Gorgeous Female Tenants

Chapter 449: Old Groundhog

This was also her exhibition, three ink-splash landscape paintings that were clearly superior to other young painters in terms of technique and artistic conception.

Halfway through lunch, the phone of Lan Er and Su Xinyun suddenly rang intensely.

After answering the call, Su Xinyun’s face turned pale immediately, almost dropping her phone. Her slender, snow-white fingers barely supported her head, and she was about to collapse.

Xu Xiangbei sensed something was wrong, grabbed Su Xinyun’s wrist, and felt her pulse was very weak, so he injected a wisp of Inner Strength into her meridian.

After a while, Su Xinyun’s complexion recovered, and her consciousness became clear again.

Right at noon, when everyone was eating, the museum was robbed.

Four paintings were stolen in total, one was the Nine Cats scroll worth tens of millions, and the other three were Su Xinyun’s ink-splash landscape paintings.

The theft of her three favorite paintings was a fatal blow to her, and Su Xinyun burst into tears: "I’m so unlucky, why did the thief have to steal my landscapes, why not someone else’s paintings?"

Xu Xiangbei handed her tissues, massaging the Hegu point on her hand to relieve her anxiety, and comforted her: "Don’t worry, I will certainly help you recover those three paintings."

Looking into Xu Xiangbei’s eyes, sensing his sincerity, nevertheless, Su Xinyun still frowned deeply.

"Thank you for your kindness, but you’re not a policeman, how can you help me find the stolen paintings? I want to stay in Earth Sea for a few days, waiting for news from the police. Hotels are too expensive; are there cheaper places to rent here?"

Xu Xiangbei smiled and said: "Stay at my villa, it’s four stories tall, I only live on the first floor, the other three floors are for beautiful ladies to pick a room to stay, waiting for police updates."

Anyone who specifically steals Su Xinyun’s three landscape paintings must understand art. In the realm of Earth Sea, there are many thieves with high mastery of theft skills, leaving not even a hint behind, yet knowing the value of paintings is rare.

At night, as the city lights came on, Xu Xiangbei carried two bottles of Flying Maotai worth thousands to a small alley in the Western Suburb.

The small alley emitted a rotten smell. Those living here were old neighbors. It had been enclosed by high walls, planned into a shantytown renovation area.

Passing through the narrow alley, he knocked on a shabby little wooden door at the alley’s deepest end.

E-aww, the old door hinges made a piercing sound in the night.

Yang Qianshou squinted, sticking his head out to see Xu Xiangbei outside the door: "Young man, are you here for Jenny? You’ve come to the wrong place; she doesn’t live here."

Xu Xiangbei lifted the Flying Maotai in his hand, winking and smiling, "I’m here for your grandpa."

Seeing the Maotai in Xu Xiangbei’s hands, Yang Qianshou immediately beamed: "Good kid, come in and sit, such a good lad."

The room exuded even more mustiness; Xu Xiangbei sat at the small table by the door, placing the Maotai on it.

"Good lad, what are you looking for grandpa for? Did Jenny bully you, or can’t you handle her?"

"It’s nothing to do with Jenny, just wanted to bring you some good liquor to try."

While talking, Xu Xiangbei unscrewed the Maotai bottle cap, filling the small room with the aroma of liquor. Yang Qianshou had been wary of Xu Xiangbei, but smelling the liquor, couldn’t resist anymore, swallowing hard and bringing out two goblets from inside.

"Come, let’s have a couple of glasses, my grandson."

Xu Xiangbei smiled: "I’m not drinking; this liquor is all for you."

Yang Qianshou sipped the fragrant Maotai, squinting his eyes into a crescent, praising, "This is superb liquor indeed, young man, you are a good person, it’s been years since I’ve had such fragrant liquor. A person is at his weakest when taking from others, eating from their hands. Young man, you must have something to ask from this old man, right?"

Xu Xiangbei then revealed a crooked smile, "I have a friend who participated in an art exhibition at the museum; during just lunchtime, the Nine Cats scroll and her three paintings were stolen. Surveillance only captured a masked person, no fingerprints, footprints, nothing. Grandpa, you are the famous Yang Qianshou, the patriarch of the Earth Sea thievery world. Such masterful, art-knowing thieves are rare in Earth Sea, no?"

Yang Qianshou tousled his sparse goat beard, smiling smugly, "You kid, smart indeed. There aren’t many elegant thieves who steal art like this, as rare as phoenix feathers. I can guess a bit, but I can’t tell you; this is the underworld’s code. How about you marry my granddaughter quickly, have a big fat boy, so she won’t have time to keep a close eye on me, and I can enjoy a free life?"

Xu Xiangbei laughed, continuing to pour Yang Qianshou more liquor: "Grandpa, I still have a case of this kind of liquor at my place."

Yang Qianshou’s mouth twitched slightly, his eyes gleaming, downing the glass in one gulp.

"You mean if I help you, that whole case is mine?"

"Yes, it’s six bottles a case, Grandpa. Money is a small thing; this fifty-year-old brew is getting fewer with each bottle drunk. You can’t buy it for a million on the market."

Yang Qianshou’s mouth twitched as he shot an intense gaze of longing from his eyes. He slapped his thigh: "Alright, I’ll try to help you. Whether I can get it back, I can’t guarantee."

With a hint of tipsiness, Yang Qianshou headed to a small riverside restaurant, the river waves brought a chill in the air.

Yang Qianshou ordered peanuts, a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a plate of braised pork, drinking merrily.

Opposite Yang Qianshou, the seat was empty but had a set of tableware and a glass filled with Maotai.

The dishes were plain, yet the liquor filled the small restaurant with aroma. Even the chubby chef serving food couldn’t help but take a few extra sniffs.

Yang Qianshou was the only customer in the small restaurant; the chef and owner were dozing off at the counter.

A petite figure clad in black quietly slipped into the restaurant, walking silently as a ghost, nonchalantly seating himself opposite Yang Qianshou, picked up the glass and drank it all in one go.

After drinking, the figure clicked his tongue: "You old devil, being able to drink this good liquor, how hateful."

The black-clad figure was even thinner than Yang Qianshou, a withered old man with a sly face, a thin moustache, bleary eyes occasionally shooting a sharp glare.

His hands seemed skeletal, covered in veins, yet his index and middle finger bones were weirdly long like Yang Qianshou’s.

Luckily, it was under the tavern’s lighting; had he encountered this old guy in the wilderness at night, anyone would mistake him for a ghost.

Seeing the skinny old man finish the drink, Yang Qianshou grinned fiendishly: "Old Rat, at last you came. Two bottles, I still have two bottles of this fifty-year-old cellar brew. You won’t find it on the market, not even if you steal from the Maotai distillery."