Although she didn’t want to confirm Gu Nianzhi’s speculation, Luo Jialan couldn’t think of any other way to prove her friendship with Yamaguchi Aiko.
She frowned and stared at Gu Nianzhi for a while before nodding. “Yes, she’s a very nice person. We hit it off the moment we met…”
“Really?” Gu Nianzhi smiled sweetly. “You guys became close friends all of a sudden? Then where is she from? What are her parents’ names? Do you know where her permanent residence is?”
Luo Jialan didn’t think much of it. “Are you checking her household registration?”
“No. Since you two immediately hit it off and became close friends, you should know about each other, right? For example, where you’re from, what are your parents’ names, and where you have a permanent residence. Does Yamaguchi Aiko know?”
This was a game of “heart to heart”.
The corners of Luo Jialan’s mouth twitched. “We’re not kids, right? Who needs to know about these things? Besides, we became friends because we care about each other’s personal circumstances. What does that have to do with our family background? ——Vulgar, how vulgar”
“Oh, I thought that was normal. After all, if you don’t know each other well, then your friendship is limited. Of course, Miss Luo and Yamaguchi Aiko’s situation might be different. It’s nice that you two value each other for your characters. ” Gu Nianzhi cocked her head, and there was a hidden meaning in her words.
Luo Jialan quickly agreed. “Of course, we value each other for our characters. We became close friends because we know each other well, not because of our family background.”
“So you don’t know Yamaguchi Aiko’s family background, and Yamaguchi Aiko doesn’t know your family background?” Gu Nianzhi frowned slightly and put on a puzzled expression. “But why would she ask you to lend her five million euros? Theoretically, a normal person wouldn’t ask someone to lend them so much money if they didn’t know about your financial situation, right?”
Luo Jialan: ” … ”
Oh no, was she starting to sound too outlandish.
Gu Nianzhi’s question made sense.
Five million euros wasn’t a small sum. Even she had felt the pain when she had taken it out…
In a moment of desperation, Luo Jialan recalled Gu Nianzhi’s question, and quickly checked for loopholes. “That’s right. Most people don’t know about the other party’s financial situation, so they wouldn’t nonchalantly ask to borrow five million euros. But Yamaguchi Aiko knows a little about my family background. Think about it. I live in the Xie family’s manor in France, and my surname is Huo. She knows my financial situation very well.”
“I see. There are so many people with the surname Huo, and the Xie family also has a lot of manors. Also, as far as I know, you guys only lived in one of the Xie family’s unoccupied manors in France. It’s of average value and belongs to a distant relative of the Xie family. If based on these two conditions, she could infer that you had the financial ability to lend her five million euros without an IOU, I think it’s really extraordinary.”
After Gu Nianzhi finished her words, she looked at Luo Jialan with a smile. “dDoes she think you’re a fool? Or a sucker?”
Luo Jialan was slightly sullen. “Why are you cursing?”
“I’m not cursing. I’m just feeling sorry for you.” Gu Nianzhi spread her hands out and raised her eyebrows slightly. The expression on her face was mischievous and sly. “It’s obvious that although you don’t know her family background, but she knows your family background very well. She had ulterior motives behind approaching you. It was a trap. You’re a fool with a lot of money. Who else would fall for it?”
“You don’t know anything about her, but you lent her five million euros just like that, and you didn’t even ask her for an IOU. Such a sucker is quite unprecedented, right?”
Gu Nianzhi changed the subject.
Luo Jialan was so angry at Gu Nianzhi’s accusations that her chest was heaving and puffing. She was about to retort when Gu Nianzhi changed the subject and continued, “But as far as I know, Miss Luo isn’t an ignorant sucker, so why did you lend her the money? What’s the real reason? It’s very difficult to clear you of the suspicion of ‘money laundering’.”
“I already said that this was my own money. How could it be ‘money laundering’?” Luo Jialan was annoyed. “How could that be true?!”
“Helping to launder money is also money laundering.” Gu Nianzhi’s expression grew slightly cold. “If Yamaguchi Aiko was conducting illegal business, and you lent her the money then she returned it to you, that would be laundering income from the illegal business, commonly known as money laundering. ——Understood? If you don’t tell me why you lent the money to her, what she used it for, and whether the business she was involved in was legitimate, then your suspicion of money laundering will become more and more obvious.”
Luo Jialan was shocked by Gu Nianzhi’s words, and she was in great emotional turmoil. She immediately said, “It’s not that I don’t know anything about her. She’s doing business in Europe and needs cash flow. If I didn’t know about this, why would I lend her the money?!”
“Then what kind of legal business does Yamaguchi Aiko run? Even if it’s an investment, which industry and which company is the investment in? These are all things that can be investigated.”
Gu Nianzhi’s topic began to revolve around Yamaguchi Aiko.
Luo Jialan thought to herself, she’s in the business of contract killing. How could I tell you about these things?
She was thinking about how to continue her story when Cai Shengnan, who had been listening quietly from the side, suddenly said, “This is Yamaguchi Aiko’s problem. It has nothing to do with my client. My client was a fool. She had been so devoted to her as a friend, and had never thought that she would be defrauded by her. So she was defrauded out of five million euros. She wasn’t working with her client to launder money.”
Cai Shengnan understood what she meant, so she quickly cut off Gu Nianzhi’s line of questioning and didn’t allow her to continue circling around Yamaguchi Aiko.
Cai Shengnan had a hunch that this Yamaguchi Aiko was a shady person.
In that case, she could just push all the suspicion onto Yamaguchi Aiko.
Yamaguchi Aiko was already dead anyway, and like the saying that “dead men cannot testify”, this was the best way to get away with it.
Luo Jialan didn’t expect Cai Shengnan to call her “a fool” in front of so many people, and was instantly embarrassed and exasperated.
But on second thought, what Cai Shengnan said was the most appropriate thing to do. It was harsh, but it worked. At least the suspicion of being involved in money laundering was gone, and she herself had become a victim.
Luo Jialan had no choice but to agree. She looked aggrieved as she said, “Yes, I was defrauded by her. I didn’t know her true situation and ulterior motives. I trusted her. How would I know she was deceiving to me?”
“Really? Then you were defrauded? You were defrauded out of such a large sum of money. Tsk Tsk, I can’t believe it. Hurry up and call the police.” Gu Nianzhi took out her phone. “Do you want me to call the police? The French, Swiss, or German police? Which country do you choose?”
“Why would I call the police? ! ” Luo Jialan blurted out. “Yamaguchi Aiko is dead. Who would I ask for money?!”
Gu Nianzhi: ” … ”
After a while, her expression turned serious as she said slowly, “Yamaguchi Aiko is dead? Doesn’t that mean there’s no evidence since she’s dead?”
Luo Jialan’s eyes sparkled as she looked away and laughed dryly. “Haha, I don’t really understand. I just know that she’s dead anyway, so it’s better to let things be.”
“How do you know she’s dead? Where did she die? Did you see her corpse? Or did you attend the funeral?” Gu Nianzhi refused to give up and continued to ask.
Luo Jialan was almost driven mad by her questions. She said impatiently, “She’s dead and that’s that. She died in the Caribbean Sea. I heard she was killed by pirates. I didn’t see her corpse, and I didn’t attend the funeral. Is that enough?”
“What a coincidence. Did she really die in the Caribbean Sea?” Gu Nianzhi’s expression became even more grave. “To be honest with you, when I returned to the Gu family in Barbados, I was ambushed by pirates in the Caribbean Sea near Barbados. The person who led the pirates to kill me was Yamaguchi Aiko.”
Luo Jialan: “!!!”
What in the world!
Yamaguchi Aiko had even hunted Gu Nianzhi down in the Caribbean sea?!
As an assassin, she was admittedly very dutiful!
But why wasn’t Gu Nianzhi the one who had died?!
Her face twitched and she forced a smile. “What a coincidence! Could it be that you’ve mistaken someone else for her?”
Gu Nianzhi lowered her head and took out her phone. She rummaged through her phone’s photo album for a while and said, “I’m also worried that I’ve mistaken someone else for her.”
She found a photo, then clicked on it, and showed it to Luo Jialan. “Take a look. Is this the person?”
Luo Jialan glanced at it.
Gu Nianzhi’s phone showed an official photo, just like the one she had taken when she was at customs. There was a clear view of her face, and she was wearing a white silk blouse with a small round collar. Her long neck was exposed, and she wasn’t wearing those black-rimmed glasses. She had fair skin, a round face, a small mouth, and straight black hair. It was the Yamaguchi Aiko from her memory.
Luo Jialan nodded. “That’s her.” She asked curiously, “How did you get a photo of her?”
“Are you sure this is Yamaguchi Aiko?” Gu Nianzhi didn’t answer her directly. “Take a closer look. You two were so close. You’ve been together for a few months, right?”
“Only two months. ” Luo Jialan didn’t sense the trap at all and blurted out the truth without realizing it. “This is her. I recognize the mole the size of a grain of rice on her neck.”
Gu Nianzhi’s face darkened. “That’s really interesting. This person isn’t Yamaguchi Aiko, but Yamaguchi Yoko. ——Luo Jialan, what is the name of this friend of yours? Do you really know her name?!”
” … or are you deliberately concealing the truth and lying to my face?!”
Her last sentence was harsh, and Luo Jialan’s head buzzed. She felt ill at ease.
