Jiangmiao Group is the largest medical enterprise in Jiangzhou City, owning three private hospitals, a high-end nursing home, and a pharmaceutical company. It is also the authorized dealer for many imported brand-name medical equipment and holds numerous medical-related patents.
Mu Mian voluntarily applied to investigate the sales situation of the brain wave equipment with Fang Rui, as she felt she was quite knowledgeable about these medical devices.
To save time, Fang Rui and Mu Mian went directly to the headquarters of this group. The receptionist was very polite and immediately contacted the sales manager after learning of their intentions.
"I'm sorry, but this involves customer privacy. We can't provide our sales ledger to you," the sales manager said politely but firmly refused to provide the information.
The sales ledger is a company's core confidential information and isn't directly related to the case investigation, so they have the right to refuse to provide it.
"You can delete the prices and customer contact information," Fang Rui said. "This information will only be used for solving the case and won't be leaked."
"Sorry, we can't provide that."
Mu Mian asked, "The sales of the NeurOne brain wave equipment probably haven't been good in recent years, especially the 20-lead ones, right? There shouldn't be many buyers. Now schools doing research probably prefer near-infrared devices, as they collect data more stably and don't require brain wave gel, which is more convenient."
"Yes, you seem quite knowledgeable," the sales manager said. "We haven't sold this equipment in the past two years."
Mu Mian asked, "Is it only universities without much funding that buy it?"
"That's right."
"Has anyone purchased it privately?" Fang Rui inquired.
"No. Our users are mainly universities or hospitals in nearby provinces and cities. Who would buy this thing for personal use? One device costs over a hundred thousand yuan, and it takes up a lot of space."
"Can you give me the sales records?" Mu Mian persisted, asking once more.
"No!"
As he refused to provide the sales information, Mu Mian and Fang Rui prepared to leave. Even if they forced them to provide it, they would probably only offer fake sales records.
"Mu Mian, what are you doing here?" Jiang Yinian was surprised to see Mu Mian.
Jiangmiao Group was established by his cousin, and after his cousin's death, he inherited all of his assets. Jiang Yinian usually doesn't manage the group's affairs, preferring to focus on research in his laboratory.
Today, he came because someone reported that a high-level executive in the group was embezzling and accepting bribes, so he had to come to deal with it. He didn't expect to encounter Mu Mian.
Mu Mian was stunned for a moment when she saw Jiang Yinian, then silently shrank behind Fang Rui, looking at him warily.
Fang Rui sensed Mu Mian's unusual behavior and turned to ask, "Mu Mian, do you know him? He didn't bully you in school, did he?"
Fang Rui didn't like the way Jiang Yinian looked at Mu Mian. It wasn't like looking at a familiar friend, but more like looking at a pet he had raised.
"He was my father's student. But he had a falling out with my father, and my sister said he might hurt me, so Fang Rui, you need to protect me!"
Jiang Yinian overheard Mu Mian's conversation with Fang Rui, and his expression seemed hurt. "Mu Mian, how could I ever hurt you? Don't you remember? You said yourself that I was your best friend!"
Fang Rui looked at Mu Mian, confused. Didn't she say she had no friends? How did a best friend suddenly appear?
"Senior Yinian, I never said that. I only said you were ranked first on my friend list, and at that time, you were my only friend," Mu Mian clarified. "My friend list is frequently adjusted. You're no longer number one now."
"Mu Mian, there's some misunderstanding between your sister and me. I hope it doesn't affect our relationship. I was once your only friend, wasn't I? You should trust me."
"My sister wouldn't lie to me!" Mu Mian carefully considered. Even if her sister was wrong, it didn't matter; she would only lose a friend. But if her sister was right and she didn't listen to her, she might lose her life.
She didn't want to die right now, so she decided to stay away from Jiang Yinian.
"That's not necessarily true. Mu Mian, haven't you noticed that you don't know your sister at all? Your sister is hiding many things from you. She's slandering me only because she's afraid I'll tell you the truth."
"It's not very ethical to drive a wedge between sisters like that," Fang Rui interrupted.
"Who are you? What right do you have to interfere in my conversation with Mu Mian?"
Mu Mian didn't want to get entangled with Jiang Yinian anymore. She tugged on Fang Rui's hand, "Fang Rui, let's go back."
"Alright."
Jiang Yinian turned to the sales manager, "What did they want from you?"
"They wanted to check the sales records of the NeurOne brain wave equipment. This is our company's confidential information and involves customer privacy, so we can't provide it to them."
"Mu Mian, didn't you want that sales record? I'll have them give it to you."
"Yes, thank you. Please have them give us the list quickly," Mu Mian didn't hesitate, after all, it was Jiang Yinian who volunteered to help her.
The sales manager looked troubled, "Mr. Jiang, but—"
"I don't want to repeat myself."
The sales manager immediately went to print those documents.
"Mu Mian, would you like to work in my laboratory?" Jiang Yinian looked at Mu Mian. "I've moved Professor Shen's lab to China. You can do any research you want there."
"I really like my current job." Mu Mian didn't like the current Jiang Yinian; she felt he was very unfamiliar. She suddenly realized that since her adoptive parents passed away, many people around her had changed.
Senior ALisa said it was because everyone had grown up after experiencing the accident. Perhaps Senior ALisa was also lying to her.
"Mu Mian, don't you remember? We spent many happy times in the lab."
Fang Rui felt that this Jiang Yinian's words were strange. Mu Mian clearly didn't want to engage with him, so why was he so eager to reminisce with her?
"Yes, but back then, Dad was also in the lab, along with Senior Fabien, Senior Alisa, and my little squirrel... The squirrel died, and Dad died too. I don't want to go back to that place. I prefer my current job." Mu Mian's voice was a bit low.
Jiang Yinian fell silent, his expression becoming serious, as if he too had sunk into great sorrow.
He quickly composed himself, "Mu Mian, they'll give you that sales list in a moment. I won't stay here with you. Goodbye, Mu Mian!"
Mu Mian didn't say goodbye to him.
After Jiang Yinian left, Fang Rui asked, "Did he also use you as a test subject before, to study your brain?"
"Of course. Everyone in the lab liked to observe my brain. Who told me to be a genius? I always let them look for free. They were also willing to show me their brain scans, but I wasn't interested in their brains. But Fang Rui, I'm very interested in your brain. Fang Rui, could you..."
"Mu Mian, stay away from him in the future."
Fang Rui finally understood why Jiang Yinian's gaze was so strange. He looked at Mu Mian as if she were a little white mouse that had escaped his control. No wonder Shen Xiyin told Mu Mian to stay away from him.
Fang Rui even suspected that Mu Mian had always been a little white mouse in that laboratory, being observed and studied by those people. They were likely conducting some kind of autism research, and Mu Mian, having been in that environment for a long time, couldn't detect anything abnormal. She even enjoyed the feeling of being studied.
"I understand. My sister said the same thing. I've already removed him from my friend list."
Fang Rui and Mu Mian looked through the sales records and found that the buyers of this equipment were mostly schools, and all purchases were made seven or eight years ago.
Fang Rui noticed that the Psychology Department of Jiangzhou University had bought two such devices ten years ago.
"The psychology lab at Jiangzhou University doesn't have these two devices," Mu Mian said.
