Although the father and son are related by blood, there is more hatred than love in the confrontation...

After a conversation, Wen Zichuan found that Wen Duo had strong insight and careful reasoning ability, and was not what he had thought before, a pure money-oriented, fame-chasing lunatic.

After all, he didn't know that the story of his own daughter Pinault had already given him a pretty good guess as to the twists and turns involved.

"Zichuan, do you know this buyer?" Wen Duo asked proactively, but the answer to this question seemed to be already known.

In fact, before sending the painting, Wen Zichuan hesitated for a while. On the one hand, he didn't want to waste the thoughts Qin Zhihan left for Pinault, and on the other hand, he was worried that the test would fail and instead reveal his own bottom line, allowing Wen Duo or someone else to cause trouble for his sister.

But Pinot was extremely persistent. She seemed to have her own plans and only needed Wen Zichuan to be a "mouthpiece" to cooperate with her.

The tacit understanding of mutual protection between the brother and sister reached its peak when they confronted Wen Duo. It was difficult for Wen Zichuan to describe this feeling in words. He thought of Pinot, who had been bedridden for a long time and was in frail health. He was obviously unable to take care of himself, but he was always behind him, silently supporting him.

"I don't know him." Wen Zichuan insisted and said nothing.

"Then where did this painting come from?" Wen Duo insisted.

"I have a friend in the antique business, we have a good relationship, and he gave it to me." Wen Zichuan began to "perform", hoping that his acting skills would not be like that of the painting, which would allow the other party to see the flaws at a glance.

"Oh? Your friend, if it's convenient, could you introduce him to me? He and I are in the same business, so we might get along well." Wen Duo pointed to the table beside him, on which lay an exquisite brocade box. "Here, the painting is over there. Wei Jing doesn't want it, and neither do I. You can take it."

"Why, Mr. Wei...?"

"You don't know him? He never wants fakes." Wen Duo changed his tone to a teasing one. "How about you find a way to get the real thing, and I'll let him pay off your millions of debts?"

This condition was too tempting. Wen Zichuan had an idea, but then he suppressed it immediately.

Although he received the film salary, after paying taxes, various things, and moving expenses, and reserving some living expenses and emergency funds, the remaining money was not enough to pay back the five million.

However, the original has been donated to the Lantern Museum. Is it possible for him to get it out of the Lantern Museum’s warehouse?

Only foreign forces, tomb-robbing gangs and kidnappers who take human life lightly can do such things. No normal person would dare to break the law.

Wen Zichuan walked to the table, opened the brocade box, and carefully confirmed that the painting was fine before saying coldly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, my child." Wen Duo was kind and looked just like himself when he smiled.

"I still have questions to ask. Can you tell me the truth?" Wen Zichuan was most concerned about the Jiang family's hatred for his father. "If not, I won't ask."

Wen Duo looked serious and paused for two seconds: "I won't lie to you, but I have the right to remain silent."

"Did you reveal the secret of Beiling Village to foreigners?" Wen Zichuan asked directly.

"..." Wen Duo fell silent at the first question, "I don't deny it, but..."

"It was you!" Wen Zichuan wasn't a reckless person, but his extreme distrust of Wen Duo made him unwilling to listen to his subsequent explanation. After all, Wen Duo's expertise in archaeology and cultural relics far surpassed his, and he could easily make up a pretext to completely clear himself. "You leaked the information, allowing them to organize tomb robbers to dig up the ancient tomb. And because they missed a porcelain gui, they sent people to kidnap Jiang Anyi. When the extortion failed, they blew themselves up and killed her, right?!"

"The kidnapping has nothing to do with me." Wen Duo denied.

"Okay, I understand. You denied the kidnapping, but you didn't deny revealing the information about the ancient tomb, nor did you deny that it was you who caused the tomb to be robbed. This means that these two things are related to you."

Wen Duo continued to remain silent. The past had sunk like sand and he didn't know where to start.

Wen Zichuan certainly didn't intend to let him go. He had already pondered these old events and the causes and consequences countless times in his mind. Almost no one knew more information than him, and he could connect them all together completely.

"The time you returned to Fengbo, I was seven years old in 2001. It was because you heard something had happened to Jiang's daughter, so you came back to check on the situation, right? You returned to Fengbo and then went to Dengyuan to meet the Jiang family. I think not only would they not listen to your explanation, they would also insist that it was you! Who caused Jiang Anyi's death!"

Wen Duo curled the corners of his lips and was dragged into memories by his own son's questioning.

Perhaps he had forgotten many details of that year, but he always remembered that downstairs of that building, on that rainy evening, he saw the faint light like a firefly in the Jiang family's window, but did not go forward and knock on the door.

Wen Zichuan's eyes were like a torch burning against the wind. "You said that you were slandered by others. You were referring to this incident, right? But why did you come back immediately after something happened to Mr. Jiang's daughter? It's because you feel guilty!"

"Yes," Wen Duo admitted without hesitation after hearing what he said, "I feel guilty."

After wandering outside for so many years, the first thing he did when he came back was to inquire about Lin Hanzhen's news, and then went to Fengbo to see the mother and daughter.

What's funny is that Lin Hanzhen said how much she missed him, but at the same time she believed that he was involved in Jiang Anyi's kidnapping and murder, and actually advised him to surrender.

Wen Duo couldn't have a good conversation with that very paranoid and overconfident woman, and someone was watching him the whole time, so he couldn't take any action on his own.

So the result of that return trip was, nothing.

Wen Zichuan's chest heaved, trying hard to hold back his tears, but he failed.

He didn't know how Chinese law would define Wen Duo's behavior. He was not directly involved in tomb robbing, nor was he directly involved in kidnapping and murder, but the secret he brought abroad was like a butterfly flapping its wings, pushing everyone's fate in another direction.

Wen Duo let out a long sigh, and no matter how confused he was, he still maintained his gentlemanly demeanor and took out a handkerchief and handed it to him.

Wen Zichuan didn't answer. He just wiped his face with the back of his hand and forced himself to calm down: "Why did you come back?"

Seeing his good intentions rejected, Wen Duo withdrew his hand and pretended to be calm and nonchalant: "I thought that as I got older, I would gradually become indifferent to the past, but in my dreams at midnight, I still feel unwilling to accept it. Maybe I won't understand the truth, and I will not be able to close my eyes even if I die."

"We are the only ones who are kept in the dark. You are abroad, so shouldn't you know everything?"

"I'm not omniscient. For example, I didn't know what Jiang Yunli had discovered that necessitated his risking his life to travel to Dragon Ridge Mountain."

Wen Zichuan opened his eyes wide and took a breath.

The process from the cold war to the breakup with Cheng Sizhou was too long. Occasionally, thinking of him was like a dull knife cutting flesh. People always instinctively avoid people or things that may cause them harm, so Wen Zichuan almost overlooked that the cause of everything was the car accident and the cliff accident before New Year's Eve.

"The police have concluded it was an accident."

"Falling off the cliff was an accident, not Jiang going to Longji Mountain."

"Mr. Jiang is a master of porcelain restoration, so it makes logical sense for him to track down a batch of stolen porcelain."

"Yes, he's a very responsible man, but he's not a fool. If he really wanted to track down the stolen porcelain, with his resources and connections, as long as he spread the news, there would be hundreds of people to go for him. Why would he risk his life?"

"Because not everyone is like you! Once you gain power, you only think about raising your own status and forcing others to work for you! Mr. Jiang had already retired when he went to Longji Mountain, and he is very cautious. He would definitely not rashly report anything and waste police resources without evidence!"

Wen Zichuan's tone and attitude made Wen Duo very angry. He could accept that Wen Zichuan did not recognize him, but the few words he said were almost exactly the same as what he heard at the Archaeological Institute and Lin's shop that year.

He didn't understand. After more than 20 years, why did everyone still misunderstand him so stubbornly, rigidly, and firmly?

"Wen Zichuan, you've lived in China your whole life, so you must be more familiar with Chinese law than I am." Wen Duo's pupils reflected the pain of his anger. "Let me tell you a reason I've inferred, and perhaps it's more convincing than any sense of responsibility in pursuing stolen porcelain. The statute of limitations for criminal cases in China is twenty years. Jiang's daughter died in 2000, and this year is 2019."

"Twenty years, the statute of limitations?" Wen Zichuan's mind, disturbed by excessive emotions, was gradually pulled back to normal. He reviewed the key information again. If Mr. Jiang was trying to find out the truth behind Jiang Anyi's kidnapping, did that mean they had been looking for the same thing all along?

In fact, this statement is even more chilling. Assuming that the mastermind behind the incident is not Wen Duo, then the real murderer has been at large for almost twenty years, and the Jiang family has hated Wen Duo for the wrong reason for twenty years.

At this moment, Wen Duo still had a calm expression and elegant manners. After adding tea to the two of them, his gaze shifted again to the green mountains in the distance outside the window that looked like an ink painting.

"The clear blue sky is truly beautiful, just like what's written in the poem, 'The water shimmers beautifully on a sunny day, the mountains are misty and wondrous even on a rainy day.' If I remember correctly, this is a poem from our Chinese textbook. You've learned it, right?"

Wen Zichuan was not in the mood to chat with him, as his biological father's "story" was still missing a very important part.

"After more than 20 years abroad, what have you discovered?"

"It's a long story, but I can't tell you yet."

"You want to know the truth, but you won't provide any clues. You really don't want to suffer any loss."

"Investigating a truth that has been deliberately buried requires a price, do you understand?"

"Pay a price? Like?"

Wen Duo didn't answer directly, but smiled and asked, "Jiang Yunli was seriously injured in a car accident, but you were willing to spend time and energy to investigate. If one day, I was also injured or died, would you care about me so much?"

Wen Zichuan thought that the so-called price was nothing more than money, favors and time, but when he mentioned Mr. Jiang again, he was clearly reminding himself that the closer he got to the truth, the more likely he would pay with his life.

"No," he closed his eyes and confirmed his answer, "I won't."

For Wen Zichuan, Jiang Yunli was determined to find the truth out of love for his daughter, even at the cost of his life; and Wen Duo, even if he did not directly kill anyone, was the instigator, and he abandoned his wife and children for more than 20 years, so he was not a good person at all.

How can two people like this be compared?

Since Wen Duo was certain that he was unwilling to reveal his experiences abroad, Wen Zichuan had nothing more to talk about with him.

On the one hand, he believed that with the ability of Qin Zhihan's team, they would not be completely ignorant of Mr. Aldridge. Otherwise, if he took his own photo to Sino and followed the map, he should be able to find some clues.

On the other hand, Wen Duo reminded him that finding the truth comes at a price. Even he still has a strong desire for fairness and justice, so Cheng Sizhou and Yu Ming are even less likely to give up.

He had to find a chance to remind them.