Chapter Twelve: The Stubborn Girl

After exchanging a few words with her mother and then being scolded again for correcting her mother’s phrasing, Yu Mengpeng’s mood visibly shifted. She was no longer the spirited girl who had rushed over after the initial phone call. By the time Ning Shuyi left Wang Yuluo’s bedroom, Yu Mengpeng had already moved alone to the bedside, standing listlessly, looking like she had no desire to speak.

Huo Yan moved around Wang Yuluo’s room, snapping pictures from various angles, so he could double-check any details later. Wang Yuluo’s father followed close behind, as if hoping to glean something from his demeanor; the aunt and uncle trailed along as well.

Meanwhile, Ning Shuyi, already waiting outside for Huo Yan, found herself in rare peace and quiet.

She glanced at Yu Mengpeng, who stood silently lost in thought. Catching Ning Shuyi’s gentle smile, Yu Mengpeng was momentarily startled before quickly collecting herself and managing a small, pursed-lip smile in return.

“Do you have any plans later?” Ning Shuyi’s voice was soft enough for Yu Mengpeng to hear, though likely not her parents.

Yu Mengpeng shook her head quickly. “Nothing at all.”

“In that case, could I borrow a little of your time? Perhaps we could find somewhere to talk?”

“Sure, but…” Yu Mengpeng cast a wary glance toward the room. “Just don’t let my mother know. If you need to get in touch with my uncle about anything, just do it privately. My mother… she gets worked up so easily.”

Ning Shuyi nodded, understanding her concerns. With that, the two reached a quiet agreement without further discussion.

Huo Yan returned once he’d finished taking photos and handed his phone to Ning Shuyi for review. After confirming that nothing had been overlooked, the two prepared to leave.

Downstairs, before they could say anything, Wang Yuluo’s father had already relocked the security door and handed the key back to Ning Shuyi.

“Officer Ning, Officer Huo,” he said to them, “I may not have always paid my daughter enough attention, but there are things I can vouch for: my daughter was healthy, and she had no bad habits. This incident—someone must have deliberately harmed her! I’ve left everything upstairs exactly as it was, and you have the key. If you need to investigate further, just contact me. I don’t care about anything else—I just want the truth. I want to know how my daughter died!”

In the past, Ning Shuyi’s greatest worry was dealing with uncooperative families of the deceased. This time, with Wang Yuluo’s father so willing to help, she felt an unexpected relief—it saved her a great deal of trouble.

Wang Yuluo’s aunt, worried that her brother might spiral if left alone in the house where every object would remind him of his loss, urged him insistently to come stay at her home.

At first, he hesitated, but unable to withstand the combined persuasion of his sister and brother-in-law—and perhaps not wanting to be alone in such circumstances—he agreed.

When the group reached the ground floor, they exchanged a few more polite words with Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan. Taking advantage of the distraction, Yu Mengpeng quietly told her mother that she had plans with a friend and would be out for a while.

Her aunt, preoccupied with pleasantries for the officers, barely paid attention, simply waving her off in consent.

Seizing the moment before her parents could object, Yu Mengpeng slipped away on her own.

After Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan said their farewells to the Wang family and left the complex, they turned a corner and spotted Yu Mengpeng waiting at the entrance to a small side street.

She waved them over. “There’s a dessert shop not far from my sister’s place—just opened a couple of months ago. Not many people know about it yet, so it’s quiet. Why don’t we talk there? This isn’t exactly something we should be discussing on the street.”

Ning Shuyi had no objections. She and Huo Yan followed Yu Mengpeng through a series of turns to the dessert shop. The newly renovated space was bright and clean, the air sweet with the scent of pastries. Upstairs was just as inviting, with private tables and hardly any customers.

Yu Mengpeng, evidently familiar with the place, led them to a quiet spot by the window and beckoned them over.

“It feels a bit odd for all of us to sit here chatting without ordering anything,” Ning Shuyi said to Huo Yan. “Why don’t you go take a seat, and I’ll head down to buy us some drinks?”

She turned to go, but Huo Yan stopped her.

“You go sit down. I’ll get the drinks,” he insisted, shaking his head. “She’s just a young girl. I’d be uncomfortable sitting alone with her.”

“I’m not much older than she is,” Ning Shuyi replied, unable to resist teasing him. “When you were putting me through physical training, I never saw you go easy on me for the sake of comfort.”

“You’re different.” For a moment, a rare hint of resignation softened Huo Yan’s otherwise stoic expression as he regarded her. “You’re not an ordinary girl. Ordinary girls aren’t as stubborn as you.”

Ning Shuyi knew he was referring to her determination to match him in physical training back then.

Despite her gentle appearance, which led most people to believe she was a soft and easy-going soul, only those closest to Ning Shuyi knew there was a “little volcano” inside her. Most of the time, that volcano lay dormant, but when her competitive spirit was ignited, it would erupt with force.

Physical training had always been her weakness, though she’d managed to stay within the passing range. Compared to her mental prowess, however, she lagged behind. Still, no one ever doubted her abilities because of it.

Huo Yan, it seemed, had been the exception.

If he had only refused Captain Dong’s arrangement and asked for someone else to help him adapt to the new work environment, Ning Shuyi would have accepted it without protest. But he had told Captain Dong that none of his team met his standards for physical fitness, and that Ning Shuyi in particular was unqualified—so he preferred not to be assigned a mentor at all.

Ning Shuyi felt personally slighted, but more than that, his words seemed to belittle the entire team. She refused to back down. She insisted that Huo Yan train her according to his own standards. If she passed, he had to accept Captain Dong’s arrangement without complaint; if she failed, she would accept the result without another word.

After several months of grueling effort, the results spoke for themselves. Though she was still no match for Huo Yan, her physical fitness had improved by leaps and bounds—a transformation that could hardly be put into words.

The hardship, of course, was not something she could easily share with others. For nearly two months, her entire body had ached before she saw the slightest improvement.

After their police training ended, Huo Yan finally relented—not so much because she had met his standards but, as he himself admitted, because she was simply too stubborn for him to outlast.