On the morning of September 19, the director of the Finance Department of Hunan Province, Liu Wenjie, along with two others, fell to their deaths. According to reports by mainland Chinese media, the suspects Jiang Yihui and Jiang Hui had borrowed money from multiple people. Jiang Yihui was known for his enthusiasm in public welfare activities. Family members and neighbors of Jiang Hui mentioned that he was a person of integrity with a good character, stating that they couldn’t believe they would be involved in the reported incident.
Multiple informants mentioned in a report by Caixin on September 21 that the two suspects mentioned in the report were indeed Jiang Yihui and Jiang Hui, both from Wukou Town, Pingjiang County, Yueyang City. However, they were neither from the same village nor neighbors. Several villagers and acquaintances of the two expressed disbelief in their involvement in the reported incident, and they were saddened and heartbroken upon learning about their deaths.
Jiang Hui and Jiang Yihui were involved in the furniture business together, and several individuals who had financial dealings with them mentioned that “they had assets but not much cash flow,” and the two had borrowed money from multiple villagers.
One villager disclosed that he had bought furniture from Jiang Hui four years ago, and although they did not interact much, Jiang Hui recently approached him for a loan, stating that he needed the money for social engagements. Another villager familiar with Jiang Hui mentioned, “He has been borrowing money all the time and seems to be in a tight financial situation.”
Many villagers stated that Jiang Yihui’s father was a high school teacher, and his mother ran a grocery store. Later, their family opened a supermarket in town.
A business associate of Jiang Yihui mentioned that a couple of days before the incident, he couldn’t reach Jiang Yihui on the phone. His wife mentioned, “He went to the temple with some leaders, he’ll definitely be back on the 21st.” They never expected to hear the news of the tragedy.
The report mentioned that Jiang Yihui was active in public welfare activities and was a board member of the Wukou Morning Education Foundation. In October 2021, Jiang Yihui became a member of the Pingjiang County CPPCC.
Multiple relatives of Jiang Hui revealed that they had called him multiple times in the two days before the incident, but no one answered. Even his wife’s calls went unanswered, which they described as very unusual. They described Jiang Hui as an honest person who rarely got angry. Most of their neighbors praised Jiang Hui for his good character, happy family life with a son around 10 years old and a daughter around 6 years old.
After the incident, a social media account believed to belong to Jiang Hui’s wife made a post stating, “Jiang Hui has always been honest in his business dealings. This time, he went out for business talks, hoping that a successful deal would improve our situation. But after going out, we couldn’t reach him anymore. He has family responsibilities and is a very optimistic person; he wouldn’t give up easily. You are saying he kidnapped the director and then jumped off the building. He had been missing for days; no messages, calls unanswered. Shouldn’t we suspect foul play? We need justice! We need an explanation for his family.”
On September 21, several relatives of Jiang Hui confirmed to Caixin that the above statements were indeed made by Jiang Hui’s wife.
According to Caixin’s data, Tianhao Industrial Co., Ltd. in Pingjiang County was established in October 2012 with a registered capital of 30 million RMB. On September 3, 2019, the legal representative of the company was changed from a certain Mr. Zhou to Jiang Yihui. Jiang Yihui also owned several other companies involved in furniture, hotels, supermarkets, etc., such as Hunan Jueou Furniture Co., Ltd., Jiang Yihui Supermarket in Wukou Town, Pingjiang County, Rui Feng Hotel in Wukou Town, Pingjiang County, Zuoerjia Clothing Supermarket in Wukou Town, Pingjiang County, and Guangzhou Leisheng Furniture Co., Ltd.