Chapter 9: Secret Relationship

“Su Xiao didn’t choose Li Daqiang’s son, nor did she choose anyone from the many blind dates. What was the reason? Does Su Xiao have someone she likes?” Luo Fei asked with a frown.

The village chief shook his head in response, “I’m not sure about that, but Su Xiao usually comes home alone, and I haven’t heard of her being with anyone.”

“Are there any boys or girls in the village who are around Su Xiao’s age and have a good relationship with her?” Yang Mei continued to inquire.

“For boys, not really. As for girls, there’s Huang Yan and Liu Yu. The three of them are classmates and are pretty close. But both Huang Yan and Liu Yu have gone out to work.”

After Luo Fei and the others finished questioning the village chief, half an hour had already passed. They then went over to Su Xiao’s house.

However, Su Xiao’s front door was closed at that moment. Since Luo Fei and the others could not enter to investigate, they found several neighbours of Su Xiao’s and asked about her situation.

It generally aligned with the village chief’s account, with the predominant topic being Su Xiao’s refusal of the 50,000 RMB betrothal gift from Li Daqiang’s family. Some thought Old Su was truly stubborn, following her daughter’s decision recklessly and refusing such a favourable match for her daughter.

At 3 p.m., Luo Fei and the others left Woniu Village by car.

“Uncle Zhang, there’s water and bread in the trunk of the car. Do you want something to eat?” Yang Mei asked Zhang Haiyang first when they were in the car.

Zhang Haiyang shook his head. “No thanks. I can’t really stomach bread. I’ll wait until we get to town to eat. You two can eat if you want, don’t worry about me.”

“What about you, Luo Fei?” Yang Mei asked again.

“I’ll pass too,” Luo Fei answered, shaking his head. Although he had not eaten lunch, Luo Fei did not feel very hungry, and besides, he was not very fond of bread.

Seeing that neither Zhang Haiyang nor Luo Fei had an appetite, Yang Mei stepped forward to prepare to drive straight back to town.

“Yang Mei, let me drive. It must be tiring for you to drive by yourself the whole way,” Luo Fei approached and asked. He did not have any ulterior motives—just a polite question since he felt a little guilty having a girl drive while two guys sat in the car.

In fact, he wanted to offer when they had just set off, but at that time, they had just met, and Yang Mei appeared aloof and difficult to approach, making it hard to speak up. Now that they had spent most of the day together, they were somewhat familiar with each other. Besides, despite Yang Mei’s cold appearance, she turned out to be quite amiable.

“It’s fine; it’s not too far anyway.”

Since that was the case, Luo Fei did not insist. He only asked out of politeness.

As soon as they were in the car, Luo Fei could not wait to ask: “Mentor Zhang, Yang Mei, did you notice something when we were talking to the village chief and the villagers just now?”

“You’re being mysterious, just spit it out,” Zhang Haiyang chuckled.

Luo Fei smiled and said, “If I remember correctly, in the victim’s apartment, the phone Su Xiao used was a new model released by Apple last year, priced at least seven to eight thousand. And there were also two pieces of gold jewellery in the victim’s house, adding up to at least tens of thousands.”

“At that time, I didn’t pay much attention to it. It’s not uncommon for a working woman to afford such items for her own life. But as you heard, Su Xiao’s monthly salary is just over 3000 RMB, and she also gives 1500 RMB to her parents. Considering her expenses in the town for accommodation, living expenses, electricity, plus clothes and shoes, it’s at least 1000 RMB. So, Su Xiao can only save a few hundred at most each month. After working for over two years, she may have saved up to 10,000 RMB at most. So where did she get the money to buy a phone and gold jewellery?”

“Could she have purchased the phone in instalments? Nowadays, many girls are willing to do anything to buy an iPhone. Remember those two girls from high school who exchanged their bodies to buy iPhones?” Zhang Haiyang asked.

“I don’t think that’s very likely. Think about it: if Su Xiao had bought it, why would she buy tens of thousands worth of gold jewellery first, then buy the phone in instalments? Moreover, even if she bought the iPhone in instalments, she would need to pay seven to eight hundred each month. Su Xiao can only save so little each month; she wouldn’t be able to afford it,” Luo Fei replied.

“I agree with Luo Fei. I didn’t think about this before, but now that he’s mentioned it, the phone and the gold jewellery do seem suspicious. With Su Xiao’s obedient and sensible personality, it’s unreasonable for her to buy tens of thousands worth of gold jewellery and a seven to eight thousand dollar phone,” Yang Mei supported Luo Fei’s words.

“In that case, the phone and jewellery were bought by someone else for Su Xiao? Is she being provided for?” Zhang Haiyang furrowed his brows and asked.

Luo Fei nodded, then said, “Su Xiao must be involved with someone. The other party likely has a good financial standing, and it’s certain that their relationship is kept in the shadows. Otherwise, Su Xiao wouldn’t have concealed it for so long.”

“If that’s the case, their relationship is really deeply hidden. Remember, there was not a single trace in Su Xiao’s room today,” Zhang Haiyang remarked.

At 5 p.m., Luo Fei and the others returned to town.

Zhang Haiyang instructed Yang Mei to drop him and Luo Fei off at the entrance of the police station, since their task today was to accompany Yang Mei to Woniu Village to gather information. Now that the task was complete, Yang Mei alone was enough to report back. There was no need for him and Luo Fei to return to the Criminal Investigation Division.

Luo Fei wanted to follow Yang Mei to the Criminal Investigation Division to take a look and leave an impression on Zhao Donglai. After all, Luo Fei planned to work in the Criminal Investigation Division in the future. However, since Mentor Zhang Haiyang had already said so, Luo Fei naturally would not object.

Yang Mei dropped Zhang Haiyang and Luo Fei off at the police station and left afterwards.

Luo Fei followed Zhang Haiyang into the office and saw colleagues tidying up their things and changing their clothes, ready to go off duty.

“Hey, Haiyang, you and your mentee are back from investigating the case. How did it go? Did you find anything?” Seeing Luo Fei and Zhang Haiyang, Liu Haiquan asked with a playful smile.

Zhang Haiyang smiled back and replied somewhat proudly, “Of course, we did find something, and quite a significant one. You guys just wait to envy us.”

“Is that true?” Zhang Da, who was quite close to Zhang Haiyang, also joined in and looked at Luo Fei. “Luo Fei, I don’t trust your mentor’s words. Tell me, did both of you really find something in this investigation?”

“Alright, alright, Luo Fei and I still need to report to the chief. We’ll tell you the details later. Luo Fei, let’s go find Chief Zhou,” Zhang Haiyang interrupted Zhang Da’s words and called out to Luo Fei to accompany him to find Zhou Weimin.

(End of chapter)