Jiang Cheng arrived two hours late for work. He wasn't happy. 

After getting iced, bandages changed (which he didn't mind too much since Dr. Yu did it), driving home to shower with surgical gloves on to keep his bandages dry, get dressed and then drive into the station - it had been a busy morning.

He paused outside the main office then walked in. Silence descended as everyone realized the Inspector had arrived. He stood firm. There was no way to hide the bruises on his face or the bandages on his hands. He had done his best.

What he didn't expect was the sudden wave of applause that turned into a standing ovation. His cheeks flushed and his ears went scarlet.

He was so surprised, he grinned then winced as the bruises protested. He nodded to everyone as he went to his office and they bowed respectfully in return.

In his wake, Liu Tingyu followed. One look at his hands and she knew he was going to need help. A respectful knock and she was in his office then closing the door.

He was trying to get a Coke open. She slipped it from his hand, opened it and returned it.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"You're welcome, sir. Now what are you doing here?" she asked sternly.

He looked at her face and the concern there.

He told her the truth.

"I had to show everyone despite everything that happened yesterday, I wasn't down for the count.**" It was a simple statement.

"I understand that, sir. What were the doctor's instructions, please?" As a mother of three boys, Liu Tingyu knew the exact tone to take. Comforting but no nonsense.

"Ice for not more that twenty minutes at a time several times today, no typing and leave work early to get some sleep." he mumbled.

"Very sensible, sir. I'll arrange for the ice to be bought to you every hour. The rookie who guarded your sleep will type for you when necessary. You will of course eat a real meal at lunch so your body can mend. I will have it delivered. What time did you want to leave?"  The Sergeant arranged everything smoothly before Jiang Cheng could even complain.

"An hour early I guess." he said.

"I will set a notification on my phone to remind you, sir. Is there anything else?"

"No. Liu Tingyu? Thank you." He gave a half smile to accommodate his bruises.

"You are more than welcome. Just make sure you eat your lunch." she wagged a finger at him.

A quick salute. "Yes, ma'am."

She grinned, then it faded as she held out a manilla envelope.**

"These are the pictures you requested, sir." she said as she laid it on his desk.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"You're welcome, sir." A bow and she left. Off to arrange for ice and get the rookie.

Jiang Cheng sat down at his desk and pulled out his phone.

"Wei?"

"ShiJie? Can you stop by the station this morning? We need to talk about Mot-" he cleared his throat. "About Madame Yu and I don't want Di-di to overhear."

"I can be there in an hour. Does that work for you?"

"That will work just fine. I'll see you then. Drive safe."

"I will, Cheng-Cheng."

With the call over, Jiang Cheng pulled the envelope to him. He didn't want to look at them ever again but he needed to know what he was showing ShiJie. A frustrated grumble of anger rumbled in his chest.

He opened the envelope and removed the pictures. It physically hurt to look at them. In some of the mutilated pictures, Wei Ying was just a child. How could anyone hate a child that much? Jiang Cheng didn't know and was pretty sure he didn't want to know.

He gathered the pictures and put them back in the envelope.

'How do I tell  ShiJie all of this?' he thought. He would do his best. That was all he could do.

He turned to his computer and, using one finger, typed in his password. He sat reading his daily reports and drinking his Coke when his phone dinged.

A glance told him it was Nie Huaisang. Wasn't he at the dive site? Opening the text, he saw the red suitcase with the black tree. Wei Ying's suitcase? It still had mud on it but it was definitely his. So that's why she went to the park. She had thrown his suitcase into the river.

He found himself wondering where this hate for Wei Ying came from. Lost in thought, he jumped when his phone dinged again. Another text from Nie Huaisang.

Opening it, he saw the picture and enlarged it. There was a bunny lying on broken toys.

"Tokki?**"
-----

Jiang Yanli was all smiles this morning.

After some delightful personal time spent with her husband, they had showered, dressed and found her brother-in-law almost done with breakfast in the kitchen.

"You didn't have to do this, A'Yao. You should be resting." Yanli said and began helping him move breakfast to the table.

"I woke up and I'm starving. Didn't have dinner and got sick at the hospital. Sorry about just helping myself to your kitchen." he seemed shy. Embarrassed as if caught doing something awful.

"Our home is your home, little brother. Please be comfortable. I was only worried about you. Does your head still hurt?" she asked.

"A dull ache but Dr. Lan said it may hurt for several days. As long as it doesn't get worse, it's okay. If it gets bad, he wanted me to call him." Meng Yao said as he set a soup full of dumplings on the table. "He gave me his number just in case."

Yanli looked at Meng Yao as he returned to the kitchen and then grinned at her husband.

"Dr. Lan Xichen?" she called.

"Yes. Do you know him?" Meng Yao asked as he returned with a teapot.

"We've met. He is one of the doctors taking care of my little brother. I like him. Very calm and peaceful man." she said watching Meng Yao closely.

"He is, isn't he?" he replied staring into the distance with a small smile. He smiled fully and then winced as his lip split. Again.

"Wait here. Sit down." Yanli told A'Yao. "You, my love,  get the cups. I'll get gauze for Di-di's lip."

"Of course, my heart." Jin Zixuan grinned. He loved watching his wife explore whether she should play match maker. She never pushed. She simply made sure the right people had opportunities to spend time together. His secretary had found her wife courtesy of Yanli. Perhaps his little brother could find a special someone as well.

By the time he made it back, Yanli was already back and gently cleaning the split lip before giving Meng Yao a square of gauze to hold on his lip.

Meng Yao was rather blown away by all the care. It just hadn't been a part of his life after his mother's death. When he was young the staff had taken care of him. As an adult, he had done for himself knowing he had no one he could depend on.

He looked at Yanli's face. Focused intently on making sure the antibiotic ointment was covering the entire split. She noticed his stare and smiled at him.

"All done. Now keep these in your pocket. Just in case." She handed him several small packets of gauze.

He hadn't had anyone this concerned for him since his mother. He couldn't help the tears that gathered.

Yanli noticed the tears and frowned slightly.

"Jin Guangshan made you stay away, didn't he?" her voice was soft. Meng Yao nodded not trusting his voice.

"I am sorry. I should have been more diligent. We have lost time together because of him. You are always welcome here, little brother. If you need help you must promise to call. This is what family does. We are there for each other." Her voice was warm and Meng Yao covered his face with his hands. He couldn't control the tears.

He found himself being hugged by both his brother and sister-in-law. 

"I'm sorry too, Di-di. I didn't realize." Jin Zixuan said.

Meng Yao nodded again.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." was all he could choke out for a moment. "I am grateful for you both."

They stood for a few moments enjoying the comfort hugs bring.

Meng Yao coughed and sniffed. "Sorry about my outburst. Please, we should eat before it gets cold." he whispered.

Jin Zixuan handed him his handkerchief and seated himself. Yanli kissed his forehead and seated herself as well.

"It smells wonderful, brother." Jin Zixuan said with a smile.

"I hope it tastes okay." Meng Yao's voice was still tight but he had a small smile.

Breakfast was a comfortable meal with good conversation and good food. They were finishing their tea when Yanli's phone rang.

A brief conversation with her brother and she ended the call.

"I need to go to the station to see Jiang Cheng. He wants to talk about Mother." She looked down. "I don't even know what to call her anymore. She isn't a mother. Madame Yu? That woman? I just don't know."

Jin Zixuan reached over and held her hand. "We'll get through this, my heart."

Meng Yao was confused as he looked from one to the other.

"Pardon but is something wrong with your mother, Jiejie?" he asked.

"I'll tell you on the way to your condo, Di-di. It's a long story." Jin Zixuan replied.

"There's things you need to know about Jin Guangshan as well." Meng Yao said solemnly.

Yanli squeezed her husband's hand. 'Sounds like we have a lot to do today. Let's put the kitchen together and go."

It didn't take long before they were heading out. Meng Yao was wearing one of his brother's sweatsuits. It was too big but would do until he could get to his condo and into some of his own clothes.

With the firm reminder to "Take it easy today." to Meng Yao and a kiss on her husband's cheek, Jiang Yanli was on her way.
-----

Jiang Cheng had responded to Nie Huaisang informing him the suitcase was indeed Wei Ying's. He couldn't bring himself to comment on the toys yet.

For the moment, he put the suitcase mentally to the side.

He went back to reading his daily reports. Iced his hands while dictating a report to the rookie. Anything to not think about what those toys actually meant.

The hour passed too quickly and ShiJie was knocking on his office door.

"Oh, Di-di! Your poor face!" she said as he ushered her into his office.

"I'm okay, ShiJie. I've had worse." he replied.

"When?" she asked.

"About three years ago. A perp on angel dust.** Broke two of my ribs. Had bruises everywhere." His answer was offhand. Almost casual.

"Why did I not know?" she bristled.

"You were on a well deserved vacation. I was okay and by the time you got back, the bruises were gone and the ribs were almost healed. No reason for you to worry." he said.

"If you weren't already bruised,  I'd pinch you!" she said firmly.

He laughed then winced. "I am fine, ShiJie. Does it hurt? Yes. Will I recover? Yes. Now stop worrying."

"Of course I worry. You are my little brother." she told him.

"We have more to worry about, sister." Jiang Cheng said somberly. "During the search warrant of our home, we found this on her desk."

He pulled a picture out of the envelope. The full scope of their mother's handiwork was there. Yanli was horrified. And the more detail she saw, the worse it got.

The close up pictures were laid out on his desk He hated to do it but she had to know. She looked at each picture. By the time she had seen them all, her hands were shaking.

"A'Cheng, who is this woman? Did we ever know her?" she asked. Her eyes were stricken.

" I don't think so. I didn't want to show you but you need to see these because it will appear in court. Without a doubt. You need time to process this because we will eventually have to show this to A'Ying. He can't find out about this on the news or in the courtroom." he replied. "The worst part is there is more."

"More?"

"Remember how she told me Di-di was traveling? How there was never any use of his passport? How his suitcase was missing?"

She nodded hesitantly. 

"We found the suitcase." he sighed and started pacing. "Nie Huaisang and I hired private detectives to follow her. She was the only one I knew that actively disliked Wei Ying." He held up one finger.

"She was the one who told me he had decided to travel. Wei Ying would never have contacted her to tell her this."
He held up a second finger.

"And she's the only one who could have gained access to his condo simply by being his 'mother'." He held up a third finger.

"It doesn't seem like much but it was all I had. Using the private detectives protected her if she wasn't involved. They found she was having an affair with Jin Guangshan. They also found she kept going to a riverside park in a poor section of the city. Not her style to say the least. She kept staring at the river but she was always staring at one spot."

He pulled his phone out, opened something and handed it to her. "Tell me what you see."

She took it and glanced down. It was an open suitcase with toys? She zoomed in and gasped.

"Tokki?"

"That's what I thought too."

"But Tokki disappeared the first week he was with us..." her voice trailed off into nothing. "She stole his rabbit while he slept."

"That fucking bitch stole a four year old's sole comfort and kept it for twenty years?"

Yanli was suddenly furious. Before she had felt conflicted, torn. There was no question of her support of her brother but it was so hard to accept her mother would do such horrible things.

Now, she wanted to pound that bitch into the ground. She was so angry she was crying.

Jiang Cheng was stunned. He had never seen his sister like this.

"Hey, hey, Yanli..." he hugged her. "We can't change it but we can make sure she never gets out. That his life is never touched by her again. We have to be strong for him and for each other. We can do this, ShiJie."

She nodded into his chest and hiccuped. "I hate her, Cheng-Cheng. I want her to suffer. Is that wrong?"

"I think it's human." He kissed her forehead. "Let Karma do its job where she is concerned. We will take care of Wei Ying."

He lifted her face and wiped a cheek free of tears.

"Agreed?"

"Agreed."
~♡~♡~♡~
'Down for the count' is a boxing term. It refers to the count of ten they give a boxer to get back up on his feet. If they can't do it, they are 'down for the count'. The match is over and they have lost.

Manilla envelopes are the big brown ones.

Tokki means bunny in Korean.

Angel dust (PCP or Phencyclidine) is a dissociative anesthesia used recreationally. It often causes violent behavior.

Hugs, smiles and chocolate,  my Lovelies.

❤️🍫🫖❤️