Chapter Forty: Analysis

Yan Xue felt that as the mother of the victim, excessive self-blame at this moment was futile. She was about to speak some comforting words to ease her, urging her not to dwell on such thoughts, when Kang Ge entered from outside and overheard the mother’s words. He approached Yan Xue and gave her a subtle look. Understanding his gesture, Yan Xue restrained her comforting urge and held back her words.

“Isn’t a large part of a person’s character innate? Why do you think Bai Yueni’s case has anything to do with the way you raised her?” Kang Ge did not soothe her; instead, he gently encouraged her to continue.

“My daughter was very well-behaved when she was little—an exceptionally smart and lively girl,” Bai Yueni’s mother said, her eyes vacant and her voice dry and hollow. “Because she was pretty and charming, especially clever, many people told us that such a wonderful child was a pity to have been born into our family! They said we would be holding her back!

At the time, we were pleased to have such a smart and beautiful child, but at the same time, it felt bittersweet—what parent doesn’t want their child to be praised? But if I were the child, so good, I surely wouldn’t want to be born into a family like ours!”

“So, from that moment, you decided to indulge Bai Yueni?”

“Yes, we two agreed that no matter what, even if we had to sell everything or work two jobs each, our child would never lack anything compared to others. Whatever other children could learn, ours would learn too! Toys, clothes—we would never let her be inferior. We wanted the world to know that such a wonderful child was born to us, and we could afford to raise her well! I refused to hear anyone say that such a fine girl was wasted in our family, or that she would grow up resenting us for raising her in poverty.”

“Then how does this relate to Bai Yueni’s character?”

“It’s because from the beginning, we told her all kinds of princess stories, bought her princess dresses, so she grew up with a princess-like personality—high standards, somewhat narcissistic, competitive, and very proud. Sometimes she thought no one was as good as she was, that she was the best. When she was young, we thought it was just confidence, but as she grew older, entering middle and high school, puberty hit, and the problems began.”

“Ah, why bring this up now!” Bai Yueni’s father, uncomfortable with the topic, had been pacing nervously as if his feet were pricked by thorns. Taking advantage of a pause in his wife’s emotions, he quickly intervened. “Who could have predicted what happened to our child? Why say these things now? About that identity swap game—sure, we never imagined that the girl she swapped with would cause trouble outside, or that being wealthy made her a target. Our daughter is gone now, she will always be the best daughter in our hearts. Why talk about these things? Do you want Ni Ni to change?”

Yan Xue realized that Bai Yueni’s parents truly cherished their daughter above all else. Even though they were aware of her flaws, they had never corrected them while she was alive, and now, with her gone, they were even less willing to admit anything that might tarnish her image.

“There is something you need to know,” Yan Xue said, taking a deep breath and watching their reactions carefully. “Although it may be painful, as Bai Yueni’s parents, you have the right to know. We now suspect that Bai Yueni’s murder was not because of the girl she swapped identities with. The killer’s target was very likely Bai Yueni herself from the start—not someone else in her place.”

“How can that be? Ni Ni isn’t even from W City! How could she have enemies here?” Bai Yueni’s father was the first to reject this, his resistance clear.

“We want to resolve this mystery, which is why we need your cooperation. We need to understand Bai Yueni’s personality, her living conditions, her relationships. If the killer targeted her specifically, the root cause must be connected to many details about Bai Yueni herself. She wasn’t just a random target,” Yan Xue patiently explained.

“But... but...” Bai Yueni’s father looked troubled and anxious. He wanted to avoid his wife but couldn’t. After struggling for a moment, he spoke bluntly, “You’ve seen my wife’s condition. As I said outside, recalling these things now is like stabbing a knife into her heart—and mine. If this shocks her into something worse, will I even survive?”

“This isn’t about stabbing anyone’s heart,” Kang Ge said, dropping his usual smile and adopting a serious tone as he shook his head. He gestured to Bai Yueni’s mother beside him. “Do you think your wife can cope just by burying her pain and not talking about it? Can she endure this without facing the hurt?”

Bai Yueni’s father opened his mouth but said nothing, caught off guard by Kang Ge’s question.

Seeing his silence, Kang Ge continued, “You people have lived longer and experienced more than us. Surely you’ve encountered this: when an elderly family member is bedridden for a long time, they often develop bedsores?”

“Yes, of course. No matter how careful you are, it’s unavoidable,” Bai Yueni’s father nodded. He had mentioned before that their elderly relative was already bedridden before Bai Yueni’s incident, so he wasn’t surprised Kang Ge knew about this, but he didn’t understand why the topic had suddenly shifted from Bai Yueni to the elderly.

“Bedsores need timely treatment, right? If there’s pus, the wound must be cleaned thoroughly—removing all decayed tissue and pus before applying medicine. Before the next treatment, the old medication and pus must be cleaned off completely. Am I right?”

“Yes, that’s true. But what does this have to do with our case?”

“One more question: if, out of pain aversion, you just keep layering medicine over pus and blood without cleaning it, what happens? Will the bedsore heal?”

“Of course not! It only gets worse, deeper, until it reaches the bone!”

“Then don’t you see the point of analyzing Bai Yueni today?” Kang Ge looked at Bai Yueni’s father, convinced he had made his meaning clear.

But Bai Yueni’s father only looked confused, clearly not understanding.

Yan Xue sighed. “He means that forbidding us to ask about Bai Yueni and not wanting your wife to recall anything painful is like just dusting medicine over a severe bedsore, repeatedly covering the surface. It seems like calm on the outside, but the pain keeps festering inside her heart. Suppressing every trigger only makes her condition worse.”

Bai Yueni’s father suddenly understood. His expression showed he found some truth in this, but worried about his wife’s ability to bear it. He looked at her anxiously, seeking her consent.

Yan Xue glanced at Kang Ge, who gave her a wry, helpless smile. She pursed her lips, knowing she must control her emotions and show no trace of amusement. After all, the feelings of the victim’s family deserved respect.

Yet, Kang Ge, usually so clever, had momentarily confused someone less educated and prone to taking things at face value. After this slight misstep, he quickly found the right way to communicate.

Turning to Bai Yueni’s mother, Kang Ge said, “I know you feel strangled by pain, with no will to live. But besides being Bai Yueni’s parents, aren’t you also children to your own parents?

If you give up on life because of your loss, what happens to your elderly parents at home? Do you want to drag them down the same path, all together to the afterlife, reuniting in the underworld? Whatever mistakes you think you made raising Bai Yueni, they may have nothing to do with her death. Are you really willing to waste time blaming yourselves, missing the best chance to solve the case and catch whoever took your daughter?”

His words struck a chord. Bai Yueni’s mother shook her head repeatedly, tears flowing from her previously dry, cloudy eyes. Bai Yueni’s father, unable to restrain himself any longer, collapsed to the floor, crying uncontrollably.

Kang Ge secretly exhaled in relief. The person he worried about most wasn’t Bai Yueni’s mother. Though she looked haggard from the blow, she was willing to speak about her daughter, releasing emotion and thus easier to comfort.

Bai Yueni’s father, however, was holding on tightly by sheer will, unwilling to speak or let his wife speak. This denial was harmful not only to their own mental and physical health but also a barrier to the police’s investigation.

“If you have no objections, let’s continue from where we left off,” Yan Xue said after a moment. Seeing the parents exhausted from crying, she quickly steered back to the main topic. “After entering middle and high school, did Bai Yueni have any problems?”

“Yes, she did,” Bai Yueni’s father answered hoarsely, as if summoning great resolve. “She was sometimes a little willful as a child, but basically no major issues. During those school years, we don’t know where she picked it up, but she learned to bully classmates. We were called to the school and reprimanded several times over it.”

“Did the bullying involve physical fights or...?” Yan Xue wanted to understand the extent.

“No, my daughter was never capable of fighting physically. She wasn’t that bad at heart,” Bai Yueni’s father quickly denied. “She never laid a hand on anyone. It was more about her sharp tongue—she learned to belittle others.

Mainly, because she was pretty, starting from elementary school, little boys would give her chocolates, bring fruits to school, and insist on walking her home after class.

In middle school, the teachers told us directly that Ni Ni was attractive and a good student, so many boys sent love letters. Not just from her class or grade, but others as well. They warned us to be strict and discourage early romance.”

“We made a mistake there,” Bai Yueni’s mother wiped the tears from her face. “We didn’t think much at the time, just wanted to prevent early love from affecting her studies, so we kept her on a tight leash.

I told her that in our small town, even the richest and most powerful people wouldn’t amount to much in a big city. The local boys were unsophisticated and silly compared to those in the city—none worth her attention or affection.

My daughter is so outstanding; how could she waste her feelings on some foolish, immature boys? At this age, she should focus on studying. As long as she studies hard, she won’t have to worry about food, clothing, or anything else—we’ll provide fully.

Once she gets into university and leaves our small county for the city, there will be all sorts of beautiful clothes, and plenty of eligible young men—rich, handsome, cultured!

I told her, since she’s loved fairy tales and always been a little princess, the princess should be with a prince. After university, with a good job, and many suitors, if anyone finds out she dated some dumb kid in a small mountain village during middle or high school, she’d be laughed at and rejected!”