Dangerous Aesthetics

Chapter 18

David's head was stuffed into the pillow, unresponsive.

Neo added with a smile: "You don't want to pay it back."

This sentence was like a stimulant. David turned his head and looked at him with deer-like eyes: "Really don't want to pay it back?"

Immediately, Neo's face was full of black lines: "It's true that you don't want to return it, but you have to take a shower, it's all sweat, it's sticky and disgusting."

David reached out and grabbed the banknotes, turned over and counted towards the light, with a big smile on his face: "Don't worry! Wait a minute, and go take a shower after a while!"

At this moment, Neo held David's hand and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "You look really silly today...but you are cute."

David turned his face sideways and met Neo's eyes, "Your statement is disgusting, for the sake of the money you gave me, I won't use a notebook to take pictures of you..."

The pupils constricted for a while, and David felt that Neo pulled him over, his lips were contained, and something slippery swept across his lips and squeezed in.

David was startled by what was happening, and just about to push him away, Neo straddled his waist, and the kiss became more and more forceful.

He wanted to lift his upper body, but the lost strength just now left David in a weak state.

Neo changed the angle a bit, bringing the two closer together.

No!I don't want to be kissed by a man!

David thumped Neo's back hard. Not only did Neo not get up, but his hands stretched all the way down to his buttocks. His fingers were embedded in the muscles through the sweaty cloth, kneading and breaking them apart.

David twisted his body, but Neo's hands became more and more presumptuous, with fingertips lingering between the gaps.

"Uh...uh..."

David's heart jumped into his throat, no!How could he be restrained by Neo like this?Anyway he David?Hovland is also battle-tested!

The tip of the tongue catered to him, entangled with the other party, and then took the opportunity to bite down fiercely, but he missed the bite.

Neo raised his head abruptly. He looked at David's messy expression due to struggling, and suddenly lowered his head to kiss David's cheek and the minibus.

When David reached out to push him, Neo took advantage of his fingers and kissed his palm.

"Neo—Neo? Langdon! Come down!" David pushed the opponent with his last strength, but the opponent still lay motionless on top of him.

"Don't yell suddenly, the atmosphere was so good just now." Neo felt very sorry.

"Who has a good atmosphere with you! If you like a man, go to Olivier!"

"Huh? David, don't you like men?" Neo showed a surprised expression.

"Who likes men? I'm such a man! How can I like men!"

"No way... I thought you liked Olivier..."

Neo's words immediately made David explode, "What—I like Olivan? Do I look like a masochist? Do I look so tasteless? Am I going to be overwhelmed?"

"Aren't you being pressed by me right now? When you kissed just now, you obviously felt so..."

"I have a feeling? My greatest feeling is to strangle you to death! Come down! You've crushed my money!"

Neo turned on his side and lay back beside David, looked at the ceiling in a daze, and said to himself: "But I think you really like Olivan, otherwise why should you care about his attitude towards you? Angry because he looks down on you? Why do you cherish every little bit of kindness he treats you? Why do you always want to shorten the distance between you and him?"

This series of questions made David stunned.

"Isn't it because you want to stand beside him as an equal?" Neo looked at David, their noses just touching.

The whole room fell silent, save for the sound of each other's long breathing.

After a long time, David hugged his belly and laughed loudly: "Hey! When you are looked down upon by another same sex, don't you feel that your self-esteem can't stand it? I don't have Stockholm Syndrome, how could I like Olivier's nerves? !"

Neo stared at David's trembling smiling face, put his arms around him, and rested his head on his shoulder, "David, believe me... Olivier will stab you."

David shook his body, and said in a nasty voice: "Stop pretending to be affectionate! What did you do to me just now! You bastard! Do you think you can get away with it now? You know, I like women with this shape!"

After David finished speaking, he gestured in the air with his hand.

"Didn't I say that you don't have to pay back the 1000 yuan?" Neo suddenly let go of his hand and sat up.

"This is different from what you did just now..." David was stunned, because Neo's face became faster than turning the pages of a book.

The smile disappeared instantly, and he said with a cold face: "You don't think I'm interested in you so narcissisticly, do you?"

"How...how could it be?" David shook his hand.

"That's right," Neo's eyes suddenly turned into crescent moons, and he pinched David's face fiercely with his fingers, "Remember to buy a beautiful ring."

After Neo left, David rolled over and curled up there.

"Isn't it because you want to stand by his side as an equal?" The question kept lingering in David's mind.

He didn't like Oliwen, how could he like Olivan?

Even if it's the end of the world and all women die, he David?It's impossible for Hovland to like Olivan either!

... He just admired Olivan's talent.

David got up, staggered to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, hoping that the water would wash away all the messy thoughts.

The next day, when David delivered the ring worth only a thousand dollars to Janet, she excitedly stood on tiptoe and hugged him tightly.

"That Janet..." David had to pull her away. He may be as soft-hearted as Neo said, but it doesn't mean he doesn't know what should be explained clearly, "I send you this Only the ring because I know this is your first engagement, even if it’s just a fake engagement, I hope this ring will bring you good luck and let you find the right man.”

Janet laughed: "Thank you David, I understand what you mean. You are a considerate gentleman."

When Holden learned that David and Janet were engaged, he seemed very happy.

That night, Horton kept David, needless to say, it must be about the painting.

"Dear David, I actually still have a painting that is priceless, priceless even...to be honest, I never thought of selling it, but you know the disease I have It can be said to be a bottomless pit... I need money, a lot of money..."

"I know, Mr. Horton...but the priceless treasure you mentioned..." David intentionally made himself look puzzled.

"I'm leaving the hospital tonight and I'm going to show it to you myself."

"That's not okay, you can't leave the hospital, in case your condition..."

Before David finished speaking, Horton grabbed his hand: "I don't trust anyone with this painting..."

"All right……"

David laughed in his heart, it seemed that the success of their plan was just around the corner.

What's even more exciting is that David has the opportunity to become the only person other than Horton who has seen the real "Girl with a Pearl Earring" in the past 36 years.

After helping Holden to his car, David also took the opportunity to pin the pinhole camera on his pocket. He knew that at this moment, Olivan and Neo must be as excited as himself sitting in front of the computer.

When I came to Horton's bedroom, he had a secret room, which could only be opened by triple verification of fingerprint, pupil and password.

This secret room has a constant temperature, and David followed Holden into it. The moment the lights came on, David couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

Although he had already expected what the painting was, the impact that was so close at hand still made David stunned on the spot.

36 years... This is the oil painting that has crossed the boundaries of time but still exudes a captivating charm.

It is only the size of octavo paper, and the oil paint has dried and cracked, but it firmly catches the eyes of the viewers.

"Is this...really?" David couldn't utter a complete sentence, but he quickly realized what his task was, "I remember that the real one should be in the Maurice Museum in the Netherlands...Mr. Horton, you should You don’t want to sell this fake, do you?”

"Fake?" Holden showed a somewhat bleak smile, "No, it is the real girl described by the master Vermeer."

"Mr. Horton? Are you crazy?" David took two steps back deliberately, "If this is the real thing, how is it possible that the Maurice Museum hasn't found out that what they hang is a fake?"

"Because I hired someone to steal this painting from the Maurice Museum 36 years ago." Horton turned around with a proud expression on his face. He told how he hired someone and the entire theft plan, " If you don't believe it's genuine, as an appraisal expert, you can come and have a good appraisal."

David frowned, making his expression look more serious than ever: "I need to conduct a more precise identification of this painting, especially the lead carbonate in the white paint."

David had read in Olivan's collection that the white paint in oil paintings used to be lead carbonate.Lead also has several isotopes, the most of which is lead 210, with a half-life of 22 years.In natural lead ores, lead comes from the decay of radium-226.Radium 226 has a half-life of 1620 years.However, in modern times, after white pigments are made, lead 210 cannot be supplemented by radium 226, so it keeps decreasing.Therefore, by measuring the decay rate of lead 210 and radium 226 in the amount, the age of the pigment can be determined, that is, the age of the oil painting.

"Yes, but this oil painting can only be measured at my place, and I have to see the whole process."

"Of course." David raised his head, looked at the eyes of the girl in the painting and couldn't take his eyes back, "If...if this painting is genuine...it won't be able to circulate through formal channels..."