At noon the next day, Grandpa Xia suddenly summoned Xia Weilan to his office.
"Weilan, I have something I'd like you to handle," Grandpa Xia said with a grim expression.
"What is it?" Xia Weilan sensed the heavy atmosphere and replied seriously.
Grandpa Xia reached out and opened the safe beside him. It was empty.
"I just discovered that several bank cards in my safe are missing," Grandpa Xia said in a heavy tone. "Moreover, I found that the funds in them have been transferred. These cards are used by the company to pay for major projects, and only a few management personnel know the passwords."
"Grandpa, are you saying that it was a member of the company's management who stole the money?" Xia Weilan looked at Grandpa Xia seriously.
"And the culprit even knew the password to my safe. Who do you think it could be?" The first person Grandpa Xia thought of was Uncle Xia.
Xia Weilan looked at Grandpa Xia silently. After a long pause, she said, "Grandpa, are you asking me to conduct a private investigation?"
"Yes. Don't tip off the suspects for now," Grandpa Xia replied.
Xia Weilan returned to her own office and retrieved the surveillance video from the entrance of Grandpa Xia's office on her computer.
Grandpa Xia said that the theft had occurred within the past three days. Therefore, Xia Weilan quickly scanned through the footage from these days.
During the time when Grandpa Xia was absent, two people had sneaked into his office.
One was Uncle Xia, just before the end of work last night, and the other was Xia Ruolin, before anyone else came to work this morning.
Both of them were acting furtively. They each stayed inside for about five minutes before coming out.
Not long after, Xia Weilan informed Grandpa Xia of what she had discovered.
"Grandpa, take a look at these two videos."
After watching the videos, Grandpa Xia was extremely angry. "These two people clearly seem to be up to no good!"
One was his granddaughter, and the other was his younger brother.
Grandpa Xia tightly grasped his walking stick. "Keep investigating for me!"
That afternoon, Grandpa Xia asked Butler Zhao to check the account transactions of Xia Ruolin and Uncle Xia in the past few days, but they found nothing amiss.
Xia Weilan was also puzzled. She sent people to monitor the two of them but found no clues either.
On the other hand, feeling guilty, Uncle Xia had been keeping a close eye on Grandpa Xia's recent activities. He immediately noticed that Butler Zhao had secretly been checking his account. Frightened, he didn't even dare to go to the company.
"Uncle Xia, the chairman also had someone check Miss Xia's account," an insider in the company told Uncle Xia.
"Miss Xia? Is it Xia Weilan or Xia Ruolin?" Uncle Xia's eyes lit up. He immediately asked, and a half - formed plan popped into his mind.
If it was Xia Weilan, that would be great. He could shift the blame onto her and prevent her from even passing her internship.
"It's Miss Xia Ruolin," the insider replied.
"So it's her!" Uncle Xia stroked his beard hesitantly.
The next day, in the chairman's office.
"Grandpa, I didn't steal the company's money. It must be Xia Weilan trying to frame me," Xia Ruolin said as soon as she entered the office. Grandpa Xia had just asked her about the safe, and Xia Weilan was standing silently beside them. Xia Ruolin was so angry that she pointed at Xia Weilan on the spot, wishing she could kill her right then.
Just then, Uncle Xia's voice came from the door.
"What's going on? Why did you suddenly call me here?"
"Close the door!" Grandpa Xia ordered.
In the office, only Grandpa Xia, Xia Weilan, and the two suspects remained.
"What's going on? Why all this secrecy?" Uncle Xia said calmly, as if he knew nothing.
Grandpa Xia looked at Uncle Xia in surprise. He didn't expect him to be so calm. He repeated, "My safe was stolen, and according to the surveillance video, only the two of you entered when I was away. Tell me, what did you do when you went in?"
Xia Ruolin's face changed. She had gone in to secretly check if there were any important documents in Grandpa's room. She had left soon after, but she didn't expect Grandpa to find out.
Uncle Xia simply said, "Oh, I lost my phone. I came to check if I left it here. Since I didn't find it, I left."
"And you, Ruolin?" Grandpa Xia looked at Xia Ruolin with an inexplicable expression. It was hard to tell whom he trusted, and his expression was unfathomable.
"I, I..." Xia Ruolin stammered and couldn't find a suitable excuse for a moment. She had stayed in the room for a while. She couldn't very well say that she had also lost something.
Xia Ruolin was too ashamed to speak. Her eyes swept over Xia Weilan, thinking that Xia Weilan was trying to frame her.
"Knock, knock, knock!" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
"Chairman, just now we found that amount of money in Manager Xue's account. The amount is exactly the same. It was transferred from Miss Xia's office computer to Manager Xue's account yesterday afternoon," the secretary said. After finishing, she handed the investigated documents to Grandpa Xia.
"What!" Xia Ruolin looked at the secretary in disbelief. "That's impossible. I definitely didn't..."
Xia Ruolin wanted to say that she hadn't done any of that, but she had indeed been in the office yesterday afternoon, although she had gone out for a short while.
At this moment, Xia Ruolin suddenly realized something. She looked up sharply at Xia Weilan, who looked calm. "Is it you trying to frame me? Is it you who stole Grandpa's money? Is it!"
Xia Ruolin rushed towards Xia Weilan and grabbed her shoulders with both hands, shouting desperately, "Tell me!"
"Enough!" Grandpa Xia roared. "Look at you now. What do you look like! You made a mistake and still want to shift the blame onto others!"
Xia Ruolin was pulled away, while Xia Weilan frowned and said, "I only found the surveillance footage. The rest was investigated by Grandpa. Moreover, I have no need to slander you, and I wouldn't stoop so low."
Xia Ruolin's eyes were red, but she didn't believe what Xia Weilan said. She denied it to Grandpa Xia, "Grandpa, I didn't do those things!"
Grandpa Xia closed his eyes in pain. When he opened them again, there was a look of regret on his face. "I called you here alone because family scandals should not be made public. I didn't expect you to still refuse to repent!"
"Ruolin, how could you do such a thing? Now the evidence is conclusive. You should just admit your mistake to Grandpa. Don't be so stubborn," Uncle Xia also looked at Xia Ruolin seriously.
"Uncle Xia, believe me. I didn't do it!" Xia Ruolin shook her head like a rattle.
"Silly girl, if you were short of money, you could have told me. How could you do such a thing? Now that the evidence is conclusive, if it wasn't you, then who else could it be?" Uncle Xia covered his chest with a helpless look in his eyes.
Hearing this, Xia Ruolin looked at Xia Weilan and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Grandpa Xia's words.
"Enough. From today on, you don't need to come to the company anymore. Go back and reflect on your actions. And as for Xue Zhiqing, he is also fired from the company. That's final. You can all leave now. I want to be alone for a while!"
Grandpa Xia's words were final.
The few of them left one after another.