Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the office and checked the fingerprint identification information—just as their colleague had said, Yu...
Xia was in a car accident four years ago, so her ID card in the database is now listed as "accidental death".
Yu Hanjiang searched for the name in the computer database.
He remembered that this person was Qiao Xuening and Lin Yiyan's college classmate.
Sure enough, he quickly found Yu Xia in a group photo of the students in Film Academy Class 3.
Yu Xia's parents passed away long ago. She worked her way through university. Although she was very hardworking and won scholarships every year, she was really not pretty, especially in Film Academy where beauties were everywhere. Compared to the other female students, she was just an ugly duckling.
As the ugliest girl in the class, she had a very low profile. She didn't participate in any club activities, didn't hang out with her classmates, and just buried herself in her studies every day. Wearing big glasses, she was almost a bookworm.
Several stars from their class later became famous, including Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening. None of these people ever mentioned a classmate named Yu Xia in any interviews. She was just a green leaf that set off the flowers in Film Academy.
Without plastic surgery, someone with her looks will always only be a supporting actress in the entertainment industry. Besides, nowadays there are appearance requirements for second and third female leads, and even villains need to be pleasing to the eye to attract viewers' attention; ugly villains are no longer in vogue.
A look at her acting career before her "death" reveals that she played mostly minor, insignificant roles, often listed last in the credits, roles that audiences didn't even bother to look at.
Xiao Lou found an interview transcript with her online. The reporter asked her, "Your classmates Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening are so popular. Do you still keep in touch with them privately? Do they ever help you find resources?"
Yu Xia replied, "They are all very famous, and we've rarely kept in touch since graduation. Flowers always need green leaves to set them off. I know I'm not very good-looking, but a TV series can't be all good-looking people, right? There also need to be some ugly characters. I'm very clear about my own role."
Below the interview, some people were sarcastic and mocking: "Ugly people always try to be funny!" "Is this guy trying to ride on the coattails of our goddesses Lin and Qiao? This old classmate is so shameless!"
Upon seeing this, Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "Yu Xia's acting career after graduation has been very unsatisfactory. For so many years, she has been playing minor roles, with treatment similar to that of extras. Qiao Xuening must have promised her a lot of benefits for her to agree to get plastic surgery to look like Qiao Xuening and become Qiao Xuening's stand-in."
Xiao Lou agreed, saying, "Although her face isn't her own after the plastic surgery, she received respect and courtesy from the crew, along with the adoration of fans and a large income while working as Qiao Xuening's stand-in. This is something she can't compare to when she played a few minor, unattractive roles."
He plays extras every day, supporting himself with meager income, and will be an extra for life?
Or, would you cooperate with Qiao Xuening's plastic surgery, become Qiao Xuening's stand-in, and enjoy the same treatment as Qiao Xuening?
Yu Xia chose the latter.
Xiao Lou said, "No wonder her acting skills have always been on point. After all, she graduated from Film Academy and is a top student. If she weren't ugly, she probably would have become famous long ago."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, find a professional to be a stand-in, so you don't have to worry about any mistakes during the performance. The secret deal between Qiao Xuening and Yu Xia can only be uncovered by finding them. I'm going to arrest Yu Xia right now. As for Qiao Xuening, I guess she'll escape to the airport. I've already sent my colleagues to the airport to keep an eye on her and not let any suspicious person slip by."
*
Police cars with sirens blaring sped past on the streets late at night.
Yu Hanjiang acted swiftly, heading straight to the hotel arranged by the film crew for " Qiao Xuening." Qu Wanyue was at the time making excuses to tutor " Qiao Xuening " on dance moves when she heard the knock on the door. She breathed a slight sigh of relief, guessing that it must be Captain Yu.
Sure enough, when the manager opened the door, he saw Yu Hanjiang, dressed in a police uniform, standing at the door with a serious expression.
He produced an arrest warrant and said, " Ms. Qiao Xuening —no, it should be Ms. Yu Xia, we now suspect you are involved in a series of murders. Please come with us to assist in the investigation."
The manager stared in disbelief: "W-what?"
Upon hearing these words, Qiao Xuening, who was inside the room, turned deathly pale.
Even with the best acting skills, it would be difficult for her to remain calm when faced with the handcuffs that Yu Hanjiang neatly and decisively put on her wrists, especially since Yu Hanjiang directly called out her real name.
The manager, completely bewildered, followed Yu Hanjiang to the police station for an overnight interrogation.
She said she knew nothing.
Yu Hanjiang said, "In real life, haven't you noticed that Qiao Xuening's personality is a bit off?"
The manager said with a mournful face, "Ever since Xue Ning was traumatized by the exposure of her nude photos, she has been a bit mentally unstable. So, sometimes when she forgets something or suddenly changes her mind about something she agreed on, I try my best to go along with her and not dare to upset her... I never expected... that there would be two Qiao Xue Nings!"
It seems the Manager was genuinely unaware of this matter, since the Manager only signed with Qiao Xuening when she made her comeback and wasn't very familiar with Qiao Xuening's past habits.
After Yu Hanjiang finished questioning the Manager, he proceeded to question Yu Xia.
Yu Xia, with her chubby face, looked terrible, but she gritted her teeth and refused to say anything.
Xiao Lou was very professional and immediately asked a plastic surgeon to examine her. The doctor explained in detail: "Her jawbone has been shaved, her nose has been implanted, she is still getting injections on her face regularly, her eyebrows were shaved off and then re-tattooed as semi-permanent eyebrows, her double eyelids were surgically created, her ears have also undergone minimally invasive surgery, and her entire head has not had any surgery, except for her hair."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang: "..."
That's ruthless!
That's what you call a thorough "
"To change one's appearance".
The face of Qiao Xuening in front of me is completely different from the Yu Xia in the file.
Yu Xia has many freckles on her face, a wide jaw, a sunken nose, and thick, flat eyebrows; Qiao Xuening, on the other hand, is a pretty woman. The fact that the plastic surgeon was able to successfully perform the surgery on her face shows how skilled he is.
Xiao Lou said, "I've already messaged all the plastic surgery hospitals in the city to see if they have any surgical records."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Plastic surgery hospitals are very confidential about patients' information, but now that it involves a murder case, they can't hide the police investigation. There should be results soon."
At 3 a.m., Yu Hanjiang brought Yu Xia to the hospital emergency room and asked the doctor to take an X-ray for her.
Upon seeing Yu Hanjiang's police ID, the Emergency Department doctor immediately cooperated with the police, took her inside to have an X-ray taken, and then developed the X-ray on the spot and handed it to Xiao Lou.
Xiao Lou picked up the X-ray and examined it carefully against the light, saying, "There's no fracture line."
Yu Hanjiang understood: "She didn't break her leg? So, the one who broke her leg is Qiao Xuening, and the one who didn't break her leg is a stand-in."
Xiao Lou wondered, "Then why is she unsteady on her feet when filming variety shows?"
Yu Hanjiang said coldly, "Your acting is too good."
His gaze fell on Yu Xia, and he said, "Miss Yu, are you still not willing to tell me?"
Yu Xia's face was drained of color, and she gritted her teeth, seemingly caught in a conflicting emotional state.
Just then, Yu Hanjiang received a call: " Captain Yu, we found a suspicious person at the airport. It's a man. When he went through security, we checked carefully and his face was different from the face on his ID card. One of our female colleagues brought some makeup remover and asked him to remove his makeup on the spot. He immediately turned around and ran away, but we caught him!"
Removing makeup on the spot? This female colleague's actions deserve praise.
Yu Hanjiang coughed lightly and said, "Thank you. I have already sent someone to the airport to hand him over to our Criminal Police Detachment to bring him back."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Hanjiang glanced at Yu Xia indifferently through the rearview mirror: " Qiao Xuening has been found. If you still refuse to confess, you may be convicted as an accomplice in the murder case. The main culprit will be sentenced to death, and the accomplice will also go to jail."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xia's expression finally broke down.
She covered her face with her hands and said in a trembling voice, "I didn't know she would go so far as to kill someone! And she even used me as an alibi!"
Back at the police station, Yu Xia stammered and confessed everything.
Four years ago, she was at a low point in her life, worrying every day about where she would get her next acting role. Her parents had passed away, and her requirements were simple: she would be content as long as she had enough to eat and a place to stay. But sometimes, the pay for being an extra was not even enough to support herself.
Then, Qiao Xuening's scandal suddenly broke online, and as a former classmate, she became a bystander. Unexpectedly, Qiao Xuening contacted her and made a bold suggestion.
Qiao Xuening said: "This incident has hit me too hard, and it's hard for me to adjust my mindset and continue acting. But actually, I have a lot of resources, and I haven't done anything wrong. It's easy to clear my name. If you're willing to be my stand-in, I can give you a fixed salary that's ten times your current income, and I'll give you 30% of the pay for the dramas you act in."
Yu Xia was very tempted by what she heard. It was just being a body double. Many famous actors in the entertainment industry have their own body doubles. In any case, it was better than her current situation, right?
So she agreed.
Qiao Xuening smiled and said, "Xiaoxia, to put it bluntly, in the entertainment industry, which is all about looks, if you want to go far, this face won't do. How about I pay for your plastic surgery?"
Yu Xia was initially hesitant, but then she thought about how a certain actress became more beautiful after plastic surgery, received more film offers, and her popularity soared, so she became tempted. After all, many people in this industry get plastic surgery; it's just a matter of whether it's major or minor procedures. Her bone structure is actually fine, not the kind that's beyond repair. She thought that minor procedures would make her look better, right?
Qiao Xuening arranged everything for the cosmetic surgery, including the plan, which was discussed and decided upon by Qiao Xuening and the doctor. Qiao Xuening assured her, "I will definitely make you look good." The doctor was very familiar with Qiao Xuening, so Yu Xia didn't think much of it and simply cooperated with the examinations.
She was a little nervous lying on the operating table. After the anesthesia wore off, she lost consciousness and woke up with her face covered in bandages.
After the bandages were removed, she looked in the mirror and was shocked to discover—why did this face look so much like Qiao Xuening?!
Qiao Xuening was right next to her at the time, looking at her reflection in the mirror with her, and asked with a smile, "Does it look like me?"
Yu Xia: "..."
Seeing the two strikingly similar faces in the mirror, Yu Xia was so frightened that she smashed the mirror.
At this point, Yu Xia's eyes reddened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "When I saw the doctor's computer showing the envisioned look after the surgery, it wasn't like that at all. Qiao Xuening conspired with the doctor to lie to me. She made my face look exactly like hers. So this is what she meant by'stand-in'! She's absolutely insane!"
Seeing that she was on the verge of losing control of her emotions, Yu Hanjiang interrupted her in a low voice, "In the end, you still agreed to be her substitute?"
Yu Xia was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "I had no choice. I was very poor at the time, with no money or relatives. I couldn't fight her at all. Besides, she went to great lengths. She spent money to buy a woman's corpse, made it look like me, put my ID card in the corpse's pocket, and staged a car accident to make me 'die an accident.' If I didn't listen to her, I wouldn't be able to survive in this world."
Xiao Lou felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this.
This Qiao Xuening is truly a pervert! She has an extremely strong desire for control. When creating a substitute, she even completely erased the substitute's original identity, making the substitute only able to depend on her to live.
And she's really clever; she even thought of buying a corpse as a scheme...
Corpses are usually sold to medical schools for students to dissect. Her ability to obtain an unclaimed female corpse is likely related to the plastic surgeon she was close to.
She slipped Yu Xia's ID card into the corpse's pocket, leading the police to believe the body was indeed Yu Xia. Normally, with an ID card in the pocket of a body without relatives, the police wouldn't bother with a DNA test—who would suspect the body was fake?
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Who was the doctor who performed your plastic surgery?"
Yu Xia revealed the hospital and doctor's name, and Yu Hanjiang made an inside call, instructing his Criminal Police Officer colleagues to apprehend the unscrupulous doctor.
Yu Hanjiang asked Yu Xia to talk in detail about the incident of breaking her leg while filming the martial arts drama "Reign of Assassins".
Yu Xia said that she was originally scheduled to film a martial arts drama in the first half of this year, but when they got to the scene where the female lead chases the male lead on horseback at the last moment, Qiao Xuening suddenly sent her a message saying, "I'll film this dangerous scene. You can take a few days off. I also need to get to know the crew so that I don't know anything during the publicity."
Although Yu Xia didn't understand, she dared not disobey her "employer," so she made an excuse to go to the hospital with a cold and asked the crew for a day off—when she returned, she was replaced by the real Qiao Xuening.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Xuening broke her leg while filming. Although the filming wrapped up smoothly, Qiao Xuening had to be hospitalized for treatment. As a result, she gained a lot of attention and countless fans praised her as "the most dedicated actress".
Yu Xia said with a wry smile: "In fact, the female lead's appearance time in the whole movie is 70 minutes. I filmed 69 minutes of it, and only Qiao Xuening filmed 1 minute... At the time, I didn't understand why she chose to film this scene herself. Later, when I saw her break her leg, I realized that she was really ruthless to herself. When she broke her leg, it became a trending topic, and her fans increased by several million overnight."
Xiao Lou asked, "Where were you while she was in the hospital?"
Yu Xia said, "I hide in my rented apartment and order takeout every day. I only dare to let the delivery guy leave the food on the windowsill by the door, and then I sneak out to throw away the trash in the middle of the night." She lowered her head and said, "I can only be Qiao Xuening's shadow. She broke her leg and was hospitalized, so of course I can't show up."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "What about the variety show on the 17th? Is it you?"
Yu Xia nodded and said, "She asked me to film that episode of ' The Dark Closes Its Eyes.' She said that none of the guests knew her, no one noticed anything was wrong, and variety shows don't require me to say much. I just need to act like a newbie and get eliminated. She also told me that she had broken her leg before and that I shouldn't run too fast to arouse suspicion."
Xiao Lou said understandingly, "So, you pretend that you have a leg injury, but you can't make it too obvious?"
Yu Xia said, "I didn't break my leg, so why would I pretend to be limping? I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull it off, so I told the crew that my leg had almost recovered and that I would limp slightly when I walked, so they would believe it."
This is why Qiao Xuening's legs seemed unbalanced when walking in the variety shows that Xiao Lou saw.
It turns out that the stand-in was deliberately pretending.
Xiao Lou asked in confusion, "Then why didn't you pretend to be lame when filming the new drama?"
Yu Xia said, "The new drama has to film dance scenes, and if I pretend to be lame, how can I dance? The manager insisted on finding me a stunt double, but I am the stunt double myself... Anyway, Qiao Xuening said her leg has almost recovered, so I told the director that I can dance."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance.
All the vulnerabilities started here.
The stunt double and the actor had different understandings of "breaking a leg." After all, the stunt double had never personally experienced breaking a leg and being hospitalized, so she didn't know what level of recovery "almost done" meant. As a result, she danced nonchalantly in the new drama, which made people who were closely watching her movements, such as Qu Wanyue and Xiao Lou, notice something was wrong.
When Xiao Lou questioned her, she was completely unaware of the "bone broth" mentioned, and even subconsciously said that the doctor told her to drink bone broth.
In retrospect, it was Qiao Xuening who broke his leg.
On the evening of November 16, the body double went to the mountains to film a variety show, pretending to be lame and have a cold to avoid arousing suspicion by talking too much. The variety show was filmed until the early hours of the 17th. During this time, Qiao Xuening herself was lurking in Lin Yiyan's villa to commit murder—she wanted to use the body double to create an alibi.
Two days ago, Qiao Xuening secretly went to the town and killed Xu Kai using the same method. At the time, her double was on the set of " Twin Flowers ". If Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou hadn't already deduced the "double", her alibi would have been perfect.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou initially thought that Qiao Xuening from the crew was the real one, but it turned out that the one from the crew was fake.
Yu Hanjiang looked at Yu Xia in front of him and said coldly, "When we first came to you, you already knew that Lin Yiyan was killed by Qiao Xuening, right? But instead of notifying Qiao Xuening that the police were investigating her, you sent a message to us asking us to investigate Zhou Yuanyuan, deliberately diverting our attention."
Yu Xia paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Why should I notify her? She killed someone, and if it's found out, she should be sentenced to death, right? I'm her shadow, but if she dies, I won't have to be her shadow anymore. I can step into the sunlight. The entertainment industry will have one more actress who looks like Qiao Xuening and has excellent acting skills. All her resources and popularity will truly… belong to me."
With a hopeful look on her face, she said, "Anyway, her killing has nothing to do with me. I was just following her instructions to appear on variety shows and act in her place."
I know nothing... She turned me into her likeness, and I'm still the victim.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance and looked at each other blankly.
The murderers we encountered this time were all masters of drama.
In the end, the one with the best acting skills was actually the stunt double that Qiao Xuening chose for herself.
The body double didn't want to be a body double anymore; she wanted to replace the original owner. That's why she intentionally or unintentionally revealed some clues to the police, luring out the murderer, Qiao Xuening.
*
When Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left the interrogation room, the real Qiao Xuening had already been brought there.
Her makeup was forcibly removed, revealing her true face, which was exactly the same as the double in the interrogation room. A strange smile appeared on her lips as she looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "Police, can you really tell which one is Qiao Xuening?"
Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "It's true that you can't tell them apart just by looking at their faces. It's a pity that you didn't get rid of your fingerprints when you had plastic surgery, and you can't change your genes either."
Qiao Xuening giggled.
Her laughter was slightly hoarse, likely from long-term smoking. The sound echoed eerily in the empty corridor—this woman had become mentally disturbed. The effort she put into creating a double and killing Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai was perhaps just to satisfy her psychological gratification.
Now that the evidence is irrefutable, Qiao Xuening seems unwilling to defend himself: "I killed the person, and I guessed that it must have been my shadow that betrayed me... Sure enough, I raised a tiger to my own detriment."
Xiao Lou asked, "Can you tell us what the ice cube means?"
Qiao Xuening raised an eyebrow and said, "Have you ever heard of being 'frozen out'?"
Xiao Lou paused for a moment, then smiled and looked at Xiao Lou, saying, " Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai teamed up back then to suppress me and have me completely sidelined by the company. But those two idiots underestimated my resilience. Not only did I not get sidelined, they even buried my body in ice. I heard that if they do that, they'll go to a freezing hell after they die and never be able to reincarnate."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance.
--I see.