Chapter 689: Chapter 689: The Most Precious Painting_1
After Huang Mengchang’s accident, his parents, daughter, and ex-wife rushed over one after another to handle his affairs.
His parents also understood the details of the matter and were infuriated at Dou Tingting’s actions, yet they were powerless to do anything.
Huang Mengchang’s daughter was the only bloodline of their family. Apart from the portion left for their own retirement, the rest of their wealth, including the mansion and all the belongings within, was left for Huang Mengchang’s ex-wife and daughter.
For Huang Mengchang’s ex-wife, this mansion bore no happy memories, so she sold it for a low price and moved to another place with her daughter.
After Huang Mengchang emotionally finished recounting his story, he shook his head in a daze and said, "Tingting, all you had to do was ask and those paintings would have been yours. Why did you have to lie? Do you know that the most valuable painting was one you’ve never seen? I actually intended to surprise you with it on our wedding night, but you ended up giving me such a shock."
Qin Sisi watched Huang Mengchang coolly. His misery was indeed somewhat pitiful, but she didn’t feel any sympathy.
In her eyes, this pitiful man brought his suffering upon himself.
While Huang Mengchang rambled on about his story, Ye You hopped off Qin Sisi’s shoulder. He paced around the basement in feline strides.
It seemed like he had discovered something. He jumped back onto Qin Sisi’s shoulder and meowed several times at her.
Qin Sisi slightly raised her eyebrows and said to Huang Mengchang, "From what you’ve said, the most precious painting hasn’t been discovered by anyone. If I’m not wrong, you intended to give me that painting, right?"
Huang Mengchang’s expression changed, he asked nervously, "Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?"
Qin Sisi gave a slight smile and replied, "I don’t want what you’re giving away, but if I find it myself, then it’s mine."
"You..." Huang Mengchang was so infuriated he couldn’t articulate his words. But soon, he huffed and mumbled, "Finding the painting I hid won’t be that easy."
Qin Sisi ignored Huang Mengchang and turned her attention towards Ye You.
Ye You jumped back to the ground, took a few steps forward, coincidentally stopping at the exact spot where Huang Mengchang had sobbed earlier.
Huang Mengchang instantly tensed up, and his inner panic was apparent despite his seasoned exterior.
Qin Sisi stepped over to Ye You and crouched down to watch him closely as he searched for the painting.
Ye You paced the area unhurriedly. Finally, he settled on a floor tile.
When Huang Mengchang renovated the basement, he used high-grade, waterproof and moisture-resistant marbles for the tiles, making them exceptionally hard.
Ye You lifted his claw, a faint light emanating from it. He used it to cut around the perimeter of the tile before placing his paw on it, a green light seeping from his paw, resembling a net that wrapped around the tile.
Ye You’s gaze hardened. With a sudden force, he heaved up the heavy marble tile.
Huang Mengchang stood by, flabbergasted. It was no wonder that this female mage claimed to be capable of fulfilling any wish; a small little cat exhibited such amazing power, its owner must indeed be an unassumingly extraordinary person.
The underneath of the tile was indeed hollow with a rectangular metal box stow away inside.
Despite having been kept in the moist and dim basement, there wasn’t a hint of rust on the box.
Qin Sisi retrieved the box with delight. However, the box was locked and a tiny combination lock was attached to it.
Qin Sisi was not surprised. Given the treasure’s value, several layers of security were to be expected.
After an initial feeling of tension and astonishment, Huang Mengchang had slowly regained his composure. He calmly announced, "Without the password, it won’t open. If you enter the wrong password three times in a row, the box will self-destruct."
Qin Sisi stood up, looked at Huang Mengchang, and said, "State your terms."
Huang Mengchang gave a bleak chuckle, and softly said, "You’re clearly not willing to let me go. I have nothing to say."
After reflecting for a moment, Qin Sisi asked, "Don’t you have a daughter?"
"Yes, what do you want to do?" His eyes ignited with anger, believing that Qin Sisi intended to threaten him using his only daughter.
Qin Sisi gave him an indifferent glance, then sternly replied, "Most of the wealth you will leave behind will belong to your daughter. If she does not possess the necessary skills, then this inheritance could more likely be a curse than a blessing to her. You would, of course, like for her to have a rather happy life, right?"
Huang Mengchang was silent for a long time, finally saying, "I hope she is emotionally strong and as skilled as me in the business world. And I hope her future husband is a good man, unlike me."
Qin Sisi then turned to look at Ye You. Seeing him slightly nod, she replied, "That can be arranged. I would need your daughter’s name and birth information."
Huang Mengchang thought for a moment before telling Qin Sisi the required information.
Qin Sisi committed it to memory before looking back at Huang Mengchang and asks, "So the password?"
With a resigned sigh, Huang Mengchang mumbled out a series of numbers.
Qin Sisi immediately set to work on the combination lock, entering the familiar numbers. With a "click", the lock sprang open.
She hastily opened the box, revealing a scroll inside.
She carefully unfolded the scroll to reveal a painting of vibrant ink lotus leaves. Every leaf and petal was meticulous, and the veins on each leaf were clearly depicted as though droplets of dews were about to fall.
Although Sisi knew nothing about art, she could tell that the painting was beautiful.
Huang Mengchang gazed at the painting, utterly spellbound. "This is Master Zhang’s ’Lotus Leaves.’ It’s truly precious. I fell in love with it at first sight!"
After purchasing the invaluable painting for a high price, Huang Mengchang placed great value on it. He had it hidden in a secret compartment beneath a floor tile.
After securing the paint, he had bragged to Mrs. Huang – his wife at the time – about how he had cleverly hidden it.
Mrs. Huang didn’t understand art and dismissed his claims with a few questions, not taking it very seriously.
Dou Tingting was unaware of all this.
Just as Huang Mengchang had said, he had originally planned to surprise Dou Tingting with the painting after their wedding. Unfortunately, she had shocked him first.
When Mrs. Huang came to clear the belongings from the villa, she didn’t understand the value of each painting, and she didn’t know if the painting had been taken by Dou Tingting. Therefore, she took only the paintings hanging on the walls without carefully investigating the basement.
