After returning home that evening, Yu Hanjiang watched the entire episode of " The Dark Closes Its Eyes " that Qiao Xuening filmed in the early hours of the 17th. Throughout the program, there were many close-up shots of her face. Yu Hanjiang took screenshots of her face from the variety show and compared them with enlarged promotional photos of Qiao Xuening that were flooding the internet.
The two faces are exactly the same; you can't tell the difference at all.
However, the person recording the variety show had a slightly hoarse voice, which sounded like they had a cold.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and fell into deep thought.
Are there really people in this world who look so alike? Unless they are identical twins, whose appearances are very difficult to distinguish due to their shared genes, even if other people do look similar, they wouldn't look this alike.
Yu Hanjiang retrieved Qiao Xuening's family information from the computer. The information showed that Qiao Xuening was an only child and did not have any twin sisters. Her parents were ordinary office workers.
In an interview, Qiao Xuening mentioned that her mother was an only child, and her father had four brothers, all of whom were sons. She was the only daughter in her generation of the Qiao family, and she was pampered by her grandparents from a young age. If what she said is true, then she probably doesn't have any cousins who look like her.
Could the information be fake?
All current reasoning is based on the premise that " Qiao Xuening has a double." Once they find this double, everything will fall into place. But if this reasoning is wrong, they'll have to find a new approach.
Currently, Manager Qi Ming, Zhou Yuanyuan who was disfigured for stealing the spotlight, and Cheng Yu, the casual sex partner, have all been investigated. Only Qiao Xuening remains shrouded in mystery. Yu Hanjiang plans to continue investigating along the line of Qiao Xuening.
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The following morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou met and discussed their next steps.
First, Yu Hanjiang plans to secretly visit Qiao Xuening's hometown to see if she has a twin sister or a similar-looking relative who could impersonate her using makeup. Second, Yu Hanjiang also has information on Qiao Xuening's first boyfriend, who has many relatives in her hometown. He can investigate his whereabouts and uncover the truth behind the exposure of Qiao Xuening's privacy years ago.
In addition, Yu Hanjiang also asked Shao Qingge to continue investigating the details of the audition for the web drama "Young Heart" in which Lin Yiyan debuted, to see if Qiao Xuening had a conflict with Lin Yiyan back then.
After making the arrangements, Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou to the household registration office, banks, and the Administration for Industry and Commerce to investigate information about Qiao Xuening's first boyfriend.
This person's name is Xu Kai. He grew up in the same small town as Qiao Xuening, and his household registration has always been in the town, with no record of ever moving.
He owns several properties, and he also owns an internet cafe and two hot pot restaurants. According to the tax bureau's tax records over the past few years, his annual income is no less than that of celebrities.
After her privacy was exposed, Qiao Xuening described in an interview that she grew up in a small town. After graduating from high school, she spent her days playing games at internet cafes. As a naive girl fresh out of high school, she only judged people by their looks. The cashier at the internet cafe was six years older than her. She thought Xu Kai was tall and handsome, his smoking was cool, and he knew how to flirt. So she quickly fell for him and they became a couple.
The two spent a fairly sweet holiday together. Later, she went to Film Academy, not because she "disliked the poor and abandoned her first love" as Xu Kai claimed, but because their long-distance relationship had cooled and they broke up amicably. Of course, this is Qiao Xuening's official statement, completely different from Xu Kai's version, leaving the public unsure who to believe at the time.
After Xu Kai exposed numerous private photos of her, she and her first love had a complete falling out and went to court. Qiao Xuening ultimately won her defamation lawsuit against Xu Kai, who paid her a substantial sum in damages for emotional distress. They never spoke to each other again, and Xu Kai completely disappeared from the public eye. All of this happened four years ago.
After this incident, Qiao Xuening temporarily withdrew from the entertainment industry and remained silent for two years before making a comeback.
On the way to the bank, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou discussed the case.
Xiao Lou said, " Xu Kai was an internet cafe owner back then. No matter how well the internet cafe business was, could he have made so much money to open so many hot pot restaurants? Back then, Qiao Xuening sued him for defamation, and he lost the case and even had to pay a lot of money."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Judging from his internet cafe's tax records, he didn't have nearly that much income a few years ago. The hot pot restaurants he's opened in recent years are all very large-scale, with investments of at least a million. Where did he get all that money? It's very likely that he made some kind of deal with someone."
Xiao Lou agreed: "Perhaps there was someone behind the scenes who exposed Qiao Xuening's private photos."
If his first love from a few years ago suddenly becomes a big star, it's understandable that he feels uncomfortable if she really dumped him back then. But exposing her privacy and posting her nude photos online is going too far. No normal person would do such a despicable thing.
Either there's someone behind this trying to smear Qiao Xuening, or her first boyfriend is just a really bad person.
The two went to the bank and investigated Xu Kai's bank statements for the past four years, but found no record of large sums of money being transferred in.
Lin Yiyan's private bank statements and studio statements were all in order; Yu Hanjiang had already checked this. (Manager) Qi Ming's account is also normal.
So, where did Xu Kai get the money to open his hot pot restaurant three years ago?
Xiao Lou was completely baffled.
Looking at his internet cafe tax records, his annual income should be between 150,000 and 200,000 RMB. After losing the defamation lawsuit, he paid Qiao Xuening 1 million RMB in damages, which should have wiped out his savings over the years. How could he still have spare money and open two large hot pot restaurants within a year?
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "Someone must have given him money, but we can't find any clues in the bank statements of Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming. It's very likely that it was a cash transaction."
Xiao Lou said, "The initial investment for two large hot pot restaurants would be at least several million yuan, including renovation costs, rent, and staff salaries. Even if Lin Yiyan didn't withdraw cash from her bank account, she probably couldn't save that much money on her own."
Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "Let's see if she has any property transaction records from four years ago!"
The two drove to the housing management bureau again to investigate Lin Yiyan's property transfer records, and they actually found a clue - four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold one of her houses and transferred the property to an elderly couple.
Yu Hanjiang immediately contacted the elderly couple to investigate. They stated, "The house was purchased four years ago. Ms. Lin was in a hurry to sell, so the price was quite favorable. The transaction price was 3 million yuan, including the transfer fee. However, she said she needed some cash and asked us to bring cash directly for the transaction. My husband and I brought a suitcase full of money and signed the contract with her on the spot."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly.
Four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold a house and received 3 million yuan in cash; four years ago, Qiao Xuening was at the height of her fame and had a chance to win the Best Actress award when a private scandal suddenly broke out, causing her to fall from grace overnight; that same year, Qiao Xuening tearfully sued Xu Kai, who lost the case and was ordered to pay 1 million yuan in compensation, but the following year, Xu Kai obtained business licenses for two large hot pot restaurants from the Administration for Industry and Commerce.
The logic is clear— Lin Yiyan's missing cash likely ended up in Xu Kai's hands.
A best friend with whom you can talk about anything?
It seems that these two have a completely fake sisterhood.
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