Negligence

Yin Chin threw Dai Meihui a disgusting look. "Don't bother acting, Meihui. I know all about your 'late-night stays' in the office."

"That was my work and work can get tough at times. It doesn't mean that I…" tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh please. Mrs. Dai had even seen a man dropping you off at home in his car late at night. When did you grow so close to your office friends that they began offering you rides, Meihui?" She taunted. "Now when Mrs. Dai wanted to make you taste your own medicine, you thought to cruelly kill her because you didn't want her to expose you!"

"Kill? You are molding this accident to be a murder? Fengge was busy enjoying the movie with a woman taking advantage of the fact that I was away at office," her eyes reddened. "Isn't it enough that I have to bear my husband's infidelity that now I am being accused of his mother's accident too? As for the rides back home, the man is just my colleague. He offered them only because it got late at times and-"

"And I…" Dai Fengge intervened with his voice laced with remorse and his gaze looking distant, "I never bothered to pick up Meihui when she used to get late. I never cared for her much. Aunt Chin, you are wrong. I know…Meihui has not cheated on me."

Dai Meihui was the most taken aback by the unexpected support from his side. She wondered if she was dreaming, but she wasn't.

"Fengge, you too?" Yin Chin breathed laboriously with fury. "She is the dirty one here playing around-"

"ENOUGH!"

It wasn't Dai Meihui but Jia's voice that roared in the bureau. The officers around stiffened and stood straight.

Somebody is going to die today. Rest in peace whoever that is, they prayed.

Mingshen whistled on one side but Jia's mood was on the opposite side of the spectrum. It was evident from her warning gaze that this drama had gone beyond her tolerance limit.

"Mrs. Yin Chin. I strongly advise you to keep your mouth shut now or else you won't be so thrilled seeing my worse side," she barked. "I don't know if there is any truth to Mrs. Dai Meihui's infidelity. But just because she has male friends or might return home late at times doesn't give anybody the right to spew nonsense about her loyalty. These are biases, not facts. I won't tolerate such baseless biases against anybody."

Ma Yanyu stood to her defense too as she stared at her with disgust. "Miss. Song is right. I am also a working woman. I also face the same challenges as her. I also get home late at times. I have male colleagues as my friends too. But that doesn't make me a cheater. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

Ma Zhilan gave them a cold look too. "It's true that I have only met Dai Meihui once, but I know that she is not the type of a woman to cheat. My eyes can never fail me."

Yin Chin's face reddened with embarrassment like a ripened tomato. She had expected Dai Fengge to jump in to support her but instead, she was cornered and left alone to become the target of everybody's scorn.

Jia narrowed her eyes. "This is the bureau and you are here so that I can let you know of our findings till, not create chaos. So getting into that, we have found traces of fur in Mrs. Dai's body according to the report."

Dai Fengge gave an incredulous look. "But obviously there are no pets in the theater. How would she have inhaled the fur in that closed space?"

Jia remained silent for a moment after which she looked at Ma Zhilan. "I am afraid that was due to your presence."

Ma Zhilan seemed confused. "I don't understand. I didn't bring any pets with me."

"But you played with the dogs on the street."

She stared at Jia for a long moment, and a gasp escaped her lips as it dawned upon her.

Ma Zhilan paled. "You mean that…"

Jia felt it was terrible to break it to her. "I am afraid so. When you played with the dogs, some of their fur strands got stuck onto your clothes. So when you sat beside Mrs. Dai, she inhaled those fur particles."

"But…but I was beside her the whole time," Ma Zhilan shivered. "Nothing had happened earlier."

Mingshen shrugged. "It occurred when the fur particles in the air accumulated enough during the course of the movie. It began to slowly sensitize and weaken her immune system. During the interval with all that movement and passing by, along with her own, released more fur particles, which she breathed into again. It triggered the allergy when it crossed a threshold."

Dai Fengge and Dai Meihui were left stunned by this revelation. "S-so it was just a terrible coincidence…?"

Jia said, "That's what we conclude. Although there were traces of fur belonging to a cat as well. However, we are yet to determine its source."

Dai Fengge felt as if the world was spinning before him. His nostrils flared as he threw accusing and cold stares at Ma Zhilan, "You are just as guilty as Xiaoling! If you hadn't played with those dogs, my mom…mom would have been alive!?"

Ma Yanyu's face twisted. "Excuse me? I am really sorry for your loss but do you even hear yourself? It was an unfortunate accident. How is Mom supposed to know that she will sit beside a woman in the theater who would be allergic to animal fur? Think before talking."

Ma Zhilan tremblingly sat down on a chair, her face turning whiter and whiter. "I-It was my fault…?"

"Easy for you to say because your mother is still alive! How about I hurt your mother and let you know what it feels like!" His eyes reddened. "Your mother-in-law killed my mother! I…I lost my mother… I won't forgive you for this!"

"Okay, stop!" Jia stood on her feet, hitting the desk with her palm. "Mr. Dai. Please calm down."

"How can I calm down! You should be arresting her for negligence!"

"The negligence was accidental, not intentional. That's the difference between Miss. Yin's actions and Miss. Ma's."

From the corner of his eye, Mingshen was quick to notice Ma Zhilan's declining state of health as she sweated and breathed hard.

"You are getting a panic attack," he jumped on his feet to firmly hold onto her shoulders.

"Mom," seeing her gasp for air made Ma Yanyu confused and anxious too, "You should calm down Mom…W-what should we do?"

"She is getting dizzy," Mingshen said, checking her pupils by stretching down her lower eyelids, "Breathe. Just listen to my voice and breathe."

Ma Zhilan felt her breaths stabilize as she concentrated on his voice.

"That's good. I am still taking her to my hospital before her panic attack turns into anything more deadly."

Jia widened her eyes. "Is it so serious?"

He sneered. "Thanks to this man's stupidity here playing a dirty blame game. If she dies, it's on you."

"H-Hey, mind your words! I was just speaking the truth!"

"We don't have time for this," Jia quickly grabbed the car keys and said to Huojin, "Stay here with Dai Fengge and Dai Meihui."

Dai Meihui saw the rush and asked with concern, "Can I come too? I prefer to help Miss. Ma rather than staying with Fengge. He was irresponsible with his words."

Clearly, her bitter tone was pointed at her husband, which made his expression turn sour.

Jia glanced at Ma Yanyu. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, no problem."

From the other side, Yin Xiaoling wheezed in sharply. "H-Help…! My stomach…" She clutched her stomach, her head bent until her knees. "It's really painful," she cried.

"Xiaoling! What happened?" Yin Chin quickly held her shoulders.

"My stomach…it's hurting really bad…Aunt, please help me…"

Yin Chin urged Jia. "Superitendent, she needs help! Please take her to the hospital too!"

Jia and Huojin could smell her lie clearly. "At such a convenient time, Miss. Yin?"

"How can you officers be irresponsible! My niece is suffering here. Will you take responsibility if something happens to her?"

Huojin whispered in her ear. "Yang Mingshen has already left with Miss. Ma or else he would have spilled the beans. Anyway, we cannot ignore her or we might get in trouble with a complaint against us."

She agreed with him and squinted her eyes at them. "We will take Miss. Yin to the hospital too, but don't forget that she is still in detention and cannot walk away. Also if this turns out to be a lie, then there will be consequences. Remember that. Let's go."