No te apoyes en la barandilla oeste para retener el claro otoño

Capítulo 7

"What was your purpose in coming here that day?"

"Shen Biyun wants me to attend her wedding anniversary banquet."

"You're his legal counsel, didn't you talk about anything else?" Lin Zhong simply didn't believe that Shen Biyun's invitation to Jian Qiming to her villa on May 6th was just a simple dinner invitation.

"Of course, she also talked to me about the 3 million investment." Jian Qiming laughed. "I advised her to think it over carefully, but she said she wanted to give Xiao Su a chance. She said that he would not get any benefits by following me and that he would be at a disadvantage. These are Bi Yun's exact words. In addition, she said that her Xiao Su was in a bad mood."

"In a bad mood? How so?" This was the first time Lin Zhongjie had heard this.

“He was just feeling down. He explained to Shen Biyun that he would feel melancholy every year in late spring and early summer, it was a habit. But Shen Biyun felt that his low mood might be related to the cold treatment he received from her family, so she wanted to comfort him, and that's how the 3 million yuan came about.”

"Does Shen Biyun's family not get along with him?"

"When Shen Biyun married Su Zhiwen, her daughters strongly opposed it." Jian Qiming glanced at Lin Zhongjie, as if to say, "You should have guessed this even if I didn't say it."

Who is the most vehemently opposed?

“My youngest daughter, Zeng Yushan,” Jian Qiming shrugged and smiled. “That’s why she suddenly announced at her mother’s wedding anniversary banquet that she had registered her marriage with her boyfriend, Xiang Bing. She was trying to show off to her mother.”

No wonder Shen Biyun said she was in a bad mood that day and drank a few more glasses of wine, Lin Zhongjie thought.

"What do you think of Su Zhiwen's situation?" Lin Zhongjie asked.

“I think the matter is very simple. Su Zhiwen encountered a thief when he went to retrieve the painting. The two got into a fight, and Su Zhiwen was no match for the thief and was eventually killed,” Jian Qiming said casually.

"How was the key returned?"

“The thief doesn’t need to return the key himself. He can just leave it in an obvious place in the house, and someone will return it to him, such as on the living room table, the kitchen counter, the sofa, etc. Zhang Yufen is the first person to get up in this house, and she has always been loyal to Shen Biyun. If she finds the key, she will definitely return it to the mistress of the house. Moreover, she won’t make a fuss, because she might think that the mistress of the house accidentally dropped it there,” Jian Qiming said.

"So how did the thief sneak into the storage room?"

“Following Su Zhiwen”.

“If there really was a thief, it seems very likely that he is someone from this family, and someone who overheard Shen Biyun and Su Zhiwen’s conversation. Otherwise, how would he know that following Su Zhiwen would allow him to enter the storage room?” Lin Zhongjie paused. “Moreover, if it were an outsider, it would be too easy to be discovered. I know many people from the Shen family that day.”

“Not necessarily. Maybe the thief sneaked in a while ago and hid somewhere near the storage room, watching the door. He followed whoever was about to enter the storage room,” Jian Qiming said with a hint of sarcasm. “There’s a passageway near the kitchen and storage room with lots of cardboard boxes. If someone was hiding behind those boxes, no one would notice. So this could very well be a case of intruders breaking in and committing murder for money.”

Although Jian Qiming's words seemed plausible, Lin Zhongjie felt it was still an unrealistic conjecture. He suspected that Jian Qiming was deliberately dragging outsiders into the matter to exonerate someone in the family, so he impatiently reminded him:

“Attorney Jane, let me remind you, if your client is guilty, no matter how many stories you make up for him, it won’t help. The truth will always come out.”

“Ah, brother, let’s talk this out, shall we?” Jian Qiming said with great interest. “If you think what I’m saying is unreasonable, you can use facts to refute me, but using threats is not a very clever approach.”

“Alright, tell me, what reason do you have to believe this was a case committed by an outsider? And that it was murder for money? Did Shen Biyun lose something?” Lin Zhongjie frowned. He realized that the information Shen Biyun provided to the police might not be complete.

“Yes. Two genuine works by Huang Yaliu,” Jian Qiming said.

"But she said she hasn't been to the storage room since May 6th! How did she know things were stolen?" Lin Zhongjie couldn't help but feel annoyed at this thought.

“She didn’t go there herself. After the body was moved, she asked her eldest daughter, Fang Qi, to verify it. She hasn’t been feeling well lately, and she’s handed over all the company matters to her eldest daughter.” Jian Qiming sighed with emotion as he said this. “After all, she’s getting on in years, and this kind of blow could be fatal.”

Jian Qiming's heartfelt sentiments failed to move Lin Zhongjie.

"As far as I know, this is not the first time your Ms. Shen has lost a husband. Before Su Zhiwen, she had been married three times. Apart from her first husband, who was divorced, her next two husbands died suddenly. Her second husband suffered a heart attack during a meeting, and her third husband accidentally fell down the stairs and died."

Jian Qiming turned around and stared at him.

Are you having a casual chat with me, or are you making an accusation?

"Your client has a history of several husbands dying suddenly, so..."

"So what, buddy, you'd better think before you speak, lest I find something to hold against you. You're almost retired..."

"Threats won't work. I only believe the facts. Your female client is no pushover..."

Lin Zhongjie was about to continue speaking when he suddenly saw Shen Biyun's eldest daughter, Fang Qi, standing at the front door talking to two people. He immediately said to Jian Qiming, "Hey, isn't that your son?"

Jian Qiming looked up and immediately showed a surprised expression: "It's him, and the little girl is here too. Why are they here?"

“Who knows?” Lin Zhongjie said.

"Ling Ge is getting prettier and prettier," Jian Qiming said to Lin Zhongjie, looking at the gate with great interest.

"So how are they now?" He had already forgotten their argument.

“I don’t know. They both say they’re just friends. But Lao Lin, Ling Ge is the first girl my son has brought home in 28 years, and the first girl he’s ever been allowed into his room. I don’t think she’s just ordinary at all,” Jian Qiming chuckled. “The little girl even sewed buttons for him very carefully. To be honest, I saw my son deliberately cut off all the buttons and let her sew them on. After she finished, he took them off and had Sister Ping sew them on again.”

"Your son really knows how to cause trouble!" Lin Zhongjie's eyes widened, and he felt genuine sympathy for Ling Ge. "Why would he do this?"

He said he was just joking with Xiao Ge.

"Your son is just as difficult as you."

“I’d say he’s much more difficult than me. But,” Jian Qiming said with a meaningful look, “he never lets anyone touch his things, but I once saw Ling Ge taking a nap on his bed, covered with his usual blanket, while he was playing on his computer next to him. Hey… I think the young couple has a pretty good relationship.”

"Xiao Ge is really foolish. The relationship isn't even official yet, how could she... Your son is just ruining Xiao Ge's life."

“That’s right, Lao Lin!” Whenever the topic of Ling Ge and Jian Dongping comes up, Lin Zhongjie and Jian Qiming are always in complete agreement.

"They can't succeed, it's all your son's fault!"

“Absolutely right! Old Lin! It’s his fault!” Jian Qiming said.

The two walked to the front door as they talked.

This was a small room, no more than 15 square meters in size. Although the space was small, the floor was covered with an exquisite Persian carpet, the red sofa was covered with a thin, openwork gauze curtain, and a large bouquet of brightly colored silk lilies was placed on the coffee table. Even the small ashtray was wrapped in a small cover with white lace. Jian Dongping felt that the room reflected an elegant and refined feminine taste, and couldn't help but sigh that wealthy women always had the leisure to pay attention to details.

After being introduced by their father, Jian Qiming, Jian Dongping and Ling Ge successfully entered the Shen family villa and were invited by Shen Biyun to have dinner there. They are now meeting with Fang Qi in the villa's small living room.

Fang Qi was a tall, slender, and slightly aloof beauty. Her features were seven-tenths similar to Shen Biyun's, except that she was a size larger. She was over 170 centimeters tall and wore a camel-colored business suit. Her long hair rolled in big waves and draped behind her head, making her look like a capable company manager.

"I never expected you to be from Attorney Jian's family." Fang Qi sat on the sofa, looking Jian Dongping up and down with a cold gaze, and said softly.

“I never expected my father to be Ms. Shen’s legal advisor,” Jian Dongping said casually. “It’s just that I don’t communicate with him enough usually, but that’s probably a common problem among young people these days.”

Fang Qi raised her head, a faint smile flashing in her dark eyes.

“You’re right, this is probably what they call a generation gap. Dongping, may I call you that?” she asked, her voice very soft, with a very distant tone and a decorative hissing sound.

“Of course, Fang Qi,” Jian Dongping said politely.

“This is…” Fang Qi glanced at Ling Ge, who was sitting next to Jian Dongping and staring at her.

“I am…” Ling Ge’s voice was loud, sounding like she was about to announce her police identity. Jian Dongping was startled and immediately interrupted her.

“She’s my girlfriend, Ling Ge,” he said, glancing back at her. She was glaring at him, as if about to retort. He frowned at her, signaling her to be quiet, to be good! He hoped Ling Ge would understand his look; she usually did. But to make it clearer, he took her hand. Her hand was plump and round. He had held many slender, beautiful hands, but only these reminded him of the pig's trotters displayed on the supermarket meat counter. This made him feel happy and good. Ling Ge fell silent, only giving him a surprised look before turning her head away.

"You two are a perfect match." Fang Qi smiled faintly.

Jian Dongping seemed to faintly detect a sigh in her tone.

“Actually, I came here this time also for her,” Jian Dongping said, shaking Ling Ge’s hand. “She is Zhou Jin’s reader.”

"Zhou Jin?" Fang Qi frowned slightly.

“She writes a travel column in my section,” Jian Dongping said.

“I’ve bought your weekly magazine, but I rarely read the travel section; I only read the business section.”

“Why? The travel version is really good,” Ling Ge interjected.

“I don’t have time to travel, I’m too busy with work. Maybe I’ll take a look sometime in the future…” Fang Qi said gently.

"So you don't know Zhou Jin?" Jian Dongping asked.

“I don’t know her. I’ve never heard of that name before. What’s wrong with her? Why are you asking me?” Fang Qi’s eyes darted back and forth between him and Ling Ge, looking slightly uneasy.

“She seems to have disappeared,” Jian Dongping replied calmly.

"Missing?" Fang Qi seemed somewhat surprised.

“Zhou Jin last used her phone at 6:30 pm on May 7th. I found that she called you around 4 pm on May 7th, and the call lasted for 7 and a half minutes,” Ling Ge said.

Fang Qi glanced at Ling Ge warily, then smiled and said, "You're really enthusiastic about this."

Even if someone smiles every minute, you'll still feel like they're made of ice. Fang Qi is one such person.

“She works at the telephone exchange, and besides, she’s a reader of Zhou Jin’s, so you could say she took advantage of her job to check. Don’t take offense, she’s young and doesn’t know any better.” Jian Dongping laughed it off, then said, “However, it seems like Zhou Jin really knows you, otherwise why would she call you? It doesn’t seem like she dialed the wrong number either, because you can talk a lot in seven and a half minutes.”

After Jian Dongping finished speaking, he quietly gazed at Fang Qi.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Fang Qi looked away.

"May 7th, 4 PM. Let me think about it carefully. More than a month has passed, and I'm afraid I should..." Fang Qi seemed quite troubled.

“That day was the day after Ms. Shen’s wedding anniversary,” he reminded her, releasing Ling Ge’s hand as he spoke. Ling Ge then quietly kicked him under the table.

Fang Qi's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ah, now that you mention it... I do think there was such a phone call." She said hesitantly, "I did receive a strange phone call that day."

"Oh?" Jian Dongping immediately became interested, thinking that she had a really good memory.

"The Zhou Jin you're talking about, she must be a woman, right?" Fang Qi asked.

"Yes. A young woman in her twenties."

“Hmm… the woman on the phone seems very young,” Fang Qi said slowly. “I don’t know her, but her voice sounds very young…”

What did she say?

“Let me think… She first asked me if I was Fang Qi. I said yes, which I found strange. I asked her who she was, and she said we didn’t know each other. I asked her what she wanted. She said she just wanted to hear my voice. I didn’t quite understand what she meant, so I asked her again what she wanted. I felt like she was harassing me,” Fang Qi shrugged, her face becoming serious. “I told her I usually don’t answer calls from strangers, and if she didn’t have anything to say, I would have to hang up. That day, I was in my study organizing the sales reports for the past month. When my mother came back, I had to report to her on the sales performance of each store this month. My mother likes to hear precise reports, so I usually use numbers to explain, which means I have to do a lot of calculations and analysis. At that time, I didn’t want to be disturbed, so I said I was busy and I really had to hang up. She begged me to wait, so I asked her again what she wanted. She said I didn’t know anything and that I didn’t know how lucky I was.”

"You don't know how lucky you are? Do you know what she means?" Jian Dongping asked.

"I don't understand." Fang Qi smiled sarcastically.

Did you ask her?

She didn't answer.

"And then? What else did she say?"

"She said she wanted to give me a gift to thank me. I said I don't accept gifts from just anyone, and I don't even know her, nor have I done anything that I need her to thank me for. She said the gift is in the vase on the ground floor of your house. Maybe you don't know its meaning, but one day you will understand how important it is to you... I'm sorry, I can't remember her exact words, but that's roughly what she meant."

"What gift did she give you?" Ling Ge asked curiously, her eyes wide. Jian Dongping could sense her curiosity and excitement from her hurried tone.

Fang Qi smiled slightly: "It's a key. I don't know where it's from."

"Do you still have that key?"

"I just put it anywhere, I don't know where I put it..." Fang Qi seemed to see the obvious disappointment on Ling Ge's face, and said like she was coaxing a child, "Okay, I'll look for it, and I'll give it to you when I find it."

"What kind of key is it? There's a big difference in appearance between a room key and a safe key," Jian Dongping said.

"I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a very ordinary key, not a room key, but more like a drawer key. It's really ordinary." Fang Qi put the back of her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat in a low voice.

"This should be the small living room," Jian Dongping asked.