Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Master of Lies

“What was that girl’s name? Have you met her?” Yan Xue asked.

Gao Yang nodded. “Yes, I’ve met her. I’ve never been in a relationship myself, so when Xu Wenrui brought Beibei home for the first time during the holidays to meet his family, he deliberately called me out. I knew he just wanted to show off that he had a girlfriend.

Oh, Beibei is the girl’s name. I only know her by Beibei; I don’t know her surname. Xu Wenrui didn’t tell me, and I didn’t bother to ask. After all, we weren’t that close.”

“What kind of girl is she? Can you describe her for me?”

“Well, she’s not very tall, rather petite. I remember she had curly, dyed hair. She dressed like a doll, and her voice had that soft, coquettish tone—just like the obedient girl type that elders tend to like. Xu Wenrui seemed to really go for that, but I thought she was a bit affected, a little too artificial.”

“But isn’t that obedient girl image usually the type parents love most? Why would Xu Wenrui’s family disapprove?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I just overheard my mom talking to my dad—I didn’t dare interrupt or ask too much,” Gao Yang said with a wry smile. “If I dared to ask, my mom would have scolded me, saying I didn’t even have a girlfriend like that, so what right did I have to judge others.

My mom told my dad that apparently the girl was dishonest and exaggerated a lot, so Xu Wenrui’s parents felt she was unreliable. They figured a family that raised such a fibber couldn’t be trustworthy either.”

“A fibber? Was it that bad?”

“Yeah. My mom said that when she first started dating Xu Wenrui, she told him her family was really well-off, that her parents had respectable jobs—her mother was the director of a TV station, her father the general manager of a big company.

But maybe she laid it on a bit thick, so Xu Wenrui’s mother wanted to check things out. After all, her hometown isn’t far from W City, and Xu Wenrui was hell-bent on marrying her, so they had to look into it. And what do you know, there wasn’t even a female deputy director at the TV station, let alone a female director. As for the company’s general manager, he didn’t even share her surname. Xu Wenrui’s mother was furious and complained to my mom, saying she didn’t expect Xu Wenrui to find someone from a wealthy family, but at least the girl should be honest.

Maybe she told Xu Wenrui about this, and he relayed it back. The girl later explained that it was a misunderstanding, that Xu Wenrui got it wrong. She never said her mother was the TV director or her father was a general manager—she said her mother was a deputy director at a radio station, and her father was a branch manager.”

“Well, that’s not bad, is it? Even if it wasn’t the TV station or the head office, it’s not that different,” Yan Xue said, puzzled.

“If that were true, Xu Wenrui’s parents probably wouldn’t have been so opposed,” Gao Yang shook his head. “But his mother must have been put off by the initial inconsistencies. So when Xu Wenrui came back with this version, she immediately checked again. I think you can guess the outcome.”

“So the girl, Beibei, her parents’ jobs still didn’t match her story?”

“Nope. I don’t know exactly how Xu Wenrui’s parents found out, but the truth was the girl’s father was just an ordinary worker. Her mother used to work at the radio station, but only in the cafeteria. Later, due to health issues, she stopped working and just stayed at home.

Because of this, Xu Wenrui’s parents were furious. They thought the girl’s character was questionable—lying about such things showed she was vain and unreliable. They insisted Xu Wenrui break up with her, but he refused, saying he loved her too much and couldn’t live without her. His mother was so angry that she had a heart attack and nearly ended up in the hospital.”

“Even after his mother got that upset, Xu Wenrui still insisted on being with her?” Yan Xue was surprised.

Earlier, Xu Hao had said Xu Wenrui was stingy and liked to show off in front of girls just for their admiration, not because he wanted a real relationship. So Yan Xue assumed Xu Wenrui was emotionally detached, a playboy unwilling to tie himself down to any one girl.

She hadn’t expected that, from Gao Yang’s story, Xu Wenrui turned out to be so devoted.

“That’s right. Didn’t I already mention? His parents only stopped interfering because they couldn’t change his mind. If he hadn’t insisted on being with her, they would have broken up long before, instead of dragging things out with all those breakups and reconciliations.”

“So what finally caused them to break up?”

“Apparently, it all traced back to the investigation into the girl’s family. It was like a ticking time bomb. At first, Xu Wenrui weathered the storm and kept dating her, but later, somehow the girl heard about his parents’ attitude and their investigation, and she flipped out.”

“Wait, I’m a bit confused here,” Kang Ge scratched his head, looking puzzled. “Wasn’t Beibei the one who lied about her family background, pretending they were well-off, and then Xu Wenrui’s parents exposed her? Shouldn’t she have been embarrassed or ashamed when her lies were uncovered? Why would she get mad instead?”

“I heard that when she broke up with Xu Wenrui, she said she hadn’t expected his parents to be so materialistic. She claimed she’d only wanted to test whether his family was snobbish, and hadn’t expected them to fall for it—turning against her as soon as they found out she wasn’t actually rich.

Because of this, Xu Wenrui went home and fought with his parents, saying their snobbery had ruined his love life. His mother was so upset she broke down in tears at my mom’s place.”

“Hm… sounds like a real piece of work…” Kang Ge muttered, arching his brow.

“Hm? What did you say?” Gao Yang wasn’t sure if he hadn’t heard or hadn’t understood.

Kang Ge waved his hand. “Nothing, nothing. So, what happened after that? Xu Wenrui wouldn’t agree to break up, but Beibei insisted, so they kept dragging things out? You mentioned they broke up and got back together several times before it finally ended. In your opinion, was it because they still had feelings for each other, or was it mostly because Xu Wenrui wouldn’t let go?”

“I don’t know,” Gao Yang shook his head without hesitation, clearly having thought about this before. “I know Xu Wenrui somewhat—when they first broke up, he was really down about it for a while. But later, when I saw him again, he seemed to have gotten over it; he didn’t look like someone who couldn’t let go. Their sudden reconciliation caught me off guard.

I’m not sure if Xu Wenrui just couldn’t forget his first love or if he had some obsession with it. As far as I know, she was his first girlfriend. Isn’t it said that many people are fixated on their first love?

As for the girl, I really can’t figure her out. When she broke up with Xu Wenrui, he was in agony—didn’t see her for a week, and when he did, he’d lost a lot of weight; his eyes were sunken…

Oh, I forgot one detail. When Xu Wenrui was at his lowest, he even begged me to mediate, to help persuade her to take him back.”

“Weren’t you two not that close? If he always liked to show off in front of you, why would he ask you for help with something so humiliating?” Yan Xue found the whole thing hard to believe.

“I guess it was desperation. He never really had any close friends growing up. He was at his wit’s end, happened to run into me, and just grabbed hold of me, begging for help.”

“So did you help him?”

“No,” Gao Yang shook his head. “We weren’t close anymore, and I didn’t know the girl at all. How could I persuade her? Besides, she had every right to break up. Why should I talk her out of it?

Later, Xu Wenrui got over it. He never brought up the time he begged me for help, acted as if it never happened. Before, when we saw each other, he’d at least nod or say hello. Afterward, he pretended not to see me—probably too embarrassed about what he’d done.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Kang Ge nodded. “Back to the girl—you said you couldn’t figure her out. What did you mean?”

“When she broke up, she was so righteous about it. Xu Wenrui fought with his family for her, tried every way to get her back, but she ignored him, acting like she was dead set on leaving. Then after they reconciled, she acted as if nothing had happened, all affectionate, visiting his parents with him, not caring how they looked at her.

But then, after a while, they broke up again, and this time it seemed final—no contact at all. Then out of the blue, they’d get back together, going through the same cycle over and over. The impression I got was that her feelings were like a switch—on when she wanted, off when she wanted—so controlled it was uncanny.”