Three years old painting old

“Alright!” Lin Yuan didn't waste any time and drove his Wuling Hongguang directly to the art exhibition.

It wasn’t far, only about twenty minutes.

After getting out of the car, a huge plaza greeted his eyes.

In the center of the plaza was a building shaped like a bird's nest, appearing to be three or four stories high.

The fountain at the entrance was already on, and various people from all walks of life, dressed in their finest, walked on the red carpet.

The end of the red carpet was the entrance to the exhibition, with several posters displayed next to it.

Some introduced the artists, while others introduced the organizers of the event.

Led by Huang Jiao, the group arrived at the entrance, briefly registered their information, and walked together into the exhibition hall.

As soon as they entered, they were met with an overwhelming artistic atmosphere; the scents of various ink paintings and oil paintings filled the entire exhibition.

The walls were covered with all sorts of paintings, some realistic, some abstract.

There were traditional Chinese paintings, gouaches, sketches, quick sketches, oil paintings, illustrations, meticulous brushwork, and more.

In short, the sheer number of paintings here was dazzling.

Many artworks had people standing in front of them; some admired them alone, others gathered in groups of two or three to discuss them, and in front of one oil painting, people were packed together, eager to appreciate every detail.

With the enhancement of his art skills, Lin Yuan could instantly discern the quality of these paintings.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed.

As the saying goes, amateurs watch the excitement, while experts see the true skill.

After a quick stroll, he found that there were only a few pieces worth looking at.

He wondered what these people gathered around were discussing?

It truly was a case of if you're not embarrassed, then others will be.

Huang Jiao, seeing Lin Yuan's lack of interest, smiled and proactively asked, “Lin Yuan, can you paint?”

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, “Yes!”

“Really! These paintings are all by masters, we really should take a good look. If only I could reach this level one day.”

Seeing Huang Jiao's eager expression, Lin Yuan smiled faintly, “You can do it.”

Receiving affirmation from her idol, Huang Jiao was as happy as a child.

She even skipped as she walked.

Lin Yuan felt a bit bored after browsing for a while; he already regretted coming to this art exhibition.

Just as he reached the end.

A portrait oil painting suddenly caught his attention.

It was placed in a very secluded, narrow corner.

But this did not at all obscure its painting technique, nor the vitality and emotional expression of the subject.

The painting was not of a beautiful woman or a handsome man, but simply an ordinary little boy.

His eyes held longing, yet were also filled with despair; it was hard to imagine the artist's mood when creating it.

Such a painting could absolutely be considered the masterpiece of the entire exhibition.

Yet it was placed in this inconspicuous corner.

Lin Yuan could only smile helplessly; he knew that in this world, skill alone wasn't enough, human relations were also very important.

What surprised him, though, was that besides him, a middle-aged woman was also carefully appreciating this painting.

Her gaze seemed to melt into it, completely absorbed.

If one looked closely, one could even see a hint of tears in her eyes.

It felt as if she wasn't looking at a painting, but at a person!

Huang Jiao hadn't noticed this situation. Noticing Lin Yuan staring at the woman and the painting, she curiously asked, “Lin Yuan, what's wrong? Do you like this painting very much?”

At her words, the middle-aged woman suddenly came back to her senses, wiped her tears, turned her head, and smiled awkwardly.

Lin Yuan also smiled and nodded in response, saying faintly, “This painting should be the best one in today's exhibition.”

“Ah?” Huang Jiao was stunned and asked incredulously, “That's impossible, those outside are all master's paintings.”

“This artist… Fang Tian? I haven't heard of him!”

Lin Yuan smiled and shook his head, “This painting gives me the feeling that the artist isn't just painting, but painting himself. Perhaps he experienced something in his childhood?”

“Oh, oh~~” Huang Jiao nodded thoughtfully, but judging by her expression, she probably didn't understand.

The middle-aged woman, however, looked at Lin Yuan in surprise, “Xiao Hu, you can tell?”

Huang Jiao asked curiously, “Big sister, did you paint this?”

“No, no… I just… in this painting, I saw my child who went missing.”

“Although more than twenty years have passed, this painting really resembles her when she was little.”

Hearing this, Lin Yuan instantly understood everything.

No wonder the woman was so absorbed in the painting.

She wasn't looking at a painting, but at her own child.

Huang Jiao replied apologetically, “I'm so sorry, big sister.”

“It's okay~~” The middle-aged woman smiled bitterly and shook her head, looked at Lin Yuan, then looked at the child in the painting again, and murmured to herself, “If he were still by my side now, he should be about your age.”

“It's my fault. When he was three, I took him to the market, and just to haggle with the vendor over a 2 yuan item, in the blink of an eye, the child was gone.”

“I've been looking for him for 20 years!! A full 20 years! I don't know if he's still in this world now, or if he's doing well.”

Lin Yuan sighed helplessly at her words.

This was the hateful part about human traffickers!

In their eyes, children were just commodities for making money; kidnapping them was no big deal.

But in the eyes of the children's parents, they were their flesh and blood.

How many people would rather die themselves, hoping their children could live.

This was the bloodline inheritance passed down in the hearts of the Chinese people.

However, the legal sentencing for those human traffickers was too low.

Many human traffickers, even if caught, would at most serve a few years in prison and then be released.

The ironic thing was that the human traffickers were already released after serving their sentences, but the children still hadn't been found.

The victims continued to be harmed, but the perpetrators had already successfully whitewashed themselves, which was absurd.

Huang Jiao, being a girl and at a sensitive age, proactively stepped forward and helped the middle-aged woman, comforting her, “He must still be out there, and he's definitely doing very well.”

“Big sister, do you have a picture of your son? Let me see it. I'll post it in my school group later, maybe someone there might recognize him.”

The woman nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, “Yes, yes… Thank you, you are a good girl.”

After speaking, she pulled out a photo from her pocket, already worn smooth from handling, showing a three-year-old child.

“I carry this photo with me at all times, for fear of missing any chance encounter.”

But Huang Jiao looked at the child's photo, her expression drooped, and she replied with a bitter smile, “Big sister… this… he's too young, it's impossible to compare.”

The woman smiled awkwardly, “There's no other way, the child was this small when he got lost, and this is the only photo that's recent.”

“Ah, this…” Huang Jiao looked at Lin Yuan helplessly, not knowing what to say.

Lin Yuan smiled, shook his head, and sighed, “Never mind, let me help you with this.”

At his words, both the woman and Huang Jiao were stunned.

They involuntarily looked at him, their eyes filled with confusion.

Lin Yuan picked up the photo, looked at it, and explained faintly, “Current AI technology can actually deduce a child's changes from childhood to old age.”

“However, the accuracy is a bit low because we can't be sure what the child has experienced over the years, so there will be significant differences in their facial features.”

“But one thing that remains constant is the child's bone structure. I can try to draw what he looks like now for you.”