The club was open for business at night. In the afternoon, Min Manager happened to be at home.
She lived in a high-end residential community, with housing prices over 100,000 yuan. The property management was very strict, requiring identity checks before allowing entry. Ji Feng showed his ID and asked about the situation of the suspect.
After checking the information, they learned that the house Min Manager was currently living in was registered under her own name two years ago.
As for impressions of Min Manager, the property management staff unanimously gave her good reviews: "The owner of Unit 1901 is very nice and polite. When we help her with small things, she specially comes to thank us, so everyone is willing to help her."
"This woman is not simple," Jian Jing said. "We need to take a closer look."
They went to visit her without prior notice, aiming for a sudden attack.
Min Manager happened to be at home, cooking. Seeing them arrive, she reacted with an appropriate amount of surprise: "May I ask what brings you here?"
Ji Feng repeated the excuse to cooperate with the investigation.
She seemed puzzled but still invited them in. Jian Jing paid close attention to observing the shoe cabinet and saw only women's shoes, without any men's or children's shoes. However, there were several pairs of slippers in different colors.
The room was furnished in a clear, elegant and cozy style, with fabric sofas, soft lighting, lilies and lotus flowers in vases, all displaying the owner's taste.
And her casual at-home outfit was also very simple and plain - a pearl white dress, hair pinned up with a pearl clip, a few strands left loose at the temples, gentle Korean style.
Jian Jing complimented, "Your dress is so beautiful, it complements your complexion very well."
"Thank you." No woman dislikes being praised, and Min Manager was no exception. She poured lemon water for the two and asked, "Is there anything else you need my cooperation on?"
Ji Feng asked, "What kind of person was the deceased?"
Min Manager thought about it and replied, "He had a bad temper, and would scold people over minor things. Sometimes when his temper flared up, the words he said were extremely offensive. But compared to my previous boss who was all empty flattery, he had one advantage - he was quite generous with money."
"Did the staff have grievances against him?"
"Yes, certainly." Min Manager gave an example, "I have a girl under me who offended a customer, and got slapped twice in the face by the boss, made to kneel down and apologize to the customer."
Jian Jing frowned.
Ji Feng asked, "Who contradicted him the most?"
Min Manager shook her head: "I had just switched jobs here, so I'm not clear about things in other departments."
"Why did you jump to Golden Jade Palace?" Jian Jing asked abruptly. "The pay is very high, or was there another reason?"
Min Manager smiled and answered calmly, "My previous boss was planning to have newcomers replace me. If I didn't leave, I would have had to wait to be disgraced right? So why did you choose this one?"
"The boss prefers men, so I would face far fewer troubles." Min Manager fiddled with the flowers in the vase and said lightly, "Having to deal with customers is already exhausting enough every day. To have to continue putting on an act to please the boss would be too troublesome."
The reason seemed very convincing.
Ji Feng continued to ask about her views on others, according to plan.
"I don't know the accountant. We don't interact much with her unless necessary. It would not look good if the boss found out. If I must say, she probably looks down on us a bit, feeling that we are not decent people."
"That secretary...I think her name is Nana. Still young and fickle. I don't even know where she spends all her money. I overheard her talking on the phone once, it sounded like her family was asking her for money. She is also pitiful. People in this industry basically eat their youthful meals. When they get old and have no car or house, it becomes difficult for them to find someone to marry."
"Xiao Qian looks fierce but she's actually not bad. Sometimes she helps handle difficult customers."
"Brother Zhao..." When speaking of him, Min Manager hesitated slightly and said, "I don't know if you've heard anyone say this, but actually, Golden Jade Palace originally belonged to Brother Zhao."
This was really new information.
Ji Feng said, "Please explain in detail."
"I only heard bits of gossip, if I get anything wrong, please don't blame me."
"Of course not."
Min Manager carefully recalled and slowly said, "In the past, Golden Jade Palace was just a small club, one I hadn't even heard of before, also not doing business on the same scale as now. The people who came were a mixed bunch, inevitably causing trouble. Later I don't know who reported it and they were directly shut down and seized. To avoid imprisonment, Brother Zhao had no choice but to sell the club. That was when the current boss took over."
"Actually, I was also quite surprised that Brother Zhao still stayed on. Maybe he has feelings for this place and can't bear to leave it." She implied meaningfully, "Possibly also because of money. But I don't know the specifics."
Ji Feng nodded: "Thank you for your cooperation, this will be very helpful for us."
"I'm glad I could help."
From entering to finishing the questioning, the whole process took forty minutes and yielded quite a bit.
The two sat in the car with the AC on, exchanging views.
Jian Jing spoke first: "On the surface, the three don't seem to have any entanglement with the deceased. But Min Manager is the most suspicious."
They had each asked around about the situation of the others. But gathering information was secondary - observing attitudes revealed the truth. Although the secretary provided information on conflicts between Tan Hao and the deceased, the focus still centered on Tan Hao herself.
The accountant's attitude was also fine. Having some opinions about colleagues behind their backs was normal between people.
Only Min Manager clearly provided Brother Zhao's motive.
She may have spoken out of goodwill, or unintentionally, or perhaps with another objective in mind.
"I'll go back and check on those two first," Ji Feng said.
Jian Jing said, "Plus the head of security."
"What do you mean?"
"You just need to check. I want to know if the two people who discovered the body first, and the three females, have any still undiscovered connections."
Ji Feng understood: "Your speculation is a bit bold."
"The most unlikely guess could just be the simplest answer," she thought about it and said, "Does Golden Jade Palace open for business at night? I want to go take a look."
"It should be open today." Ji Feng looked at her with a smile, "But they might not let you in."
Jian Jing knew that some clubs played it risky, not accepting female patrons, but that was fine: "I have my ways."
As night fell, the lights came on and luxury cars filled the parking lot outside Golden Jade Palace.
Jian Jing simply took a taxi there and headed straight for the entrance.
The security guard dutifully blocked her path: "Miss, who are you looking for?"
"I can't go in?" Jian Jing asked in surprise.
The security guard said, "Sorry, we don't serve female guests. If you've come with friends, please give us the room number for verification before we can escort you there."
Jian Jing raised her eyebrows without speaking.
Just then, a middle-aged man walked over about to enter. He glanced at her with a smile and said, "This lady is with me."
The security guard looked at Jian Jing doubtfully: "You two came together?"
Jian Jing said, "Yes."
The guard let them pass.
The man put his arm around her shoulder as they went inside, laughing, "Who are you looking for, Miss? We don't allow girls in here. Want to come to my room for a drink first?"
"Let go," Jian Jing said.
The man certainly wouldn't let go. A young girl's smooth fair skin felt delicate and soft to the touch. He laughed, "What's with the act? You just want to sneak in to hook a rich guy..."
Before he finished speaking, his throat was tightly squeezed, instantly blocking his trachea, making it impossible to breathe.
His face swelled bright red.
"What did you just say?" Jian Jing used force skillfully, strangling only his windpipe while avoiding leaving fingerprints. "Say it again, I want to hear clearly."
The man was ferocious on the outside but timid within: "What...what are you trying to do?"
"If you obstruct me from catching someone cheating one more time, you'll be sorry." She released her hand and said coldly, "Scram."
"Humph! You think I'm afraid?" The man pretended to be tough, but had already started chickening out inside.
He was just an ordinary rich second generation used to throwing money at girls. Now running into one who directly resorted to violence made him flustered, even if he wouldn't admit it. But to let her off just like this would be losing face too: "Who'd believe you, coming to this kind of place?"
Jian Jing hadn't expected to run into such an annoying idiot who refused to buzz off. She could only put on an arrogant act: "Do you know who I am?"
How could the man possibly know? But he backed down anyway.
People who dared talk like this generally had strong backup.
"Better stay out of my way, or you'll regret it." Her bluff worked perfectly for this scenario. The more aggressive she acted, the more nervous he became. "Got it?"
Jian Jing stared him down.
"Damn it, just my luck." Feeling like he'd made himself enough of a fool, the man spat some harsh parting words and hurried away.
His steps slightly unsteady.
Jian Jing was too lazy to bother with him either, and simply walked in the opposite direction.
There were usually no surveillance cameras installed inside high-end clubs to avoid leaving guests' privacy. She walked in boldly, looking like a justified guest, so people who saw her thought she was a female companion of some guest and did not look twice.
After some effort, Jian Jing finally found Min Manager who was working.
She looked very beautiful today too, wearing a light gray off-shoulder long dress and exquisite, gentle makeup. The color of her lip glaze was the timeless color of brown sugar. Although other girls were younger than her or even prettier, her temperament was unique.
Guests really liked her. Many kept greeting her and inviting her to drink. Her colleagues also welcomed her with smiles. She seemed very popular.
And in terms of who was closest to her, none could compare to the person in charge, Brother Zhao.
The two chatted at a corner of the staircase for a long time. Brother Zhao still had his hand on her shoulder, and it would slide down occasionally.
"Brother Zhao, the boss is gone. You should focus more on the club," Min Manager sighed and persuaded tactfully. "I can go anywhere, and guests will follow me, but what about you?"
Brother Zhao frowned and mumbled, "What more can I do? I don't know how many people have asked me about this the past couple days. What could I say?"
"Who will take over in the future?" Min Manager asked directly. "Are you confident?"
"I won't hide this from you, but I do have some ideas. After all..." He hesitated and lowered his voice. "What do you think? Can I take over?"
Min Manager smiled indifferently. "As long as you have money."
"Can't do without funds huh," Brother Zhao rubbed his hands and laughed. "Min Min, I know you're pretty well off. What do you think, do you want to be the club owner's wife?"
Min Manager laughed. "Don't tell me you've had this idea all along?"
"We're not young anymore. It's time to settle down. And I don't look down on you either." Brother Zhao said sincerely. "Think about it carefully."
But Min Manager was ambiguous. "Let's talk about it after you take over the club."
"I'm eighty percent confident about this," Brother Zhao bragged. "Just watch me pull it off."
Min Manager looked surprised. "Not bad, Old Zhao. You've already got ideas in just a couple days?"
"Of course I started thinking a long time ago..." He seemed to realize he had misspoke and quickly shut his mouth. "Oh, you'll know when the time comes."
The two were talking very softly, but with her five senses card turned on, Jian Jing could still make out most of it.
She edited a text message with what she heard and sent it to Ji Feng.
Keep watching.
Afterwards, it was the club's peak hours. More and more guests kept coming. Brother Zhao and Min Manager were so busy they barely got a break. Team Leader Qian was busy directing his security guards. Jian Jing only caught glimpses of them a couple times.
After 1 am, the crowd thinned as the guests left one by one.
Jian Jing saw Brother Zhao take a girl into his office with his arm around her. Min Manager had taken off her off-shoulder work dress and changed back into her own plain and conservative shirt and calf-length skirt. She asked Team Leader Qian to call her a car.
"Let me give you a ride," the security team leader was apparently not immune to her charm and eagerly fawned over the beauty.
But Min Manager declined, "Just help me call a car. You go mind your own business. I'll be fine."
The team leader could only back away.
At two o'clock, Ji Feng met the drowsy Jian Jing and asked her, "Find anything?"
"What about you?"
"Brother Zhao has shady dealings. There's an unexplainable huge sum of income in the books every month. I suspect something fishy with the club's accounts."
Jian Jing pondered, "If the victim discovered his actions, that would be a strong motive for murder. But he was the one who discovered the body first, so there was no time for him to commit the murder, right?"
"That's the key point," Ji Feng looked at her and smiled. "Teacher Jian, time's up for you—what exactly is the secret behind this locked room case?"
