked at Ren Ping again.

Ren Ping smiled:
"I believe President Yang, just now Ms. Mo was just out of righteous indignation, and she didn't choose what to say. In fact, we all know that, as President Liu, how could he do such a blatant thing? There must be some misunderstanding."

"That's right! A misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding!"

"Since it's a misunderstanding, please just return the things, Mr. Liu, and go back with a few comrades from the police station to make a record, and the matter will be settled."

As he spoke, he looked at the people beside him.

Only then did everyone know that the people who came with Ren Ping just now, except Ms. Mo, were all policemen, but they were wearing casual clothes, so they were not easy to identify.

But that set of hundred-character pictures was bought by Liu Shitang for 500 million yuan. It can be said that he lost all his money, so why did he suddenly become stolen goods?
Yang Song was speechless. Seeing that the policemen were about to step up to the stage to put away the five pieces of writing as evidence, he didn't know what to do.

Liu Shitang snorted, first signaled to Secretary Cheng and others to stop him on the stage, then glanced at Ms. Mo and Ren Ping: "Dare to ask you two, what is your relationship?"

"Friend, good friend." Ren Ping blurted out.

Ms. Mo smiled faintly: "Mr. Ren was a good friend of my father during his lifetime. He has been taking care of me in Nanling for the past few years. Not long ago, I learned that my father's relics were stolen, so I gave him a helping hand."

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but everyone didn't believe it.

I thought Mr. Mo was over 90 years old when he died, and Ren Ping was only a year younger than this Ms. Mo, enough to be his grandson. How could the two become friends?

But no matter what you say about this kind of thing, it can't be used as evidence, so no one talks too much.

Liu Shitang glanced at Ren Ping again: "It turns out that Ren always helps others, so how do you know that these five characters are with me? Do you recognize them?"

"Recognize."

"But didn't you just say that you don't know calligraphy?"

"I don't know how to write, but I do know a thing or two about palm and eye appreciation, especially this kind of hundred-character picture."

Ren Ping pointed to the stage.

Liu Shitang narrowed his eyes slightly, and shot him sharply, as if trying to see through his heart.

Ren Ping looked calm and composed, neither timid nor evasive, and he looked directly in the eye.

After a while, the corners of Liu Shitang's mouth curved slightly, and then he burst out laughing:
"Hahahaha... What a good one! Ren Ping, Ren Ping, do you think I don't know your tricks? Today you are here to put me to death, right?"

"But you don't even think about it. How could it be that my surname Liu is so easy to deceive? Since I dared to sell these five words, wouldn't I leave some proof? You underestimate me, Liu Shitang, right?"

(End of this chapter)