Chapter 12 All Mysterious and Secretive

Hearing this, Ning Shuyi gained a crystal-clear understanding of what Wu Meifang’s sister-in-law was trying to convey.

No wonder she had to find an excuse to step aside and speak with her privately. As a sister-in-law, raising suspicions to the police that the victim—who had just been brutally murdered—might have been engaged in illicit sex work, and doing so right after her tragic death...

To say nothing of an older brother who had coddled his sister all her life, even a brother who maintained a perfectly objective and neutral stance regarding the dynamics between his wife and sister would likely have found such a suggestion unbearable.

Not to mention that Wu Meifang’s deeply traumatized parents were right there as well.

From this perspective, although the sister-in-law held little fondness for her husband's sister and perhaps even harbored a slight prejudice, her actions demonstrated considerable forethought, prudence, and restraint.

"Aside from the fact that all her clothes and possessions were designer labels, is there any other evidence suggesting something suspicious about Wu Meifang's occupation?" Ning Shuyi continued to converse with her. "Looking solely at her spending habits doesn't really prove anything definitive.

After all, many young people nowadays, if they simply want to acquire things beyond their financial means, will use credit cards or purchase items through installment plans and online lending platforms. It might not be the kind of situation you are worrying about."

"I genuinely wish she had bought those things with borrowed money or on installments! If that were the case, we wouldn't mind paying off her debts. What I'm afraid of is that if you walk the night path often enough, you're bound to run into a ghost. Not only has she lost her life, but her family will be left unable to hold their heads high afterward."

Wu Meifang’s sister-in-law seemed to have formed her own conclusion long ago, completely unshaken by the alternative possibilities Ning Shuyi raised. "Once, when she came home, someone called her. She stealthily hid away to take the call. As it happened, I was in the next room inventorying and organizing the storage area, and I could faintly hear her talking on the phone.

The tone she used with that person was completely different from how she usually spoke—she sounded sort of spoiled, saying no, she wasn't available these days and couldn't accompany the person, and that they would talk in a few days.

She only stayed for a single night during that visit and left the very next day, and... and... I found out in the restroom that she happened to be on her period at that exact time...

Tell me, you can't blame me for letting my imagination run wild, can you? Anyone in my position would think twice!

That's why I figured, at this point, whether it's embarrassing or not doesn't matter anymore! Now that she's dead, she shouldn't die in such an obscure and murky way. I need to lay the facts out clearly for you officers so that, at the very least, the murderer can be brought to justice!"

Ning Shuyi nodded. Indeed, the sister-in-law couldn't be faulted for overthinking. Combined with the meticulously scrubbed and wiped clean call logs and messages on Wu Meifang's phone, it was only natural for people to leap to certain conclusions.

Among all women, female sex workers have long constituted a high-risk group. They engage in professions prohibited by law, and precisely because of the nature of their work, they are the most vulnerable to becoming targets and victims of other crimes.

Even if the situation wasn't the scenario feared by the sister-in-law, Wu Meifang's income streams would likely still reveal some unusual social connections waiting to be uncovered.

"As for Wu Meifang's boyfriend, has truly none of you ever met him?" Ning Shuyi thought for a moment, bringing up the boyfriend Wu Meifang's brother had mentioned earlier.

"We genuinely haven't. Not only have we never met him, but we've never even spoken to him on the phone," the sister-in-law shook her head. "Only Wu Meifang herself ever mentioned this person when she came home.

At the time, my mother-in-law mentioned that the daughter of an old neighbor—who was a childhood playmate of my sister-in-law—had been admitted to a prestigious university. Word was she had found a boyfriend at school and brought him home to introduce to her family during the break.

The young man was reportedly tall and strapping, quite sharp-looking, and also a student at a top university, so the family was extremely pleased. Whenever my mother-in-law saw our old neighbor, she would beam and boast about it.

Hearing this, my mother-in-law probably felt envious. When her daughter came home shortly after, she brought the topic up.

That was how my sister-in-law brought up her own boyfriend. She actually looked down quite a bit on her childhood friend for dating such a high-achieving scholar, saying that academic degrees were useless nowadays and personal capability was what mattered most. She claimed there were plenty of students from elite universities—some even with master's or doctoral degrees—who still couldn't find jobs or make money after graduation. She said that while it sounded prestigious to outsiders, they were actually dirt poor.

She claimed her boyfriend was also very handsome, but the crucial point was that he had a great job, was exceptionally skilled at making money, and loved and treated her wonderfully. She thought he was far superior to some Ivy League scholar who might end up amounting to nothing.

My husband and I were quite curious when we heard this and asked to see a photo of him. She replied that her boyfriend disliked taking pictures and that they didn't have any photos together. She added that the handbag she was carrying at the time was a gift from him, and went on and on about how romantic he was.

At the time, we didn't think much of it. None of us are particularly fond of taking pictures anyway. If you look at my phone right now, the gallery is full of either my kids or my dog, and you genuinely wouldn't find a single photo of my husband.

My husband is probably the exact same way.

So we all believed her back then. My parents-in-law merely urged her to bring him home so the family could meet him, but she trotted out the exact speech my husband just told you. She completely hoodwinked her parents and brother, leaving them speechless, and after that, they didn't dare press her anymore.

That went on until around before the Spring Festival this year, when my mother-in-law called to say that Wu Meifang's childhood friend was bringing her boyfriend home this Spring Festival to get engaged, as both had been accepted into graduate programs and were ready to finalize things.

Seeing that her peers were making solid progress, my mother-in-law grew anxious and insisted that Wu Meifang bring her man home for a look. Otherwise, relatives and friends kept endlessly asking, and she had no way to explain why her own daughter's boyfriend's appearance remained a complete mystery to her."

"She didn't end up bringing him back, did she?" Ning Shuyi guessed, following the flow of the sister-in-law's narrative.

The sister-in-law gave a bitter laugh. "Exactly! If she had brought even a single soul back—regardless of age, height, or weight—I wouldn't have had to worry about a thing.

Wu Meifang had promised her mother at the time that she would bring him home for a visit, but she still returned alone for the Spring Festival, claiming her boyfriend had an emergency back home and couldn't make it.

My mother-in-law was furious at the time, arguing that everyone was on holiday during the New Year, so what monumental crisis could possibly need handling? Couldn't he at least manage to visit the house and share a meal before returning to work after the holiday?

Wu Meifang then whipped out her phone and flipped up a photo, claiming it was her boyfriend. She said that because he hated having his picture taken, she had snapped it candidly, and she showed it to her mother. She brushed it off by saying everyone has to spend the New Year with their families, and there was nothing strange about it.

When my mother-in-law kept nagging her, Wu Meifang threw another one of her trademark temper tantrums. My parents-in-law are most afraid of her throwing tantrums and were completely helpless against her, so the matter was dropped once again."