Introduction to the novel
Shen Congmao, a painter who was not recognized and appreciated by the world, was taken in by Lin Zhihe, a merciless but filial doctor who followed his father's last wish. The painter left 23 paintings as collateral for his medical expenses and left the doctor's clinic, but there was no news from him since. The doctor's youngest daughter and one of the painter's students searched hard for the painter's whereabouts, but to no avail. Everyone believed that the painter had died in loneliness and pain after breaking his promise. Ten years later, the doctor suddenly received a telegram from New York confirming that the painter was dead. However, he did not break his promise to pay off the medical expenses and asked a friend to help him pay off the debt. This friend only showed up ten years later. Based on the contents of the telegram and the rumors he heard, the doctor asked a forger to tamper with the artist's painting in advance, but in the end he did not expect that both the original painting and the imitation he received were fake. Finally, the painter's "friend" paid off the painter's debt, paid another sum of money and took away 10 of the 23 paintings, and again found a forger to imitate the paintings. The ten fake paintings that were imitated again were transferred to the United States and were auctioned off by a collector at a high price five times the starting price. Lin Zhihe and the painter's friends all regretted it. The doctor released the news that the paintings were fake paintings, and the painter's "friends" who thought they had genuine paintings were afraid of being exposed and sent someone to kill the imitator. The collector's generosity attracted social attention, which eventually led to a transnational money laundering case that had been hidden for many years and raised questions about the ownership of the paintings. . . . . .