第九章

In the evening, Xiaoman heard her parents talking downstairs.

Lin Wan was worried that she would spend the entire summer vacation on the Bai Anning case. Chen Weian thought that Xiaoman should have the space to judge for herself. Xiaoman listened for a while, then closed the door.

She had something more important tonight.

He Man finally replied to her message, agreeing to answer the phone at 8 p.m. He Man was one of Bai Anning's best friends.

After the call connected, Xiaoman first asked about the night Bai Anning disappeared.

He Man said that around 1 a.m., Bai Anning's parents called her and Qiao Chuchu, asking if they had seen Bai Anning. He Man had not seen her, so she tried to contact Shen Ran. Shen Ran didn't answer the phone that night, and only found out the next morning that Bai Anning was missing.

The police also contacted He Man on Saturday morning. He Man told the police that Bai Anning had conflicts with Shen Ran that week. Usually Bai Anning often argued with Shen Ran, and Shen Ran generally ignored her. But those few days, Shen Ran was clearly angry too.

Xiaoman then asked if Bai Anning had planned to see Shen Ran that night.

He Man said no. Bai Anning was supposed to stay at home.

Because Bai Beibei had been hospitalized for self-harm a few weeks earlier. That night, Bai Jianguo and Zhou Lan were going out, so they asked Bai Anning to take care of her sister at home.

But Bai Anning still left home.

He Man said that in the past she had admired Bai Anning. Bai Anning was beautiful, popular, and very good at making friends feel special. But Bai Anning could also suddenly become very mean, specifically pointing out others' most sensitive pain points.

He Man said that Bai Anning treated her and Qiao Chuchu like this, and she treated Beibei the same way.

After Xiaoman hung up the phone, her heart felt heavy.

She had known before that Bai Anning was beautiful and popular, but she hadn't expected Bai Anning to make friends still suffer so much years later.

A few days later, Xiaoman contacted Qiao Chuchu again.

Before that, she tried to look up the license plate R009 KKJ, but got no results. She only knew the plate number, not the make and model of the car, so this clue could not be pursued for now.

Qiao Chuchu spoke very simply about the relationship between Bai Anning and Shen Ran. She said Shen Ran was good to Bai Anning and was very quiet. She had thought that Shen Ran could make Bai Anning less trouble, but it didn't work.

Qiao Chuchu also said that Bai Anning had many secrets.

Bai Anning often had cash, bought many things, and would also buy cosmetics and lend clothes to friends. But she didn't have a job. Qiao Chuchu had always thought that the money might have been given by Bai Jianguo.

When Xiaoman asked about the relationship between Bai Anning and Bai Jianguo, Qiao Chuchu's attitude immediately changed.

She didn't want to talk about it. She said that Bai Anning was dead, and they shouldn't discuss her family affairs anymore. She also said that no one could truly understand Bai Anning from just a few conversations.

The call ended quickly.

Xiaoman felt that Qiao Chuchu must know something.

She thought of another question. Qiao Chuchu said that Bai Anning did not have a closer relationship with Shen Ran, but Bai Anning was not without romantic experience. When Xiaoman asked, "Who was she seeing at that time?" Qiao Chuchu did not correct her, only saying she didn't know.

This might just be a misunderstanding.

But Xiaoman couldn't let it go.

She did something not very honorable. She used another number to impersonate Qiao Chuchu and send a text message to He Man.

He Man thought the other person was really Qiao Chuchu, and slowly revealed two secrets.

The first secret was related to Bai Jianguo.

Bai Jianguo had an affair, and Bai Anning knew about it. Moreover, Bai Jianguo also knew that Bai Anning knew.

Xiaoman immediately thought that Bai Anning's money of unknown origin might be related to this. She might be using this secret to threaten her father. There was no evidence for this idea yet, but Bai Jianguo's suspicion increased.

The second secret was bigger.

While Bai Anning was dating Shen Ran, she was secretly meeting an older man. She didn't tell her friends who that person was, only saying that she could destroy him.

When Xiaoman saw this message, her palms were sweating.

If that man had a family or an identity that could not be made public, Bai Anning could threaten him. Such a person would also have a motive to make Bai Anning shut up forever.

Xiaoman knew that impersonating someone else was wrong. He Man trusted her, which made her feel a little guilty.

But she also knew that she had obtained two important clues.

Bai Jianguo was no longer just suspicious. He might have a real motive.

And that secret older man.

Bai Anning's life was far more complicated than Xiaoman had initially thought.