Card Room (Rebirth)

Yu Hanjiang went home that night and watched the variety show Close Your Eyes When it is Dark shot by Qiao Xuening in the early hours of the 18th. During the show, there were many close-up shots. Yu Hanjiang compared the screenshot of the face in the variety show to the enlarged promotional photos of Qiao Xuening on the Internet.

The two faces were exactly the same. There was no difference at all. It was just that the person recording the variety show had a slightly hoarse voice and sounded like she had a cold.

Yu Hanjiang frowned and fell into contemplation.

Was there really anyone who looked so similar in the world? The only possibility was identical twins who were difficult to distinguish due to the same genes. Even if people looked similar, it wouldn’t be to such an extent.

Yu Hanjiang retrieved Qiao Xuening’s family information from the computer. The data showed that Qiao Xuening was an only child and had no twin sister. Her parents were ordinary company employees.

In an interview, Qiao Xuening mentioned that her mother was an only daughter and her father had four brothers, all of whom had sons. She was the only daughter in this generation of the Qiao family and she had been favoured by her grandparents since she was a child. If her words were true then she probably didn’t have any cousins who looked alike.

Could the information be false?

All of the current reasoning was based on the fact that ‘Qiao Xuening has a stand-in.’ As long as the stand-in was found, everything could be solved. However, if this reasoning was wrong then they would need new ideas.

At present, the agent Qi Ming, Zhou Yuanyuan who was disfigured and the sex friend Cheng Yu had all been investigated. Only Qiao Xuening was left with a lot of fog covering her. He intended to continue investigating Qiao Xuening.

The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou met to discuss their next move together.

First of all, Yu Hanjiang wanted to visit Qiao Xuening’s hometown to see if she had a twin sister or relatives who looked similar enough that they could pretend to be her through makeup. Secondly, Yu Hanjiang had the information of Qiao Xuening’s ex-boyfriend. This person had many relatives in his hometown. His whereabouts could be investigated as well as the reason why he released Qiao Xuening’s private photos.

In addition, Yu Hanjiang asked Shao Qingge to continue investigating the details of Lin Yiyan’s audition for the online drama ‘Young Hearts’ to see if Qiao Xuening had any conflicts with Lin Yiyan at the time.

Once the arrangements were made, Yu Hanjiang picked up Xiao Lou. He went to the household registration management office, the bank, the administration of industry and commerce and other places to investigate the information of Qiao Xuening’s ex-boyfriend.

This person’s name was Xu Kai and he grew up in the same town as Qiao Xuening. His household registration was in this town and he showed no record of moving.

He had several properties under his name. In addition, he was the owner of an Internet cafe and two hot pot restaurants. Judging from the records of the tax bureau, his annual income in recent years was no worse than that of celebrities.

After her privacy was breached, Qiao Xuening described in an interview that she had grown up in a small town. Every day after graduating and completing the university entrance examination, she would go to the Internet cafe to play games. A girl who just graduated from high school was too simple and only looked at people’s faces. The small box at the front desk of the Internet cafe was six years older than her. She thought Xu Kai was tall, handsome and cool when he smoked. He would tease her and she quickly fell in love, becoming a couple with Xu Kai.

The two of them had a fairly sweet summer romance. Later, she went to the movie school and didn’t abandon her boyfriend as Xu Kai said because she ‘disliked the poor and loved the rich.’ Rather, the long distance relationship weakened her feelings and there was a peaceful breakup. Of course, this was Qiao Xuening’s official statement and was completely different from Xu Kai’s version. The people eating melons didn’t know who to believe at the time.

Once Xu Kai exposed her private photos, she and her ex-boyfriend completely lost all pretenses and went to court. In the end, Qiao Xuening successfully sued Xu Kai for damaging her reputation and Xu Kai paid her a high amount of damages. After that Xu Kai completely disappeared from the public eye. All of this happened four years ago.

After this incident, Qiao Xuening temporarily withdrew from the acting world and was silent for two years.

On the way to the bank, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou discussed the case.

Xiao Lou said, “Xu Kai was the owner of an Internet cafe. No matter how good an Internet cafe’s business, can he make enough money to open so many hot pot restaurants? Back then, Qiao Xuening sued him and he lost a lot of money.”

Yu Hanjiang answered, “Based on the tax records from his Internet cafe, he didn’t make that much income. Yet the hot pot restaurants he opened in the last few years are very large. The investment must be millions. Where did this come from? It is likely that he has made some type of transaction with someone.”

Xiao Lou agreed. “Maybe there was a person behind the scenes when he exposed Qiao Xuening’s private photos.”

A few years ago, his first love suddenly became a big star. If she really abandoned him then it was natural for him to feel uncomfortable. However, it was a bit too much to breach her privacy and post his girlfriend’s nude photos everywhere on the Internet. Normal people wouldn’t act like this.

There was either someone behind him who purposely wanted to ruin Qiao Xuening’s reputation or the character of this ex-boyfriend was really bad.

The two of them arrived at the bank and investigated the turnover under Xu Kai’s name in the past four years. There were no records of a large amount of money being transferred.

There was also no problem with Lin Yiyan’s private bank account or the flow of money of her studio. Yu Hanjiang checked for a long time and the agent Qi Ming’s account was also normal.

So where did Xu Kai get the money to open the first hot pot restaurant three years ago?”

Xiao Lou was puzzled. “Looking at the tax records of his Internet cafe, his annual income should be between 150,000- 200,000. He also lost the lawsuit and compensated Qiao Xuening with a one-time payment of one million yuan. He should’ve lost his savings. How does he have enough money to open two large hot pot restaurants?”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “There must be someone who gave him money but I can’t find any clues from Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming’s accounts. It is likely a cash transaction.”

“The start-up amount for two hot pot restaurants, the decoration costs, the store rent and the waiters’ salaries must be at least several millions. Lin Yiyan didn’t withdraw so much from her bank account and she wouldn’t be able to save that much cash the usual way.”

Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before something flashed in his mind. “Look to see if she has any real estate transactions four years ago!”

The two of them drove to the housing management bureau to investigate Lin Yiyan’s real estate transfer records. There, they found a clue. Four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold a house and the property was transferred to an elderly couple.

Yu Hanjiang immediately looked for the elderly couple to investigate and the other person said, “We bought this house four years ago. Miss Lin was in a hurry to sell it. The price was relatively favourable. The transaction price was three million, including the transfer fee. However, she said that she needed cash and had us directly withdraw cash for the transaction. I bought a suitcase of money and signed a contract with her on the spot.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other.

Four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold a house and got three million in cash. Four years ago was when Qiao Xuening was becoming a big star and had a chance to win the movie queen title. Then a private scandal broke out, causing her to fall from the altar overnight. It was also the year that Qiao Xuening tearfully spoke about Xu Kai. Xu Kai lost the lawsuit and compensated her with one million yuan. Yet the following year, Xu Kai obtained business licenses for two large hotpot restaurants from the administration of industry and commerce.

The logic chain was clear. Lin Yiyan’s cash was likely in Xu Kai’s hands.

Good girlfriends who talked about everything? It seemed that this was simply a plastic sisterhood.

6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

Proofreader: Fictional Reality