Silent Studio

In the cold building of the twelfth lunar month, a seemingly certain secret room suicide trapped the secrets and obsessions of two generations. Chen Jingzhi, an old craftsman, has been practicing the art of mounting and painting all his life. In his later years, his vision was blurred, his hands were trembling, and his skills gradually fell into disuse. He was extremely decent and did not want people to see his downfall. He refused to accept guests behind closed doors and smoked out, maintaining his reputation for half his life through self-deception. Strictly sealing the windows and controlling the temperature by burning charcoal were ordinary procedures for him to cover up his shortcomings, but they accidentally depleted the oxygen in the confined space, leading to a desperate situation. A seemingly perfect suicide scene was too deliberately organized. The misplaced paper knife, the secret cyan powder, the brief suicide note that went against his lifelong habits, and countless minor flaws made Detective Lu Yan suspicious. Lin Xiaoyu, a girl studying painting who arrived late at night, was the only bystander. She caught a glimpse of the old man's secret, but for her own selfish reasons to learn art, she chose to watch silently. Afterwards, she erased all traces and completely disguised an accident as a fateful ending. The most poignant thing is never the murder and malice, but the craftsman's indifference and selfishness hidden under the shackles of respectability. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.