Chapter 64
Li Qingyao invited five people today, three women and two men. The three girls were very close to Xiang Siling back then, and the two boys were cheerful and lively and had wide popularity.
When they arrived at the private room, three people had already arrived. Soon, everyone was there. Li Qingyao was the host today, and now that she was good at socializing, the atmosphere quickly became lively.
A girl asked: "Li Qingyao, why did you suddenly invite us to dinner today?"
Li Qingyao had already thought of an excuse, and said, "Didn't Ma Junhong invite everyone twice before? I realized that I haven't kept in touch with my classmates in the past few years, which is really wrong. Today, you guys are free, so let's have a meal together, and we can get together next time when everyone is together."
When they found out that her "boyfriend" Chen Pu was her colleague, everyone started to flatter him, saying that police officers are the most respectable and that Chen Pu must be the most handsome guy in the bureau. However, there were also girls who looked at Chen Pu's appearance and temperament, and then noticed that he was wearing low-key luxury brands. They were secretly amazed and felt that Li Qingyao was worthy of being Li Qingyao, and every move he made was extraordinary.
Everyone chatted for a while about their current work and life. Li Qingyao also told a few interesting stories during the investigation, and the atmosphere became more lively. Everyone felt that Li Qingyao had changed. He was no longer as aloof as he was in high school. They were all flattered, but also felt that it was expected. After all, everyone had become mature and sophisticated.
Her boyfriend, on the other hand, didn't talk much, but kept serving her tea, water and food. It was obvious that he had a good temper and seemed to dote on her a lot. However, everyone felt that it was reasonable - didn't the former aloof academic genius Luo Huaizheng end up like this in front of Li Qingyao? But at this moment, everyone was very tactful and didn't mention Luo Huaizheng at all.
Soon, the topic came to one of the must-talk topics at high school reunions - who is doing the best now?
Li Qingyao had been waiting for this opportunity and said with a smile: "Of course it's Xiang Siling. I've seen her several times recently. She's now the head of Huayu Group and has become much prettier. In fact, she has always looked good, right? It's just that she didn't know how to dress up in high school." The last few sentences were asked to the girl next to him, who was very familiar with Xiang Siling back then.
The girl said, "Yes, yes, she really didn't know how to dress at that time. When she was in the first year of high school, her family was not well off and she didn't even have pocket money. In the second year of high school, I heard that her mother started a clothing business and it became popular all of a sudden. At that time, she often brought us a lot of snacks and stationery, and her mobile phone was also the latest model. But she seemed to rarely buy new clothes and didn't like to dress up. Once, my mother brought me two girl perfumes from Hong Kong, and I wanted to give her one, but she refused to accept it, saying that she didn't need them. She was very stubborn."
Some of the classmates heard about Luo Hongmin's death, while others knew nothing about Xiang Siling's current situation. Everyone was very sad. Who would have thought that the girl who was like an ugly duckling back then would now be rich and beautiful. Although her fate was a little rough and both her biological father and stepfather were dead, she was already a person that these classmates could not reach.
Li Qingyao asked the girls, "I remember that you and her were the best friends in high school, right? Did you keep in touch with her afterwards?"
The three girls looked at each other and shook their heads.
A girl said: "In fact, after Luo Huaizheng got into trouble, she didn't come to school for a long time, and since then, she hardly talked to us. We... didn't talk to her either." After saying that, she looked at Chen Pu's face.
Chen Pu smiled and said, "It's okay, don't worry, I don't care at all. Luo Huaizheng's matter is over a long time ago."
Li Qingyao glanced at him.
Chen Pu's heart skipped a beat, but his expression became more frank.
Everyone laughed. Some said, you should have said it earlier. I almost mentioned Luo Huaizheng several times just now, but I quickly held it back. Others said, Li Qingyao, your boyfriend is so good to you.
Everyone turned to Xiang Siling, and another girl said, "Actually, after graduating from high school, I tried to contact her several times, but she ignored me. It's not easy for her. I don't know if she's in better health now, but now that she has money, she should be able to take good care of herself."
Li Qingyao: "Is she in poor health? I heard her say last time that she works out every day and swims very well."
Before the girl answered, another girl said, "Yeah, how could Xiang Siling be in poor health? She always won places in every sports meet, okay?"
Li Qingyao: "Why don't I have any impression?" The other two boys also said they had no impression.
But the girl insisted, "That's because you didn't notice her at all. In fact, before I got to know her well, I didn't notice that she was good at sports. She participated in the sports meet every year and always won good places. It wasn't until the first semester of my second year in high school that I accompanied her. We ran 3,000 meters in the morning and 1,500 meters in the afternoon on the same day. One of us took fourth place and the other took third place. That's when I realized how awesome she was. But I remember very clearly that year, Li Qiuying from our class won the women's 3,000-meter and 800-meter championships, as well as the 4X100 championship. Zhao Haochen and several boys also won several championships. At that time, everyone paid attention to them, and all the broadcast scripts were written for them. Who would notice Xiang Siling? Besides, she would hide away after running, and she didn't talk to anyone much, nor did she show off her results."
After she said this, Li Qingyao and several other classmates seemed to have some impression.
Everyone was silent. Indeed, when you are studying, there are always one or two people who are like a dark background board. No matter what they do, whether they are good or bad, what achievements they make, or what difficulties they encounter, no one cares. Because they are too mediocre, so mediocre that they fade. In the bright and flamboyant youth, mediocrity and ordinariness are the original sins. How could anyone devote a bit of attention to her? ∮
"Yes." Another girl also said, "I remembered it too, she is very good at running. So why do you say she is in poor health?" She asked the girl who had said that Xiang Siling was in poor health before.
The girl answered, "Is that so? But I remember that Xiang Siling asked for leave many times throughout the second year of high school. She always had a cold, sometimes for one day, sometimes for two days. Another time was in the second semester of the second year of high school. She asked for leave for half a month and said she was in the hospital, but that time it was for appendicitis surgery. When she came back to class, her face was so pale that she couldn't even walk. During that time, I had to accompany her to the bathroom during class breaks every day. I always felt that she would faint in the next second. That's why I thought she was not in good health. I asked her if she was always sick because of her poor physical condition, and she didn't deny it."
A male classmate slammed the table and said: "It must be because of poor physical condition that you need to exercise more." This makes sense.
Everyone suddenly realized.
Li Qingyao and Chen Pu had been listening quietly to their recollections, and would occasionally say a word or two to guide the topic when they talked about Xiang Siling.
…
As soon as the party ended, Chen Pu and Li Qingyao returned to the police station and first investigated Xiang Siling’s hospitalization records from that year.
The next morning, the results of the investigation came out.
Seven or eight years ago, most regular hospitals in this city had basically achieved electronic file management, and all data was preserved. Appendicitis is just a very common minor operation that can be performed in any regular hospital. The two investigated seven or eight hospitals near Xiang Siling's home, but none of them had any records of her hospitalization or surgery.
So Chen Pu expanded the scope of the investigation to all hospitals in the city, but still found nothing.
They contacted the teacher from that year again, and after being reminded, the teacher remembered that this was the case. He asked Si Ling for half a month's sick leave and submitted a hospitalization certificate. But the teacher couldn’t remember which hospital it was, and the receipt was long gone.
Chen Pu said: "She was not hospitalized that year, so where did she get the hospitalization certificate?"
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