Xiaobin's parents are both farmers, and Xiaobin also has a 3-year-old daughter; he is the mainstay of the entire family. "Xiaobin only has one younger sister, who is already married," Li Xiaohua said, adding that the household expenses mainly relied on him alone. Not only that, but Xiaobin was also the beloved son in the hearts of his elderly parents.
The suicide note stated that the pressure was too great to sleep well.
He came from Deyang, Sichuan, and worked for a company in Chongqing; he was the mainstay of his family, leaving behind his aged parents and a 3-year-old daughter.
After arriving at the police station, Li Xiaofang and others received the result they least wanted to hear —— Xiaobin fell from a building and died on the spot. In an instant, several relatives accompanying them cried their hearts out, Li Xiaofang collapsed on the ground, and Xiaobin's parents almost fainted.
"He usually doesn't smoke, so if it was suicide, the pressure must have been really too much." Li Xiaohua said that when her sister married her brother-in-law, she valued his good character and solid work ethic. Seeing the words "too much pressure," Li Xiaohua told reporters that her brother-in-law had once mentioned to her sister that the company tasks were overwhelming, so her sister advised him to resign and then find another job. "He could return to Deyang or go to the coastal areas to work."
Xiaobin, 29 years old, had worked at the headquarters in Shenzhen and was transferred to the Chongqing branch two years ago. In theory, he should be familiar with the industry, so why would he suddenly feel so despondent? Moreover, he had aged parents above and young children below. If it was indeed due to work reasons, what kind of pressures did he face during this period? Recently, reporters from the Chongqing Morning Post visited Xiaobin's family members as well as his colleagues and superiors before his death.
His workload was not heavy
Li Xiaohua told the Chongqing Morning Post that her sister Li Xiaofang has never worked because she has to take care of her physically unwell parents. After the Spring Festival, she stayed in her hometown of Deyang, while her husband Xiaobin returned to Chongqing alone to continue working. Before this, Li Xiaofang spent almost half of each month in Chongqing with Xiaobin and the other half back home taking care of the elders.
"His work was actually very easy, there were clear regulations for everything that needed to be done, just follow the process," said Dai, the company's responsible person, regarding Xiaobin's claim of high pressure. He was just a warehouse manager, and his workload was not heavy.
So, were there any related signs before Xiaobin committed suicide? "He looked very calm," the responsible person said. Before the incident, after the company learned that Xiaobin felt pressured, they assigned his work to two other colleagues, "to assist him." Yesterday afternoon, the responsible person told reporters that the company analyzed that Xiaobin's stress may not necessarily come from work, but possibly also related to his family.
"A pack of cigarettes, a wallet, a string of door keys, a delivery receipt, and a copy of a suicide note." The police handed these items over to Li Xiaofang and others. These were the belongings Xiaobin left behind after falling from the building. Due to the strong impact, the keys were somewhat bent.
At around 1 p.m. on the 15th of this month, Xiaobin jumped from the Southern Starlight building in Xietai and died on the spot.
At 12:25 p.m. yesterday, room 17 on the 9th floor of the Tonghao Hotel in Xietai left a crack open, and through the narrow door gap, a heart-wrenching cry could be heard. "Xiaobin, Xiaobin, my Xiaobin, come back! Mom begs you, please come back!" Fifty-year-old Xie Shuping lay on the white bedsheet, tightly hugging a pillow, struggling to loudly call out her son's name. Beside the bed, five tearful relatives either sat or leaned against it.
After investigation, the police determined it to be a case of suicide. Because in Xiaobin's pocket, the police found a suicide note, which mentioned "the pressure was too great, I haven't slept for seven days and nights"; in Xiaobin's computer, there was a prepared resignation letter and its reasons; QQ chat records also contained phrases like "doing two people's work alone, continuous overtime."
"At around 3 p.m. on the 15th, my sister called me and said that her husband had an incident in Chongqing." Li Xiaohua, 26 years old, carried a black leather bag, inside which were all the materials left by her brother-in-law, including a copy of the suicide note.
Li Xiaohua learned that after the Spring Festival, a colleague who worked with her brother-in-law Xiaobin injured his foot and was unable to return to work. Therefore, Xiaobin not only had to complete his own work but also had to do his colleague's part. "He did seem a bit dazed, I accompanied him to see a doctor," a colleague said when talking to Xiaobin's family. This conversation was recorded by Xiaobin's family and saved on their phone.
At the same time, the police informed Li Xiaofang and others that Xiaobin's death was a suicide, not a homicide. "We went to our brother-in-law's office and saw his QQ chat records and the resignation letter on his computer," Li Xiaohua said. Through reviewing the chat records, they learned that Xiaobin was already exhausted and had been sick for many days. In the few days before his suicide, he had to go to the hospital for intravenous drips and repeatedly informed relevant supervisors about the immense pressure.
The responsible person said that after the Spring Festival, some employees did not return to work because the company planned to stagger vacations, meaning some employees would rest continuously for two weeks, and after those employees started working, another group of employees could rest for a week.
After being sleepless for seven consecutive days, he left behind sorrow for his family
Regardless of how devastated Xiaobin's family was by his departure, they could not bring back this young life. Since his daughter is only three years old and his parents are farmers with poor health, the family hoped the company could compensate them with 300,000 yuan in related fees. Regarding this, the responsible person surnamed Dai said that the company still needs time to consider.
In that computer, Xiaobin also wrote some fantasies about suicide. "I really want to let go of everything, dying would be better. In recent days, I've been thinking about where would be suitable for me to jump off a building, so that I wouldn't wake up again instead of becoming paralyzed." He thought about crashing into a car, but then considered that the driver is also a person, and he couldn't make the driver compensate. He thought about taking a lot of sleeping pills, but since he lived alone and the landlord only comes every six months to collect rent, if he died that way, it might take three to five months before anyone would know.
"I heard that there is a significant risk to life," Li Xiaofang said to her brother, who was already somewhat panicked. Seeing this, Li Xiaohua quickly informed both sets of parents and gathered more than ten relatives to rush to Chongqing. At around 11 p.m. that night, Li Xiaofang and others arrived in Chongqing, where a responsible person from Xiaobin's company received them and informed them they needed to go to the police station.
Relatives in Deyang received the bad news
When Li Xiaofang and others opened the two notes written on calendar sticky notes, they saw written —— Wife: By the time you read this letter, I have already left this world. Recently, I've been under too much pressure, I haven't slept for seven days and nights, I get headaches as soon as I close my eyes, I'm living worse than death. I'm sorry to you, I'm sorry to mom and dad, I can't find a way to live or die, I'm in so much pain.
Editor Hu Weiwen, Deputy Editor Li Wei, Intern Graphic Editor Yin Jing, Art Editor Geng Shiming, Proofreader Xie Junxiu
At the same time, the responsible person indicated that after returning from the Spring Festival, things became quite complicated.
Regarding exactly when Xiaobin fell ill and how long he endured the illness while working, the responsible person said that around the 10th of this month, he learned that Xiaobin wasn't feeling well. "I originally planned to accompany him to see a doctor, but due to some sudden matters, I asked a colleague to accompany him instead, and it turned out to be just a minor cold." The responsible person said that around the 12th, Xiaobin submitted a resignation application to the company, "which has gone through two processes, but the approval hasn't come down yet."
QQ chats multiple times mentioned unbearable pressure
During the Spring Festival, everything was fine, the day before was Valentine's Day, and he still called his wife, so how did he suddenly disappear? Was 29-year-old Xiaobin murdered or did he commit suicide? The next day (the 16th), Li Xiaofang and others went to the police station to learn about Xiaobin's cause of death. Yesterday, in Xietai, Xiaobin's wife (in blue clothes) was overwhelmed with grief.