If the Deep Sea Forgets You

After the food arrived and Xia Qingyi’s appetite was sated, she wiped her mouth and sat on the sofa, satisfied. This was when she saw Mo Han seriously inspecting the document in front of him, one hand under his chin, mulling something over. He held a pen and sat on his office chair, immobile.

As Xia Qingyi was watching him closely, the door to the office opened.

“Please enter.” said Mo Han, putting down the documents in his hand.

“Boss, here is the information which you requested this afternoon, regarding Zhang’s ex-wife.” When Liu Zhiyuan entered the room, he could not help but glance over at Xia Qingyi a few more times.

“Are there any new discoveries?” Mo Han thought about the tape that had been sent over by Zhang’s ex-wife and furrowed his brow. After sending President Zhang’s ex-wife off in the afternoon, he had called up President Zhang, asking him about the videotape to which he denied its existence adamantly, but when Mo Han asked about the exact situation, he would always yammer and mince his words. There were obviously some things Mo Han, this plenary lawyer, knew nothing about.

As for the conditions suggested by Zhang’s wife, she had asked for 12% of Zhang’s corporation, one that he was absolutely unwilling to agree to. There was no man who would take his hard-earned shares and concede them to his ex-wife without complaint. President Zhang was unwilling to back down, and his ex-wife had been pressuring him the whole time. Now, this situation was very disadvantageous to President Zhang. If they continued in this manner without finding a solution, things would be very pessimistic when they went to court the next day.

“No, I’m just looking up her personal information. I’ve also fished out some photos from her social media accounts. They’re all lifestyle shots, not very useful.”

Mo Han did not look pleased. He lowered his voice and said “Got it. You can leave now.”

Earlier, in the reception and the office, Xia Qingyi had known nothing about his case. After Liu Zhiyuan left, she could tell that Mo Han was not in a good mood, so she walked carefully to his desk and asked “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Keeping his head bowed, he stared straight ahead at the information he had just received.

The table was scattered with pictures that Zhang’s ex-wife had sent over. Xia Qingyi picked one of them up and looked at it. Immaculately done makeup, a rigid expression, not one hair out of place. The photo clearly depicted shoes, clothes and accessories in the style of a rich tai-tai ¹ .

There was a photo of a lady in the bathroom in her pyjamas. Feeling a strange sensation overcome her, Xia Qingyi picked up a few of the photos and inspected them carefully.

“How old is President Zhang?” Xia Qingyi asked suddenly.

Mo Han did not understand why she was asking such a question. “Probably about 45 years old.”

Xia Qingyi inspected the photo for a while, as though she was certain of something, before passing the photo over to him, telling him to take a look. Mo Han took the photo from her hands and looked at her with an incredulous expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Look carefully at the shelves behind the mirror in the washroom. Those cosmetics on top.”

Mo Han took one look. It was just an assortment of bottles and lotions, which he did not find strange. “Why? Do you recognize these brands?”

“That’s not the point. Look at the white bottle, the toner. It’s for men. This toner brand is typically for a 20-something year-old man.”

“What you mean is…” Mo Han looked as though an idea had just struck, and his eyes lit up.

“The photo was taken a year ago. If I’m not wrong, Zhang’s ex-wife had a ‘boy toy’ before she got divorced. By the looks of it, they’ve been in a relationship for a long time.”