After Jian Jing finished talking with Cai Lawyer, the nanny came over to say that Jiang Qi wanted her to go to the living room.
There, she saw the real Li Lawyer, wearing a custom-made suit and Cai glasses. From his hair fixed with hair gel to his spotless leather shoes, everything was meticulous.
Li Lawyer was also looking her up and down. She was wearing a loose hoodie, pleated skirt, and fashionable platform shoes. He smiled and reached out, "Hello Teacher Jian Jing, nice to meet you."
His words were polite but the hostility was strong. Jian Jing also pretended to be polite but was actually arrogantly nodding, "Nice to meet you too."
Jiang Qi glanced around at everyone and got straight to the point, "Lawyer Li is my friend and Jian Jing is Jiang Xun's friend. If you don't have anyone else you trust, then let's have these two investigate what happened last night. Of course, we all have to agree on the conclusion—do you all agree?"
Whether it was because he had authority at home or because everyone was tired of arguing, even Jiang Ou who hated Jiang BaiYan the most didn't object.
"Thank you all for your trust," Li Lawyer was the picture of professional elite. As soon as he opened his mouth he took control of the conversation, "I'd like to ask everyone a few questions first—Teacher Jian doesn't mind, right?"
"Go ahead," Jian Jing yawned, feeling a little hungry.
A maid brought over hot tea and distributed a cup to each person to refresh them.
The tea was great, with a lingering fragrance.
Li Lawyer took a sip, full of energy, and asked, "What do each of you know about the will?"
The room became dead silent.
Jian Jing watched everyone with great interest.
The villa's living room was huge with many sofas, and everyone was sitting far apart.
The three oldest siblings sat together on a large three-seater sofa, united against their common enemy. On a two-seater sofa to the side sat Madam Jiang cuddling Jiang Xue, mother and daughter intimate.
Jiang BaiYan was the most pitiful, sitting alone on the farthest single-seat sofa, isolated from everyone else like an outsider.
Jian Jing went over and patted Jiang BaiYan on the shoulder, gesturing for him to scoot over. Jiang BaiYan moved aside and perched on the armrest, whispering to her, "Tell the truth or not?"
She glared at him.
Li Lawyer immediately targeted the weak spot, pointing aggressively, "Mr. Jiang Xun, what's not convenient to say directly?"
"If it's not convenient then why are you asking? We're not that close," Jiang BaiYan tilted his head. His face was as beautiful and gentle as always but his tone was lazy and contemptuous, like the casual arrogance of a big star.
Since Li Lawyer had targeted him as an entry point, he naturally wanted to establish his authority, "That's not the attitude of cooperating with an investigation."
Jiang Lian also said, "Don't make trouble at a time like this, just answer when asked."
"Then big sister, lead by example," Jiang BaiYan said. "Let's go in order from oldest to youngest, or youngest to oldest, whatever."
He had never been this "rebellious" before. Jiang Lian was angry, "Got cocky all of a sudden?"
"Yup," he readily admitted. "I don't care how much money I inherit. What about you?"
The last words were mocking.
Li Lawyer had to say, "Teacher Jian, at this rate we won't get anywhere with the investigation."
Jian Jing thought for a bit before slowly saying, "Why not call the police and let them take statements. Lying or withholding information would have consequences..."
"Don't say meaningless things," Jiang Qi said coldly. "Stop wasting time. Let's start from oldest to youngest. Assistant Yin, you first."
Madam Jiang's expression froze, not expecting to be put on the spot first.
But she had always presented herself as reasonable and understanding. At this moment she couldn't tear off her polite mask either and hesitated for a bit before smiling, "Alright. I'll go first. Actually, I don't know the specifics of my husband's arrangements. He only said he would take good care of us mother and daughter."
Jiang Ou scoffed loudly, the mocking obvious.
Madam Jiang was well-mannered and ignored it.
Li Lawyer asked, "So you mean you don't know the specific contents of the will?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"You never heard anything about it at all?"
Madam Jiang shook her head again.
Li Lawyer could only look to Jiang Lian next.
She flatly said, "Father didn't tell me the contents of the will, but we did discuss the group's future developments and he assigned me the most important next task—what that means is obvious, right? The group's directors and Secretary Fan can testify."
Jiang Qi was about to speak when Madam Jiang suddenly said, "Speaking of which, I just remembered something about the group."
"I've been telling Guangze all this time that I don't want to be a full-time wife and want to go back to work," the corners of Madam Jiang's lips curved up. "He already agreed."
Jiang Lian looked alarmed, "I didn't know about this!"
Madam Jiang looked towards the witness stand, "Secretary Fan?"
With all eyes on him, Secretary Fan had no choice but to say, "The Chairman did say something like that and was preparing to have Madam go to Shuihua."
Jiang Shui Group was the parent company while Shuihua Group was a subsidiary. Their business was closely related to the parent company and Shuihua's CEO was also Jiang Shui's senior vice president. It was a big pie.
Jiang Lian stiffly said, "I haven't heard of this."
"Jiang Qi," Jian Jing interrupted their dispute, "it's your turn."
Jiang Qi said, "Same as eldest sister, I've also discussed the group's future developments with Father and some equity acquisition issues."
"So you also don't know the specific contents of the will?"
"I believe Father has already arranged everything," Jiang Qi's expression was calm. "He wouldn't shortchange us."
"That's right," Jiang Ou chimed in. "Dad told us he's arranged everything already and we don't need to worry."
Li Lawyer asked, "So you don't know either?"
"I don't need to know. Dad knows clearly in his heart who the real Jiang family members are," Jiang Ou insinuated.
It was Jiang BaiYan's turn. He was even more nonchalant, "I left the Jiang family when I was 13 and haven't seen the Chairman since. I came here four days ago but didn't get a chance to talk one-on-one with him. He didn't mention the will to me at all, not a single word. Anyone here can testify to that."
No one could deny that.
"Jiang Xun really doesn't know anything," Jiang Qi paused and explained his earlier actions. "That's also why I agreed to let him be one of the investigators."
However, Jiang Ou stabbed at him out of nowhere, "Second brother, that's hard to say. Not knowing about the will doesn't mean he didn't do it. He's always hated us. Who knows..."
Jiang BaiYan's expression was blank, showing neither the anger of being falsely accused nor trying to play innocent.
It was as if he had suddenly grown tired of his obedient mask and couldn't be bothered to continue Jiang Ou's act.
"Jiang Xue, it's your turn," he said.
Jiang Xue tilted up her head, the curve of her neck swan-like. From a certain angle she looked shockingly similar to Jiang Lian, "Dad said I'm his favorite and would never shortchange me and Mom and to let me do whatever I want."
Li Lawyer routinely asked, "So you don't know the contents of the will either?"
Jiang Xue raised her eyebrows, her distinct eyes bright, "Who said I don't know?"
The words caused an uproar.
Madam Jiang almost fell out of her seat and gripped her daughter's hand tightly, "What did you say?"
"I don't believe none of you know," Jiang Xue said. "The night before last I heard clearly, Dad was talking to someone."
She recounted, "Dad said, 'Do you think I don't know what you've done? The water affairs shares, don't even think about it. Don't think that just because you have my blood you're entitled to inherit everything of mine.'"
The atmosphere coagulated horribly and a corner of the harmonious facade was finally torn open hideously.
It turned out none of the Jiangs were as unperturbed as they claimed.
Jian Jing pondered briefly before asking, "Lawyer Cai, I'd like an overview of Mr. Jiang Guangze's estate."
Lawyer Cai hesitated a bit but in the end decided there was no need to keep it confidential and explained, "I'll give a simple introduction. At present the Chairman has total assets of about 150 billion USD, equivalent to around 1000 billion RMB.
"Of that, real estate takes up around 280 billion RMB. Aside from some private residences it is mostly commercial properties distributed globally. Jiang Shui Group and its subsidiaries have estimated equity value of 350 billion. The rest are overseas assets. Jianghe Water Affairs (JHW) shares are worth around 100 billion. Jiangli Energy (JLP) 80 billion. Jiangxin Communication (JXC) 50 billion. What's left over are miscellaneous industries like cruise lines, foundations, jewelry, etc. worth around 15 billion combined."
Jian Jing: "Hmm."
That much money. Just hearing the numbers, billions seem commonplace.
But she also heard it clearly that real estate sounds like a lot, but it is actually just the market value. A villa in a first-tier city is worth 100 million yuan, and a commercial center or building in the downtown area is easily worth billions.
These things are hard to sell, and it is not clear whether there are gains or losses. They are not the bulk.
What is really valuable is the Jiang Shui Group that Chairman Jiang has built from scratch by himself, as well as the three investment companies in water, energy and telecommunications abroad.
Judging from the previous conversation, Jiang Lian is already working in the Jiang Shui Group, and Madam Jiang is also interested in this. The one who had the argument with the chairman should be Jiang Qi or Jiang Ou.
Jian Jing looked at Jiang Qi.
He was still calm: "It wasn't me."
Jiang Ou denied it even more: "It has nothing to do with me."
She asked Jiang Xue, "What else did you hear?"
"I just heard that one sentence." Jiang Xue was very happy to see her siblings embarrassed, and racked her brains to remember, "I think there was also something said that the Jiang Shui Group is my heart and soul, shares...uh, will not give something..."
She stuck out her tongue: "At that time, Dad seemed to have discovered that I was eavesdropping and didn't say it, anyway, he definitely said Jiang Shui, I wouldn't have misheard it."
The shares of Jiang Shui Group will not be given to someone?
Everyone's sights fell subtly on Jiang Lian. If it was Jiang Qi or Jiang Ou who heard about this and knew that the Jiang Shui Group would not be handed over to Jiang Lian or Madam Jiang, what would they do?
For the former, they should tip them off, right? As for the latter, of course they would be happy to see it happen.
Madam Jiang gradually calmed down. Although her daughter spoke presumptuously, she got her off the hook.
Jiang Lian reacted quickly too: "Who knows if what you said is true or not."
"Just say it if you don't want to admit it," Jiang Xue retorted. "I'm not like you guys, hiding things left and right."
Just as the two sides were about to argue again, there was suddenly a light cough from the corner.
Jian Jing said, "We already have a general understanding of the situation. We can add details later. Now I want you to answer a few questions for me. First, when did the chairman say he was going to change his will yesterday?"
Madam Jiang said, "After dinner, around 7 o'clock."
"Did any of you go to see the chairman after 7 o'clock?"
Madam Jiang said, "I talked with him for a while."
"What time?"
"Well, it should have been quite late, after 10 o'clock, I think," she replied. "I remember that when I went over, the eldest was just coming out of the room."
Jiang Lian said, "I had something to say to Dad."
"What time?"
"9:30, talked for 20 minutes."
"Did you run into anyone?"
"No."
"What time did Madam Jiang leave?"
"The nurse told me they were about to give an injection soon and asked me to hurry up a bit. I only said a couple of words, no more than 5 minutes."
Jian Jing looked at the others.
Jiang Qi: "I went before 8 o'clock, around 7:45, and the third one came over at 8:10. We chatted for a while."
Jiang Ou corroborated: "When I went over, second brother was already there, he and Dad were chatting quite happily. We talked for a while, second brother left around 8:30, and I stayed 10 more minutes."
Jiang Xue rolled her eyes and mocked them, "No wonder when I went to see Dad at 9 o'clock he didn't look happy at all."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"He told me to listen to Mom, that he had arranged everything, and asked me to be more sensible and things like that."
"What time did you leave?"
"I stayed for a quarter of an hour."
The last one left was Jiang BaiYan.
He said, "I didn't talk to Dad after 7 o'clock."
"But you went to Dad's room in the afternoon." Jiang Lian immediately refuted.
Jiang BaiYan said, "Fan Secretary was there, we just talked about movies for a while."
Jian Jing listed out the timeline.
19:00 Chairman announced he would change his will the next morning
19:40 Jiang Qi spoke with the chairman
20:10 Jiang Ou arrived
20:30 Jiang Qi left
20:40 Jiang Ou left
21:00 Jiang Xue spoke with the chairman
21:15 Jiang Xue left
21:45 Jiang Lian spoke with the chairman
22:05 Jiang Lian left, Madam Jiang spoke with the chairman
22:10 Madam Jiang left
22:30 Chairman went to sleep, nurse left
23:00 Nurse fell asleep