Jia glared at Mingshen.
"What is it, Spicy? Are you so passionately glaring at me because you found my words offensive or because you are lamenting that you couldn't say it out loud out of professionalism?" Mingshen asked with a smile.
It's definitely the latter, Huojin instantly confirmed in his mind.
Dai Fengge exclaimed. "So!? What was wrong with that? Mom was only trying to help you! She is my mother. Naturally, she knows me the best."
"You fucking moron!" Yin Xiaoling shouted back. "First of all, that is not called helping because it looked like she cared for me but actually, she always brought me down by her words as if I am some stupid, helpless woman! As if she had all the knowledge of this world and would have to painstakingly teach me like I am some idiot."
"You-"
But she cut him off. "And second of all, she behaved like she was declaring territory as if she is your lover instead of your mother, and it's disgusting!
'Oh my Fengge wouldn't like this, my Fengge wouldn't like that, oh he is a very sensitive boy…'"
He trembled. "You…She was my mom. Is it wrong for Mom to love me?"
"To what length!? She was way too possessive of you as if she never wanted to let you go and you also kept listening to her like a dumb donkey!" She was shaking with frustration as she continued, "Even during the interval break, she was lecturing me how I was unable to get closer to Yun. As if I want to do anything to have with your kid! She became even more irritated when I mentioned the boarding school."
Dai Meihui shook hard, her eyes widening. She stared at Dai Fengge with an accusing and furious gaze. "Boarding school? You wanted to send Yun to a boarding school?"
"I did not! And I am just as angry about this as you are," Dai Fengge said.
Yin Xiaoling scoffed. "I was doing a favor, okay? It was way better for your son to be at a boarding school rather than grow up with a toxic and overly possessive grandmother."
Mingshen touched his chin and showed praise for the first time. "You actually used your head there for once."
She shrugged. "But it only made that old hag nastier. It spoiled my mood! When I came out of the restroom, I saw the inhaler on the floor. I picked it up to give it to her at first, but I was so, so mad at her that I threw it in the trash can! It was just so irritating to be around her that I couldn't help it!"
Yin Chin gritted her teeth. "Stop it, you fool! What nonsense are you spouting!?"
"I was always like this, Aunt, but I had to show myself as this 'good girl' in front of his mother. Delicate, polite and someone who would always obey her and live in her shadow. Someone who accepted that she would be the most important person in her son's life.
She is dead now and I wondered over the last two days if I should continue our relationship but you know what? No thanks," she smiled. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life with a wuss constantly mourning his mother's death who remembered what color pajamas her son used to wear when he was six."
Dai Fengge felt like fainting and never waking up to this humiliating reality.
Huojin forced his choke and laughter back in his throat. His brow twitched, feeling Jia's stare.
Mingshen beamed. "You know I think I judged you too soon. Sure, you are a selfish cheater but a cheater with a sense of humor. I like it~"
Jia looked at Yin Xiaoling and said, "So what I conclude from your story is that you threw the inhaler in a fit of anger. But it cost Mrs. Dai her life."
Yin Xiaoling shivered. "I-I did not do it intentionally. I didn't know she was gonna get an attack!"
"Nobody knows such things, Miss. Yin. That's why people carry their medications to prevent such situations from happening. You never said a word about it either when you clearly saw that we were searching for the inhaler."
"I g-got scared! I thought you would put me in jail…"
Huojin shook his head. "Miss. Yin. The fact that you tried to hide it has legal consequences. Article 232 of China's Criminal Law - if someone causes another person's death through gross negligence, and then hides or destroys evidence, they can be charged with the crime of "negligent injury leading to death." Since you never really favored Mrs. Dai, it will also become really difficult to prove your intent to the court that you actually never meant any harm to her life."
Jia said, "It's up to the court now to believe in your truth, Miss. Yin. We have no choice but to keep you in detention."
"No…It cannot be…!" Yin Xiaoling collapsed back on her chair, her face turning ghastly.
"No, no!" Yin Chin pleaded. "It was just an accident! She had no intentions of harming her. I-In fact, we were very close…"
Dai Fengge felt immense pain through his bandaged nose but that didn't stop him from admonishing her. "Maybe M-Mom might have gotten overly emotional at times but that didn't mean…that," his gaze looked distant and misty, "she didn't love us…"
Yin Chin glared at him. "Stop it, Fengge! Xiaoling has always been so good to you, and now you are turning against her? If you can blame her for killing Mrs. Dai, then what about your wife!"
Dai Meihui stared at her, incredulous. "What about me?"
She sneered. "Don't act so innocently. Among all of us, you hated your mother-in-law the most because she favored Xiaoling. And now that she is dead, Xiaoling will be automatically out of your way because the woman who supported her is no more! This cannot be a coincidence. You definitely had a hand in this 'accident.' And don't even try to defend yourself. Mrs. Dai had told me all about your closeness to a male colleague from your office."
Dai Meihui balled her fingers into a fist, feeling utterly stunned. "Closeness…? She thought that I was having an affair? This cannot get anymore ridiculous-" Something then clicked her. "So…is that what she was doing? Tit for tat?"