False evidence

Chapter 279 Illusory Image (6)

"How did you know I like rice with pork lard?" Fang Jun trembled all over, her voice becoming somewhat shrill. "Who exactly are you?!"

Meng Zhen hurriedly got out of bed and rushed over with Gao He and Yan Fengwei.

"Girl, what's wrong? You mustn't get agitated right now."

Meng Zhen wanted to get closer to Fang Yun to comfort her, but looking at her own belly, she kept a certain distance.

Gao turned to me, as if startled, "Why are you sweating so much?"

I then realized that not only were I crying, but in just a short while, my hair looked like it had just been drenched in water, and my body was also wet.

Even the water dripping from me quickly formed a small puddle on the floor.

Yan Fengwei pulled me aside and said, "Something's not right with you. Your face is pale. We need to call a doctor!"

"No, I'm fine."

I handed the lunchbox to Fang Jun again: "Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

Fang Jun seemed stunned by my appearance, but still took the lunchbox. However, after only one glance, she suddenly looked up at Gao He and said, "He is not my husband!"

Gao He rubbed his forehead, put his hand down, and said, "Take it slow, don't get agitated, don't upset the baby!"

Fang Yun took a deep breath, grabbed my hand, and said to him in a trembling voice:
“The Zhu Wanlin you see is not my husband! He can’t draw at all… I studied fine arts, and that painting was definitely not his! Also… although he’s a jerk, he knows I never eat onions or celery!”

I glanced at the leftover lunchbox and said in a low voice, "I know you don't eat scallions, celery, or dried tofu; you think they smell bad. Hurry up and eat your food, it won't taste good when it gets cold..."

"You are Wan Lin!" Fang Yun's eyes also welled up with tears, and she nodded repeatedly: "I'll eat it, I'll eat it, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

Gao and Ying pulled me aside, looking me up and down: "How are you feeling?"

I shook my head slightly: "I'm fine."

Gao He grinned, spun around in place, and said in a low voice, "What's going on? Why did this have to happen at this time?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying my best to compose myself. I picked up the water glass on the table, gulped it down without caring whose it was, and as I put it down, I saw the painting left by Zhu Wanlin. I picked it up and said to Gao He:
"There's something wrong with this painting, you can see it too, right?"

Gao He stared at me and said, "There's a problem; it doesn't make logical sense. I've actually seen mirages before! The sight is many times larger than reality, but the distance is never close. You can see the entire building, but it's unlikely you can see the people inside so clearly!"

I wiped my face and pointed to the first overall portrait of the ancient building, saying:

"Zhu Wanlin said that after seeing that woman, he didn't pay attention to anything else. Although this painting is rough, some details are drawn too meticulously, which is not like what he described at all!"

Gao He took the painting. "Something's not right?"

I pointed to the bottom left corner of the drawing. "I don't know anything about drawing, but since we're looking for someone, or rather, looking for the location of this ancient building... why am I drawing this section of boat railings?"

Fang Yun interjected, "It's the composition! Art students all know that these kinds of details enhance the overall harmony and highlight the theme and environment."

Gao He's eyes darted around quickly: "Zhu Wanlin also said he can't draw, he's lying."

I pulled out the third one: "Look at this one, don't you think the woman he drew looks a bit familiar?"

Gao looked at it carefully, "It does look somewhat familiar, but..."

I shoved the words into his hand, "Just say you look familiar, but you can't tell who it is."

"Then who exactly is she?" Gao asked.

I closed my eyes again, then opened them and turned to Fang Jun, who was holding a lunchbox: "You know painting?"

After a brief exchange of glances, she nodded. "I've seen this portrait before. The person who painted it could probably do a better job. I can try to redraw it, using this as a reference."

Gao immediately took out a pen and notebook, intending to hand them over to her along with the drawing.

"Let her finish her meal first!"

Liu Yu and Meng Zhen spoke at the same time. ...

Fang Yun ate a whole box of rice mixed with lard.

Less than fifteen minutes later, she looked at Gao He and handed me the finished portrait.

Gao He glanced at it and exclaimed in astonishment, "Is it a preserved egg?"

Fang Yun did indeed possess considerable painting skills, capturing the essence of his subjects and producing more refined and lifelike portraits.

At first glance, the person in the painting does indeed look a lot like a preserved egg. But if someone else might not recognize him, how could I not recognize him?

"Judging from her face, she lost her husband in middle age... This isn't a preserved egg, it's my mother-in-law."

Everyone in the room stared at me in astonishment.

I felt weak all over. I raised my arm and said, "I'm sure this is Pidan's mother, but she must have been young."

"So?" Gao He raised one eyebrow and stared at me.

"I've never seen a mirage, but the first painting, although it didn't look like a mirage in a movie, made me feel that it really was a mirage."

Gao He wiped the fine sweat from his forehead: "I'll assume that the person who painted this really saw a mirage. But how could the woman in the painting be Pidan's mother?"

I asked, "How old is Zhu Wanlin?"

"forty one."

"My mother-in-law is fifty-eight this year. If you had seen her twenty years ago, would you consider her a beauty?"

Gao He paused for a moment, then asked, "The mirage is real? But it wasn't something I saw recently; it was something I saw more than twenty years ago?"

I nodded.

Gao He shook his head: "It still doesn't make sense. Putting everything else aside, how could someone on a boat see the people inside the ancient building so clearly?"

“A telescope,” Yan Fengwei said. “My wife and I have been on cruise ships before, and we just prepared a bunch of things haphazardly based on our own assumptions. We said we wanted to see the scenery, so we actually bought a telescope.”

He nudged Meng Zhen. "Remember that time on the ship? I asked you to look at the scenery, but your hand slipped and the binoculars fell into the sea?"

Gao He stood there dumbfounded for a moment, as if his computer had frozen, then looked around and said, "I mean... what are we even suspecting? I'm totally confused!"

“Zhu Wanlin is not my husband,” Fang Yun said, looking at me.

Gao He slapped his forehead hard: "Just because he couldn't draw before, you suspect he's not your husband?"

By then, I had realized that Fang Yun was actually a very strong and rational woman.

She had been suppressing her emotions all along, and when Gao asked her question, she stared at me and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Sanqi."

How did you know I like rice with pork lard?

I said in a hoarse voice, "I know that other pregnant women crave sour or spicy foods, but you crave oily foods."

Fang Yun smiled, her smile tinged with tears: "Our daughter is twelve years old now, and you still remember her."

"Aunt Dong should be picking her up from school by now." I started sweating uncontrollably again.

"Hmm, we should be home by now." Fang Jun brushed a stray strand of hair away. "Oh, right, I just remembered, when I was pregnant with my daughter, the treatment wasn't just lard with rice, was it?"

"Pork ribs and rice cakes are sold out."

(End of this chapter)