Chapter Thirty-Eight: Aunt

The cash was withdrawn from the ATM, and there were no irregular operations. From the transaction details alone, it was impossible to find any answers. Fortunately, those few small withdrawals had all taken place within the past three months, meaning the bank’s surveillance footage was still fully preserved and hadn’t been overwritten. To confirm the identity of the person making the withdrawals, all they had to do was check the surveillance recordings.

The two of them cross-checked the withdrawal dates and times from the bank statements. It didn’t take much effort before they could clearly and unmistakably identify the person responsible for those small withdrawals from the surveillance footage.

They had met this person before and had even had brief dealings with her—she was Wang Yuluo’s aunt.

On the surveillance screen, Ning Shuyi saw Wang Yuluo’s aunt walking into the bank with complete composure, heading straight for the self-service area. She found an available ATM, took out her bank card from her purse, inserted it, and skillfully entered her PIN. After confirming the withdrawal amount, she took the cash and her card, carefully placing them into separate compartments of her purse, then left the bank unhurriedly.

On one occasion, while she was withdrawing money, a bank employee in uniform came over and exchanged a few words with her. Judging from their body language and expressions, the staff member was very familiar with her; it was nothing more than a casual greeting between acquaintances. Wang Yuluo’s aunt remained unfazed, chatting amiably while deftly completing her transaction, withdrawing several hundred yuan, stowing the money away, and only after finishing did she exchange a few more words with the employee before leaving.

Throughout the whole process, there was no sign of panic or unease.

Ning Shuyi recalled the nervous, apprehensive demeanor Wang Yuluo’s aunt had displayed when she had accompanied Wang Yuluo’s father to the station on the day of the incident. That woman had been so anxious and fearful the entire time, it seemed almost impossible to reconcile that image with the calm, unhurried woman now seen on the footage, withdrawing money with her niece’s card in front of a bank employee.

She glanced at the staff member chatting with Wang Yuluo’s aunt in the surveillance footage and noticed her uniform was identical to that of the branch manager they had seen upon entering the hall.

“Is she one of your staff here?” Ning Shuyi pointed to the woman on the screen, asking the young woman who had been assisting them with the surveillance. “Is she on duty today? Could we speak with her?”

The young woman, realizing she couldn’t make such decisions herself, quickly said she would go and check at once and return with an answer, then hurried off.

After the bank employee left, Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan continued looking into Wang Yuluo’s bank account.

Soon, they made another interesting discovery.

Wang Yuluo, a bona fide rich second-generation, appeared to spend money freely, as though she had never faced any restrictions. However, when they looked at the earliest available records—dating back five years—they were surprised to find that, five years ago, she had not yet achieved “financial freedom.”

It was only after Wang Yuluo graduated from university that her bank account began receiving transfers from her father’s account. Each transfer was substantial, and after a period, another large sum would follow. The amounts and frequency correlated directly with the speed of Wang Yuluo’s spending.

But prior to her graduation, her living expenses were not deposited by her father; instead, they were handled by her aunt.

Clearly, Wang Yuluo’s aunt had been far more involved in her niece’s life than she had let on—far beyond simply cooking the occasional meal or tidying up, as she claimed. Yet she had not mentioned any of this, even going out of her way to distance herself, hoping Ning Shuyi and her colleagues would believe that Wang Yuluo had entirely excluded her aunt from her affairs.

Soon, the young woman returned, bringing someone with her—a woman of about fifty, not tall, with a broad face and large eyes, her medium-length curly hair casually gathered at the back of her head with a clip. She wore the same bank uniform as the woman in the surveillance footage; the resemblance was unmistakable.

“This is our branch manager, Ms. Sun. She’s the one you wanted to see,” the young woman introduced quickly, then hurried out.

Ms. Sun was straightforward and candid. Smiling at Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan, she said, “My name is Sun Yuhua, and I’m the lobby manager here. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, Manager Sun, hello. There’s nothing urgent, we’d just like to chat and understand the situation a bit,” Ning Shuyi replied with a smile, inviting her to sit and speak at her leisure.

Sun Yuhua sat down and glanced at the papers in front of Ning Shuyi, recognizing them as Wang Yuluo’s bank statements. She seemed to have some idea of what this was about.

When the two officers had come to request the records earlier, the staff had already begun speculating in private that something serious must have happened. They couldn’t guess what, but anything involving the police was never trivial.

Still, Sun Yuhua was an experienced middle-aged woman and tactfully refrained from asking any indiscreet questions.

“Manager Sun, would you say Wang Yuluo is considered a major client at your branch?” Ning Shuyi asked.

Though Wang Yuluo hadn’t earned a cent herself, her father had always been generous with her, giving her tens of thousands every month, sometimes even more. Her account balance was usually substantial. For a small branch in a residential neighborhood, such an account—even if not the largest—ought to rank near the top.

However, Wang Yuluo’s account functioned more like a transfer station: money came in from her father and was quickly spent. She had never purchased any financial products. For the bank, it was difficult to categorize such a unique customer.

“This child…” Manager Sun smiled. “I don’t know her personally, but she’s quite well-known at our branch. I know her aunt, though. Her aunt comes here often for business—she’s a wonderful person, friendly and talkative. Over time, we got acquainted.”

“Her aunt? Ah, yes, we’ve met her before, and she really does have a pleasant personality,” Ning Shuyi replied, following Manager Sun’s lead. “But there’s something I don’t quite understand. You know her aunt, but not her, yet she’s well-known at your branch. Why is that?”