The Romance of a Young Painter

Fang Huaimin's overseas phone call came that night. After listening to him, Shen Guangji realized that the situation this time was far more serious than imagined. , used to suppress the military candidates of the Chinese side for this re-election, now small frictions continue on the southeast coastal islands, and the Peacock Country bordering the south has also begun to discuss a new round of arms purchases with Country A. Bilateral relations are very tense, and domestic netizens have also begun Questions the military's ability to handle defense matters.

Fang Huaimin said: "Let's not talk about the southeast, which has always been close to country A. Behind the Peacock country, which had no apparent conflict with Hua country before, is Cahill. Guangji, have you seen him?"

Shen Guangji said: "I see, but the situation is not optimistic."

"If Cahill can't do public relations, then you shouldn't stay in country E for long," Fang Huaimin quickly made a judgment. "What we are facing now is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity. We will deal with the follow-up matters."

Shen Guangji did not agree, but said: "Yuan Xun is also in country E now, I believe this is not a coincidence, I will stay and have a look."

Fang Huaimin knew that he couldn't stop him, so he said: "Then you have to be careful, if the situation is wrong, you will come back immediately, you understand?"

When Shen Guangji hung up the phone, he saw that Zhou Nianjiu had put down his paintbrush, and those blue eyes very similar to Steve were looking at him.

"Is it not going well?" Zhou Nianjiu asked.

"Yes," Shen Guangji said, "Mr. Cahill is hostile to me, but it is not clear whether this hostility stems from political stance or is aimed at me personally, or both."

Zhou Nianjiu showed a puzzled look and asked, "For you personally? Is it related to me?"

Shen Guangji said: "It seems that you already know that Mr. Cahill is Joyce. Sorry, I actually found out his identity a long time ago, but I haven't told you."

Zhou Nianjiu shook his head and said: "I'm too slow. I remember you asked me several times if I wanted to help. I should have seen that you didn't ask me out of thin air, and I told you to give up looking for him. I see you I haven't talked much since I came back two evenings, did something happen? Or did he make things difficult for you?"

Shen Guangji could hear the protection of himself in his words, and couldn't help laughing: "It's not too difficult, he thought that I would associate with you because of your background, and the negotiation condition he offered was to let me leave you, but the answer was obviously not ?"

Zhou Nianjiu frowned and said, "Are you saying this in private because you are taking my client as air?"

Shen Guangji pointed his finger between his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Don't dare. In fact, compared to the unfathomable calmness, I am glad that Mr. Cahill is so direct. You must know that in the multidimensional game of the civilized world, the truly terrifying It has never been a contest of strength on the bright side."

Zhou Nianjiu held his finger and asked, "Is your talk broken?"

Shen Guangji said: "It can only be said that the start was not good. He should have reached some kind of agreement with the Yuan family long ago. If he wants to change his mind, he can only find a new entry point."

Zhou Nianjiu hesitated for a moment, but said the biggest question in his heart: "These should be diplomatic matters, why don't you leave it to the person sitting in the corresponding position to handle it?"

Shen Guangji said solemnly: "Because people from the Yuan family provoked me, I am very careful."

"Ah?" Zhou Nianjiu didn't expect such a reason.

Seeing him stunned for a while, Shen Guangji couldn't help laughing: "I'm joking, do you take it seriously?"

"You..." Zhou Nianjiu was angry.

Shen Guangji accepted it when he saw it, and explained: "Although I'm just a marginal person, as long as the Fang family is in that position, there will be unavoidable cold arrows aimed at me. Taking the initiative to attack is also a kind of self-protection. As for the position you said People who are not suitable for direct contact with people like Mr. Cahill."

Zhou Nianjiu asked: "A person like him? Can you tell me what exactly he does?"

"Let's wait for him to tell you." Shen Guangji touched his forehead with him, and said, "Don't think about it, go to sleep."

"Don't be too late." Zhou Nianjiu knew that Shen Guangji couldn't fall asleep at this point, so he didn't force him to go to bed early. Before going to bed, he sent a message in the family group to inform today's itinerary. When he was about to lie down, Wen Juan The message sent to him also came.

- Don't contact Yuan Xun alone.

-it is good.

After Zhou Nianjiu finished replying, he put down his phone and couldn't help asking Shen Guangji: "What kind of person is Yuan Xun, why are you all so wary of him?"

"All?" Shen Guangji knew that Wen Ju'an could only be the one who sent messages to Zhou Nianjiu at this point, so he asked, "What did your brother tell you?"

"He told me not to see Yuan Xun alone," Zhou Nianjiu said, "Actually, Yuan Xun came to drink tea with me when you went out this evening, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with him at that time."

"If someone could easily see that something was wrong, he wouldn't be Yuan Xun," Shen Guangji said, "If I'm not wrong, Mr. Cahill's misunderstanding of me this time should be caused by him alone, and he also took it by himself. It was also my carelessness that you betrayed a personal favor, I guess he was investigating you when he knew that you and I had friendship, and then he found the right time to brew such a move."

Seeing that Zhou Nianjiu was still confused, Shen Guangji patted his head and stuffed him into the quilt, saying: "Don't worry about this, just listen to your brother and just ignore him."

Zhou Nianjiu just lay down, but couldn't help but said: "I don't think IQ is enough after coming out for such a trip."

"Leave me to deal with such irrelevant people, and save your IQ for critical moments," Shen Guangji kissed him, and said, "Okay, go to sleep, let's go to the South Bank for a walk tomorrow morning."

"Yeah." Zhou Nianjiu closed his eyes as he said.

It was almost early morning, and the study rooms of Steve, Dedalus, and Cahill were still lit, and his personal assistant, Snark, was reporting to him an anonymous email he had just received: "Sir, I think you have Need to see it right away."

"About what?" Steve asked.

Snark said succinctly: "It's an old incident that happened in China more than [-] years ago. It's related to Ms. Zhou Mengdie and Joyce, no, it's Mr. Yuan Xun."

"How did the butterfly get involved with him?" Steve clicked on the email, and his hand that wasn't holding the mouse clenched into a fist halfway through.

After reading the last line of the email, Steve had regained his usual composure and asked, "Who sent this?"

Snark said apologetically: "I'm sorry, sir, the other party hid it very well. I haven't found out the exact source of the email, but I noticed that some time ago someone investigated your information when you entered China in the early years. The two There may be a connection between them."

Steve said: "Then continue to investigate, we must find out the person who sent the email, and find out as soon as possible whether what is said here is true."

"Yes," said Snark.

Steve was soon the only one left in the study room. His eyes fell on the documents on the desk. These are the latest strategic proposals from the E-affiliated countries against China's diplomacy. Since the confirmation of cooperation with the Yuan family, such Several documents were sent every week, and his reply was quite clear. After all, the Cahill family and the Yuan family have been in contact for a long time, and this cooperation is a typical win-win situation.

This time, Steve turned a few pages back, but he didn't get a reply for a long time. The email seemed to be a thorn in the alliance between the two surnames, or the friendship between him and Yuan Xun.He closed the file somewhat distractedly, and his long-standing habit drove him to the top floor of the villa.

"Steve?" There was already someone on the seat of the recliner, and it was Yuan Xun.

"It's late, why are you still here?" Steve didn't slow down because of his mood swings.

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight." Yuan Xun pointed to the dome.

Steve lay down on the chair next to him, and the full moon came into his eyes. He looked at it silently for a while, and then said lightly: "This kind of moonlight reminds me of butterflies. The first time I saw her was On such a moonlit night, she was eating barbecue skewers at a food stall with some classmates, and she was not able to drink enough to drink a few sips of draft beer before she got drunk, and then I saw her singing in a daze while holding a big wine glass."

Yuan Xun said: "Her singing must be beautiful if you still remember it after so many years."

Steve said: "No, she is tone deaf, listening to her singing is a disaster, you know, everyone around has run away, I wanted to come here at the time, but I was dragged back by her after a step, As a result, the whole roadside booth except me, she has no second audience at all."

Yuan Xun said: "If you really want to run away, it is impossible for her to catch you, Steve, you have fallen in love with her by then."

Steve said: "Yeah, I fell in love with her, but she flew away."

Yuan Xun said: "The past is over, at least you have found your child now."

Steve said: "Yeah, at least I found him, this time I won't make the same mistake again, I'll keep him under my nose and make sure I don't lose him."

Yuan Xun said: "I'm afraid Shen Guangji will not agree with your approach."

"So I've decided to take your advice, dear Joyce, Leo will be ready," Steve said, "I think you'll solve our common troubles in a civilized way, right?"

"I am willing to help, my old friend." Yuan Xun said with a smile.

"Waiting for your good news." For the first time, Steve discovered that the person he had always regarded as a child had actually grown up, and the calmness and confidence in the other party's smile should have been precipitated after countless successes.

Steve closed his eyes tiredly, and he remembered what was said in the anonymous email just now: Yuan Xun, a 13-year-old boy let his butterfly be cornered, and finally had to disappear from everyone's sight incognito, At the same time, he also let himself lose her forever.

Was the person who was picked up as a puppy in the first place a wolf all along?Or he has been ignoring the opponent's means and ambitions, and taking them as childish naughtiness.The matter in the email has been handed over to Snark for investigation, but years of friendship as well as an elder's friendship left hope in Steve's heart, even though clues that he hadn't noticed before were connected in series to verify that what was said in the email was the truth.

As Steve awaits the results of the investigation to deliver his young friend's verdict, there's only one question in his mind: motives.