The class's life committee member is named Zhao Han, and she's usually an introverted girl. Zhao Han isn't particularly attractive, but she's extremely meticulous in her work. Therefore, everyone unanimously elected her as the life committee member. Whenever there's a class activity, Zhao Han is responsible for collecting outstanding fees. This time, due to this mistake, the already introverted Zhao Han sat silently in a corner.

"Zhao Han, what exactly happened? Explain yourself to everyone." A boy sat in a chair, facing Zhao Han, and urged her. However, his tone didn't sound particularly aggressive.

Zhao Han snapped out of her daze, glanced at her classmates, then stood up and walked to Han Lin's side. She stood silently on the podium for a moment, then bowed to the entire class.

"I'm sorry, I've let everyone down. I lost this thousand yuan," Zhao Han said with a face full of guilt.

At that moment, the previously noisy discussions in the classroom instantly ceased. Everyone was stunned for a while after Zhao Han bowed and apologized.

Han Lin glanced at everyone present, then at Zhao Han standing beside him, and gently patted Zhao Han's shoulder in comfort. "Everyone, a thousand yuan short is only a few dozen yuan per person. Zhao Han has done a lot for everyone in the past, so why don't we each bear this loss and not put Zhao Han in a difficult position?" Han Lin wanted to minimize the problem and end the matter there.

As soon as Han Lin finished speaking his suggestion, the audience erupted in discussion. "Class monitor, I disagree with this proposal," someone suddenly shouted from their seat.

"It's not about the amount of money. We could each contribute a few dozen more dollars without any problem. But we need to get to the bottom of this. Why did this thousand dollars disappear? If it was stolen, we have to find the thief, right? What if the thief is among us? We can cover this loss this time, but what if the thief gets a taste of success? What about next time? And the time after that? We can't keep being taken advantage of like this forever, can we?"

“I think so too. We need to figure out what really happened. If it’s unclear, I’m not willing to pay those extra tens of dollars. Why should I?” Xiao Ye echoed.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Han Lin sighed helplessly. Almost all the students demanded a clear explanation.

"Zhao Han, why don't you tell everyone what happened?" Han Lin glanced apologetically at Zhao Han beside him.

Zhao Han and Han Lin exchanged a glance, then looked at the students present and nodded silently. “As everyone knows, I’m in charge of all the activity funds, and there have never been any problems before. So this time I was a little careless. After lunch, I came to the classroom to study. Halfway through, I got thirsty, so I thought I’d go downstairs to buy a milk tea. I figured the milk tea shop was downstairs, and it wouldn’t be a problem if I left for a short while. So I left my bag in the classroom. When I returned, I checked the money in my bag, but I didn’t notice that 1,000 yuan was missing. It wasn’t until the class monitor told me to go pay the money that I counted the amount again. That’s when I realized 1,000 yuan was missing. I’m really sorry everyone.” After saying this, Zhao Han bowed to everyone again.

After listening to Zhao Han's words, one of the handsome male classmates asked, "Zhao Han, first of all, are you sure the amount of money you gave before you went to buy the milk tea was accurate?" This male classmate's name was Ling Zixuan. Since the beginning of the semester, a saying had been circulating in the class: "For girls, there's Qi Huan; for boys, there's Ling Zixuan." Ling Zixuan was not only handsome, but also outstanding in both his studies and work abilities.

Zhao Han glanced at Ling Zixuan and nodded. "Yes, all the money was collected this morning. After collecting it, I counted the amount, and there were no errors. I carried this money with me until I went to buy milk tea, so there shouldn't be any problems."

“If that’s the case, then it means the theft happened while Zhao Han was buying milk tea,” Ling Zixuan replied.

Zhao Han looked at Ling Zixuan and nodded.

"Zhao Han, how long did it take you to buy milk tea?" Han Lin looked at Ling Zixuan, then turned to Zhao Han and asked.

"As you all know, the milk tea downstairs is all made in advance. So it took less than ten minutes in total." Zhao Han glanced at the milk tea still on the table and shook her head regretfully.

"So, the thief stole the money during that time," Han Lin said, frowning. "This is going to be difficult. There are people coming and going outside the classroom, and even if we want to check the surveillance footage, the area is very large."

"Based on Zhao Han's description, the scope of our investigation isn't actually that broad," Ling Zixuan said with a smile. At this moment, everyone's attention turned to Ling Zixuan again.

“My reasoning is simple: Zhao Han said she only spent a few minutes buying milk tea. We can calculate it using probability. In those few minutes, what conditions would a thief need to successfully steal it?” Ling Zixuan paused, glanced at Zhao Han, and then at the classmates around him.

"How long does it take to steal money? Just open the bag, grab it, and go," Han Lin said, glancing at Ling Zixuan from the podium. His tone was somewhat impatient.

Han Lin had never been fond of Ling Zixuan, mainly due to the class monitor election at the beginning of the semester. Everyone thought Ling Zixuan was the obvious choice, and unsurprisingly, he received the vast majority of votes. However, in the end, Ling Zixuan surprisingly resigned from the position. Ultimately, Han Lin, who received the second-highest number of votes, took over as class monitor. Everyone is prone to jealousy of those more capable than themselves, especially when that person is a competitor. Therefore, since the election, Han Lin had considered Ling Zixuan a formidable rival. As for Ling Zixuan, he didn't seem to care much about such things.

"The class monitor is right. But how did the thief know that Zhao Han's bag was in this classroom? How did he know that our activity funds happened to be in Zhao Han's bag today? And why was it such a coincidence that he was able to steal it while Zhao Han was out buying milk tea? Is the thief a mind reader? That's unlikely, isn't it?" Ling Zixuan asked several questions in a row, and then smiled at the students around him.

"I understand, I understand!" Xiaoqing stared shyly at Ling Zixuan, excitedly shouting twice while raising her hand. Everyone's eyes turned to Xiaoqing. After calming herself down and clearing her throat, Xiaoqing said, "The thief knows so much; there's only one truth: the thief is among us!"