The moment Shi Qing stepped into Qinan Restaurant, he headed straight for Shen Qian’s office.
“Old Shen, I’m here to redeem my painting. Here’s the five million.”
Truthfully, Shi Qing didn’t want to come. But he had no choice. Meng Chengxi had given him a strict order, this matter had to be settled within three days.
Shen Qian froze in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Shi Qing to come up with the money so quickly.
So the information he had received from President Wang was true after all.
Shi Qing had really embezzled company funds. His story about his elderly mother being critically ill and needing life-saving money had been nothing but a lie.
Now let’s see what you’re really after.
“All right, have a seat first. The painting is locked in the safe.”
Shen Qian gestured for Shi Qing to sit while he went to retrieve it.
After Shen Sangyu had removed the hidden calligraphy tucked inside the fake painting, she restored the artwork to its original appearance using her artifact aura ability.
Now the painting looked exactly the same as the one Shi Qing had handed over that day.
The instant Shen Qian placed the scroll into Shi Qing’s hands, Shi Qing only unfolded one corner before his expression changed.
Just as expected.
“This…” Shi Qing hesitated deliberately, putting on a troubled expression as he looked at Shen Qian.
“What is it? Is there a problem?” Shen Qian played along calmly.
“Old Shen, this isn’t the same painting I gave you!”
“It isn’t? We had the painting notarized in front of officials from the notary office. Old Li was there too.”
The moment Shi Qing questioned the painting’s authenticity, Shen Qian could already guess where this was headed. He narrowed his eyes.
Was Shi Qing trying to extort money?
Or was there something even bigger behind this?
“Shen Qian, that’s not how this works! After we left the notary office, you were the only one who had access to the painting. How do I know you didn’t secretly switch it?”
“Shi Qing, that’s completely unreasonable.”
Not to mention that several people had handled the painting, even if someone wanted to replace it, finding an identical copy in just a few days was practically impossible.
“Old Shen, I paid a fortune to acquire that painting. If you’ve swapped it, you’re taking my life away!”
Shi Qing ignored everything Shen Qian said.
Instead, he began acting like a complete hooligan, shouting at the top of his lungs.
He was gambling everything on this.
If the scheme succeeded, the Meng family would clean up the aftermath for him.
What he didn’t know was that this entire plan was Meng Chengxi’s personal decision. Even if Shi Qing successfully framed Shen Qian and forced Qinan Restaurant out of business, Meng Chengxi would simply abandon him afterward.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Shen Qian realized things were turning ugly. He immediately had someone call Li Ming, who had accompanied them to the notary office that day.
Shen Sangyu and Li Ming hurried over.
The moment they entered, they saw a crowd of diners gathered throughout the main hall, along with several men who clearly looked like troublemakers.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
She walked over to Shen Qian’s side and saw the anger written all over his face.
“Shi Qing, you’re despicable! You begged me to lend you five million because you claimed your elderly mother was gravely ill and needed emergency treatment.
“It’s only been a few days. Fine, you want to redeem your painting, that’s your right. But now you’re accusing me of switching it? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”
Although Shen Qian already knew Shi Qing had ulterior motives, being framed face-to-face by a friend he’d known for years was still a devastating blow.
Only moments ago, they had been speaking normally inside the office.
Then Shi Qing suddenly seemed to remember something and walked straight into the main hall.
Naturally, Shen Qian followed.
Who would have thought Shi Qing wanted as many witnesses as possible?
He immediately shouted for everyone to hear.
“Everyone! The owner of Qinan Restaurant stole my painting! This is an authentic masterpiece by Shen Zhou from the Ming Dynasty, worth over a hundred million! I treated him like my own brother, but he swallowed my painting! How am I supposed to live now? I still have my sick old mother waiting for treatment…”
This was the perfect example of a thief crying, “Catch the thief!”
Shen Sangyu had never imagined Shi Qing’s acting skills were this convincing.
He could twist black into white without missing a beat.
The diners quickly pieced together the story from Shi Qing’s dramatic accusations.
At the same time, Shen Sangyu noticed three or four men whose appearance stood out from everyone else.
Without hesitation, they echoed Shi Qing’s claims.
“Boss, that’s way over the line!”
“Exactly! You can’t bully customers just because your business is successful! A person needs integrity!”
“That money was meant to save this gentleman’s mother’s life! How can anyone do something so heartless?”
Each of them spoke with righteous indignation.
Anyone who didn’t know the truth would think Shen Qian had stolen their own painting.
It was obvious these men had been hired by Shi Qing.
Every sentence was carefully aimed at destroying Shen Qian’s reputation.
Normally, anyone trying to resolve a dispute like this would suggest calling the police.
But none of these men mentioned the authorities.
Their only goal was to assassinate Shen Qian’s character.
Back in her previous life, Shen Sangyu hadn’t been present when all this happened.
She only knew that Shen Qian had eventually agreed to pay Shi Qing fifty million.
After that, both Qinan Restaurant and her father never recovered.
Only now did Shen Qian fully realize Shi Qing’s true objective.
He wanted to make the biggest scene possible.
Feeling Shen Sangyu holding onto his arm, Shen Qian gently patted her hand, silently reassuring her not to be afraid.
“Brother Shi, since you’re accusing me in front of all these people of replacing your painting, let me ask you one question.”
“What actual evidence do you have?”
“You can’t simply accuse me of stealing something worth over a hundred million with nothing but your word.”
“Shen Qian, how could I possibly have evidence? Ancient paintings aren’t like ordinary objects. I trusted your character when I pawned it to you because I needed emergency funds.”
Of course he had no evidence.
He already knew the painting had been fake from the very beginning.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Li Ming stepped forward.
“Shi Qing, you’re utterly ungrateful. Back then, Old Shen only agreed to help because you said your elderly mother was critically ill and on the verge of death.”
Raising his voice so everyone in the hall could hear, Li Ming continued,
“Everyone, please listen. I’m the owner of Qibaozhai next door. I know a thing or two about antique authentication. I was present during the notarization that day.
“The painting Shi Qing mortgaged was already a forgery. It was never an authentic work by Shen Zhou of the Ming Dynasty. If we’re talking about its actual value, it was worth about five hundred thousand at most.
“Old Shen felt sorry for him, so he still lent him five million to help him through his emergency.”
The customers, who had been swayed by Shi Qing’s hired men only moments earlier, immediately turned their criticism toward Shi Qing instead.
But Shi Qing wasn’t foolish.
He had clearly prepared for every possible response before coming here.
“Don’t listen to him! He’s been Shen Qian’s close friend for years. Of course he’s going to take Shen Qian’s side!”
“You…”
Just like that, Li Ming, their only eyewitness, lost much of his credibility in the eyes of the crowd.
The commotion continued to escalate.
Qinan Restaurant was located in the heart of the city’s CBD district, and before long, people had gathered outside the entrance, eager to watch the spectacle unfold.
Seeing the situation, Shen Sangyu finally spoke.
“Uncle Shi, every word you’ve said is nothing more than an attempt to destroy my father’s reputation. You haven’t produced a single piece of real evidence, yet you’re insisting he switched your painting?”
Her calm, cool voice rang through the chaotic hall like a crystal-clear pebble falling into a still lake.
Before Shi Qing could respond, she continued.
“If you can’t provide evidence… then we’ll provide it ourselves.”
The color instantly drained from Shi Qing’s face.
What evidence could she possibly have? That’s impossible…
Shen Sangyu walked toward Shi Qing, who was still sitting on the floor clutching the fake painting.
She reached toward the scroll in his arms and removed a tiny object attached to it.
“A miniature camera.”
“It even has GPS tracking.”