Chapter 10 Boyfriend

"Does Wu Meifang keep in frequent contact with you usually? Living here all by herself, how much do you know about her situation?" Ning Shuyi asked.

"She does call home quite often, and she comes back to visit from time to time, but..." Wu Meifang's sister-in-law hesitated for a moment, glancing at her husband beside her. "When she calls or comes home, it is generally because she needs us to do something for her. She is rather reluctant to let us inquire about her own affairs."

"No way!" Wu Meifang's brother disagreed with his wife's words, chiming in to refute, "Meifang has a very close relationship with the family. She never hides anything from us.

She mentioned having a boyfriend before, and she told the family right away. She said that before their relationship was stable enough, she wouldn't bring him home so as not to stir up the relatives and friends and make a big fuss.

Just in case things didn't work out and they broke up later, she wouldn't mind, but we would easily become the target of endless gossip from relatives and friends back in our hometown, which is extremely annoying. So she planned to wait until their relationship was stable and they were ready to get married before bringing him home to meet us!

Don't let her age fool you, my younger sister does things in a very proper and sensible way! She is the kind of extremely reliable, good kid!"

Wu Meifang's mother, who had been crying nonstop beside them, also nodded repeatedly. Although she was overwhelmed with grief, she still tried her best to support her son's statement.

Wu Meifang's sister-in-law pursed her lips and said nothing.

Ning Shuyi noticed this subtle little action of hers, kept silent, and asked Wu Meifang's brother instead, "You mentioned that Wu Meifang also has a boyfriend? Do you have his contact information?

Regarding matters related to Wu Meifang's daily life here in the city, I'm afraid we still need to speak with this boyfriend to understand the situation."

"Contact information..." When asked about this, Wu Meifang's brother seemed somewhat at a loss for words, turning his head to look at his wife.

Wu Meifang's sister-in-law shook her head helplessly. "If Meifang didn't tell you, it's even less likely she would have told me."

Wu Meifang's parents were equally unable to answer this question; one was still too dazed to process things, while the other only focused on crying.

Wu Meifang's brother probably felt his pride stung to some extent and said defensively, "My sister had her own considerations regarding this matter.

Although the two of them were dating, they hadn't reached the stage of discussing marriage, so that was purely a matter between the two of them and didn't involve anyone else in the family.

Under such circumstances, dragging the family members into it prematurely wouldn't be very appropriate either; instead, it would easily make things a complete mess.

She probably took these things into consideration. She would tell us about getting along with her boyfriend, but we don't have his contact information."

With that, it also dawned on him, "My sister's mobile phone should be in your hands, right?

Can't you just find her boyfriend's contact information directly from inside it? You don't need to ask us about this, do you?"

Ning Shuyi remained non-committal about this.

Wu Meifang's mobile phone was indeed in their possession, and they had already checked her call logs and several commonly used social networking apps.

What was the result?

Suffice it to say, if Wu Meifang's brother hadn't just mentioned that she had a boyfriend, judging purely by the traces left on her mobile phone, there would have been no way to know about this situation at all!

This girl's mobile phone was several times cleaner than the sole of her shoe.

Although such an analogy might sound a bit offensive, based on professional experience, in the past, whenever Ning Shuyi saw such a "spotlessly clean" mobile phone, it usually belonged to someone who was cheating in their marriage.

Considering Wu Meifang's age, they hadn't previously entertained guesses in that direction.

Now, hearing her brother say that she also had a boyfriend she was dating, this actually made things rather bizarre.

Listening from the side, when Wu Meifang's sister-in-law saw that Ning Shuyi made no response to her husband's rhetorical question, she slowly let out a sigh, glanced sideways at Huo Yan, and said to Ning Shuyi, "Officer, I need to go to the restroom urgently. Could you please take me there?"

Ning Shuyi looked at her, nodded, stood up, and said to Huo Yan, "You continue chatting with the family members. I'll take her to the restroom."

Wu Meifang's sister-in-law smiled gratefully at Ning Shuyi. The two of them walked out one after the other. Ning Shuyi led her to the office, invited her to sit by the desk, and poured her a cup of water.

"Please sit down. If there is anything you want to tell me, feel free to say it. With my colleague over there, your parents-in-law and husband won't easily come back to this office," she told Wu Meifang's sister-in-law.

Wu Meifang's sister-in-law nodded gratefully. "Thank you! Good thing you're so smart!

I was worried just now that if I finished talking with you and you really just pointed me toward the restroom and let me go alone, all my effort would have been wasted."

"Is there something unspeakable on your mind?" Ning Shuyi asked.

"I wouldn't quite call it that, but I just feel that if you ask those three family members, you really won't get any answers out of them. Chances are you won't learn anything useful at all, and by the end of the conversation, the Wu Meifang they describe to you won't resemble the real Wu Meifang in the slightest," Wu Meifang's sister-in-law sighed and shook her head.

"Does her family habitually cover up Wu Meifang's words and actions?"

"It's not even that they intentionally cover for her; it's just that they spoil my younger sister-in-law so much that whatever problems she has, her parents and brother genuinely cannot see them at all!"

"Could you be more specific?" Ning Shuyi unfolded her notepad and got ready to take notes. After all, someone who would go to the trouble of pulling her away under such a pretext must have some substantial, hard facts to share.

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but our family's financial situation is actually quite poor," Wu Meifang's sister-in-law said. "My husband and I usually help my parents-in-law take care of a small hardware and grocery store at home. Business isn't very good; it just barely keeps the family fed and clothed.

Our whole family lives in just that one apartment, with the living quarters in the back and the shop in the front. Originally, they said that old neighborhood was going to be demolished for redevelopment, but because a group of people tried to hold out for exorbitant compensation prices, the developers simply bypassed us in the end. We didn't get a single penny, and that old, dilapidated house wasn't demolished after all.

My parents-in-law's family care a lot about saving face. Even if they can't save a single penny normally, they still have to wear, use, eat, and drink things that are no worse than anyone else's.

So judging by their clothes and attire, it might look like their living conditions are passable, but in reality, our family has zero savings. If we don't make money this month, we won't even know what to use to buy food next month."

Ning Shuyi looked at Wu Meifang's sister-in-law with some confusion, not understanding what the purpose was of crying poor to her.

"Oh my, am I rambling a bit?" Realizing that Ning Shuyi was left bewildered by her words, Wu Meifang's sister-in-law quickly explained, "I actually just wanted to say that our family's conditions are truly not good at all. We simply cannot afford to support my younger sister-in-law in the kind of lifestyle she has out here, nor can we subsidize her.

The life Wu Meifang leads out here is definitely not what she claims it is when she goes back home."