By | Li Yu Chen
July 27, 2025, Wang Linpeng of Easyhome, fell from a high building.
The news shook the home furnishing industry, and the rumors were soon confirmed by many industry insiders. The head of this retail giant chose to end his life on the third day after returning to the company to perform his duties normally.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
Three months ago, on April 17, Wang Linpeng was taken away by the Jianghan District Supervision Committee of Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The charge was investigation, and the measure was detention.
On July 23, he came out. The detention measure was lifted and changed to:
Ordered to await investigation.
These four words mean that he regained his freedom, but the sword hanging over his head had not been completely removed.
He returned to the company and began to work as usual. Colleagues saw the familiar chairman.
Then, it was the morning of July 27.
Before the fall, no one knew in what state of mind Wang Linpeng spent his last 72 hours of freedom.
But the last moments of another chairman left traces.
Time goes back two years to Changzhou.
Cheng Yong, the chairman of Hualing Company, was 44 years old, younger than Wang Linpeng.
He was not detained, but was interviewed by the Changzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision for three consecutive days:
Going out early and returning late every day.
The investigation involved the case of Yang Kangcheng, the former deputy district head of Tianning District. The Discipline Inspection Commission needed Cheng Yong to admit that he had kept 8 million for Yang Kangcheng.
Cheng Yong said no.
The investigators needed him to say yes.
Cheng Yong’s last message on WeChat Moments:
The interrogation room is a bit difficult to endure, too depressing.
After three consecutive days of “talks”, at 4:36 a.m. on November 11, he jumped from the Shimao Plaza.
He left a suicide note, which was later published on the company’s official account, with eye-catching content:
“Committed suicide to prove his innocence.”
The suicide note said that he was coerced and admitted against his will to the non-existent 8 million. He said he wanted to:
End it soon.
But afterwards, he regretted it and fell into despair.
His last sigh was:
“Time is dragging on… I have to continue, I feel too tired, I’ll go first, bye.”
Wang Linpeng and Cheng Yong, two successful private entrepreneurs, both took a similar path to the rooftop.
The starting point of this path all points to a special room.
According to the “Supervision Law” implemented in 2018, the measure in this room is called “detention”.
Up to 6 months, isolated from the world:
Lawyers cannot intervene.
One of the original intentions of its establishment was to prevent suspects from escaping, colluding, or:
Suicide.
In that somewhat difficult room, a person’s psychological defenses are easily destroyed. Especially when some investigators, burdened with the pressure of solving a case, want to pry open a gap.
A lawyer named Zhang Qingfang once disclosed that this is not an isolated case. He even used a very harsh word to describe the operation in the Cheng Yong case:
Extortion.
Extorting a private entrepreneur to fill the hole for an official’s case.
This kind of pressure is double for those well-known entrepreneurs. Inside is the crushing of the spirit, and outside is the collapse of reputation.
Even if they are finally cleared, the experience of being investigated is enough to ruin half of their life’s foundation.
Therefore, some people choose to end it all with death, or to prove their innocence.
After Cheng Yong finished the talks and went home, he said to his wife:
I’m sorry.
His family noticed his pressure, but could not prevent the tragedy. Suddenly returning to reality from a high-pressure environment, there was no buffer in between.
Institutionally, this is a blank space.
There is no targeted psychological assessment, no mandatory psychological counseling. A person is directly thrown back into society after months of isolation and interrogation.
He has to face everything that has changed on his own.
Interestingly, in order to prevent similar tragedies, the revised draft of the “Supervision Law” in 2024 added a new measure:
Management and protection measures.
For those who have not been detained but are at risk of suicide, “management and protection” of up to 7 days can be taken.
Using a measure that restricts freedom to prevent another risk. Instead of providing help.
Wang Linpeng did not have this management and protection after being released from detention. He gained his freedom and could return to the huge business empire he founded.
He could even stand in front of the window of his office again and overlook the city.
Three days later, he jumped.
They walked into a room for an answer. They walked out of that room, but became a question.
The fundamental purpose of this procedure is to pry open the tightly closed mouth. But it often incidentally shatters a person’s soul.
They put shackles on him, and then personally untied them, and then pointed at his back and said:
Look, he walked to his death himself.
Li Yuchen
Written on July 28, 2025
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