Qin Yuanyao sensed her deep unease from her words.

Qin Yuanyao said firmly again, "I won't tell your dad, don't worry."

Zhao Lan told them to choose a place to meet.

Qin Yuanyao asked Chi Baiyi and finally decided to meet at a private room in the coffee shop on the first floor of the hotel.

Zhao Lan agreed and they arranged to meet in an hour.

Chi Nao looked at Qin Yuanyao with eyes full of admiration, "Sister Qin, you're so amazing! Sister Zhao Lan really agreed to come out and see us!"

“Dad also said that Sister Zhao Lan might not be willing to come out and see us. Humph, Dad thinks others can’t do what he can’t do himself!” Chi Naozi glanced at Chi Baiyi with a look of disdain.

Chi Baiyi "..."

Was this the main point of his statement?

His main point was not to put too much pressure on Qin Yuanyao.

"I was just lucky," Qin Yuanyao said sheepishly.

She felt that perhaps they had been harassing Zhao Lan too frequently, which annoyed her to no end, or perhaps her words, "We will never do what you forbid us from doing," struck a chord with Zhao Lan, which led the already distressed Zhao Lan to agree to meet with them.

An hour later.

Qin Yuanyao and the others met Zhao Lan in a private room at the coffee shop as agreed.

"Do you think this place is private enough?" Qin Yuanyao asked her.

Zhao Lan looked around the private room and nodded. "Okay."

Qin Yuanyao looked at Chi Naozi and gestured with her eyes that she could start asking questions.

Chi Nao said in a sweet, childlike voice, "Sister Zhao Lan, you said the mask fell off?"

Zhao Lan didn't look well and seemed preoccupied.

She nodded. "Last week I went to a bar with my friends, and I brought my mask with me. The mask fell off."

"What's a bar? You mean a place to drink, right?" Chi Nao asked, puzzled.

"Bars are places where many people gather to drink, and minors can't drink or go there," Chi Baiyi explained simply to Chi Naozi, then continued the conversation.

He asked Zhao Lan, "Did you leave your mask at the bar?"

Zhao Lan's expression flickered. After hesitating for a moment, she asked them again to confirm, "You won't tell my dad, right?"

Chi Baiyi nodded. "We will respect your opinion."

Zhao Lan then said, "The mask might have been left at the bar, or it might have been left at the hotel."

Qin Yuanyao and Chi Baiyi's expressions remained unchanged as they waited for her to continue.

"Last Friday, I went to a bar with my friends and got drunk. When I woke up the next day, I was in a hotel... I called my friend to ask if she had taken me there. My friend said no, she said a man had taken me away. She said I was chatting very intimately with that man and she thought we were attracted to each other, so she didn't bother with me..."

Zhao Lan's expression turned pained and regretful. "But...but I have absolutely no recollection. I don't remember chatting so enthusiastically with any man in the bar...I...I have no recollection at all..."

Qin Yuanyao looked at her calmly and asked, "Did you call the police?"

Zhao Lan looked up at her blankly. "It's just a lost mask, do you need to call the police?"

"What I mean is, did you call the police about being taken to a bar by a stranger?" Qin Yuanyao repeated calmly.

Zhao Lan's expression turned awkward and humiliated. She lowered her eyes and shook her head. "No, I don't dare... I'm afraid... I don't want anyone else to know, and I don't want my dad to know either. If my dad finds out, he'll definitely scold me."

"But don't you want that person to be punished?" Qin Yuanyao asked.

"Of course I want him to be punished! But if that happens, I'll be implicated too! What will others think of me? What will my teachers and classmates think of me? They'll just think I deserve it, that I went to a bar and gave someone else the opportunity! I'm the one who was harmed, and I'm the one who will be punished in the end!" Zhao Lan became agitated.

As she finished speaking, she began to sob softly.

Qin Yuanyao and Chi Baiyi remained silent, giving her some time to calm down.

Qin Yuanyao finally understood why Zhao Lan had been so resistant to meeting them in the first place.

It turns out there's something else going on behind the mask.

Although Qin Yuanyao disagreed with Zhao Lan's actions and believed that calling the police was the best course of action.

However, she respected Zhao Lan's decision.

Everyone has their own concerns.

Everyone has the right to be brave or not to be brave.

After a while, Qin Yuanyao said, "We respect your choice and won't tell anyone about this, so don't worry."

Zhao Lan stopped sobbing and murmured, "Thank you."

"So that mask might have been left at the bar, or it might have been left at the hotel, right?" Qin Yuanyao said.

Zhao Lan nodded. "Yes."

"Could you tell us the names of the bar and the hotel?"

Zhao Lan told them without much hesitation.

After seeing Zhao Lan off, Chi Nao asked, still confused, "Why did Sister Zhao Lan cry?"

What Zhao Lan said was beyond the comprehension of a five-year-old child, so Chi Naozi didn't understand it at all.

All she knew was that, as she spoke, Zhao Lan started crying sadly.

"She encountered some sad things." Qin Yuanyao couldn't say too much to Chi Naozhi, so she could only give this general explanation.

Chi Nao nodded, seemingly understanding, "Oh."

"Zhao Lan said the mask might have been left at the bar or the hotel. Do you still want to see the mask?" Chi Baiyi asked.

Chi Nao replied without hesitation, "Yes!"

Could the person who picked up the mask be the murderer ten years later?

With Chi Nai's five-year-old brain, she couldn't explain it.

However, one thing she was vaguely certain of was that if she followed the clue about the mask, she might make a major discovery!

"I'll have someone investigate," Chi Baiyi said.

Chi Cheese smiled like a blooming sunflower, nodding happily and saying "Mmm mmm mmm".

She hugged Chi Baiyi, "Daddy, you're the best!"

Chi Baiyi "..."

Unmoved.

That was the only time he was truly the best in her heart.

...

Finding out whether the mask was left at the bar or the hotel wouldn't be something that could be done in a day or two. So, the group didn't linger in N city and drove back to the city.

On the way, Qin Yuanyao received a call from Yao Mu, who told her that she had passed the audition and that she should prepare to join the crew the day after tomorrow.

Because there were still some matters regarding joining the production team that needed to be discussed with Qin Yuanyao in person, Yao Mu arranged to meet Qin Yuanyao at a certain place.

Upon arriving in the city, Chi Baiyi took Qin Yuanyao directly to the meeting place she had arranged with Yao Mu before he and Chi Nao returned to Yushuitingyuan.

After Qin Yuanyao got out of the car and walked towards the shop, someone who had been lurking in the shadows for a long time in a car in the distance revealed a sinister smile and started snapping photos of Qin Yuanyao's figure...

(End of this chapter)

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