"I was just confused for a moment, I'll never do it again! I can pay for those vegetables... I can pay for them! Please don't call the police..."
The other employees in the store were stunned.
The rag in Wang Li's hand fell to the ground.
Zhang Meili opened her eyes wide, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up.
Justice has finally prevailed!
Su Jianguo expressionlessly broke free from Li Hongmei's hand.
"Li Hongmei, I trusted you, I made you the store manager, and I paid you a monthly salary of 90 yuan. I trusted you so much, and what did you do? You abused your position to embezzle company property, a huge amount of money. This constitutes a crime."
"No! That's not how it is!"
Li Hongmei shook her head frantically and turned to the police.
"Officer, I just took some vegetables, they're not worth much! Can't I settle this with Boss Su privately?"
Officer Li shook his head.
"Based on the evidence we have, the amount involved in your case exceeds 1,500 yuan, which is a substantial amount and must be dealt with according to the law."
Li Hongmei slumped to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
She couldn't understand how she could have been discovered when she had done something so perfectly.
"It's you!"
She suddenly looked up and glared fiercely at Zhang Meili.
She remembered that on the day Su Jianguo returned from Baoding, Zhang Meili asked to speak to Su Jianguo alone.
"It must have been you, you bitch, who snitched!"
Zhang Meili was startled by the sudden accusation, but quickly straightened her back.
"That's right, I'm the one who told Boss Su. Do you think we're all blind, taking those damaged vegetables out to sell as garbage every day?"
"you!"
Li Hongmei struggled to lunge at Zhang Meili, but was held down by the police.
"That's enough!"
Su Jianguo shouted sharply, and the store fell silent instantly.
"Li Hongmei, I gave you a chance. If you had come to me and confessed in the past few days, or if I had stopped this when I returned, I wouldn't have pursued the matter further. But you went too far."
Li Hongmei's lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a single word.
"take away."
Officer Li signaled to his colleague to handcuff Li Hongmei.
When the cold handcuffs were fastened to her wrists, Li Hongmei finally broke down.
She was no longer the arrogant store manager, but a weeping criminal.
"Mr. Su...please...I have an elderly mother to support...I can't go to jail..."
She was being led away by the police officers, screaming shrilly.
Su Jianguo watched this scene with a hint of reluctance in his eyes, but quickly regained his resolve.
He deeply understands the importance of rules.
If we let one Li Hongmei go today, ten more Li Hongmeis will follow suit tomorrow.
The shop door closed again.
The room was completely silent.
Everyone was still reeling from the shock they had just experienced.
Zhang Meili breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling the pent-up frustration in her chest vanish.
"alright."
Su Jianguo clapped his hands, his voice returning to its usual gentle tone.
"Everyone has worked hard. Starting today, Zhang Meili will temporarily act as store manager."
Zhang Meili opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"I?"
"You dared to expose illegal activities and protect the interests of the shop."
Su Jianguo nodded approvingly.
"I believe you can do it."
Wang Li and the other employees all looked at Zhang Meili with admiration.
The atmosphere in the store suddenly became more relaxed.
...
The next day, Su Jianguo came to the police station again.
"Mr. Su, you've arrived."
Officer Li stood up from behind his desk, looking exhausted, clearly having not slept all night.
The ashtray in front of him was piled high with cigarette butts, and the notebook spread out on the table was covered with dense writing.
Su Jianguo nodded and sat down in the chair opposite Officer Li.
"Is the trial finished?"
Su Jianguo asked the question directly.
Officer Li sighed, took a brown paper bag from the drawer, and pushed it in front of Su Jianguo.
"This is Li Hongmei's confession. Please take a look."
Su Jianguo opened the paper bag, inside were several pages of transcripts with fingerprints.
His gaze swept quickly across the paper, and his brows gradually furrowed.
"Is her mother sick?"
Su Jianguo looked up, somewhat incredulous.
Officer Li nodded, shook a cigarette out of the pack, lit it, and took a deep drag.
"The interrogation lasted until midnight. She cried the whole time and initially refused to say why. Later, we contacted her mother, and the old lady fainted on the spot upon hearing that her daughter had been arrested. She's in the hospital now."
Su Jianguo's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, making a "tap-tap" sound.
He remembered how Li Hongmei looked when she first came to the store.
The girl who came for the first time and helped him and Su Jianjun move vegetables.
That girl who was always the first to arrive at her post and never complained of being tired while working.
"What exactly happened?"
Su Jianguo asked.
Officer Li exhaled a smoke ring and glanced out the window.
"Her mother worked as a temporary worker in a textile factory for over twenty years. Last month, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids and needed surgery. Li Hongmei has spent all her savings and borrowed a lot of money."
Su Jianguo flipped through the transcript, which clearly recorded the time when Li Hongmei first stole damaged vegetables to sell.
It was the day after he went to Baoding to handle his mother-in-law's funeral.
"At first, she just took some vegetables home to eat, but later she realized no one was paying attention, so she started selling them out in small quantities."
Officer Li flicked his cigarette ash.
Su Jianguo's finger stopped on a certain page of the transcript.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
