Chapter 57: Stealing a massive amount of money can land you in prison

Chapter 57: Stealing Large Sums of Money Leads to Prison

"Sis..." Shen Xing said with a cheeky, spoiled expression, "You haven't been home for a whole year, why do you start interrogating me the moment you get back?"

Shen Ci shot him a glance and huffed, "If you won't give Mom peace of mind, I won't make things easy for you either. I originally brought a lot of gifts for you, but now I've decided to give them all to Guangrong instead."

Guangrong was her cousin, the child of her maternal aunt.

Hearing this, Shen Xing's eyes widened instantly. "Don't do that, Sis! Second Sister said you bought her so many things. What did you buy for me? Quick, let me see!"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow after we're done chatting."

After saying this indifferently, Shen Ci ignored Shen Xing's attempts to act cute and cling to her, leaving him behind to return to her room.

Lying on her small bed, the scent and the feeling made Shen Ci feel at peace. She slept without dreaming, enjoying the most restful and stable sleep she had had in a long time.

The next day, it was a sunny day.

Just as Shen Ci was blinking her eyes open in a daze, she heard a soft knock on the door: "A-Ci, Mom's heading to work. I left your breakfast in the microwave; remember to eat it once you're up."

"Got it, Mom," Shen Ci responded.

Hearing that her daughter was awake, Shen Jingjing pushed the door open and looked at her daughter with a gentle tone. "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll go straight to the market after work and cook it for you."

Shen Ci smiled, her heart feeling as warm as the morning sunlight. After a moment's thought, she said, "Bak Kut Teh."

"I knew it," Shen Jingjing said with an expression that suggested she had guessed correctly. She glanced down at the time. "Mom has to go. If you don't want to get up, sleep a little longer. Remember to eat breakfast."

After her mother left, Shen Ci climbed out of bed. Just as she was about to enter the bathroom to wash up, she heard a crisp "ding" sound.

Having read many rebirth-themed novels, she instinctively froze in place, wondering if a "System" had arrived.

However, after waiting for a long time without hearing any other sound, she realized what had happened and blinked.

Oh, the breakfast in the microwave was done.

After washing up, she was eating delicious poached chicken and xiaolongbao when her mother suddenly sent a voice message via WeChat.

Shen Ci used the text-to-speech function to read it: "A-Ci, I left my employee ID at home. It should be on the cabinet in the entryway. Remember to bring it to me after you finish breakfast."

Shen Ci quickly replied to ask, "Is it urgent?"

"Not urgent, just bring it before noon."

Around ten o'clock, Shen Ci found her mother's ID and took a taxi to the Ruili International Hotel in Xiang'an District.

Her mother worked as a housekeeper in the Housekeeping Department. She had worked at this five-star international hotel for over a decade and was currently the supervisor of Housekeeping Group One.

Her daily work involved cleaning guest rooms and promptly handling the requests of staying guests.

It wasn't easy, but fortunately, the working environment was decent and she didn't have to endure the wind and sun, so Shen Jingjing was very satisfied with her current job.

The only drawback was her low level of education; with only a junior high school education, she couldn't make it to middle or high-level management positions like a manager. Supervisor was the highest position she could reach.

At the hotel front desk, Shen Ci stepped forward politely to inquire, "Hello, I'm looking for Shen Jingjing from Housekeeping Group One. She forgot her ID badge."

"Are you Jingjing's daughter?"

Seeing that Shen Ci was quite beautiful, the receptionist couldn't help but ask an extra question.

Shen Ci nodded with a smile.

"Sister Jingjing should be cleaning rooms on her assigned floor at this time. Use this card to take the elevator to the 26th and 27th floors to look for her. If she's not there, go ask at the Housekeeping Department on the fifth floor."

As the receptionist spoke, they handed over an internal staff elevator card, not forgetting to remind her: "The rooms being cleaned will have their doors open. Please be careful not to knock on doors where guests are staying. Remember to return the elevator card to me when you come down."

Shen Ci took the card and nodded in thanks.

She first sent a message to her mother to ask which floor she was on, but since her mother didn't reply for a while, Shen Ci could only follow the receptionist's instructions to search.

She went up to the 26th floor first and moved quickly through the corridors. Whenever she saw a staff member at an open door, she would check if it was her mother. The hotel was huge; a single floor had nearly dozens of guest rooms.

In Suite 2788, an argument was currently breaking out.

"Then how is that possible? It's not some tiny trinket. How could a brooch the size of a coin just fly out of a room?"

"Then, sir, is it possible that one of your own people picked it up? Or perhaps you placed it somewhere and forgot?"

"What do you mean by that? Are you implying I'm a thief trying to catch myself? Look at who is staying in this room—do we really need to make things difficult for a housekeeper?"

"Sir, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying, is there such a possibility? Our intention is the same as yours—we both want to help you find your lost item, aren't we?"

In the middle of the suite's living room, a Housekeeping Manager in a suit seemed to be handling a crisis. Opposite him stood a lean man with a face full of rage, clearly in a state of anger.

Standing beside the Housekeeping Manager was Shen Jingjing, the housekeeper who had received the request to clean this room earlier that morning.

Just half an hour ago, the guest in this suite had called to say a valuable item was missing and requested the housekeeping staff to handle it, which led to the current scene.

The lean man pointed at Shen Jingjing and demanded loudly, "From the time we checked in until we just discovered the item was missing, you are the only staff member who has entered this room. Do you dare say you didn't see the diamond brooch left on the table?"

Shen Jingjing looked at him. Even though his attitude was aggressive, she showed no sign of cowardice or fear. She replied politely yet firmly, "I'm sorry, sir, but I truly did not see any brooch."

She had worked at this hotel for over ten years; this wasn't the first time she had faced such a situation, so she was not panicking internally.

Seeing her attitude, the lean man flew into a rage. "You won't admit it, will you? If you won't admit it, I'll call the police. Stealing large sums of money leads to prison. Don't blame me for not giving you a chance!"

"Sir, without evidence, you cannot conclude that I stole it. Since you lost a valuable item in our hotel, we support your decision to call the police, and we are willing to cooperate fully with the officers," Shen Jingjing said with composure.

The lean man was holding his phone, intending to intimidate the housekeeper into handing over the item, but he hadn't expected her not to fall for it at all.

At that moment, the person who had been sitting on the sofa with a dark expression finally stood up and said to the lean man, "We can't call the police right now. Otherwise, we'll have to go to the police station to give statements. The event starts at twelve, and there's no extra time."

Hearing this, the lean man said with a face full of worry, "Junhuan, then what should we do? That brooch was lent to us by the brand; it's worth over five hundred! If we lose it, we'll have to pay for it!"