Chapter 31: The Wealthily Raised Daughter

This excessive calm made Yan Xue feel a touch uneasy. From her years of experience, she had never encountered victim families who remained perfectly composed. They simply expressed their grief in different ways. Some wailed loudly to convey the anguish of losing a loved one, others denied reality to ease their inner terror, and still others chose silence. At first glance, they appeared to have mastered their emotions, but in truth, those feelings were eating away at their souls from within. If left unaddressed, they might soon drive themselves into a corner.

Bai Yue Ni's mother was clearly in pain and sorrow, as evident from her subtle reactions during the identification of the body. Yet both she and Bai Yue Ni's father remained utterly expressionless. Yan Xue feared they would never confront their emotions, which could lead to trouble later on.

After all, in a broad sense, the families of the deceased were victims of the case as well. The unexpected end of a loved one's life could inflict lifelong suffering upon them.

Therefore, when she had the opportunity, Yan Xue always paid close attention to the emotional fluctuations of the bereaved. While they could not bring back the dead, at least by offering some measure of justice to the deceased, she could try to help the families as well.

So, after confirming Bai Yue Ni's body, Yan Xue escorted the couple back to the office, intending to learn about Bai Yue Ni's personal circumstances and see if she could ease the knot in their hearts.

Fortunately, Bai Yue Ni's parents did not continue to remain silent when the police needed information, and overall they were quite cooperative. Thus, Yan Xue quickly gained a basic understanding of their family situation.

Compared to Lin Zhen's family, Bai Yue Ni's background was truly ordinary, to the point of being almost pitiful. If pressed, it might even fall short of average, marking them as those with limited financial means.

Bai Yue Ni's parents had both worked as ordinary line workers in the same factory in their early years, with no special skills. Later, when the factory's business declined and it could no longer hold on, they both lost their jobs. Fortunately, Bai Yue Ni's father could drive, so he found work as a night-shift taxi driver, with decent income.

Bai Yue Ni's mother faced greater hardship. With little education and no special talents, and already in her thirties or forties, she could only help out in the back kitchen of a restaurant, doing odd jobs like picking and washing vegetables.

But when they spoke of raising Bai Yue Ni over the years, it shocked Yan Xue deeply.

As someone from an ordinary economic background, whose parents' jobs had little to do with being respectable or earning much, Bai Yue Ni's upbringing from childhood to adulthood sounded as if she had been a little princess, even more so than Lin Zhen, who was the daughter of wealthy parents.

If Lin Zhen’s parents indulged her completely without restraint, then Bai Yue Ni’s parents could be said to have practiced what is currently often discussed as "elite education."

Whether it was truly "elite" or not was beside the point. At the very least, their approach to Bai Yue Ni boiled down to four words: comprehensive and expensive.

In her childhood, besides the dance lessons that many girls took, they had her study piano and guzheng on top of that. They thought it uncertain whether folk music or Western instruments would be more in demand later, so they took a double bet, believing that girls with multiple talents were not at all bad.

Beyond that, they also selected two dances for her—national dance and ballet—the reasons being much the same as for the instruments.

When they mentioned ballet, Yan Xue’s mind involuntarily pictured Bai Yue Ni in the surveillance footage, wearing that white dress like a swan, which did seem to suit her temperament well.

Moreover, Bai Yue Ni had undergone many seemingly absurd learning experiences. For instance, her parents had once enrolled her in golf for a period, but later the golf course was too far from their home, requiring her father to drive her back and forth every time, which was troublesome and affected his taxi income.

There were many such short-term courses, and Yan Xue felt she had never heard of so many different classes.

"What kind of training plan did you have in mind for Bai Yue Ni?" Yan Xue asked, unable to hold back.

What she did not say aloud was that much of the education Bai Yue Ni received was far beyond what this family could afford.

"Because a girl needs to be spoiled richly, as the saying goes," Bai Yue Ni's father sighed slowly, his voice dry and hollow. "Our family’s circumstances are limited, and neither of us has much education. We’ve been told repeatedly that girls must be richly raised; otherwise, without experience, they’ll run off with just a little sweetness. So, despite our lack of money, our daughter was more precious than anyone else’s child. Whatever little princess dress she wanted, we could buy it. If not, her mother would find matching fabric and have a tailor make it. At the time, her little classmates loved to come play at our house because we had princess dresses, crystal shoes, and all sorts of play sets and tea sets that were simply unavailable locally back then. We had them brought from afar. My wife said we had to sharpen her appetite, so she wouldn’t be easily taken away."

"How long did your rich upbringing of her last?" Yan Xue wondered, thinking that Bai Yue Ni had so easily and without persuasion exchanged identities with someone she had never truly met or interacted with online. This showed how material conditions at Lin Zhen’s house posed a great temptation for her.

Thus, it was obvious that Bai Yue Ni’s parents lacked the financial capacity to continue spoiling her richly forever. From being pampered like a little princess, wanting the wind and the rain, suddenly having this smooth sailing cut off would only deepen her longing for material things.

"After she went to university, we indeed could no longer support her," Bai Yue Ni’s father answered straightforwardly, as he was a down-to-earth man who did not mince words. "Originally, in our small town, a child’s demands were easy to meet. The small shopping mall there didn’t have much difference between expensive and cheap items. But once she went to university, it became impossible. The place she went to study was much more developed than ours, with all sorts of domestic and foreign big brands. Previously, she hadn’t known those high-end brands, but after university, she did. I also don’t understand the kind of makeup that young girls use; I only know that her lipstick or whatever for the lips costs two or three hundred, and every few times she needs to replace it. For the eyes and face, each item is five or six hundred and more, and then there are clothes, bags, and so on. All together, it really became too much. After all, we still have to support the elders in the family. In recent years, their health has not been good, and medical expenses add up..."

Bai Yue Ni’s father sighed heavily, a faint trace of guilt in his expression, as if he felt sorry for being unable to meet his daughter’s consumption needs.

"May I ask about Bai Yue Ni’s work situation after graduation?" Yan Xue continued, given her age, it was clear she had already graduated from university and was working, "How much do you know about her job after graduation? Did she go to some city, or return to her hometown?"

"She came back home for a while after graduating, but later disliked the small place and there weren’t any particularly good jobs. She was used to living in a bigger city, and returning home felt inconvenient in many ways. After changing jobs twice, she went abroad again."

"Did you know about the matter of exchanging identities with someone to experience life?"

"Yes, she told us. Because she had just quit her job and hadn’t found a better replacement, she wanted to go out and clear her mind. She said she had a friend who also found life too boring and wanted to swap with her."

"So you didn’t oppose this matter?" Yan Xue found it somewhat unbelievable, thinking that such a windfall would make the parents firmly oppose it after learning the truth, sensing danger.

"We didn’t support it, but we couldn’t oppose it either. The child is grown up and likes to decide things for herself. She sees us as having limited experience, and we can’t provide a life level matching hers, so we’ve already reached our limit. On top of that, after quitting her job, she had nothing, and if she wanted to go, we really couldn’t stop her."

"Did anyone else besides you know about Bai Yue Ni exchanging identities with someone?"

"No, she only told us, and she didn’t tell anyone else. She also asked us not to mention it to others. After all, she usually didn’t work in this city, so her coming to W City was unknown to other relatives and friends in our family."

Yan Xue did not find this answer particularly surprising. After all, up to now, Bai Yue Ni had been investigated as the presumed victim of Lin Zhen’s murder with no issues, so this was merely routine questioning.

Meanwhile, Kang Ge was bringing Lin Zhen back. The moment they entered the office, Yan Xue was stunned. She had not expected Lin Zhen to be brought back so quickly, and when Kang Ge saw Bai Yue Ni’s parents in the office, his expression changed slightly.

At the same time, Bai Yue Ni’s parents had obviously seen Lin Zhen enter. Bai Yue Ni’s father opened his mouth in surprise, his eyes nearly bulging out. Bai Yue Ni’s mother, even more so, was so shocked that she shot up from her chair. Before Yan Xue could react, she suddenly pushed the chair aside with a loud bang and ran toward Lin Zhen.

Because her movement was too fast, the chair flipped behind her with a thud. Lin Zhen shivered, whether from the sound or from the mother’s reaction. She shifted her feet as if wanting to hide behind Kang Ge, but before she could, Bai Yue Ni’s mother had already reached her.

Yan Xue was also tense, wanting to rush over to stop it, but it was too late. She could only hope that Kang Ge would intervene in time.

And in the midst of everyone’s astonishment, Bai Yue Ni’s mother hugged Lin Zhen tightly, calling out "My daughter!" and "My daughter!" while sobbing uncontrollably.

Lin Zhen was terrified and did not dare to move. Her two hands stiffened at her sides like penguin wings. Her neck was stiff, looking as if she did not want to be touched by Bai Yue Ni’s mother but lacked the courage to push her away.

Kang Ge had originally prepared to forcibly separate them, but seeing the mother’s reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief and stood to the side, quietly observing without rushing to "rescue" Lin Zhen.

Anyone could see that this was Bai Yue Ni’s mother, upon identifying the body, suddenly seeing a person who looked very similar to her daughter. The emotions she had suppressed were suddenly unleashed.

Although Bai Yue Ni’s father did not react as intensely as his wife, when she hugged Lin Zhen and cried, he sat motionless like a clay statue, tears streaming down his face, his breathing trembling.

Since she showed no aggression toward Lin Zhen, there was no need to pull her away immediately. Kang Ge and Yan Xue not only did not worry but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was best when the Bai Yue Ni parents could release their emotions. Otherwise, with their suppressed state earlier, it would be truly worrisome for them to have problems.

One was a daughter who had passed away young, and the other was an elderly person who had just been rescued from danger. This middle-aged couple had borne too much weight in this period, and holding on further would be unbearable.

As for Lin Zhen, although she denied using Bai Yue Ni to take the blame for her, Kang Ge and Yan Xue could not pin any crime on her based on speculation. But her intention to seek Bai Yue Ni as a smokescreen because she feared for her own safety was obvious and could not be erased by denial alone.

Bai Yue Ni’s death was naturally not what Lin Zhen had hoped for. Her most anticipated outcome was probably that it had been a false alarm, with Bai Yue Ni safely enjoying the two or three months of luxurious life that should have been hers, and then the two returning to their original roles without further incident.

But Bai Yue Ni’s death was an accomplished fact, and Lin Zhen bore indirect responsibility for it.

Therefore, it was only natural and unassailable for her to allow the Bai Yue Ni parents to release the grief in their hearts in this way, which was harmless to her in the slightest.