my friend

The thing he asked for came to fruition, Lin Xiao rested for the whole afternoon and slept until dark.

In the afternoon, Li Zhi ran out to talk to Joyce on the phone to inform him of the progress of the matter.Seeing that Lin Xiao was still asleep when he came back, he couldn't bear to disturb him, so he went to have dinner alone and brought Lin Xiao back some porridge.

"Mmm..." Lin Xiao turned over and opened his eyes.

"Azhi? Why didn't you turn on the light?"

Li Zhi ran to turn on the light, but did not approach Lin Xiao.

"I've been sleeping for so long." Lin Xiao laughed at himself, got up and got out of bed.

Li Zhi wiped his eyes with his back turned.

"I also slept all afternoon... Brother, do you have an appetite? Have some porridge."

Lin Xiao felt that his mouth was watery, but in order to reassure Li Zhi, he still drank the porridge.

"I don't know if Xiao An's procedures can be completed." He said worriedly.

"He must have a way. I don't think this little An is easy." Li Zhi persuaded.

"Hehe..." Lin Xiao smiled, "Fortunately, I met him."

Marvin met Lawyer Chen, and Lawyer Chen brought him good news. The court approved his bail application. At the same time, the account review work of Bolin Auction House was completed without any problems. support.The bad news is that the court has accepted the compensation case Styling requested, and the court will start in three days.It is equal to the day when Marvin gained freedom of movement is the same day when the compensation case started.

"Hmph!" Marvin snorted coldly, "They just don't want me to go out."

"It's a good thing you don't go out now." Attorney Chen said, pointing to his face.

Marvin touched his face, it was a little dry, a stubble appeared on his chin, and his short hair was left unkempt and messy.

"When you go out now, the media will flock to record your current appearance, who will the audience believe?" Lawyer Chen analyzed.

"Wait until the court declares in your favor that you can fully control the right to speak. Take it easy."

"Are you sure?" Marvin looked up at Lawyer Chen with haggard eyes.

"Quite sure."

"Thank you..." Marvin heard from Assistant Qin that Lawyer Chen was introduced by Tan Jialin.

"I want to talk to Qin on the phone."

"it is good."

Marvin got the chance to talk to Assistant Qin, and his first sentence was always: "Is Lin okay?"

"Expert Lin is in the hospital, he is fine."

"...does he already know?"

"I don't know yet. The TV has been removed from the ward, and the newspapers have been replaced with foreign magazines. He probably doesn't know yet."

"Heh..." Marvin sneered.Assistant Qin's ability to lie has also weakened. It is impossible for Lin Xiao to ignore him after he has been out of contact for so many days.If Lin Xiao doesn't know yet, it is very likely that he is seriously ill. If Lin Xiao already knows. . . Marvin couldn't think about it any further.

"Is Lin really okay?" He couldn't help asking repeatedly.

"Really!" Assistant Qin was very sure.

"That's good, that's good..."

"Brother, why don't you go to bed earlier?" Seeing that Lin Xiao's face turned pale, Li Zhi persuaded.

Lin Xiao smiled, "I'm fine."

The two were talking, Anping pushed open the door, and half of his body leaned in.

"Brother Xiaolin?" He raised the hand hidden behind his back to his front.

"XO!"

He came to Lin Xiao for a drink with a smile on his face.

"Xiao An, come in!"

Lin Xiao asked Anping to sit down.

Anping put a stack of glasses on the table with his other hand, and said with a smile: "They are not used to drinking this, let's have some?"

Li Zhi was about to stop him, but Lin Xiao responded, "Okay. Drink pure?"

"Ouch!" Anping patted the back of his head, "I'll go find some ice."

When Anping went out, Li Zhi immediately said, "I'll drink it for you later."

Lin Xiao pulled Li Zhi to sit down, "It's okay, I have a sense of proportion."

"You can't... just in case..." Li Zhi muttered for a long time, he couldn't say what he was worried about directly, and finally he had to say: "Don't make me unable to do business with senior sister."

"rest assured."

Anping soon returned with a small half bucket of ice cubes.

"It's interesting to talk to you." He sat opposite Lin Xiao, poured wine for the three of them, picked up the glasses and clinked them.

"I think you are more interesting..." Li Zhi whispered.

"Hey!" Anping put down his cup and looked at Lin Xiao with great interest.

"It's not as good as you...is it interesting to use me as a gunman?" He was staring at Lin Xiao with watery eyes.

Lin Xiao drank the wine in the glass unhurriedly, and said, "I didn't mean that."

The atmosphere was tense for a while, Li Zhi said, "Don't come and go, drink and drink!" He filled up the wine again.

An Ping looked at Lin Xiao with a smile, and did not move. Lin Xiao took the initiative to pick up the wine glass, touched the glass in front of An Ping, and drank it by himself.After a while, Anping slowly said: "Okay, I believe my brother."

He is really interested in Lin Xiao, seeing that he is always gentle and sincere, he can't help but want to get in touch with Lin Xiao more.

Li Zhi felt a few drops of cold sweat slipping down his back, thinking that Xiao An was indeed not simple.

Anping took a sip of wine and continued: "You seem to be in a hurry to go back, but luckily, uncle is at home."

Lin Xiao smiled and shook his head, "It's lucky to meet you."

"Haha!" Anping was very satisfied with what he said, and he happily drank half a glass of wine.

The three of them drank two cups dryly, and all of their faces began to turn red.

"I'm just a little curious, what are you borrowing the other industry map for?" Alcohol opened up the atmosphere, and Anping started the chatterbox.

"Helping a friend." Lin Xiao replied flatly.

Anping was obviously dissatisfied with such a simple answer, and he pretended to be indifferent and kept persuading him to drink.Seeing that a bottle of wine was half gone, Li Zhi quickly thought of something to say to slow down the pace of drinking.

Lin Xiao grabbed the wine glass, looked at the table, and suddenly smiled.

"Xiu Nian is my best friend... I don't know how he is now."

Anping felt that Lin Xiao, who had been drinking, was becoming more and more like a mystery, and he couldn't help leaning towards Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao looked at him with a smile, "You are too young to understand."

This made Anping even more curious.Li Zhi knew the ins and outs, but he was also fascinated by Lin Xiao's narration of the matter.

"There is not much wine left." Lin Xiao pointed to the wine bottle that was about to bottom out.

Just as An Ping was about to open his mouth, Li Zhi quickly said, "That's fine, you can't drink any more!"

"Why don't you drink?" Lin Xiao tilted his head, his eyes were covered with mist, and the blush on his cheeks spread to the corners of his eyes.

"Why can't I follow my own mind and do what I want to do?"

"But..." Li Zhi wanted to stop him, but was stopped by Anping. He winked at Li Zhi, asking him to do a good job. Lin Xiao's story is about to begin.

"Xiu Nian is my best friend... I seem to be a little drunk." Lin Xiao lowered his head and smiled, watching An Ping and Li Zhi feel their hearts wet.

Lin Xiao started from Bieyetu and told every word of every meeting with Marvin, every unpleasantness, every concession and every compromise of Marvin.

An Ping and Li Zhi rested their chins and listened mesmerized.Li Zhi was in a daze. He shook his head and couldn't help asking, "Is this the Marvin I know?"

Lin Xiao laughed, dimples formed on his lips.

When it comes to flying to the United States for their birthday, Anping and Li Zhi's eyes almost pop out of stars.

"You...you are so romantic!" Anping said with fascination.

"Hehe..." Lin Xiao shook the wine in his glass, "Xiu Nian is my best friend, so I must help him... Tell me, don't you?"

An Ping and Li Zhi hurriedly nodded in agreement.

"I'm not losing this trip, I'm not losing..." Anping moved the cup to Lin Xiao, and touched him.

Lin Xiao raised his cup to his lips and stopped suddenly. He smiled at Li Zhi, "Ah Zhi, medicine..."

Li Zhi's head slipped from the palm of his hand, he regained consciousness all of a sudden, he hurriedly dug out the medicine bottle, handed a pill to Lin Xiao's hand, and then turned to look for water.

"No need." Lin Xiao took the remaining wine and sent the medicine down.

"Senior brother..." Li Zhi hurriedly grabbed Lin Xiao's hand.

Lin Xiao shook the empty wine glass, smiled apologetically at Li Zhi, "Ah Zhi, it's okay, it's okay..."

He leaned back in the chair, pressed his left hand to his chest, and slowly closed his eyes.

"What's wrong with him? What kind of medicine did he take?" An Ping looked at Li Zhi blankly.

Li Zhichang sighed, sat back, and continued drinking without saying a word.

"Do you know how to chat!" Anping asked anxiously.

Li Zhi glanced at him, saw that he was smelling of alcohol, his lips were red and his teeth were white, he suddenly frowned and pointed his index finger at the tip of his nose, and said in a low voice, "You are the only one who can chat! If my senior brother has anything to do, I will never end with you!"

"Ouch..." Anping held Li Zhi's hand that was standing in front of him, and began to act coquettishly, "My good brother, tell me, I'm so curious."

"Hey..." Li Zhi got impatient at being shaken, and put down his glass, "My brother's heart is not very good, and the time is very tight this time, I'm really afraid of him..."

"Oh?" Anping looked at Lin Xiao, then at Li Zhi, then at the empty wine bottle, and said apologetically, "If you didn't say it earlier, I didn't mean it."

Li Zhi didn't speak.

Anping twisted on the chair for a while, stood up and approached Lin Xiao, slowly approached Lin Xiao's face, looked at it for a while, and couldn't help plucking the long eyelashes with his fingers.

"What are you doing!" Li Zhi hurriedly stopped him.

"Hey!" Anping Yile, "You don't understand, brother Xiao Lin and I are the same people."

"You? Same as my senior brother? Are you embarrassed?" Li Zhi looked at Anping disapprovingly.

"We're all...we're all people who go out of their way to help our friends." Anping withdrew his hand and sat down on the seat.

"Aren't I going to go to Taipei to be stabbed?"

Li Zhi calmed down and said, "If you really help us, you should complete the formalities earlier."

"That's it!" Anping patted Li Zhi, "Don't worry!"

Anping did what he said.

The next day, accompanied by Uncle Zhang, Lin Xiao, Li Zhi, and An Ping set off for Taipei with a map of the Pine Cliffs.

Along the way, Lin Xiao always fell asleep, and when he woke up he asked for medicine, and Li Zhi was extremely anxious.Fortunately, Anping is a lively person, and Li Zhi bickers with him from time to time, so that he can resist sleepiness.

A crowd of reporters swarmed outside the courthouse.Ms. Steinlin sued Bolin Auction House for damaging the Pine Cliff Villa map, which resulted in the loss of the spring auction. The court opened today. The enthusiasm for this year's spring auction has not completely dissipated, so public opinion is unprecedentedly high.

The lawyer representing Ms. Stelling stated the various records of Bieye after it was sent to Taipei, proving that it was intact before it was handed over to Bolin Auction House for safekeeping, and also presented the certificates of two industry experts and testing agencies to prove that Bieye The picture is genuine and the value is immeasurable.

Lawyer Chen, Marvin's attorney, explained to the court that due to the particularity of the artwork, he refused to accept the evidentiary materials provided by the plaintiff and requested a re-appraisal.At the same time, CCTV and security supervisors and other personal evidence were issued to prove that the damage was not intentional by Bolin, and Bolin had already called the police.

Marvin was wearing a dark suit, and his hair and beard had been groomed, but his face was still pale.He couldn't concentrate on listening to the arguments in court, and his eyes searched for familiar faces in the court.Lin Xiao was not present.He didn't know what it was like.Feeling that someone was watching him, he met his eyes and looked straight back, seeing Stellaine's generous and decent smile, with a hint of pride and revenge.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao didn't come. Marvin thought.

Out of prudent consideration, the court invited two experts who tested Bieyetu and another highly respected expert in the industry to form a new appraisal team, and the results will be issued tomorrow, so the court announced that the trial will be held again tomorrow.

That afternoon, Chen Wei, Joyce, Li Shiyuan and Tan Jialin received Lin Xiao and his party.

Chen Wei looked Lin Xiao up and down, seeing that there was nothing wrong with him, he finally let go of his hanging heart.Li Zhi, on the other hand, looked very tired with two big dark circles under his eyes.

"Sister!" Li Zhi had a bitter face.

"So tired, didn't you sleep well?" Joyce asked.

"You told me to look after senior brother. I've been staring at him day and night!" After spending a few days with Anping, Li Zhi now acts coquettishly and unambiguously.

"Okay!" Joyce couldn't help laughing.

"I'll treat you to a big meal later."

Lin Xiao introduced Anping to everyone, and everyone left the airport in two cars.

Lin Xiao did not ride with Anping, Tan Jialin was sitting beside him.Lin Xiao handed a credit card to Tan Jialin's hand, and said embarrassedly: "Xiao An...can I trouble you...he is young and loves to play."

Tan Jialin understood Lin Xiao's meaning, she was not polite, took the card and put it in her bag.

"To my home court, he will be satisfied." Tan Jialin said with a smile.

She was very happy to be able to help Lin Xiao to some extent. Needless to say, Marvin helped her. Her boyfriend, Lawyer Chen, stood up for her. On Lin Xiao's side, if Lin Xiao didn't take the initiative to speak up, Tan Jialin was also ready to help him solve his problems.

After Anping and Uncle Zhang settled down, the other five returned to Lin Xiao's home together.

Everyone sat around, Li Zhi told what he had seen and heard all the way back to the mainland, Lin Xiao stayed alone on the second floor for a long time.When he came down, he held many things in his hands.

"Azhi." Lin Xiao said.

"Master left the house to me back then, and now I will give it to you. The house is a bit old, don't you think it's disgusting?"

Li Zhi blinked his eyes quickly after hearing this, and then smiled and said: "I don't hate it, I've been coveting your liquor store for a long time, now you say it now, don't regret it in the future."

Lin Xiao also laughed when he heard that.

"Shiyuan." He continued, and then handed Li Shiyuan a big box.

"What is this?" Shiyuan tilted her head and took it.

"Didn't you always like these?" Lin Xiao explained.

When the box was opened, all the hand-made models in Lin Xiao's study room were neatly stacked in the box. This box was also made by Lin Xiao himself.

"Wow!" Little stars appeared in Shiyuan's eyes, and she was so excited that she wanted to bury her head in the box.

"Ms. Lin, do you have any gifts from me?" Tan Jialin approached with a smile.

"Of course, this is for you." Lin Xiao handed Tan Jialin a small wooden box the size of a ring box.

Tan Jialin couldn't help frowning, "Ms. Lin still loves Shiyuan more, you see, the gap is not usually big."

Everyone laughed.

"There are scented baits inside, which can be used to smoke clothes." Lin Xiao helped her open the box.

"The smell is very unique, not worse than the perfumes on the market."

"Ah!" Tan Jialin carefully picked up one and smelled it, "It smells so elegant."

"It's only so few?"

Li Shiyuan came back to her senses, took it and sniffed it vigorously, "Well..." She couldn't help but marvel, "It smells so good. You don't understand this, each one can be used for a long time. Share two with me?"

"You think beautiful."

The two started arguing like children.

"Sister." Lin Xiao walked up to Joyce and took out a notebook.

"This is what I was going to use to take notes when I was studying, and then... turned into a sketchbook..."

Joyce took it and flipped through a few pages.

"There are classmates, the professor, and you and...you must not show it to the seniors." Lin Xiao warned with a smile.

"Don't worry." Joyce winked at Lin Xiao, closed the notebook, and hugged it to her chest.

"Senior, there is nothing to give you..."

"Okay." Chen Wei stood up uncomfortably, "Are you ready for what you are going to appear in court tomorrow?"

"There are still some materials to prepare."

"Then you...then you get ready, go to bed early, tonight I..."

Li Zhi stood up and said, "I won't leave tonight, I will accompany senior brother and see you off."

"That's fine..." Chen Wei said.

"Then let's say goodbye."

The next day, Lin Xiao and Li Zhi met Chen Wei and the others at the gate of the Legislative Yuan. After a while, Li Shiyuan, Tan Jialin, and Director Shen also rushed over.

"Shiyuan, take good care of Teacher Lin later, and don't be impulsive when things happen." Tan Jialin said to Li Shiyuan.

"I just... I won't go in..." Tan Jialin and Lawyer Chen were inconvenient to appear on the same occasion, and everyone expressed their understanding.

After Anping and Zhang Shuda, Tan Jialin's boyfriend, Lawyer Chen, held a brief meeting with everyone.

"all the best!"

"Smooth and smooth!"

Everyone got together, full of confidence.

The temporary appraisal team composed of three experts gave an appraisal opinion on the damaged Pine Cliff Bieye map, which was still very unfavorable to Marvin.Attorney Chen asked the court to present new evidence, and several judges agreed after discussion.

Lin Xiao was dressed in a black suit, dustproof gloves on his hands, and a mask on his face, and stood on the witness stand.

Stellaine's glasses on the plaintiff's seat narrowed slightly.

It's Lin Xiao, it's Lin Xiao!It was just a pair of eyes, and Marvin recognized it immediately. He was excited to stand up from his seat, but luckily, Lawyer Chen stopped him in time.

Lin Xiao turned towards Marvin, his eyes were bent, as if he was smiling.

"Your Honor, because I will be in contact with ancient paintings next, for the sake of prudence, I take this protective measure."

Lin Xiao first explained to the judge's bench.

"agree."

"As stated by the plaintiff's lawyer." Lin Xiao said slowly.

"After I came to Taipei, I had contact with this painting, and issued an opinion that contradicted the identification. And I don't think the carbon element determination can point to the authenticity of this painting, because the age of the imitation is the same as that of the original. Basically the same. My appraisal opinion at that time, that is, exhibit No. [-], also truthfully recorded my point of view. In addition, I will make opinions contrary to those of the previous two experts because I have seen this piece of The authenticity of the painting."

Having said that, the three experts present all sat up straight.Styling's face was cloudy and uncertain.

"Please the judge allow my assistant to present this painting."

"allow."

"Thank you Judge."

Li Zhi and Uncle Zhang who came with Anping entered the center of the court.The two carefully took the picture of Bieye out of the box and slowly unfolded it.

This picture of Pine Cliff Bieye is 30 cm high and 120 cm long. It is light brown in color, and the two sides of the center of the painting are partially incomplete due to damage. On the right side of the picture is a osmanthus plant, which is in the flowering period, and the yellow flowers are blooming. , lifelike.

There were many antique lovers in the auditorium, and there was a small exclamation from the crowd.

"quiet!"

The three experts on the side stared intently at the ancient painting, and one of them couldn't help standing up.

That's the beauty of art.Even if it is dilapidated, the soul of the painting is still there. When the ancient art is presented in front of your eyes, everyone will feel awe.

"Please ask three experts to come forward and watch."

Lin Xiao made room sideways to introduce the painting to the three experts, especially answering the questions raised earlier.

Professor Chen, who had just joined the appraisal team, looked at it for about ten minutes, and said to the judge with his glasses on, "Your Honor, I can now be sure that this is the authentic work."

Seeing this, the other two said one after another: "Indeed, it is undoubtedly the authenticity."

"It seems that the old man was wrong before!"

The other quickly said: "Short of talent and low learning, poor talent and low learning."