Chapter 7: Van Gogh is a forgery, Picasso is authentic

"This is more delicious," Qin Shiao said with a smile, as he took a bite of the black grape and then deliberately chewed loudly.

The little squirrel could not understand his words, and merely kept spinning around. From this perspective, it seemed to be shaking its head and wagging its tail, as if in disagreement with the name he had chosen.

While eating blueberries, the little squirrel squatted down in front of Qin Shiyou's cushion, leaning against it just like him, squinting its eyes and looking quite pleased

The back of his hand was gently brushed by the soft, fluffy tail, which felt quite pleasant. Qin Shiao smiled and reached for a blueberry coated in syrup, slowly offering it to the little squirrel

Qin Shiyou was not in the mood to discuss the identity of Pina Lang with him. He carefully opened the painting of sunflowers and handed it to Auerbach, who pushed the computer towards him and said, "You can take a look yourself"

The little squirrel tilted its head and looked at the blue fruit. It stretched out its tiny paw to catch it, and after examining it for a moment, it held the blueberry with both paws and brought it to its mouth. "Crunch," it bit off half of it, its cheeks puffed up high, and it began to chew with a "smack smack" sound.

Qin Shiyou knew that Auerbach had arrived, and sure enough, after a short while, the old man's imposing face appeared.

The little squirrel stared blankly at him, while Qin Shiao handed it the remaining black grape dipped in syrup. This time, it hesitated for a moment, extended its paw to catch the grape, took a gentle bite, and found the taste indeed delicious, then began to eat it again with a "smack smack" sound.

"Where did you find these paintings?" Auerbach asked while flipping through the artworks.

He released the little squirrel and was just about to train this little fellow on its conditioned response to its name when the sound of a car horn came from outside

Upon seeing this painting, Qin Shiao recalled that among these artworks, there were four or five that followed an abstract style he could not comprehend at all. In his eyes, they held no aesthetic appeal, and he merely glanced at them before carelessly tossing them aside

Auerbach's hometown is in Farewell Town, where he has now retired and returned to live. However, if anyone around him has legal needs, he offers assistance free of charge, which earns him the respect of those who know him

Upon hearing the last word, Qin Shiao couldn't help but gasp in surprise; the name of Picasso is known to all on Earth! And what is Picasso best known for painting? The answer is equally well-known to everyone on Earth: abstract art!

As Qin Shihou moved the mouse, a series of high-definition photos of "Sunflowers" began to scroll into view. After just a glance, he felt a wave of frustration wash over him, for among these photos was one that looked exactly like the painting in his hand. Next to the photo was a caption stating that this painting was discovered in 1900 and is currently housed in the British Museum.

Qin Shihou laughed; this little squirrel reminded him of a golden-backed hamster he had raised in his childhood, both equally adorable

After finishing the blueberries, the little squirrel looked up at him again. Qin Shiou handed it a North American black grape, but the little squirrel wisely pushed the grape away with its paws, its dark little eyes staring hungrily at the blueberries in the fruit plate

When he was in elementary school, his family raised hamsters, so he knew how to distinguish the gender of these little creatures. After gently massaging between the hind legs of the little squirrel for a while, a small penis popped up. Seeing this, Qin Shiao laughed and said, "Alright, then I'll give you a new name. Since you are a boy, let's call you Xiao Ming"

Auerbach continued to immerse himself in viewing the paintings of Pina Lang, examining each one with great seriousness

"What the heck, is this painting of mine a forgery?" Qin Shihou felt disheartened

However, with the counterfeit of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in front of him, Qin Shiao was much more cautious and asked with doubt: "You don't think this painting is an authentic piece, do you?"

Qin Shiyou carefully cupped the little squirrel in his hands, and the latter showed no fear, scratching its ears and cheeks energetically in his palm

Auerbach nodded slowly and said gravely: "If nothing unexpected occurs, this painting is indeed an authentic piece. As for the reasons, I will have an old friend of mine explain it to you; his words carry more authority because he works in this field!"

Qin Shiyou rubbed the little squirrel's head with the tip of his index finger, and the latter did not seem to mind. It lowered its head and began to gnaw on the black grape, which was a grand feast for such a small creature

Every time Qin Shou is amused by the plot and those four funny main characters, the little squirrel also scampers on his shoulder with its short legs. When Qin Shou turns his head, it will quiet down, widening its eyes to meet his gaze.

The blueberries that Qin Shiyou bought are very delicious, with a sweet and sour taste, tender flesh, and plenty of juice. After taking a bite, the little squirrel became happy and unhesitatingly stuffed the remaining half into its mouth, eating quickly with a "smack smack" sound.

"Those are just paintings by Pina, what value could they possibly have?" Qin Shiao said weakly.

In North America, the fees for lawyers are quite high, making it unaffordable for ordinary families to hire legal representation. The notion often portrayed in Hollywood blockbusters, where someone declares, "I won't speak until my private lawyer arrives," is simply nonsense

After eating the black grapes, the little squirrel grew bolder and climbed up to Qin Shiao's shoulder along the cushion. It stood on tiptoe for a while, found a comfortable spot, and then lay down on top, staring intently at the fruit platter

After finishing the movie, Qin Shi Ou felt somewhat unsatisfied, and the little squirrel seemed to share this sentiment, rubbing its front paws together and chirping twice.

The painting in Auerbach's hands is approximately 1 meter long and 0.5 meters wide. It depicts something that is difficult to understand, as it is outlined with a series of lines forming the shape of a person. At the top of the paper, there is a line of hasty letters: Femme ー au ー Tambourin

Qin Shiyou was surprised; he had clearly seen all thirty paintings yesterday, and they should have all been by Pina Lang. However, he knew that Auerbach was steady in his work and would not act without reason, so he moved closer to take a look.

Qin Shiyou looked down curiously at the little squirrel, while the latter tilted its head and gazed back at him with curiosity, their big eyes and small eyes meeting each other.

Qin Shiyou pointed to the top of his head and said: "hetushu.com is in the attic. My family has a habit of hiding treasures in the attic, so yesterday I thought, could my great-uncle have left something in the attic? Fortunately, I found these paintings."

Qin Shi Oujin watched the movie with great interest, while the little squirrel took two bites of the blueberries and, holding onto the remaining half, began to watch television, its eyes wide open without blinking

Seeing that it was still hungry, Qin Shiao once again offered it a blueberry. Holding the blueberry, this time the little squirrel did not eat it immediately, but instead stared intently at the side profile of Qin Shiao.

During the Qin Dynasty, the owl was afraid of being overwhelmed, so it set up a fruit platter to watch a movie. As a result, the little squirrel began to tap its feet on its shoulder while rubbing its front paws, staring at the fruit platter and sticking out its delicate little tongue.

In this way, the mood that Qin Shiao had been anticipating all night melted away completely, like snow under the sunlight.

Let me give you a name. Qin Shiao looked at the reddish-brown fur tip of the little squirrel and, in a moment of mischievous whimsy, said, "How about calling you Little Red?"

The little squirrel was born only a few months ago, and the Daqin Fishery is usually sparsely populated, so it is likely that it has never seen a human before, nor does it know fear, as it even brushed its large tail against the back of the Qin-era gull's hand

This painting is very valuable? Qin Shi Ouyang's eyes lit up.

Qin Shiyou was skeptical as he looked at the lower right corner of the painting, where there was a long string of over a hundred letters. He exclaimed in astonishment, "My God, you can't be telling me that these letters are the name of a person, can you? Is he African? A fellow countryman of NBA star Dikembe Mutombo?"

Auerbach chuckled and shook his head, saying, "No, young man, this is not it!"

Qin Shiyou pondered for a moment and said to himself, "In that case, I will first see whether you are male or female. If you are a girl, then you must be called Xiaohong"

The sound was somewhat jarring, startling the little squirrel, which quickly scurried back into its cozy nest in the maple tree through the window

Big eyes and small eyes, one person with one squirrel

Qin Shiyou took out those paintings together, and Auerbach was clearly prepared. He opened his laptop, which contained a series of Van Gogh's works, including high-definition photos of all eleven existing versions of "Sunflowers".

He threw the painting in his hand towards Auerbach, who dodged slightly and carefully lifted one of the paintings, saying: "Kid, be careful. If you ruin this painting, I dare say you will regret it so much today that you might want to commit suicide"

Auerbach looked at several landscape sketches, nodded, and said: "This Mr. Pina is quite skilled in painting. Although I haven't heard much about his name, I believe he must be a great artist"

Auerbach shook his head, gently stroking the paper, and said: "This is in Spanish, the title of the painting is 'The Woman with the Tambourine', and the words below are indeed a person's name, which is: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso"

Auerbach smiled slightly and pointed to a line of small letters in the lower right corner, saying, "If this name is genuine, then it should be quite valuable."