372 No One Is Allowed to Bully Her Except Me 5 (1/2)

Her words had hit the nail on the head.

An Xiaoning would never stoop to making a deal with her. Otherwise, how would she be any different from Chi Rui'er?

”I know it myself even if you don't tell me. I may not be as powerful or enjoy as much authority as the Xu family, but I highly doubt they'd bother standing up for you if I were to kill your mother. After all, you and Xu Youran aren't actually close friends, are you?” An Xiaoning retorted.

”It's good that you know who the culprit is, you don't have to find out from me then. Your guess is right. I'm merely a puppet of hers, though, and I'd like to break free too,” said Chi Rui'er.

An Xiaoning knew what her words meant.

”Are you genuinely in love with Uncle?”

”I already said, I'm only a puppet. I have standards when it comes to men.”

An Xiaoning stared at her and said, ”You'd better watch out, you're on your own.”

After the three left, Mrs. Chi closed the door and hurriedly rushed inside Chi Rui'er's room.

”What were they here for?”

”Nothing much. Mother, pack your belongings. I'll take you to live in the place I buried Xu Jingwen tomorrow morning.”

”Why do I have to go there?” Mrs. Chi asked in puzzlement.

After a moment of silence, Chi Rui'er answered, ”Just stay there temporarily for a short while. I intend to buy a house overseas. We'll move abroad after some time. Let's go somewhere no one can find us and never come back.”

”Aren't we getting on well now?”

”Mother, I killed someone. If we don't go somewhere no one can find us, it's only a matter of time before I get arrested.”

Mrs. Chi conceded, ”Alright, I'll go along with your plan. It's your call. I'll go pack my belongings now.”

Chi Rui'er let out a long sigh and stared out of the window blankly, plagued with woes of life.

—

Upon returning home, An Xiaoning removed her makeup and washed her face before sitting on the bed to talk to Jin Qingyan.

”From what Chi Rui'er said, I'm very certain that the mastermind is Xu Youran. Actually, it's pretty obvious that she's the one behind it. Chi Rui'er clearly doesn't possess the capability to come up with such a plot and expose the matter widely across so many media platforms. Chi Rui'er claimed that she was just a puppet, and I have a feeling that Xu Youran was the one who saved Chi Rui'er from being arrested for murdering Xu Jingwen. That's why…” An Xiaoning concluded.

”But the results of the investigation show that Xu Youran has no feud or relation with our family. Why would she want to do that?”

”People are intelligent these days. Given the Xu family's wealth and status, how hard could it be to fabricate an identity and claim that she had grown up overseas? I was just wondering why she looked so familiar. Don't you think she resembles you a little?” An Xiaoning prompted.

”Me?” asked Jin Qingyan, who was rather stunned by her remark.

”Yes. Oh, why don't you just bring that group photo of you guys when you were children to a studio and get a sketch of the predicted appearance of her older self based on the photo? Wouldn't everything be clearer then?”

”Oh right. Why didn't I think of that?” Jin Qingyan exclaimed agitatedly.

”If the simulation proves that it's not Xu Youran, then all the better. You may use the simulated sketch to continue looking for your half-sister whom you've been feeling guilty towards.”

Jin Qingyan hugged her tightly and said, ”Indeed. Xiaoning, you've really enlightened me.”

He then hurriedly got out of bed and rushed to the study to get the photograph.

After scrutinizing the photograph while in bed, they realized that Jin Qingyan's half-sister does look a little like Xu Youran, though there was not a clear or distinct resemblance.

”Now that I look at it, she really looks like your half-sister. I believe her motive for doing that to your father may be to seek revenge. Besides that, it will not only be your father who'll be her target, she will also try and get back at your mother.”

Jin Qingyan found that An Xiaoning's conclusion did make a lot of sense. ”I'll bring the photo to an artist tomorrow and get him to come up with the sketch. If there's indeed a close resemblance, I'll then retrieve her hair samples to run a DNA test. The truth will be out by then.”

Pursing her lips, An Xiaoning said, ”Don't you find that most of your anger has dissipated after we broke everything down?”

Jin Qingyan gave her a kiss and said, ”All thanks to your brilliant idea. You're indeed the clever and virtuous wife I need.”