Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 4 Painting and Killing (4)
She pointed to a "Gao Yi Tu" and said: "Dong Qichang's "Gao Yi Tu" handles the picture in a two-stage method of flat and far, with stone pine near the slope, a wide stream in the middle, flat beaches and shallow perches on the opposite bank, and numerous hills. On the first floor, the creek extends from both sides of the hill to the distance, and there are several huts among the trees in the stream. The full-scale dry ink painting, folded and textured, is derived from Ni Zan's will, the brush and ink are beautiful, the scenery is clear and quiet, and it is actually the representative of Dong Qichang's landscape paintings Dong Qichang is a native of Huating, and Huating is Songjiang County in Shanghai today, and I can be regarded as fellow villagers. It is not easy for Shaozuo Yamada to collect such treasures in paintings.”

Yamada couldn't help but feel complacent, seeing that Liu Xue was very familiar with the masterpieces of the great ancient Chinese painters, and he was obviously an expert in appraising famous paintings.He wanted to show off his collection, and said: "Miss Liu is amazing, I still have a box of treasures here, all of which are hard-won, and I never show it to others easily. Today, taking advantage of the girl's mood, I simply took it out and asked the girl to comment on it." " Opened a smaller mahogany box, which contained a dozen or so paintings and calligraphy, opened it, and even included the "Spring Outing" by Zhan Ziqian, a great painter of the Sui Dynasty, which can be regarded as the best of the paintings The treasure of the country!

When Liu Xue was wearing white gloves and slowly unfolding the last ancient painting at the bottom of the box, she couldn't help but exclaimed "Ah", and said, "Isn't this the "Angry Cat Picture" by the great painter Wang Shishen in the early Qing Dynasty? There's one here too?" Before Yamada could answer, she glanced at the painting, and then concluded, "Oh, it's a fake."

Yamada laughed confidently and said: "Miss Liu, you may have missed your mark this time, this "Angry Cat Picture" is one of my most cherished ancient paintings, I put it in the bottom of the box, and never show it to anyone on weekdays This picture of "Angry Cat" is definitely an authentic work of the old man in late spring. If you don't believe it, you can point it to different lights, and you will find that the cat in the painting is alive, and the cat's eyes will change with the light outside. change."

"Really?" The corners of Liu Xue's mouth curled up slightly, with a sarcastic expression on her face, she didn't seem to believe it.

Nobuo Yamada felt humiliated, his face flushed red, and he said loudly, "Miss Liu, I don't like bragging like you Chinese, so I can prove it to you right now." After finishing speaking, he took "Angry Cat Picture" to the window, Let the sunlight outside the window shine on the screen, and say, "Look, look, look..." He said three times in a row, but finally opened his mouth wide and remained silent for a while.He suddenly found that even though it was under the sun, the cat's eyes were staring fixedly, without any change, let alone any vitality.He took the painting and turned it in a circle, constantly changing the angle, the light was bright and dark, but the cat's eyes neither shrank nor expanded, and there was no change at all.

Liu Xue came over and said: "I have seen the real "Angry Cat Picture". There is no look at all, and it is not authentic at a glance. The Shao Zuo used it as a treasure in the box, which makes people feel a little ridiculous."

Nobuo Yamada's face turned pale, he fumbled to take out his glasses and put them on, leaned over to the painting and took a closer look, the cat's eyes were quite different from the ones he saw in Gu Yu Zhai before, his eyes were stiff and empty, how could this be " Angry Cat Picture" is clearly a "dead cat picture".

Yamada couldn't help feeling a little lost, and he couldn't understand it: "This, this...how could this happen?"

Liu Xue said: "Let me just say, how could there be two authentic paintings of "The Picture of Angry Cat"?"

"Two pictures? Where else have you seen "Angry Cat Picture"?"

"At the home of Mr. Wang Wenjin, the interpreter of Major Yamada. Before I came to interview Major, I had already asked him to know about him. This is also the need for the interview."

"Why does he have "Angry Cat Picture" at home?"

"He told me that this is his ancestral treasure painting, which has been passed down from generation to generation in the Wang family, and it has been handed down to him for the seventh generation. Someone once wanted to rob a rich man and take it for himself, and he ruined his family. Only by scheming can we be preserved."

Before Liu Xue finished speaking, Nobuo Yamada's face turned livid, and he shouted angrily: "Come here, come here, gather your team quickly, and surround Wang Wenjin's residence for me."

The whistle sounded quickly, and the footsteps were chaotic. A group of devil soldiers with live ammunition, led by Nobuo Yamada, drove aggressively to Xu'an Street.Wang Wenjin lived in an old house of a squire on Xu'an Street.Nobuo Yamada angrily kicked open the door, waved his hand and shouted: "Search for me, whoever finds "The Picture of Angry Cat" will get a first-class military salary."

The ghost soldiers agreed, and rushed in like wolves and tigers.

Before Wang Wenjin understood what happened, he was hit with a few gun butts on his shoulder, and was escorted to Yamada Nobuo by some devil soldiers.At the same time, a Japanese soldier also handed over a picture of "Angry Cat" that he found to Yamada Nobuo.Nobuo Yamada opened it up and saw that the cat's eyes were quite different from his "Angry Cat Picture". It seems that it must be authentic.

"Baga!" Yamada Nobuo couldn't help being angry and smoked, rushed up and slapped Wang Wenjin on the face, gritted his teeth and cursed: "Baga, I was deceived by you after all."

Wang Wenjin touched his hot face, stared at Yamada with wide eyes, and then at Liu Xue beside him, with a puzzled expression on his face, he asked, "Your Commander, Reporter Liu, what's going on here?"

"You asked me, and I want to ask you what's going on?" Nobuo Yamada was furious, raised the "Angry Cat Picture" in his hand, took out a pistol and pointed it at his head, and said angrily, "Will you If I make it clear, I will shoot you dead with one shot."

Wang Wenjin shuddered all over, and only then realized the seriousness of the matter.Reaching out for the painting in his hand, he wanted to see clearly what kind of painting it was, and it would make Yamada so angry at himself.Yamada took a step back, hid "The Picture of Angry Cat" behind his back, and said with a sneer, "Do you still want to grab the painting?"

Wang Wenjin went in without knowing it, becoming more and more anxious, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he stammered: "No, no, I, I..." He stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead as he spoke, who knew he was in a hurry? I lost an inch, accidentally knocked Nobuo Yamada's pistol to the ground.

Liu Xue exclaimed loudly: "Oh no, he's going to grab the Major's gun!" The bystanders suddenly became nervous, and the two personal guards of Yamada Nobuo responded quickly and pulled the trigger of the rifle at the same time.Hearing two gunshots of "bang bang", Wang Wenjin covered his chest with his hands and fell into a pool of blood.

Nobuo Yamada consciously was deceived and fooled by Wang Wenjin, and it took five years before he finally obtained the authentic painting of "Angry Cat Picture". Seeing Wang Wenjin lying on the ground struggling in pain, he still couldn't let go of his hatred, picked up the pistol on the ground, and repeatedly shot at him Make up two shots.

It's a pity that Wang Wenjin worked his life for the Japanese like a pug, but he still died under the guns of the devils.

"Major Yamada, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten the authentic painting of "Angry Cat Picture". How are you going to thank me?"

When leaving Jiaxing, Liu Xueyan said this to Yamada with a smile.

Yamada laughed and said, "How can Miss Liu want me to thank you?"

Liu Xue said with a smile: "If Major Yamada really wants to thank me, then please give me the fake of your "Angry Cat Picture" as a souvenir. When I go back, when I see this painting, I will I think of Yamada-kun, I think of Yamada-kun's hospitality, I think of Yamada-kun's elegant demeanor."

Nobuo Yamada laughed and readily agreed.Not only did he give the painting to her, but he also personally drove Reporter Liu to the outside of the city before waving his hand to say goodbye.

Since then, the first thing Yamada Nobuo does after waking up every morning is to read the "Affinity Daily" of the day.After waiting for several days in a row, I didn't see my name in the newspaper, and I couldn't help but gradually became suspicious.

A few days later, this morning, when the orderly was cleaning, he suddenly found Nobuo Yamada violently dead in his bedroom, with claw marks all over his face, bleeding from his mouth and nose, his bow and horns stretched out, and his death was horrific.

The military doctor came to the scene to examine the body, but could not find out the cause of death.There is a legend in the Japanese army that Yamada often looked at the picture of "Angry Cat" before his death. The claw marks on his face were scratched by cats...

5
There is such a record in "Xiulin County Chronicle":
In 1943, Yi Xiaozhi joined the Communist Party of China after graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts.In view of the fact that Nobuo Yamada and Wang Wenjin worked hand in hand and did many evils, they repeatedly carried out bloody siege and suppression against the people in the occupied areas, and their hands were stained with the blood of the Chinese people.Yi Xiaozhi volunteered to undertake this task.She copied a picture of "Angry Cat Picture" (when her father Yi Qiuyu copied "Angry Cat Picture", she had been watching it from the sidelines. Not only was she deeply impressed, but she also copied it secretly and left a draft. She also learned from her father Based on the lessons learned back then, and through careful study of Wang Shishen's painting style, I finally copied a picture of "Angry Cat" in which the cat's eyes can change with the intensity of light).She used the pseudonym Liu Xue, disguised herself as a reporter from "Affinity Daily" and hid the "Angry Cat Picture" in Wang Wenjin's residence without Wang Wenjin's knowledge. With his hands, he got rid of this traitor who betrayed his country and sought glory.Yi Xiaozhi's copy of "Angry Cat Picture" was stained with poison. Nobuo Yamada touched the paper with his hands, and his hands were contaminated, and then his face and body were contaminated with his hands.This is a chronic poison. When the toxins on the body surface accumulate to a certain amount, the whole body will itch unbearably, but it is extremely difficult to find out the cause.Because the nails have touched the drawing paper, they are also contaminated with toxins, forming cross-infection, so the more you scratch, the more itchy, the more itchy you scratch.In the end, Nobuo Yamada died of poisoning.The claw marks on his face were from his own scratching nails, not from a cat.After Yamada's death, the two boxes of paintings and calligraphy in his collection also disappeared.

You may ask, the "Angry Cat Picture" that Nobuo Yamada snatched from Wang Hanhao was originally an authentic work, but why did it become a fake when it came to Reporter Liu?
You ask me, to be honest, I don't know either.

Later, the author found out the whereabouts of the painting from the county annals. After the founding of New China, Yi Xiaozhi donated the painting to the Xiulin County Museum.It happened that the current curator, Lao Cai, had met me once, so he went to ask for advice.Lao Cai was cheerful all day long, like a Maitreya Buddha. After listening to my explanation, he led me into the calligraphy and painting exhibition room. The original painting of "Angry Cat Picture" was hanging on the wall, and the pair of cat eyes were shining brightly. At first glance, it seems to be looking at you.

I asked Lao Cai: "What's going on?"

Lao Cai said: "The cat was painted alive by the painter. It is a cat that lives in the painting. Think about it, if this cat is hung on the wall, it will often see mice and the like. It is always vigilant, and its eyes will naturally have eyes. Amazing. After the Japanese army commander got the painting, he rolled it up and locked it in the box as soon as the novelty wore off. This cat hasn’t seen a mouse shadow for a long time, can it cheer up?”

When I heard it, oh, it turned out to be the case.

Do you understand?
(End of this chapter)