Carroll was a little surprised.

“There’s nothing that I can’t say about this, but you’re asking about…”

Shen Li explained.

“You just mentioned that you only found out that it was fake a while ago. If I’m not mistaken, you must have heard about One Gallery.”

Carroll nodded.

“Yes.”

If Shen Li had not personally come forward to verify that the painting was fake, the fake painting would have been sold at a high price.

This matter had spread like wildfire within the art circles in the country. Carroll had also heard someone mention Tree’s Shadow later, so he had specifically gone to find out more information about the whole story.

After looking more into it, he understood that the painting that he had seen earlier was fake.

Shen Li said, “The origin of the fake painting in One Gallery is unknown, and the source has yet to be found. Therefore, I suspect that the one you saw earlier is…”

“I see.”

When she said this, Carroll instantly understood.

“Are you still investigating who the artist that painted the fake painting was?”

“Yes.”

In fact, there was never a shortage of fake paintings within the art market.

The huge temptation to profit from it was there. Thus, the production of fakes was endless. It was impossible to investigate all of them.

However, the one that had appeared in One Gallery could almost be mistaken for the real one.

Shen Li had to investigate thoroughly.

Carroll looked regretful.

“Tangtang, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. The actual painting wasn’t in my student’s hands. He was merely copying a photo of “Seventeenth Night” at that time, which was why I saw it.”

“According to him, he happened to see it in an art gallery in Leland, and because he liked it a lot, he had taken that photo.”

The name ‘Tree’s Shadow’ had not been very famous abroad at that time, and Professor Carroll had only learned about it from that photo.

Shen Li’s eyebrows jumped.

“Leland? So that means that the fake painting first made its appearance over there?”

Why did it have to be there?

Leland and Bai City were more than 300 kilometers apart, but they belonged to two different countries.

Unlike Bai City, which was an international first-tier city, Leland’s economy was relatively less developed, and the pace of life was slow. It was a tourist destination for many art lovers due to its proximity to the sea, its suitable climate, and its extremely long Renaissance history and strong artistic atmosphere.

“This may not be the case. Someone may have brought that painting to Leland.”

Carroll said.

Shen Li fell into deep thought.

What he said was not without reason.

“Then could you tell me, when did your student see that painting?”

Carroll pondered the question for a while.

“Probably at the end of September last year, right?”

That had been before the art exhibition that had been held in One Gallery.

“Then, do you know the name of that art gallery?”

Carroll shook his head.

“I’m not sure about that, but if you want to know, I can help you ask around.”

Shen Li heaved a secret sigh of relief in her heart.

“Thank you very much, then.”

She lowered her eyes slightly.

Other than a name, she had not received any other information about the painter of the fake painting yet.

Perhaps it was time to start investigating in Leland, but… It just had to be Leland. It might be more troublesome.

“It’s just a small matter. Why are you so polite?”

Professor Carroll seemed to be very interested,

“However, you seem to be taking this matter very seriously? Oh, that’s right. After all, it’s your painting that the other party copied. It is better to investigate this matter.”

“This is one of the reasons,” Shen Li pulled her thoughts away from a distant memory and looked up at Professor Carroll, “Another reason is that the fake painting appeared in One Gallery. You might not know this, but their art exhibition had been co-organized with the National Art Association. It was also the master’s idea to investigate this matter.”

The National Art Association would cooperate with some of the top galleries every year. A trip to the gallery’s art exhibition was a common activity.

However, a fake painting had been featured in it. This could be considered a major mistake.

Before the truth was revealed, there was no guarantee that none of the members of the National Art Association were involved in this, secretly tampering with the paintings.

Mei Yanqing was the chairman of the National Art Association. He hated this kind of thing to the core. Now that Shen Li’s painting had been faked, he had specially instructed the entire arts association to conduct a strict investigation from top to bottom.

However, he was now elderly and had just undergone surgery not too long ago. Although his recovery had gone well, his energy was limited.

Ultimately, this matter had fallen into Shen Li’s hands.

Professor Carroll nodded in understanding.

In this case, it was understandable.

Shen Zhijin looked at Shen Li, noting that she rarely put so much effort into one thing. That showed that she attached great importance to this matter.

“Why haven’t I heard you mention this before?” He asked in a low voice.

Shen Li smiled.

“Well, it’s mainly the people from the art association who are running the investigation. However, because there haven’t been many clues available, the matter has been put on hold. That’s why I didn’t mention it much. I didn’t expect to get a breakthrough from Uncle Carroll, so it’s been an unexpected surprise.”

She thanked Professor Carroll again.

“Speaking of which, Tangtang, when you have time in the future, you should visit Leland to take a look. The scenery there is very nice.” Professor Carroll took a sip of red wine, “That is where the Renaissance originated. It’s the true capital of art. It would be a pity if you don’t make a trip there.”

Shen Li had a great talent for painting. She would probably like that place.

Hearing his words, Shen Li’s eyes sparkled. She smiled and nodded.

“I hope that there will be an opportunity.”

…

Professor Carroll did not engage in conversation with Shen Li for too long. Although he liked her very much, it was her family acknowledgment banquet tonight, and many important people had come.

She still had to go and exchange pleasantries with those people.

The Gu family had organized this family acknowledgment banquet in such a grand manner to officially acknowledge her identity and allow her to enter this social circle.

In fact, she had already met some of these people the last time she had come to Hong Kong City.

However, from tonight onwards, she would be meeting them again as Shen Li of the Gu family.

The family acknowledgment banquet did not end until ten o’clock in the evening.

The guests then left one after another.

Shen Li finally followed Old Master Gu and Old Madam Gu back to Suyue Mountain.

…

Of course, even though the family acknowledgment banquet had ended, there was still a lot of excitement associated with it.

In addition to the fact that the family acknowledgment banquet had been prepared with great effort by the Gu family, the extravagant manner in which Gu Tingfeng and the other masters of the Gu family had given Shen Li various gifts just to make her happy, had stunned everyone.

They had already thought that the New Year’s Day celebration had been extravagant enough. Who would have thought that even more astonishing things would come after that?

The whole of Crescent Island, the five docks, the new art gallery, Dutian Racecourse…

Any one of these gifts would be enough to make people envious.

Not to mention that all of them had been given to Shen Li alone.

Also, the most important thing was that these were only the tip of the iceberg.

With the Gu family’s assets, there were probably even more things that had not been announced.

At the same time, there were two pieces of gossip that were quickly spreading among the circle of influential people in Hong Kong City.

They were about Yan Fei and Xu Yini.