Early the next morning, Li Yue was awakened by the sound of an argument outside.
She had been sleeping in the Dimension, where time flowed slower, so she had gotten plenty of rest.
Listening carefully, she recognized the voices as Lu Qing and Feng Jing.
She quickly put on her clothes, not wanting to miss the drama. She wondered how Lu Jianguo had resolved last night’s incident.
She swiftly pulled out the clothes she had taken out the previous night and put them on: a pair of beige linen trousers in the Small-legged Grandma Pants style.
For her top, she wore a light lotus-pink short-sleeved linen shirt with a Peter Pan collar.
Originally a cropped style that ended at the waist, it now fit like a regular shirt. Although the original host was also 1.7 meters tall, she was much thinner.
Feeling cheerful today, thinking about the items she had collected from the study last night, she even hummed a tune.
Not only had she found decisive evidence of Lu Jianguo’s crimes last night,
She had also gained so many treasures and money. Just the thought of it made her want to laugh aloud.
Those three carved wooden boxes were filled with smooth, rounded gold—different from the gold bars she had taken from their bedroom, and not from the same batch either.
Those three boxes of gold seemed relatively ancient, likely vintage items.
Just as she finished putting on her socks, her door was knocked loudly.
“Li Yue—come out here—” Lu Qing shouted at the top of her lungs outside.
Li Yue slipped on her outdated but cherished Flat Bean Shoes from her previous life and pulled open the bedroom door.
Facing Lu Qing’s furious eyes, she frowned.
Lu Qing was taken aback, looking her up and down: “When did you buy new clothes?”
And those shoes—they were actually pink leather shoes she had never seen before.
Those shoes had been expensive when Li Yue bought them in her previous life. They were pink with a hint of pearlescent purple, made of soft lambskin, very comfortable.
The reason she wore clothes from her previous life was that she had observed yesterday that many people here dressed quite fashionably, not tacky at all.
Naturally, she didn’t want to wear the original host’s clothes that would tear at the slightest touch. After washing and drying those clothes, she had stored them in the wardrobe, not thrown them away.
Perhaps only those clothes could prove that the original host had once existed in this world.
Pulling back her wandering thoughts, Li Yue smiled:
“What’s wrong? Can’t I have new clothes? With a skilled mother, it’s hard not to wear new clothes.”
As she spoke, she even raised an eyebrow.
Lu Qing didn’t doubt her, but her eyes remained fixed on Li Yue’s feet, inwardly exclaiming how beautiful those shoes were.
However, remembering what her father had told her that morning, she lifted her chin and said arrogantly, “Did you personally see her enter my mom’s bedroom last night?”
Li Yue looked past Lu Qing at the person sobbing on the sofa with her face covered.
She frowned again. It seemed like Feng Jing cried every day—truly made of water.
At the same time, she was somewhat surprised that Lu Jianguo hadn’t pursued the matter with her.
She had originally thought Lu Jianguo would discover the missing items from the bedroom and turn the household upside down.
“Did you see or not?” Lu Qing asked again when she didn’t respond.
“I saw,” Li Yue nodded and said.
Feng Jing suddenly looked at Li Yue, her reddened eyes filled with overwhelming hatred. This hatred came inexplicably, unlike anything from before.
“Xiao Li—how could you frame me like this?”
Li Yue pushed past Lu Qing and stepped out of the bedroom. Her light-colored outfit made her complexion appear brighter.
“Whether it’s framing or not isn’t for me to decide. Didn’t your father-in-law have a proper discussion with you about it?”
She walked over to the sofa and plopped down unceremoniously, leaning back against the cushions with a lazy posture.
Feng Jing was also drawn to her completely renewed attire, but recalling last night’s events, she still felt nauseated.
That old bastard had promised not to breathe a word about the matter, yet he went and told his daughter.
As a result, she had been subjected to Lu Qing’s attacks all morning.
Her inner turmoil, of course, went unnoticed by others.
“It was my dad who said it. Not only did she go into my mom’s bedroom, but she also…” Lu Qing clapped a hand over her mouth, swallowing the words that were about to escape.
Her dad had warned her not to say anything—that if she did, everything would be ruined. Though she didn’t fully grasp what “everything” entailed, she trusted her father.
…
Deputy Factory Director’s Office.
Lu Jianguo was lost in thought.
Last night, he had not only discovered missing items from the bedroom but also found that everything in the study had vanished as well.
There were no signs of anyone entering the study—only his own footprints leading in one direction.
The layer of dust was thick, untouched by any handprints or fingerprints, yet the items had disappeared without a trace.
It was baffling, yet it had truly happened.
The loss of money and possessions was manageable; he had hidden away far more than that in his earlier years. The real danger lay in his account books.
If those were exposed, it wouldn’t merely mean prison time.
That’s why he had ignored his son and wife at the police station early this morning and come straight to the factory.
Just like any other day.
He suspected that someone in the factory was deliberately targeting him.
Last night, with several girls in the house, someone must have gotten in. He just didn’t know how that person had entered the study and made off with all the assets he had stored at home.
Moreover, what role had Feng Jing played in all this? Was she colluding with outsiders from within?
These were the worries plaguing Lu Jianguo.
He hadn’t openly confronted anyone last night, but he had reclaimed a small measure of interest.
Thinking of his eldest daughter-in-law, his face darkened.
Just then, the young secretary walked in. Hearing the footsteps, Lu Jianguo’s expression instantly softened.
“Deputy Director, Hexi is requesting an additional 100,000 orders and asking when we can deliver.”
Lu Jianguo had been in the office all morning, and this secretary, who usually stayed in the outer room, hadn’t appeared once until now.
His sharp eyes swept over Li Xiaoming, scrutinizing him thoughtfully. “Tell them the earliest we can manage is a month.”
Now, Lu Jianguo saw everyone through the lens of his missing account books.
No one seemed trustworthy.
But after observing all morning, everything in the factory appeared normal, leaving him momentarily unsure of what to do next.
“Deputy Director, what about the batch in our warehouse? Shouldn’t we ship that out?” the young secretary asked.
There was a batch in the warehouse identical in model and pattern to what Hexi had ordered.
If they could deliver sooner, Hexi would likely be willing to renew their contract with the factory next year.
Yet he had noticed that whenever there was stock in the warehouse and external orders were urgent, the deputy director always insisted on having the workshop produce anew.
Lu Jianguo narrowed his eyes, a glint of inscrutable shrewdness flashing in their slits. “Just follow my instructions. Wasn’t there an issue with the sizing of that batch? Don’t you know? There are two extra threads in a different color—all the towels are defective.”
Little Li quickly shook his head upon hearing this. “No, that was last year. Last year, two raw white yarns accidentally got mixed in during a batch of warping. It didn’t happen this year. That mistake cost the factory so much money, everyone in our factory remembers.” (Note: Non-professional description of towel manufacturing process, verified via Doubao.)
Little Li, afraid the deputy director might think he remembered wrong, added that it was something everyone in the factory remembered.
Lu Jianguo patted his head with a self-mocking smile of regret.
“Yeah, maybe I remembered wrong. Recently, there’s been a lot going on in my family. Your auntie got reported to the police station by our daughter-in-law and hasn’t been released yet. Ah, it’s really shameful.”
His tone was full of helplessness, yet he made no attempt to hide the family scandal, maintaining his deeply ingrained image of an honest and simple man.
Little Li naturally felt his deputy director was having a hard time.
Little Li said sympathetically: “Every family has their troubles. But is the police station Xinkai Road Police Station? My brother-in-law works there. Should I ask him to look into it? Auntie is quite elderly and can’t handle much distress. It’s just a family conflict after all.”
A flicker of surprise passed through Lu Jianguo’s eyes.
“Would that be convenient? Your auntie hasn’t been well lately because of this matter with our eldest’s wife. Ever since our eldest passed away, her health completely collapsed. Our eldest son had asked us to take good care of his wife, but now look – his wife turns out like this. Ah, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on, really…”
Another heavy sigh followed, carrying the grief of an old father who had buried his own child, mixed with a touch of heartache that anyone could relate to.
In short, the young secretary felt so sorry for their deputy director that he nearly cried.