Chapter 20

Chapter 20

They walk pass a European design screen with white floral cravings.  A beautiful crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the middle of the lounge.  The large lounge is furnished with expensive but tasteful furniture.   An elegant lady sits at a small round table in the middle of the lounge. 

Yin Ziqi is wearing a red strapless dress. Beautiful, sexy, yet seems unapproachable and not very easy to get along with.  But when she sees Bo Jinyan, she embraces her femininity.  She glances at him obliquely: “Finally, you are willing have a meal with me.”

  Bo Jinyan pulls out a chair and sits down.  He tells Jian Yao: “Take a seat.”

Yin Ziqi stands up, shakes hands with Jian Yao and smiles: “Nice to meet you.”

    Jian Yao responds with a smile: "Hello, chairman Yin, I am Jian Yao."

   The three of them sit down.

    Yin Ziqi looks at Bo Jinyan: "I thought your assistant will be an arrogant eccentric weirdo like you.” 

    Jian Yao smiles: "I certainly am not."

Bo Jinyan glances at Yin Ziqi, and says in a  sarcastic tone: “Is this how you see me?”

    Bo Jinyan suddenly thinks of something.  He turns to look at Jian Yao: “Is this how you see me too?” 

    Jian Yao answers softly: “Well, who transferred me to a different division without consulting me first?” 

    Yin Ziqi is surprised to see how they relate to each other.  She tells Jian Yao: “Miss Jian, I need Jinyan to help me with an investigation within the company.  He insisted that only if you can be his assistant, will he then accept the case, thereforeI have no choice but to authorise the transfer.”

   - Insisted that she works with him before he would accept?

    Jian Yao is secretly pleased. 

    Yin Ziqi said: "But I thought he would consult you first.  I had no idea that he didn’t speak to you beforehand..."

Bo Jinyan interrupts her: "We have come to an agreement.  Now let’s get back to business.”

    Yin Ziqi laughs.  She says to Jian Yao: “ Let me formally introduce myself. I am Ziqi, Jinyan’s sister.” 

    Jian Yao has a suspicion that they are related, but she never thought they are brothers and sisters, because Bo Jinyan never mentioned he has a sibling.  As if aware of her doubts, Yin Ziqi smiles: “Actually, I am his step sister.  Jinyan’s father married my mother.  Not a lot of people know about this.  We grew up in America together."

    -

    Before dinner is served, Yin Ziqi talks about the case.

    “The police have confirmed that Wang Wan Wei’s death is a suicide.  However, I still want to clarify a few things:

   1. She mentioned in the suicide note that she chose to end her life because she was overwhelmed by pressure. I do not know if this pressure is work related.  If so, I need to know more about it and whether the management style in Customer 3 division was part of the cause. I would like to know the specific reasons for her suicide.

    2.  Her cause of death is drug overdose.  I do not want to make this fact public because I have heard a lot of rumours about staff in our company taking drugs.  I want to know if anyone else in the division takes drugs as well.  I am afraid there is a secret drug network within the company.  

    Jian Yao did not expect to hear this.  Her impression of the company is a clean one. Bo Jinyan just summarises the requests: “Investigate cause of suicide and find out if company has a drug network. Sounds like freshman criminology introductory exercises. "

    Yin Ziqi says: “Come on, Jinyan.  You have shares in this company too.  Uncle Bo and mom took years to build this company.  Do it for their sake.”

Bo Jinyan looks at Jian Yao: "Never mind, we have Jian Yao.  Good practice for her since she is still in the  elementary levels of criminology.”

    Jian Yao ignores his scoffing comments: “ Chairman Yin, we will do our best.”

    Yin Ziqi nods: “let’s take a break from work.  I hope you will enjoy the food tonight…” 

   

    She signals the waiter to serve the courses.

    -

    Appetiser is salad.  She ordered steak as main course for herself and Jian Yao, and fried cod for Bo Jinyan.  Like an elder sister, she reminds her brother: “Don’t just eat the fish, eat some vegetables too.”

Bo Jinyan: “I am not a kid anymore.” But then, he picks up some salad from the bowl.

  

    The portions are quite big.  Jian Yao cannot finish her salad.  Bo Jinyan takes a look starts eating her remaining salad.  Yin Ziqi give Jian Yao a strange look.  Jian Yao glances at her food.  There’s also leftover salad on Yin Ziqi’s bowl but Bo Jinyan is only eating from her bowl.  

    -

    Bo Jinyan is the last to finish eating.  He wipes his mouth with a napkin and turns to Yin Ziqi. Both of the ladies thought he is going to talk about his views toward the case or strategies he will be employing, but instead, he asks his sister to keep Jian Yao’s involvement with the case a secret, so that she can go back to her little assistant role in the automotive parts division after the investigations are finished. 

    -

    They are driving home.  She is pleased that he talked to his sisters about her concerns.  

    Jian Yao: “You get on well with your sister.”

Bo Jinyan: “Really?  I don’t feel that way.”

    Jian Yao looks at him.  If it’s not because he loves her sister, would he take on such an entry-level case?  

    As if he can read her mind, he says: “If it was you who committed suicide, I will take on the investigation too.” 

    Jian Yao: “……Gee…should I say thank you?"

   - Come on… no one uses this sort of analogy to express how important the person is to them.  

    ——

They return to Bo Jinyan’s house together to study the information on the case.  

    Wang Wan Wei, from H province.  Attended University in B City.  Graduated with average grades. Single. Comes from an ordinary family.  Parents are divorced.  She is raised up by her mom who owns a tailor shop.  Not wealthy. 

    Last month, the team went on a retreat together.  Wang injected too much drug into herself.  Her body was found the next morning, by her colleagues.  There is also a suicide note in her room.  It’s not a suspicious death.  

    Information pack also contained the resort they went for the retreat, photos of her body in the room, her personal items such as clothes, jewellery, etc, confessions of her colleagues.

    Jian Yao picks up a copy of the suicide note.

    "Mom:

    When you see this letter, I have left this world. I am sorry, I can not look after you anymore. I am a timid girl, always disappoints you.  I can not give you the life you are after.  I choose to leave now. Please believe I am going to a better place.  Don’t be sad.  Everyone will die sometime, right?  it’s only a matter of timing.  I am just choosing to end it earlier.  

    I used to think that the future is bright. I thought if I worked hard enough, I could get you a little place of your own.  But I was wrong.  No matter how hard I try, I am not as clever as others, I am not as eloquent as others.  I am bad at my job.  I am like a defeated and disgraced soldier, putting on a fake smile every day, hiding in my little shell, falling into a bottomless pit. 

    I do not even know when it started, but my life has become so dark, so dirty, so desperate.   I look in the mirror in the morning and I don’t recognise myself.  I am ashamed to see you,  I have avoided home for a year.  I am not afraid that you will scold me. But I don’t want you to be sad.

    Mom, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, taken many wrong steps. It’s too late to turn back.  I cannot look back, I just have to end it. 

    Mom, there’s still twenty thousand dollars in my bank account.  The password is the birth year of you, dad and me.  I am sorry, mom. 

    Mom, do not be sad.  This is a release for me.  I can not change or resist my fate, but at least I can choose to end my life, to end it in my own hands.

    Goodbye, Mom. Do not be sad, tomorrow is a new day.

    Daughters Wang Wan Wei 

    xx, x, x Day "

    Jian Yao puts down the suicide note, Tears comes to her eyes. 

    She clears her throat and tells Bo Jinyan: “I have read all the information.” 

Bo Jinyan on the other hand, does not seem to be affected in the slightest.

    “My assistant cannot be so sentimental.  Can you switch back to normal mode now?”

    Jian Yao replies: "Women are sentimental.  Why don’t you go find a man?  This man needs to be good at fishing, will clean your house, take care of Chen Mo, and not mind how picky you are.” 

Bo Jinyan keeps silent this time.

    Jian Yao calms down. She asks: Bo Jinyan "Is it because of this note that the police concluded that it’s a suicide?” 

Bo Jinyan: “ Based on a note alone is not enough evidence to conclude it’s a suicide, because to fake a note is not difficult.  They just need to put themselves in the shoes of the victim, thinks about what bothers them in life and write the note based on those fears and frustrations."

Bo Jinyan sighs: "I hate to answer simple question like these.  It’s boring.”

  Jian Yao:  “Just say it!"

    Bo Jinyan closes his eyes and starts to share his analysis on the case:

    "This is indeed a suicide note that Wang wrote.  

    Firstly, there’s the absence of duress in her note.  She was not stressed when she was writing.   Because the writing was fluent.  You can tell it from the strokes of her handwriting. 

    In addition to this, she used a lot of abstract suicide metaphor, defeated, shell, bottomless pit; there are many repeat statements such as 'Mom, do not be sad'; some phrases does not make much sense, for example, 'my life became dark, dirty' ..People faking notes tend to be more clear, cohesive, concise, straight to the point, as to avoid loopholes.   This is a real testament."

    Jian Yao reads the suicide note again: “Your analysis is very thorough."

Bo Jinyan’s eyes flashed a smile.

    Jian Yao asks: “What should we do now?"

Bo Jinyan replies: “We need to start with the reasons for the suicide. If there is drug network, it will naturally surface…"

 Jian Yao:   “But where do we start?"

    Bo Jinyan asks her: “ What are the most common reasons for woman to commit suicide?”

    Jian Yao thinks for a while: ”work stress, relationship problems, economic pressure, physical illness ......."

    "Great." He says, “I will leave it to you to decide what ones fit this case.”  

    "Then I will start with detailed background check on Wang Wan Wei." Jian Yao said.

    (extra story)  - Bo Jinyan’s zero love history

    Once, Jian Yao asks Fu Ziyu: “Not a single girlfriend in 26 years?”

    Even though his character is a little arrogant, a little overbearing, a little difficult to get along ...... but the overall package is still very attractive.  It’s hard to believe there’s no woman attracted by him. 

    Fu Ziyu answers: "Miss, have you considered his age?"

    "Age?"

    "Ah,  He went to university when he was 14, graduated when he was 17, gained his PhD when he was 21,  This means he’s always around women that’s a lot older than him.”

   

Jian Yao: Oh……

    Fu Ziyu : ”He won’t go for woman that’s older than him.”

   Jian Yao: "Why?"

    His comment is strictly an intuitive one. He has never thought about why.

    Jian Yao thinks for a while: "I think I know why. Because the EQ gap is too big.  Girls mature faster than guys generally. So in his case, the gap is even bigger.”  

   Fu Ziyu laughs :”Spot on. You’ve nailed it.” 

   They are still laughing when Bo Jinyan enters the room.  

  Bo Jinyan:  "What are you guys talking about?"

    Fu Ziyu says: “Your past."

    Bo Jinyan raises his eyebrow - his past ah .......

    He looks at Jian Yao with a smile.

    She is interested in his past…  ah…