Meng Jin’s brain was suddenly buzzing with excitement, all sleepiness washed away. Since he couldn’t sleep, he insisted on getting Zhao Yunzhi out for a meeting.
Zhao Yunzhi complained bitterly, swearing never to call Meng Jin in the middle of the night again.
After midnight, only the barbecue restaurants were open, and Zhao Yunzhi grumbled while bragging about the late-night food.
After devouring 20 skewers of lamb, he finally explained the whole situation.
He had called Jennie Yang earlier, and she mentioned receiving a ransom note from the murderer. According to Secretary Huang, the ransom note was received three days after Liu Tianshi was murdered.
Initially, Zhao Yunzhi didn’t notice anything wrong, but when he got home and was browsing his phone, he stumbled upon a piece of news: Jennie Yang was not in B City on the third day after Liu Tianshi’s murder; she was in another city attending a children’s charity event. The media praised her for her spirit of dedication despite her grief.
“Could it be a mistake in the timing? Maybe the ransom note was received the day before or the day after. It’s easy to mix up dates,” Meng Jin said, pulling off another lamb skewer and squinting his eyes contentedly.
Zhao Yunzhi chewed quickly and swallowed before responding, “At first, I thought the same, but then I saw another news piece and it wasn’t so simple. Liu Tianshi was murdered on May 23rd, and his body was found on May 24th. According to Secretary Huang, the ransom note was received on May 27th, but actually, on that day, Jennie Yang and Secretary Huang were in another city for the children’s charity event.
“The children’s charity event was originally scheduled for May 28th. Secretary Huang, from our few interactions, appears very meticulous and has an excellent memory. Normally, she wouldn’t forget a date, especially something as crucial as a ransom note. Why did she get it wrong?
“The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that she was lying. Jennie Yang’s itinerary was well-known to Secretary Huang. In her memory, the children’s charity event was on May 28th, so on May 27th they should have been in B City. When I asked about the ransom note, Secretary Huang needed to come up with an answer quickly. There was no travel scheduled for May 27th; this deep-seated memory popped up, so she answered that the ransom note was received on the 27th.”
Meng Jin took a gulp of cold beer, causing a shiver, “You mean to say, Jennie Yang is lying, and this lie was made up on the spot because she didn’t expect us to ask about a ransom from the murderer. For now, let’s assume your deduction is correct. Then the question arises, why would she lie? What’s her motive? She doesn’t even care about the child in Hosei Bing’s stomach, so would she care about Hosei Bing’s life and death? If she doesn’t care about life or death, why bother lying?”
Suddenly, Meng Jin seemed to realize something, shutting his mouth and fixing his gaze.
If Jennie Yang had been lying from the start, many doubts could be reasonably explained.
She claimed not to care about the child in Hosei Bing’s stomach, but maybe that was a lie.
But if she really cared about the child in Hosei Bing’s stomach, she would have definitely been concerned when Hosei Bing disappeared. So why didn’t she mention anything about Hosei Bing to the police? Even more, Meng Jin felt, Jennie Yang didn’t want the police to know about Hosei Bing’s existence.
Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi returned home with many doubts. Meng Jin was sleepless all night, while Zhao Yunzhi slept until morning.
The next day, they went to the hotel where Hosei Bing was staying, a five-star hotel under the Fang Zheng Group.
“Perhaps Jennie Yang has already ordered a gag, and we won’t find out anything,” Zhao Yunzhi was disheartened, already assuming their efforts would be futile.
Meng Jin said, “You’re too biased towards Jennie Yang. She’s not a god, not everything goes as she plans. Whether there are dates or not, hit three shots first.” He pushed Zhao Yunzhi out of the car.
They arrived at the front desk, explained their purpose, and the receptionist, seemingly having anticipated their arrival, was not too surprised and responded aptly, giving nothing away regardless of the question.
The manager personally showed them the room where Hosei Bing had stayed, but it was of little value; the room had been cleaned several times, leaving no trace.
Meng Jin sensed their visit would be fruitless; Jennie Yang had likely given special instructions.
“How was Hosei Bing’s mood?” Meng Jin probed further, “How was she before and after seeing Jennie Yang?”
The manager gathered a few employees who had seen Hosei Bing. Two of them said that Hosei Bing was very happy when she first arrived, warmly greeting the staff in English. But after seeing Jennie Yang, Hosei Bing’s mood noticeably dropped; when staff greeted her, she did not respond.
“Did you hear any arguments?” Meng Jin asked, knowing Jennie Yang, the likelihood of an argument was slim, but he still held a sliver of hope.
The employees’ responses were that they heard no arguments, as expected.
Meng Jin asked about Jennie Yang’s mood, and the employees hemmed and hawed, avoiding discussing it in depth.
Unable to extract any valuable information, Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi returned home disappointed. Perhaps the employees had been pre-instructed, and their answers held no value.
As they drove away, crossing an intersection, Meng Jin noticed a tail—a white mini Mercedes Benz was following them. To ensure it wasn’t just a coincidence or a misunderstanding, they continued for two more intersections, but the mini Mercedes Benz kept a consistent distance.
Zhao Yunzhi drove into a shopping mall’s underground parking lot, and the mini Mercedes Benz followed closely. After parking, Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi stayed in the car, quietly watching the mini Mercedes Benz through the rearview mirror.
Moments later, the driver of the mini Mercedes Benz, realizing he had been spotted, got out of the car and walked straight up to Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi, knocking on the window.
Zhao Yunzhi rolled down the window. The man looked familiar, seemingly one of the hotel staff they had just seen, though now out of uniform.
The man introduced himself as a hotel employee but did not give his name.
“What’s the matter? If you have something to say, just say it,” Zhao Yunzhi posed with an air of maturity, though inside he was excitedly dancing disco. The man’s secretive approach and avoidance of colleagues clearly indicated he was here to blow the whistle.
The man requested to talk in the car, and Zhao Yunzhi let him in. The man claimed he had important information but asked Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi to keep his whistleblowing confidential.
Meng Jin readily agreed, and the man finally felt at ease, then said, “Director Yang and Miss He actually had an argument, though it was only Miss He who was yelling, strictly speaking, it could still be considered an argument.”
“It was only Hosei Bing yelling, and you couldn’t hear Jennie Yang’s voice?” Meng Jin asked.
“That’s right.”
“What was Hosei Bing saying? Did you hear?”
“She seemed to be talking about a child, and she mentioned Director Yang’s son’s name.”
“Liu Er, right?”
“Yes, yes,” the man nodded, his shrewd eyes darting around, gauging Meng Jin and Zhao Yunzhi’s faces, as if scheming something.
“What else did you hear?” Zhao Yunzhi’s lips curled into a smile, trying to make the man relax to provide more information.
The man scratched his head, thinking, “The voice was intermittent, and I was quite a distance away, I couldn’t hear very clearly. I’m not sure if my interpretation is correct, but it seemed like they were saying, Miss He is pregnant, the child is Director Yang’s son’s, and Director Yang…” he paused, then continued, “Director Yang seemed to want Miss He to terminate the pregnancy.”
Meng Jin raised an eyebrow, “Anything else?”
The man thought for a moment, shook his head, and reiterated that he might have misheard, asking if there would be legal risks if he was wrong.
Meng Jin reassured him there were no legal risks, “Why didn’t you speak up in the hotel? Can you explain?”
The man grinned, “I wasn’t sure what I heard, so I didn’t dare say anything. Besides, I usually keep a low profile; I don’t want to stick my neck out.”
Afraid to speak out, yet daring to follow the police; typically low-key, yet daring to whistleblow, even against the chairman.
Meng Jin abruptly asked, “Do you have some kind of grudge against Jennie Yang?” He watched the man’s expression closely.
Caught off guard, the man flinched, his eyes darting nervously, avoiding Meng Jin’s gaze. Clearly, Meng Jin had guessed correctly.
“Sorry, we don’t mean to pry into your privacy, but we need to verify the truthfulness of the information you provided. First, we need to understand your intentions; otherwise, it’s hard for us to trust your information,” Meng Jin knew what mattered most to the man was whether his words would be believed. If they weren’t, his efforts would be in vain.
The man pondered for a moment, then said, “I guess so. I don’t want to go into details. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do, but I swear I’m telling the truth, I haven’t embellished or distorted anything. Although I’m somewhat dissatisfied with Director Yang, I would never maliciously slander her. As a citizen, isn’t it my duty to provide clues to the police? I’m trying to do a good deed.” He straightened his neck, speaking with righteous indignation.
Clearly fulfilling his civic duty, yet doubted by the police, his last sentence highlighted his grievance.
Meng Jin gave Zhao Yunzhi a look, passing the task of comforting the man to him. Zhao Yunzhi deployed his sweetest charm, leaving the man grinning from ear to ear.
After sending the man off, Zhao Yunzhi returned to the car, “I don’t think this guy is lying. In that case, Jennie Yang didn’t deceive us; she really doesn’t care about the child in Hosei Bing’s stomach.”
Meng Jin noncommittally rested his chin in his hand, pondering, “Just now, that man said, Jennie Yang told Hosei Bing to terminate the pregnancy. What do you think that means?”
“It means she doesn’t care about the child,” Zhao Yunzhi blurted out.
Meng Jin clicked his tongue and shook his head, “If she really didn’t care, she could simply ignore it, not ask, not meet with Hosei Bing, instead of telling her to terminate the pregnancy. A more accurate interpretation is, she absolutely does not want Hosei Bing to have the child.”
Zhao Yunzhi nodded as if enlightened, “Right, if she really didn’t care, she wouldn’t lie about receiving a ransom note from the murderer. Although we still don’t know why she lied, we can be sure that she cares about Hosei Bing, about the child in her stomach. It’s just that her care isn’t about wanting the child, but about not wanting the child to be born.”
