Lady's Home

Chapter 27

“My mother wants me to forget the past. I promised her I would, but I can’t. It’s mine, and I always want it back.”

Lin Zhongjie, however, was thinking of the 1995 edition textbooks for all subjects in the third year of junior high school scattered on the ground. Judging from her age, Fang Qi, born in 1980, should have been in the third year of junior high school in 1995. She was 15 years old then, and at that age, she did something earth-shattering.

"Those textbooks are yours too?"

"Yes, it's mine."

"Why did you leave the textbooks on the floor of the storage room without taking them?"

Fang Qi looked at him, her brows furrowing slightly.

“I…I don’t know how to say it,” she said after a moment, shrugging anxiously. “Of course I took those books with me, because they were all in that little box, and I put them on the bookshelf in my room, but then they disappeared. I don’t know where they went…” She became anxious as she spoke. “I didn’t expect them to reappear in the storeroom later. I was also surprised when I checked the items.”

This is a new situation! Could it be that someone else entered the storage room after Fang Qi? And this person even stole Fang Qi's book and put it back in the storage room to stage the scene? Is that possible? Did Fang Qi lie? Could this be something she made up on the spot? Lin Zhongjie felt that it was too early to draw conclusions.

When was the last time you saw your book?

"Hmm, it was probably around May 10th," she said uncertainly. "I saw those books on the bookshelf that morning before I went to work. When I came back in the evening, the books were gone."

"The 10th, why are you so sure it's that day?"

"It's either the 10th or the 11th, I don't remember."

Have you suspected anyone?

“I don’t know. I’m at work all day. After I found the things were missing, I asked Aunt Yufen. She said that my mom, my older sister, Yushan, and Xiangbing were also there that morning. I don’t know who did it.”

Do you usually lock your door?

“It’s locked. But Aunt Yufen has the key. She helps me air out the blankets and tidy up the room every day.” Fang Qi stared blankly ahead, her hands twisting together, and repeated, “I don’t know who did it.”

Where do you usually keep your house key?

"It's kept with my other keys, and I always keep it close at hand."

"Does Zhang Yufen have keys to all of you?"

“No, she only has me. In this family, the two of us are the closest,” Fang Qi’s voice softened. “She raised me at my maternal grandmother’s house when I was little.”

"What if someone else needs their room cleaned?"

“I usually tidy up myself. Aunt Yufen can’t do that much. Just cleaning the hallway, living room, small living room, guest room, and toilet, and cooking, is enough to keep her busy. Of course, if there are any special requests, just tell Aunt Yufen, and she will do them.” Fang Qi coughed lightly as she said this. “However, my older sister and Xiaoxi are not under Aunt Yufen’s care.”

"Why?"

"Because Aunt Yufen couldn't take care of so many people, Mom asked Sister Rouzhi to take care of Xiaoxi herself. Sister Rouzhi agreed."

What aspects of care are included in your description?

"Tidiing up the room, washing clothes, folding clothes, making snacks, things like that," Fang Qi said casually.

"So, Fang Rouzhi often worked in the same space as Zhang Yufen?"

"They don't get along very well, so they usually avoid each other. Aunt Yufen doesn't like working in the same place as my older sister, and the two of them don't talk much."

"Why?"

"Maybe my older sister said bad things about Aunt Yufen to Mom before. I don't know, they've never gotten along." Fang Qi sighed.

Lin Zhongjie decided to put aside the "story" of Fang Qi's stolen books for now. He had more practical questions to ask her.

"You said last time that you called around 7:30 pm on May 6th, right?"

Yes. We made an appointment.

"Dinner was supposed to start around 7 p.m., but according to the investigation, it should have started around 7:15 p.m. You left around 7:30 p.m. By the time you finished making the call, dinner was already over."

"Yes."

"When you left, Shen Biyun hadn't yet announced that she would give Su Zhiwen 3 million, and Su Zhiwen hadn't even had a chance to boast. How would you know what they said? Who told you?"

Fang Qi was clearly surprised that he would ask about this.

"I heard it from Aunt Yufen afterwards," Fang Qi said.

Lin Zhongjie knew she would answer like that, so he said:

“We checked your call records on the evening of May 6th. The call did indeed start at 7:30 and ended at 9:00.”

"After I made the call, I checked the clocks in the study and the living room; they both said 9 o'clock, so it should be correct. Dinner was already over by then, and I went to the kitchen to have some soup," Fang Qi said calmly.

"At that time, Zhang Yufen was..."

"Is that right?"

“There was no one in the kitchen,” Fang Qi said, then immediately explained, “I later found out she went upstairs to bring milk to her mother.”

"After dinner, when did you see your older sister? I mean when she said she saw a dark figure."

“I’m not quite sure. My mother had just taken away the hot compress when she came. I spoke a few words with my older sister.”

"Where was Shen Biyun at that time?" Lin Zhongjie remembered that Shen Biyun's testimony did not mention seeing Fang Rouzhi, which he found very strange.

“Mom just left. I don’t know if she heard me talking to my older sister. She looked very tired.”

What time was it?

"I don't remember, it was around 9:20, I didn't pay attention."

"Did Shen Biyun go to the study?"

Fang Qi was startled, her eyes widened, and she quickly said, "No, I heard her go upstairs. My mother's legs are not good, and her footsteps are very heavy. I can recognize her voice. She went upstairs."

Who else was in the living room at the time?

“Besides my older sister and me, there’s no one else,” Fang Qi said.

Lin Zhongjie thought for a moment and then asked:

Who usually gets up first in your family every morning?

“Of course it’s Aunt Yufen. Then it’s Mom and my eldest sister. My eldest sister has to get up early to prepare food for Xiaoxi. Mom gets up early because she’s never been a good sleeper,” Fang Qi said.

Ling Ge noticed that all the rooms on the second floor, except Zeng Yushan's, were locked. No one in this house would change into slippers and wander around the living room; slippers were usually kept in individual rooms, so she couldn't find the pair with the chewing gum stuck to them. Ling Ge was genuinely worried that the gum might fall off or be discovered by that person after a while, which would ruin everything. She had just boasted about it last night; if it really fell off, it would be incredibly embarrassing.

Around noon, Ling Ge saw Zhang Yufen busy in the kitchen alone, so she volunteered to help shell edamame. Since no one else was at the Shen family's house today, she thought it would be a good opportunity to chat with Zhang Yufen. Zhang Yufen was a little surprised at first, but when she saw that Ling Ge genuinely wanted to help her, she readily agreed.

"Ling Ge, your name is really strange, it doesn't sound like a girl's name. Who named you?" Zhang Yufen asked as she peeled potatoes.

"It was my dad who named me. He originally hoped I would be a boy." Ling Ge felt a strange mix of emotions when she thought of her somewhat rude and fierce father. This was actually why she liked being with Jian Dongping. Although he often teased her, he was mostly very gentle with her, unlike her father, whom she rarely saw smile. Seeing her father always made her feel a little apprehensive.

"And what about your mother?"

“My mother passed away when I was 3 years old.”

Zhang Yufen was startled, and her movements of peeling potatoes slowed down a couple of beats.

"How did he die? Was it from illness or..."

"She's sick. I still don't know what's wrong with her. My dad hasn't said anything, and I haven't asked," Ling Ge said softly while shelling edamame. To her, "Mom" was a distant title, but perhaps because she hadn't seen her mother since she was old enough to understand, she wasn't very sad. In short, she was used to it.

"It wasn't easy for your dad to raise you all by himself. Is he retired now?"

“My father sacrificed his life while investigating a case a few years ago.”

"So you've been living alone all these years?"

"Mm." Ling Ge nodded.

"How pitiful." Zhang Yufen looked at her with pity.

“It’s simple and comfortable to live alone, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Ling Ge smiled. She didn’t like being pitied by others.

“But Ling Ge, you’re in luck. The Jian family is well-off, has few members, and their relationships aren’t complicated. I’ve also heard that the Jian family’s son is smart, educated, and has a good job. You’re in luck, Ling Ge,” Zhang Yufen said with a smile, patting the back of her hand with her potato-peel-covered hands.

"He's nobody to me, how could he be my good fortune?" Thinking of Jian Dongping filled Ling Ge with mixed emotions. She felt she hadn't really anything to do with him, just a little dependence and a little admiration. He'd been away for several days before, and they didn't see each other every day. But ever since that night she stayed at his house and he acted strangely, something different had happened. She suddenly felt a strange pity for him. So after he left, she missed him terribly. Sometimes, walking down the street, she'd unconsciously want to call him. She didn't really have anything to say, just wanted to talk to him, and talking made her feel so close to him. She restrained herself from cramming everything into one call, not wanting him to feel like she was trying to get close to him. She missed him terribly, that was a fact, but she didn't dare think about what would happen next.

“When he came last time, I thought he was very clean-cut and handsome. Ling Ge, you’re in luck.” Zhang Yufen was still saying this when she heard it, and it made her feel a little uncomfortable. She really wanted to loudly correct Zhang Yufen, saying that they were just ordinary friends and that she shouldn’t involve them, but she held back when she remembered Jian Dongping’s instructions.

"I don't think we get along very well sometimes," Ling Ge said with difficulty. Thinking of his previous ridicule and his constant disdain for her poor English, she felt a pang of resentment.

“No relationship is ever perfect. Don’t take your good fortune for granted.” Zhang Yufen glanced out of the kitchen and said softly, “Let me tell you a secret. A year ago, my wife wanted to introduce your boyfriend to Fang Qi. At that time, Fang Qi had just broken up with her boyfriend and was feeling down. My wife was very worried about her and was eager to find her a boyfriend, so she thought of Lawyer Jian’s son. My wife offered him several million if he was willing to be with Fang Qi. Unfortunately, he was rejected. In today’s society, everything is about money. It’s not easy for a working-class man to refuse several million, especially since Fang Qi is so beautiful.”

Ling Ge never expected such a story to unfold.

Why did he refuse?

"You silly girl, of course it's because of you. He said he has a girlfriend, isn't that you?"

A sweet feeling welled up in Ling Ge's heart, but she immediately reminded herself that he had so many girlfriends—B partners, T partners, W partners—who knew who he was after? Okay, she didn't want to talk about him anymore; the more she talked, the more uneasy she felt. She remembered once when he was talking to her, she really wanted to reach out and touch his face; he was so close, but she didn't dare. She knew she wasn't as smart as him, so she had to try to avoid doing anything foolish. She had to understand that what wasn't hers wasn't hers. She wondered where he was now, if he was going to see Wang Dongmei… "Stop! Stop!" she told herself. "Ling Ge, are you still going on and on? Don't you have any self-respect? This is time to gather information, why are you always daydreaming?"

"Auntie, it must be so hard for you to do all the work for such a large family all by yourself. You should hire a part-time helper," Ling Ge said sincerely, changing the subject.

"Oh my, you're quite the talker, young lady," Zhang Yufen said with a smile, patting her on the shoulder.

“I just say what I think. If I had to do so much work every day, I would go crazy. I wouldn’t be able to handle it all, and I would definitely make a mess of it. So I think that since the Shen family is so rich, they should hire another nanny,” Ling Ge said sincerely.

Zhang Yufen looked at her and said:

“It’s not that my wife is stingy, it’s just that it’s really not easy to hire a good hourly worker these days. We’ve hired them before, but they were either unhygienic, liked to steal things, or were not punctual, so we simply stopped hiring them and only hire someone to help out in special circumstances.”

“Special circumstances?” Ling Ge thought of the unfortunate incident that happened to Old Mrs. Shen four months ago.

Zhang Yufen didn't respond to her.

“I’m in charge of this whole family, but Fang Rouzhi and her daughter have nothing to do with me. I told my wife from the beginning that I wouldn’t interfere with them, and she agreed.” Zhang Yufen frowned at the mention of Fang Rouzhi, her face full of disdain. “So, if Fang Rouzhi gets sick, she’ll find someone to help take care of that girl. Sigh, she was originally just the daughter of a laid-off worker, and her husband is a fugitive murderer. Now she’s acting like a rich young lady, and she even has to find someone to serve her. Humph. But anyway, it’s not my money, so I can’t control it.”

"Does Sister Fang get sick often?"

"Hmph, who knows?" Zhang Yufen sneered. "She is Lin Daiyu."

Thinking of Fang Rouzhi's delicate and frail appearance, which did indeed bear some resemblance to Lin Daiyu, Ling Ge couldn't help but laugh.

"Has she been sick this year?" she asked with a smile.

“How could she not have given birth? She gives birth every year!” Zhang Yufen said irritably.

"When? She seems to be in pretty good health," Ling Ge asked. This was a trick Jian Dongping taught her—to get information out of someone, she first said the opposite.

"It was in March of this year. She was hospitalized with hematuria. My wife had to find a temporary nanny for her daughter."

“I heard Xiaoxi say last time that Grandma Shen fell down the stairs in February. She should have hired a temporary caregiver then, right? So it would be much simpler to hire the same caregiver in March.” Ling Ge felt that his question was not very clever, but fortunately Zhang Yufen did not notice.

"The one we hired in February was a full-time nurse, while the one we hired in March was a temporary caregiver."

"The temporary nanny should be a young person, right?" Ling Ge considered whether to show her Zhou Jin's photo, hesitated for a moment, and then decided not to, as that would be too obvious.

"Hmm, in her early twenties, seems like a nice person, always smiling, and very good at housework. I heard she's from Fujian and came here looking for work, but couldn't find anything yet, so she's working as a nanny for a few days to earn some money. Fang Xiaoxi gets along well with her, and they even sing together. You know, that Wang Lili, is that her name? Oh, it should be Zhou Lili, she sings quite well. Madam even asked her to perform in the living room. She stands there with such poise."