Ji Feng did not have any knife wounds or gunshot wounds. In Jian Jing's eyes, his other minor injuries were not worth treating. He started to refuse: "Teacher Jian, don't bother..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he stumbled.
Jian Jing grabbed his collar and dragged him to the sofa.
Ji Feng was shocked: "Let go!"
Jian Jing glared at him disdainfully. What was he making such a big fuss about? But the next moment, there was a "rip" sound as a tear appeared in his collar.
She: "???"
How did this happen? She didn't use much force!
There was a twitch at the corner of Ji Feng's mouth: "Last year's, washed many times, no longer durable."
He only had two summer shirts to last the whole summer. With all the washing, wearing, and sun-drying, plus the fabric itself was not very durable, losing buttons, fraying hems, snapping threads - it was all normal.
It had just been [censored] this morning, and now with Jian Jing yanking it, no wonder it tore.
"Uh, sorry." Jian Jing slowly let go, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
Ji Feng laughed at her expression: "I was going to throw it away anyway, it's fine." Since it was already damaged, he was not being pretentious. He took it off directly and looked over his shoulder, "It's not serious right? Just some scraped skin."
After the awkwardness was successfully overcome, Jian Jing quickly changed the subject: "You call this not serious?"
Although it was just an abrasion, it covered almost a third of his back. He must have been dragged to cause such a large area of skin damage.
And judging by the depth, it went beyond the epidermis to the dermis in some places.
"Let me clean it up." She took out saline, dampened cotton balls to wash away the dust and blood around the wound, disinfected the area around the wound with iodine after cleaning it up.
Ji Feng stood still and let her treat him.
"Done." The first aid card was very useful. Jian Jing skillfully treated the injury and started worrying, "Wait here, I'll go buy you a new shirt to change into?"
"No need." Ji Feng handed her the car keys, "There's a travel bag in the trunk, there are spare clothes inside, just grab me anything."
"Okay."
Then Jian Jing directly brought him a whole new set of clothes.
"Covered in dust." She was very disgusted.
Ji Feng: "......let me borrow the bathroom."
"Go ahead."
Ji Feng changed into the new clothes, bundled up the dirty ones and stuffed them back into the bag, and washed his face while he was at it. He didn't know if it was psychological, but he felt like the wounds didn't hurt as much anymore.
He was in great condition.
"Teacher Jian, where do you want to go first this afternoon?"
"Let's eat first, I ordered takeout."
Ji Feng: "......Okay."
He rested properly for an hour. In the meantime, he "let" Teacher Jian borrow the washing machine and dryer in her home again. After eating lunch and getting his clothes washed and dried soft and fluffy, he took them away directly instead of washing them himself back at the duty room.
Man, these clothes got ruined in such a worthwhile way.
In the afternoon, the two started investigating suspects as planned.
First was the secretary.
She shared an apartment in an average old residential area. Ji Feng showed his ID. The secretary hesitated, but still let them into the house, asking: "My boss's case has been solved right? What else do you need from me?"
Ji Feng said: "The case is still under investigation. There are some questions that need your cooperation."
Without much explanation, he was in charge of questioning while Jian Jing observantly examined the state of the room. The living room was small with poor lighting. It was dark even during the day. There were many paper bags piled at the door, still unsealed, and pantyhose could be seen inside, probably to be mailed out.
Peering through the door gap to the bedroom, there was supplemental lighting, curtains, microphones - very typical livestreaming equipment.
The secretary noticed her gaze and explained: "I do this as a side job."
"Micro merchants need to livestream now too?" She was surprised.
The secretary smiled, glanced at her, and did not explain further. She lit a cigarette and asked Ji Feng: "Officer, if there's anything you want to ask, ask quickly. I'm off work these two days and need to earn money urgently."
Ji Feng asked: "When did you start working at Golden Jade Palace?"
The secretary was chatty, probably due to her job as a livestreamer: "A friend introduced me there half a year ago. She said the boss wanted a secretary who could drink and socialize for him. My alcohol tolerance is decent so I gave it a try and got hired."
"What friend?"
"A former colleague from a club. She doesn't work there anymore." The secretary said, "What does this have to do with me and this case?"
"You were the victim's secretary and knew most about him. We want to investigate more about his personal matters." Ji Feng said. "To your knowledge, was the victim homosexual or bisexual? Did he have any other ambiguous relationships?"
The secretary flicked some ash and pondered: "He didn't seem to like women. I threw myself at him and he had no reaction."
"How long were he and Tan Hao together?"
"Three or four months I guess."
"How did they meet?"
"At a dinner party. Little Tan is a model. He came to toast that night with someone. They took a liking to each other and hooked up the same night."
"What was their relationship like?"
"Hard to say." The secretary shrugged. "The boss had a wild time. And Little Tan lived off his youth and looks with a hot temper and a bit narcissistic too. I mean at his age, he still dreams of becoming a star without looking in the mirror and seeing what he looks like."
Jian Jing silently nodded.
Suspect Tan Hao was 26 this year. He kept his body in shape but his looks were mediocre. Barely making a living as a model, he had no chance in the entertainment industry.
She asked: "Did they fight because of this before?"
"Yeah. Little Tan wanted the boss to invest money into filming a web drama for him. The boss gave in at first and said he'd find investors but later regretted it. Recently they've been very unhappy over this."
"What kind of person is Little Tan?"
"Aiming high but lacking skill. Living off his youth and looks with a hot temper and rather narcissistic."
Ji Feng nodded and asked about her impression of other people.
"Brother Zhao (Manager) is a bit of a lecher who likes to cop a feel. Of course he's opportunistic. But other than that he's not too bad."
"Brother Qian (Head of security) is pretty decent, righteous and hardworking. I heard he used to be in a gang and spent a few years in jail but you can't really tell nowadays that he used to be that fierce."
"I'm not familiar with Sister Liu (Accounting). She only comes to the office a few times a month since she doesn't just work for us. The boss had her handle the books. As for private matters, who knows."
"Sister Minmin (Business Manager)? Tsk, she's capable. She used to be the top hostess at another place. The boss spent a lot to poach her. She's very shrewd and has all the clients eating out of her hand."
Jian Jing pondered briefly before cutting in: "Is Manager Minmin married?"
The secretary looked at her as if she were an elementary school student: "How could she be? She's the boss's woman."
Clearly a different boss than the deceased one. Jian Jing understood and asked: "All outsiders? No one from the club?"
"I shouldn't say." The secretary looked bored. "Anyway, Brother Zhao sucks up to her a lot. I've seen them come out of a room together before."
Jian Jing nodded without further questions.
The secretary chased them out: "That's enough Officer. I need to work. Don't get in my way."
"Then we'll get going. Thank you for your cooperation." Ji Feng bid farewell.
The two left the secretary's home but did not immediately leave. Instead they went to the property management office to inquire about the secretary's housing situation.
The property manager said the secretary had been living there for over a year, and so had her roommate. They left early and returned late with heavy makeup. Neighbors had complained a few times, finding their conduct unvirtuous. But in order to collect rent, the landlord kept letting them stay.
"It seems her financial situation is quite stable without huge income." Jian Jing analyzed. "I saw the room setup. It's rental furniture with an off-brand washing machine. The clothes hanging outside were very low quality too."
She was also doubtful: "Shouldn't club wages be higher? Could she be in debt?"
"She has a rural residency permit. Her family is probably average. The money is likely sent home." Having seen many similar cases, Ji Feng said: "She earns money fromgrey area means. Probably no rich backer."
"Grey area? That kind of livestreaming?"
Ji Feng: "What she sells."
"The pantyhose quality is awful." Jian Jing hated pantyhose that broke easily. "I saw some worn ones inside with holes... "
She trailed off and clued in belatedly: "No way, for real? What do buyers use those for??"
"Teacher Jian, stop imagining." Ji Feng opened the car door and ushered her in. "That kind of life is far from you. Don't worry."
Jian Jing still felt nauseous, with goosebumps all over.
Ji Feng redirected her attention: "I've seen many women in debt before. Usually it's because of the rolling interest on their loans. And when they encounter debt, their first choice is to continue borrowing money. She lives frugally, not like those kinds of people."
"She hasn't been working here long, and so far there's no sign of conflict of interest. Her motive for murder is very small," Jian Jing said. "Judging from her evaluation of other people, there doesn't seem to be any emotional entanglement either."
"Let's listen to what others have to say," Ji Feng suggested.
The second interviewee was the accountant.
As the secretary had said, the accountant not only kept the books for Jin Cuihua Palace, but also worked part-time at another company. Because she was so busy, she could only spare twenty minutes for questioning.
Ji Feng asked the same questions as before, about the accountant's understanding of the victim and her views on the other people.
"I'm not clear about the boss's personal situation, nor do I care," the accountant was very nervous and cautious, fearful of saying something wrong. "I come in mid-month and end of month for three days each to go over the books. I don't normally go there much and am unclear about many matters."
"What was the relationship between the victim and Tan Hao like?" Ji Feng asked.
"I heard it wasn't very good. I've run into them arguing before," the accountant said. "At the time I didn't even know his relationship with the boss. I wondered who this was, to actually slam the table at the boss. But then I found out..."
She made a hard to describe subtle expression.
"What about the others?"
"Brother Zhao is quite polite to me. Xiao Qian is decent. If I work late he helps me call a car. As for that Na Na (the secretary), I don't know her very well. Frankly speaking, I don't like that kind of unprofessional woman, either always on her phone when free or video calling different men."
"What do you make of Manager Min?"
"Oh her! You wouldn't think she does this kind of work from looking at her. She's polite and articulate, what a pity that she does this... I heard from the young girls working under her that she makes quite a lot, several hundred thousand a year, incredible."
"What are her relationships with the others like?"
"Hard to say, that kind of place..." The accountant shook her head and refused to say more.
The twenty minutes were soon up. She declined to chat further and hurriedly went back.
Jian Jing remarked: "Her outfit is very plain, income seems a little lower. But with kids that age, would need money for all sorts of things. She kept looking over at that tutoring center next door."
Ji Feng made an affirmative "mn" sound, lost in thought: Teacher Jian doesn't understand the lives of ordinary people, no wonder, she became famous young and has always been well-off economically. She didn't spend her formative years with Kang Mu Cheng, so her standard of living must have been among the best in the country.
Yet her judgment of ordinary people's standard of living is very accurate.
Which is quite strange.
The lives of ordinary people and underprivileged people should both be rather distant from her.
So many secrets. He looked at her, smiling. "Next?"
The accountant had chosen a small park near her company, an open-air location. Jian Jing complained: "So hot, I want ice cream."
"Is McDonald's or KFC ice cream tastier?"
"Can't we get something else?"
"There's no other shops around here."
"Either is fine I guess. Taste is probably similar."
