Invincible Little School Doctor

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Exorbitantly Priced Antique Painting

As an investigator, Chen Yushan knew that they could not ascertain the complete truth of the case by relying solely on the account of the owner of the antique shop. Therefore, it was necessary to get the other party’s side of the story.

Thinking of this, Chen Yushan quickly bent down to check on the condition of the old man on the ground, only to see him barely hanging on to life. His parched lips instinctively opened and closed, a clear sign of the severity of the beating delivered by the antique shop owner and his people!

”How could you beat an old man to this state?” Chen Yushan turned her head to glance at the antique shop group and frowned.

The antique shop owner said, ”Officer, we didn’t want this either, but you might ask around. This old man went crazy, wielding a cleaver and attacking anyone he saw in my shop. One of my employees got a cut on his shoulder that almost took his arm off, so we had to...”

The antique shop owner’s statement was confirmed by many of the onlookers.

Chen Yushan nodded without betraying any emotion, but she still needed to hear the situation from the person involved. At this point, she suddenly saw Ye Haochuan squatting down beside the old man, then starting to administer first aid.

That’s when Chen Yushan remembered that he was a doctor, so she quietly asked, ”How is he?”

”It’s quite serious, but for me, it’s a trifle,” Ye Haochuan said with a smile.

No wonder he was so confident. After receiving the Seven-Star Life-Renewing Needle from Old Master Kou, his chances of saving people had greatly increased.

As soon as the Seven-Star Life-Renewing Needle was applied, the old man, who previously hovered at death’s door, began to revive under Ye Haochuan’s expert care. Although he still couldn’t move freely, he was now able to speak.

After Ye Haochuan confirmed that his name was Old Han, Chen Yushan asked, ”Old man, what exactly is the dispute between you and them about?”

With great effort, Old Han lifted his hand and pointed weakly at the antique shop owner and his people, angrily accusing, ”They... they made off with my ancestral painting...”

Through Old Han’s intermittent explanations, Ye Haochuan and Chen Yushan gradually pieced everything together.

According to Old Han, there was a Tang Dynasty ancestral painting from Gu Kaizhi in his family. Since his grandson needed to buy a house for his wedding, and the high housing prices were suffocating the family, Old Han decided to sell the painting for cash.

However, when he came to Haishan from the countryside yesterday afternoon and found this antique shop, his ancestral painting was identified by the antique shop owner as a fake. Believing it to be true, he sold it to the antique shop for only a thousand yuan.

Little did he know, after returning to the countryside, his son reminded him that the ancestral painting was worth far more than a thousand yuan; he was filled with instant regret.

Having undersold the ancestral painting made buying the wedding house a distant dream, and the attitude of the grandson’s in-laws began to shift subtly, causing the whole family to be in a state of panic.

The more Old Han thought about it, the angrier he became. So, early this morning, he came here alone to demand justice, hoping to reclaim the ancestral painting.

Coincidentally, the antique shop was celebrating its anniversary today. The painting he sold yesterday was now proudly displayed by the antique shop owner as the ”Treasure of the Shop” with a whopping price tag of five million yuan.

Moreover, he overheard the antique shop owner boast amid the crowd that this painting was an authentic work by the Tang Dynasty master, Gu Kaizhi.

Only then did he realize the deception by the antique shop owner. He stood up and loudly accused the antique shop owner of being a fraud, demanding the immediate return of the painting.

The antique shop owner, infuriated that the celebration in his shop was disturbed, got into an argument with Old Han, which escalated into an increasingly fierce brawl, eventually leading to a fight.

Old Han, alone and at a disadvantage, stood no chance against the antique shop owner. Out of anger, he bought a large machete from the market and came back to fight for his life.

In the chaos, one of the antique shop’s employees was slashed, and Old Han himself was beaten by a mob. Even some of the onlookers, who knew nothing of the true situation, mistook him for a terrorist and joined in the attack, which left him severely beaten as he appeared now.

After understanding the whole story, Ye Haochuan, from the honest look in Old Han’s eyes, was convinced that his account was truthful.

However, for Chen Yushan, a people’s police officer, it wasn’t as simple as taking one’s word for it; she focused more on evidence.

”Old Han, you say this ancient painting is yours, do you have any evidence?” Chen Yushan asked.

”Yes, of course, I have evidence...” Old Han began, before suddenly breaking into a severe coughing fit. However, after Ye Haochuan massaged him for a while, he caught his breath and continued, ”When I sold my family heirloom painting to this antique shop, they gave me a receipt, and I have it on me now.”

”Then Old Han, could you have someone bring this receipt for us to look at?” Chen Yushan asked.

”No problem.” Old Han then shakily took out the receipt from his trouser pocket.

Chen Yushan took the receipt and, after careful comparison, confirmed it was indeed issued by the antique shop.

”What do you have to say now?” Chen Yushan asked the antique shop owner, frowning.

The face of the antique shop owner betraying his embarrassment, he snorted, ”Officer, even if this old thing has a receipt, what of it? He already sold the item to me, does he have the face to ask for it back? If everyone were to go back on their word like he does, wouldn’t that create chaos in this world?”

Many people resonated with the antique shop owner’s words and nodded in agreement. After all, buying and selling are often about bluffing; it’s a willing buyer, willing seller situation, and once the deal is done, going back on it isn’t right.

However, there were also some people who thought that if Old Han’s family heirloom painting was genuine, then the antique shop owner could be accused of fraud, especially given that he had bought it for one thousand yuan and then turned around to sell it for five million. That certainly raised questions.

For a while, those with differing opinions debated back and forth without reaching a consensus.

Chen Yushan noticed this but, clearly, she was on the side of Old Han, the disadvantaged party.

”Just now, weren’t you denying that you took advantage of Old Han’s painting and that you hadn’t done anything unscrupulous? What do you have to say now?” Chen Yushan said coldly.

The antique shop owner was at a loss for words, but this fellow had a thick skin and retorted, ”Officer, that’s not fair. Where did I take advantage of his painting, where did I do anything unscrupulous? Didn’t I pay him one thousand yuan?”

”If you bought it for only one thousand yuan, then why did you price it at five million? Isn’t that blatantly attempting to make an exorbitant profit?” Chen Yushan asked, her tone turning even colder.

The antique shop owner began to play the victim, looking up to the heavens as he spoke, ”Officer, it’s unjust, really unjust. In our line of work, it’s all about buying low and selling high. A high price tag is of course to attract customers. Frankly, it’s just for show.”

He sighed and added, ”Officer, to tell you the truth, many customers have looked at this painting and said it’s not genuine, it’s not worth five million. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the folks around here.”