Hu Pingtao continued to ask with a smile: "The Chinese painting major is very good! What do you study specifically? Meticulous brushwork or freehand brushwork?"

"Gongbi." Wang Yongchang's interest arose: "I have been practicing line drawing before, and I have done the "Eighty-seven Immortals" no less than two hundred times."

When he talked about painting, he talked endlessly, and there was a smile on his rigid and indifferent face.

Hu Pingtao put his right hand into his pocket and quietly pressed the switch of the recording pen.

This was a private purchase by him.

"I have to call you "senior brother"." Hu Pingtao's smile showed a hint of admiration, and he praised repeatedly: "Being admitted to Sichuan University of Science and Technology shows that senior brother has strong professional skills!"

"There, there, I was just lucky. In fact, there were many people who painted better than me that year. Luck is really just luck." Wang Yongchang was very modest, but his smiling face showed an element of enjoyment.

Hu Pingtao smiled and said: "Next to Sichuan Mei is Sichuan Yin. There are so many beauties! Senior brother, why didn't you have a girlfriend in school back then?"

"Girls from Sichuan Beauty and Sichuan Sound are very discerning, how could they like someone like me?" When talking about this issue, Wang Yongchang suddenly became a little lonely: "Let's just talk about the Chinese painting class I was in back then. There were a few girls who were really good at it.

She is so pretty that she has dozens of suitors in the Fine Arts Department alone, not counting those from the outer courtyard and other departments."

Hu Pingtao smiled and said deliberately: "Senior brother, you should work together to deal with the outside world!"

Wang Yongchang had a wry smile on his face: "Even if we work together to fight against the outside world, I have no share! Why bother? My family situation is not good, both parents are farmers. If I hadn't been in school in Sichuan Mei, I would have been going to galleries to sell paintings since the second grade.

, I work and study part-time, and my family can’t afford to support me.”

Hu Pingtao knew very well what Wang Yongchang meant by "selling paintings."

It is by no means a concept of a painting being displayed in a gallery and being bought at a high price by those who like it, but a high-speed, short-term, large-scale copying process.

Many people like famous paintings, but it is impossible to buy authentic ones, so spending thousands of dollars to buy a high imitation has become the best choice.

Qi Baishi, Li Keran, Feng Zikai, Bada Shanren... The gallery will copy the relevant paintings according to market demand. In this way, art school students with profound knowledge like Wang Yongchang have become a cheap source of mass reproduction of paintings.

Worker.

Their income is very meager. The salary for a replica is only a few hundred yuan, sometimes even as low as a hundred or dozens of yuan.

Hu Pingtao paid close attention to the other party's emotions and carefully changed the topic: "I also worked for a gallery when I was in school. Well, speaking of it, I am just like you, senior brother. Let's make an appointment another day and let's have a few drinks."

Wang Yongchang smiled and dispelled most of his wariness: "Why did you think of being a police officer?"

"We are forced by life!" Hu Pingtao pretended to sigh: "Those of us who study art may sound fancy, but actually finding employment is a problem. It's difficult for me too! I'm forced to take the civil service exam and make a living. This is still

Thanks to my girlfriend, whose father is in the judicial system, the job I applied for at the time was in the prefectural prison, and it was with great difficulty that I was transferred to the provincial capital."

Wang Yongchang looked at him sympathetically: "It's difficult to transfer from a prefecture to a prefecture. You must have spent a lot of money, right?"

Hu Pingtao smiled self-deprecatingly: "I was forced to have no choice. My girlfriend gave me an ultimatum. If we don't adjust, we will break up, let alone get married."

These words seemed to have touched Wang Yongchang's mind. The muscles on his face suddenly tightened, and he fell into silence without saying anything.

Hu Pingtao asked seemingly casually: "Brother, I heard that you and Zhang Hongxia are getting married soon?"

Wang Yongchang seemed to be thinking. After nearly half a minute, he slowly answered: "We planned to get the certificate first and then hold a banquet. We didn't expect that something like this would happen."

"Please forgive me and accept the change!" Hu Pingtao advised: "People cannot be resurrected after death, but you still have to live."

Wang Yongchang looked lonely, with pain in his eyes: "Hongxia is a good woman. We were introduced to each other by friends. She takes good care of me and is very tolerant. She...she is pregnant with my child...pregnant with my child...

…”

Bending down and covering his face with his hands, Wang Yongchang burst into tears as if he could not control himself.

Seeing this, Hu Pingtao could only sigh in his heart, stood up, walked to Wang Yongchang and persuaded: "Be more open-minded, everything will be fine."

He made no further suggestions and just sat beside Wang Yongchang for a long time.

…

After leaving the room, Hu Pingtao headed to the parking lot of the Arts Center. When he opened the car door and got in, Gu Dewei, who was already waiting in the driver's seat, smiled at him and said, "Why did you linger for so long? Have you gained anything?"

Hu Pingtao shook his head: "Not much gain. Where are you?"

Before coming, the two discussed it: Hu Pingtao asked Wang Yongchang to understand the situation, and Gu Dewei's investigation targets were mainly Wang Yongchang's colleagues. The two worked separately and finally gathered the information.

"I asked six people here, one of whom is Wang Yongchang's department leader, and the other five are his colleagues." Gu Dewei said: "Taken together, Wang Yongchang's painting level is very high, and his meticulous flower and bird works have won many awards.

He is the backbone of the okiya. But this person has an out-of-touch temperament and likes to run outside?"

Hearing this, Hu Pingtao asked with interest: "You mean he doesn't feel at ease at work?"

"Wang Yongchang likes to go out in the name of "collecting styles."" Gu Dewei handed the folder next to the seat to Hu Pingtao: "The Art Museum has a quota for the completion of works every year, and there is also a certain number of people who go out to collect styles.

Wang Yongchang spends almost half of every year outside, in prefectures, or other provinces. He has also applied to travel abroad several times, and the application topic is to visit the Louvre, or the British Empire Museum... Haha, the first two items are also

Forget it, going abroad is too much. It is said that his application was rejected on the spot, and he even had a quarrel with the leaders of the museum because of this."

Visit the Louvre and the British Empire Museum at public expense?

Hu Pingtao shook his head: "Even if I were his leader, I wouldn't be able to agree! This is too whimsical."

"Yes, Wang Yongchang's colleagues say so." Gu Dewei said: "He is indeed a person who takes things for granted. It seems that many people in the arts are like this."

Hu Pingtao glanced at him and said, "Are you talking about me?"

Gu Dewei smiled narrowly and said: "According to Wang Yongchang's colleagues, when he went out to collect news, he often went out with the film crew to work as an extra."

"What?" Hu Pingtao didn't react at once, and the span was too big: "Extras? Which film crew are you talking about?"

Gu Dewei said: "A few years ago, Zhang Yimou went to Lijiang to shoot a movie. The movie "Golden Armor" was shot in Lijiang. Wang Yongchang followed the news and followed the crew for more than a month. I usually have a good relationship with him.

Better colleagues said that Wang Yongchang has always lamented that his talents are not recognized, and believes that his talents are seriously inconsistent with his income. He wants to be a star and a painter, and he wants to be famous, so he runs around whenever he gets the chance."

Hu Pingtao lowered his head and looked through the documents: "It's good to have ideas. As the movie line says: If this person has no ideals, what is the difference between him and a salted fish?"

Gu Dewei said: "That's true, but Wang Yongchang combines ideals with reality. He is the kind of person who will never give up his current job until he succeeds. His salary at the Art Museum is not low, plus various subsidies

, considered a high-income earner.”

Hu Pingtao was a little surprised, turned around and asked: "Can his leader endure it?"

"Wang Yongchang's colleagues also have strong opinions on him, but they can't help it." Gu Dewei said: "He is very talented. He can win several awards from the province and city every year, and even won two national art awards.

.On this point, no one in the museum can match it.”

Hu Pingtao suddenly realized: "So Wang Yongchang's leader doesn't dare to touch him?"

Gu Dewei raised his right hand and patted his cheek gently: "This is the face of an organization. Xiaohu, think about it, the Arts Center! This is not an ordinary public institution. If it doesn't win a few important awards every year,

The above will definitely question your ability to work as a supervisor. To put it bluntly, the same thing is true: as long as you are capable, even if the leader doesn't like you, he can only accept you."

Hu Pingtao nodded and asked, "Do the people in his unit know about Wang Yongchang and Zhang Hongxia?"

"I know." Gu Dewei stared out of the car window: "Six months ago, Wang Yongchang told his work unit that he was about to get married. The family planning administrator and the labor union also arranged for him to take two premarital childcare classes in the community."

Hu Pingtao asked with interest: "What do his colleagues think of this?"

Gu Dewei said: "It's hard to say this. Some people think it's good, and some people say weird things behind their backs. Marrying a man and a woman is actually normal no matter what others say. But as far as I know, most people think

Zhang Hongxia is not worthy of Wang Yongchang."

"Why?" Hu Pingtao asked: "Appearance or family?"

"Speaking of this, you reminded me." Gu Dewei suddenly lowered his voice: "Zhang Hongxia has been to the Arts Center many times. Wang Yongchang's colleagues said that she is average-looking, and some people joked that Wang Yongchang should find someone beautiful. But just

In terms of family conditions, everyone said that Wang Yongchang was lucky to find Zhang Hongxia."

Recalling what Wang Yongchang said before that his "parents are farmers", Hu Pingtao was moved and asked: "Wang Yongchang doesn't have a house in the provincial capital?"

Gu Dewei said: "His hometown is in Dizhou. After graduating from college, he entered the Art Museum through recruitment, and his household registration and personnel relations also followed. Although the salary here is good, it is still far from enough to buy a house. Wang Yongchang's colleagues are all

It is said that he has a lot of expenses. Although the library gave him a dormitory, Wang Yongchang rented another house nearby. He likes to drink. He eats in the workplace canteen at noon and buys food outside at night. This kind of behavior

It’s impossible to save money at all.”

"The financial situation of Zhang Hongxia's family is not very good, but compared to Wang Yongchang's, it is like heaven and earth. Zhang Hongxia's parents have an old house. The one she lives in now is Building 601, Building 21, Jinchang Community.

Her grandmother left her a dowry inheritance."

Hu Pingtao nodded frequently after hearing this: "That's right, there is a huge difference between having a house and not having a house."

Gu Dewei said: "Wang Yongchang's colleagues all said that he actually doesn't like Zhang Hongxia very much, but he just can't find anyone better, so he just makes do with it."

The image of Wang Yongchang emerged subconsciously in Hu Pingtao's mind.

Gu Dewei said: "He is short, less than 1.7 meters tall, average-looking, with dark skin. In addition, he comes from the village. Although he has real ability in painting, privately people in the museum call him "poor".

"Dwarf".

Without waiting for Hu Pingtao to speak, Gu Dewei continued: "I think this case has nothing to do with Wang Yongchang."

Hu Pingtao raised his eyebrows and looked at him with doubtful eyes.

Gu Dewei expressed his thoughts: "Do you still remember the man in the surveillance video who helped Zhang Hongxia into the community? How strong he was! His chest and abdominal muscles were like stones. There is no comparison with Wang Yongchang's withered bean sprout figure.

Haha... To put it bluntly, the two Wang Yongchangs combined are not as strong as that man. Besides, I have seen the surveillance video, and there is no record of Wang Yongchang entering or leaving the community before or after the incident."

Hu Pingtao kept frowning and remained silent.

He felt something elusive flash through his mind, but he didn't know exactly what it was.

Gu Dewei was chattering in a low voice next to him: "Obviously, the murderer is the man who was holding Zhang Hongxia up. Let's go to Zhang Hongxia's workplace in the afternoon and find out the situation from her colleagues. If I'm not wrong, Zhang Hongxia should be hiding it.

Wang Yongchang met a new boyfriend outside and had a relationship. She dealt with the two men and came into contact with Wang Yongchang more frequently. She accidentally became pregnant with his child. As a result, her new boyfriend found out. In anger, she
To be continued...