Bai Xiaoyun narrowed her eyes. Could it be that there were marks on those jewels?
Just then, the female officer who had taken her statent earlier spoke, "An Shing, are all this jewelry and these gold beans yours?"
"Yesh!" An Shing answered without hesitation, her words slurred due to her swollen tongue.
"Since they’re yours, you should know the exact number of gold beans, right?" the officer asked.
An Shing paused, stunned for a mont, then pointed at her mouth and shook her head, indicating she couldn’t speak properly.
The officer said, "You can type it out on your phone!"
An Shing reluctantly took out her phone and typed: [I estimate there are about 2,000!]
"Estimate?" The officer frowned. "We don’t want estimates. Tell us the exact number!"
An Shing shook her head and typed: [I don’t rember!]
"I rember!" An Yan spoke up. "Those gold beans were saved for by my mother. She said she would save ten for every month as pocket money. Over eighteen years, that adds up to exactly 2,160 beans!"
An Shing stared at her in shock. "You’re lyin’! Theshe are mine!"
An Shing was certain the gold beans couldn’t talk. As long as she insisted they were hers, there was nothing anyone could do.
An Yan smiled. "Each of my gold beans has a ’Y’ engraved on it—the initial of ’Yan’!"
"The jewelry was also left by my mother. Like the gold beans, each piece of jewelry has a letter on it. So have a ’Y,’ so an ’L,’ and so an ’X.’"
"’Y’ stands for An Yan, ’L’ for An Yaoluo, and ’X’ for An Duxuan. Mother left them for the three of us siblings."
An Shing’s expression crumpled. She had always thought those letters were brand symbols! Who could have possibly guessed their true aning?
"An Shing, confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be dealt with severely!" the officer’s authoritative voice rang out.
An Shing shivered and looked at Bai Xiaoyun with a pleading gaze.
Bai Xiaoyun sighed and spoke reluctantly, "It was . I took them! These things have nothing to do with ngng; I took them all! I admit my guilt, but I felt I had no other choice."
Bai Xiaoyun wiped at her tears. "Which woman doesn’t wish to be the only one in her husband’s eyes and heart?
"Yet my husband’s heart is filled with his deceased ex-wife.
"I had to compete with soone who’s passed away. The only thing I could think of was to remove all her belongings so my husband wouldn’t see them.
"Officer, this isn’t theft; I simply moved our family’s belongings to a different place for storage."
The officers exchanged bewildered glances. They’d seen shaless people before, but never anyone *this* shaless!
Ultimately, Bai Xiaoyun’s explanation frad the issue as a family matter. As the saying goes, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes.
They could only turn their gazes to An Zhongbo.
An Zhongbo’s face was grim. Even at this point, he hadn’t considered completely cornering Bai Xiaoyun. "Bai Xiaoyun, I don’t wish to pursue this matter any further. Please take ngng and leave the An Family."
An Shing imdiately burst into tears again. "Daddy, Mommy jusht lovesh you too much, that’sh all."
"Be quiet! A mont ago, you were insisting all these things were yours!" An Zhongbo wasn’t pursuing the matter, but that didn’t an he was unaware of what this mother and daughter had done.
"I..." An Shing quickly typed on her phone: [Daddy, I said they were mine because I didn’t know who had taken them. After all, aren’t they ultimately all our family’s property? If they were lost while in my care, what’s wrong with saying they were mine?]
An Shing held the phone out for An Zhongbo to see. Bai Xiaoyun, noticing the content, hurriedly chid in, "Yanyan, since you have the items now, they’ve essentially been returned to their owner. Let’s withdraw the case! Officer, we’d like to drop the charges."
The officer looked towards An Zhongbo, who nodded. "Drop them."
An Yan was dumbfounded.
An Yaoluo patted her shoulder. "Yanyan, since the items have been found, just let it go."
Besides, Dad is going to divorce Bai Xiaoyun soon. If they also have to bear the reputation of thieves before they leave, their future lives will probably be very difficult.
An Yan raised her hand to her forehead. Dad and Eldest Brother... honestly! It seems this lesson hasn’t been harsh enough!
"Alright. Let’s drop this case for now," An Yan said. "After it’s dropped, I have two other cases I need to report."
Officer Xiaohe was baffled.
An Yan stated expressionlessly, "The first case I’m reporting concerns the leaking of comrcial secrets. Ms. Bai Xiaoyun leaked An Corporation’s bid details to a competitor and received 100,000,000 yuan in return!"
An Yaoluo was utterly shocked.
Bai Xiaoyun quickly denied it. "You’re talking nonsense! I did no such thing!"
"I have a witness!" An Yan gestured towards the internet café’s entrance.
A tall, handso man strode in from outside. He was dressed in a limited-edition, custom-made silver-gray suit, his left hand in his pocket, his right twirling a luxury car key. The top buttons of his white shirt were undone, revealing a patch of his tanned chest.
An Shing’s eyes lit up. This man, though not as overwhelmingly charismatic or coldly handso as Li Tianyao, possessed a certain roguish charm! However, rembering An Yan had called him in, she quickly suppressed the admiration in her eyes.
The mont An Yaoluo saw Ling Xiao, alarm bells went off in his mind, and his gaze instinctively shifted to Li Tianyao.
He was lounging in a computer chair, his elbow resting on the armrest, his long fingers propping up his chin. His gaze, deep and unreadable, was fixed on Ling Xiao. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Ling Xiao pocketed his keys and gave a slight bow to An Zhongbo. "Good evening, Uncle An. Allow to introduce myself. I’m An Yan’s older brother—from a different father and mother, of course! An Yan and I go way back, we’re childh—"
"AHEM!" An Yan, sensing the sudden tension in the air, imdiately interrupted him. "You’re here to discuss serious matters!"
Ling Xiao’s gaze shifted, and in an instant, he was all business. "Oh, right. Serious matters."
"Good evening, officers. I am the representative of Xinyan Group, the tendering party."
"I can testify that Ms. Bai Xiaoyun disclosed An Corporation’s bid details, which caused An Corporation to lose its competitive edge."
"Furthermore, I have a recording of Mr. Ya Lihan, President of Yan Corp. Please, have a listen."
Ling Xiao pressed the play button on his phone, and a man’s sowhat chilling voice filled the air:
"Director Ling, I admit we knew An Corporation’s bid details in advance, which is why we deliberately underbid by 10,000 yuan to win this tender."
"But you’re well aware of Yan Corp’s capabilities. Anything An Corporation can do, we can do better."
"More importantly, our managent is stricter. At the very least, we wouldn’t have such a critical leak of important docunts. Wouldn’t you agree?"
Ling Xiao’s voice was then heard on the recording: "Mr. Yan, it’s fine if you want the project, but I need to know which mber of the An family leaked the bid details to you."
Ya Lihan’s reply ca without hesitation: "Bai Xiaoyun!"
Ling Xiao pressed the stop button.
Bai Xiaoyun’s face turned deathly pale, and she clenched her teeth so hard her jaw ached.
She had calculated everything, but she’d never imagined that Ling Xiao of Xinyan Group and An Yan were actually friends!
An Shing felt a surge of panic and fear, her entire body tensing up.
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