Chapter Fifty-Two: The Influence of Family

No matter what, they still had to find this person. From the surveillance footage, his behavior of tailing Xu Wenrui was quite obvious. However, as for his true intentions, a few segments of video were far from sufficient to draw any definitive conclusions.

"Let's take a walk around the area and see if we can't run into that man ourselves." Such an investigation wasn't something a couple of people could accomplish, but Kang Ge didn't mind making a few extra trips. After all, he was never one to sit still. "From the way it looks on the surveillance, he doesn't seem like someone who followed Xu Wenrui from far away. He seems pretty familiar with the area around K University."

"Sounds good, let’s go! If we don’t find him, we’ll go look for Wu Beibei. Either way, we lose nothing!" Yan Xue readily agreed.

The two of them, well-acquainted with the neighborhood, parked near the spot where the man had been caught on camera several times.

"Luo Wei and the others are taking a walk around. Why don’t we just take it easy and see if he comes to us?" Kang Ge parked the car, undid his seatbelt, and adjusted his seat for comfort.

Though he called it "waiting for the rabbit by the stump," it was no less taxing. Especially near a university, with streams of students and groups passing by, along with delivery drivers and couriers. While Kang Ge and Yan Xue sat motionless in the car, their attention was sharply focused, carefully observing everyone who passed in hopes of finding their target.

Fortunately, Yan Xue had a few years of field experience. She was used to this kind of work. Kang Ge, though not long back in the detective squad, still had solid instincts and handled things with ease, keeping an eye on the people outside while making casual conversation.

"Do you think a person's character is more shaped by innate nature or by family and environment?" He turned to glance at Yan Xue, tossing out the question.

Yan Xue sighed deeply; the question struck a chord. As a child, she had been a gentle, unassuming girl—not some fiery pepper born from two mild parents.

"Are you trying to talk about the influence between Xu Wenrui’s personality and his mother’s way of raising him? Let me put it this way: I think Xu Wenrui’s obsession with reputation, his pride, his need to be in the spotlight—his mother definitely had a hand in encouraging those traits. Sure, a child has a basic disposition, but kids, like little animals, are always searching for the best way to survive as they grow.

"You might not believe this," Yan Xue said with a self-deprecating laugh, "but as a child, I was as mild as milk. I barely ever got angry. I loved playing with Barbie dolls, and I was so dawdling at mealtimes that my parents were constantly exasperated."

"To be honest, that's hard to imagine," Kang Ge admitted, not hiding his surprise.

"Exactly. Even I find it a little unbelievable now. I guess people really are like clay, endlessly malleable. Very few keep their original nature intact from childhood to old age. Most of us change, shaped by life and the people around us."

"So what made you change your original personality? Was it a person or an event?"

"A person, I suppose. After all, behind every event, there’s always a person."

Yan Xue rarely sighed over the past. She was cheerful on the surface, but deep down there was a stubborn streak. The more people misunderstood her temper, the less she bothered to explain. Yet Kang Ge, who surprisingly appreciated her current fiery temperament, made her willing, for once, to dissect the roots of her own character.

"As a little girl, I was gentle, just like any other. I loved playing house and dressing up my Barbies. One time, my dad came back from a business trip and brought me a Barbie set you couldn’t buy in our town. The doll was beautiful, with lots of clothes and accessories. I adored it.

"So did my cousin from my aunt’s side. She wanted to 'borrow' it by force, but I couldn't bear to part with it and refused. She was four years older than me—I was six or seven, and she was already eleven. At that age, a four-year gap means an unbridgeable difference in height and strength. That was the first time I ever got a real beating—bruised everywhere, my hair pulled out of place."

As Yan Xue recalled this vivid childhood memory, even after all these years, she still felt a slow anger rising. She unconsciously clenched her fists atop her knees.

"Tsk tsk," Kang Ge clicked his tongue. "Your cousin really was a bully!"

"She inherited that temperament straight from my aunt. That day, I was beaten black and blue, but I clung to the doll and wouldn’t let go. My cousin went crazy, yanking and tearing—she ruined the doll’s dress, pulled out its hair, and even broke one of its legs.

"The adults came running when they heard the commotion. After my aunt found out what happened, the first thing she said to me was, 'If she wanted it, you should have just given it to her. Children need to learn to share and not be selfish.'"

"Wow, your aunt sure has a twisted logic," Kang Ge chuckled.

"That's just how she is. But what really got to me were my parents. Afterward, one of them told me that since I knew my cousin was bossy and liked to snatch toys, I shouldn’t have played with the Barbie set in front of her. The other said, 'Forget it, it’s broken now. Next time we travel, we’ll buy you another.'

"I felt so wronged. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I got beaten and then scolded. My mom said there was nothing we could do—my aunt’s family was unreasonable, and it was best to avoid trouble.

"After that, I stopped playing with Barbies and house altogether. Instead, I hung out with the boys, climbing bars and running around. After a while, I was taller and sturdier, and tanned, too."

"No one criticized you for that?" Kang Ge asked.

Yan Xue burst out laughing. "You're pretty perceptive! Of course people talked. My relatives would tell my parents I acted like a tomboy and wasn’t ladylike. But my parents didn’t care. Later, I learned that they thought it was fine for me to play with boys. If anyone bullied me, the boys would help protect me.

"But honestly, I didn’t play with them for protection. I just liked the rough-and-tumble games—they made me stronger, and I got to watch their fights and learn a thing or two."

"So what did you learn from watching them?" Kang Ge couldn’t hide the laughter in his voice.

"The result was, the next time my cousin tried to mess with me, I fought back. We ended up both worse for wear—I got another beating, but she didn’t fare much better. After a few more times, she stopped picking on me. That taught me a lesson: the best way to deal with unreasonable people is to make yourself someone they don't dare provoke.

"As I got older, I used the excuse of 'teenage rebellion' and stood up to relatives who tried to bully me, or defended my parents if anyone gave them trouble. I learned to react quickly and seize the initiative. My temper got sharper and sharper, and eventually, I became the infamous 'cactus' of our extended family.

"So, do you still think innate personality has much influence?" Yan Xue finished and let out a slow breath.

If she could have, who wouldn’t want to stay a well-protected, harmless little bunny? Only Yan Xue knew how much resignation it took to transform from a bunny to a cactus, to a spinning wheel of fire.

"I went through a period like that myself, got into a lot of fights with classmates, even had the teacher call my mom in," Kang Ge nodded, tapping the steering wheel with his finger. "There was some trouble at home, and three boys in my class kept needling me about it. One day, I couldn’t take it anymore and fought all three—one after another. I beat them up pretty badly, but fighting three people in a row wasn’t easy for me either.

"But because I started it, and fought them one by one rather than all at once, the teacher said it was me taking on three of them, not them ganging up on me, and called my mom to school."

"What did your mom do?" Yan Xue was curious. In her family, her parents would have felt sorry but also blamed her for bringing trouble on herself. She wondered what Kang Ge’s mother would do.

"My mom listened to the whole story and told the teacher, 'If my son bullied someone first, I wouldn’t let him off. But if someone’s insulting him, making up stories about our family, that’s unforgivable. If he beats them for it, I’ll pay whatever medical bills are needed.'"

"Wow! Your mom is so cool! Didn’t that make you fearless about fighting after that?" Yan Xue teased, glancing at the faint scar in the middle of Kang Ge’s eyebrow.

Sensing her gaze, Kang Ge touched his eyebrow. "This isn’t from that fight—that’s another story. You think my mom was that cavalier about fighting? Actually, after we got home, she gave me a proper talking-to. She said, 'You have a brain, not a bear’s paws. Not every problem should be solved with fists, especially when it’s three against one. They were in the wrong, sure, but if you drag yourself down to their level and both sides get hurt, you lose even more!'"

"Wow, your mom is really wise," Yan Xue said sincerely.

Kang Ge waved her off. "Wise is too generous—a regular little old lady, just good at keeping accounts. Her rule was, never pay more than what you’re defending, or it’s a loss. But her attitude did startle the teacher and those kids’ parents. They didn’t like it, but after that, those boys stopped talking trash about my family. Maybe they thought if they got beaten, no one would stand up for them.

"And since they stopped, I had no reason to fight them anymore. You’ve taken police training—you know, fighting hurts both sides. I’ve got no taste for that kind of self-abuse!"

"How wonderful..." Yan Xue sighed quietly. She had no intention of prying into the family matters that had made Kang Ge’s childhood so tough, but she was genuinely moved by his mother’s approach.

Kang Ge heard her sigh and was about to say something when he spotted a familiar figure. "Isn’t that..."

"Xu Hao!" Yan Xue had seen him too. "The man we were waiting for didn’t show, but we ran into him!"

"Better than nothing. I wanted to talk to him anyway," Kang Ge said, watching Xu Hao approach from a distance. "Last time we talked to Zhuang Fukai, Xu Hao texted him to arrange a meal. Zhuang Fukai avoided him like the plague, remember?"

"I remember—he acted as if he was terrified we’d think he and Xu Hao were close," Yan Xue nodded.

As Xu Hao walked past, Kang Ge rolled down the window a few inches and called his name.

Xu Hao was startled by the voice from the car. He stopped, turned, and saw Kang Ge’s half-smiling face in the driver’s seat, waving at him through the gap.

"Uh..." Xu Hao recognized Kang Ge but wasn’t as enthusiastic as before. He bent down and leaned closer to the door, wearing a slightly embarrassed, awkward smile. "You’re here to investigate Xu Wenrui’s case again? Well, I won’t keep you. I’ll get going. Let’s have dinner another time..."

"No need to rush off. Since we ran into you, let’s have a quick chat! You want to get in, or should I get out—your call!" Kang Ge’s smile stayed fixed, but his tone left no room for refusal. In fact, he seemed to expect Xu Hao would comply.

Xu Hao frowned, hesitated just a couple of seconds, then gave in with a sigh and slid into the back seat.