Chen Feng recognized the voice as Wu Shiren's and was startled. What had happened?
He rubbed his throbbing temples, hurriedly put on his shoes, got out of bed, and went out of the house. He saw Wu Shiren standing aggressively outside the door with the chefs he had been drinking with the day before.
"Manager Wu, what's wrong?" Chen Feng asked, puzzled.
Before Wu Shiren could reply, Wang Qi behind him sneered, "Brother, don't you know? The hundred taels of silver under Mr. Wang's pillow were stolen."
"No way, is that really true?" Chen Feng looked at Wang Decai beside him, his arrogance and disdain from yesterday gone, and said respectfully, "Mr. Wang, you didn't put it in the wrong place, did you?"
"Oh my good brother, that's a hundred taels of silver! How could I have misplaced it!" Wang Decai stamped his feet in a panic. "I was afraid of losing it, so I wrapped the silver in my blue robe and used it as a pillow. Who would have thought that when I woke up today, the pillow was gone? This is going to kill me!"
Wu Shiren quickly tried to persuade him, "Mr. Wang, don't worry, it's not worth getting yourself sick from worrying."
“You make it sound so easy, but that’s a hundred taels of silver! How can I not be anxious!” Wang Decai glared at Wu Shiren. “It’s all your fault. If we can’t find it, you’ll have to compensate me with silver.”
"Mr. Wang, what are you saying? I didn't steal it, so why are you accusing me!"
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't told me yesterday that there was silver in my pillow, would it have been lost today?"
"Why are you being so unreasonable?" Wu Shiren's face immediately darkened.
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, their faces red and necks thick, like two fighting cocks, Chen Feng quickly stepped forward to stop them.
"Shopkeeper, don't be angry. Mr. Wang, don't worry either. If you really lost money, it's best to report it to the authorities as soon as possible."
"Yes, yes, yes, quickly send someone to report to the authorities." Wu Shiren nodded in agreement.
“No, we can’t report this to the authorities,” Wang Qi objected. “Manager, think about it carefully. It would take two hours to go to the county office to report this to the authorities, which would give the thieves a chance to sell the stolen goods. In my opinion, we should first search the rooms of the people we drank with yesterday. If we find them, we’ll have caught them red-handed. If we don’t find them, then it’s not too late to report this to the authorities.”
Upon hearing this, the others also expressed their agreement.
"Wang Qi is right. Let's search the place first, just in case the thieves get away."
"Yes, that's right. Everyone who drank yesterday is now a suspect, and we have to search them one by one."
"That's a good idea. To prove our innocence, let's search my room first." Li Liu said, looking at Chen Feng, "Brother, you don't have any objections, right?"
Chen Feng felt something was off, but he believed he had a clear conscience, so he didn't dwell on it and nodded, "Since everyone agrees, let's start by searching my room!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Shiren couldn't help but smirk with a hint of triumph. "Alright, alright, let's do as everyone says!"
Zhao Tianwang and his group, having received instructions, rushed into Chen Feng's room and began ransacking it...
A short while later, the group came out empty-handed one after another, saying, "Shopkeeper, we don't have any."
"That's right, go check on Li Liu's room quickly."
Wu Shih-jen turned to leave when he heard someone laugh behind him.
"Well done, Chen Feng. I didn't realize you were such a vain kid. You even secretly made a long robe. Come on, take a look and see how I look in it?"
Everyone turned around and saw Wang Qi holding up a blue robe and gesturing at him.
Chen Feng looked bewildered and casually asked, "These aren't my clothes. Where did you find them?"
"If it's not yours, is it mine? I just don't understand why you hid your clothes under the bed."
"No, these really aren't my clothes," Chen Feng shook his head and waved his hands repeatedly.
Wang Decai quickly approached, examined the clothes several times, and looked at Wang Qi with a face full of surprise. "This...this...isn't this the clothes I used to wrap the silver? How did it end up here?"
"Mr. Wang, why are you looking at me like that? How would I know? You'll have to ask Chen Feng!"
Everyone was astonished and turned to focus their attention on Chen Feng.
Chen Feng was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hand, "I don't know how these clothes ended up in my room."
Wang Decai grabbed Chen Feng by the collar. "You little brat, stop pretending! Tell me, where did my money go?"
"No, no, Mr. Wang, you've got it wrong. I really don't know what's going on."
The sudden turn of events caught Chen Feng off guard, and he quickly looked at Wu Shiren beside him.
"Manager Wu, you know me best. I would never do such a sneaky thing."
"Yes, Decai, Chen Feng is an honest and upright boy, he shouldn't be the thief who stole the silver." Wu Shiren said insincerely, "Take another good look, is this clothing really yours? We can't wrong an innocent person!"
Wang Decai snorted coldly, "There's no mistake, this is my clothes. I used to wear them all the time, but I accidentally burned a hole in them with charcoal. If you don't believe me, you can check it out."
Zhao Tian nodded in agreement, "Yes, Mr. Wang is right. I can testify to this. I saw it at the time, and if I remember correctly, the hole should be on the front of the shirt."
"Let me see it. If you've wronged Chen Feng, I'll never forgive you."
Wu Shiren took the clothes and examined them carefully. His expression changed drastically, and he glared angrily at Chen Feng.
"I never expected it was really you who did this. You've wasted my trust in you. You've really disappointed me."
Seeing that everyone was doubting him, Chen Feng was dumbfounded.
He inwardly scolded himself for letting his mouth run wild after a few drinks, actually blurting out the things he was thinking about cursing Wang Decai. Drinking really does lead to trouble.
Thinking back carefully, he seemed to recall mentioning one hundred taels of silver at the dinner table, but he had no recollection of how he left the table or returned to his room.
A sense of unease crept into his heart. Why did the silver have to disappear of all times, right when he was about to leave the restaurant? Could someone be targeting him? ...
Thinking of this, Chen Feng quickly explained, "Someone must be trying to frame me. The money was stolen by one of them, and then, while I was drunk, they secretly put the clothes into my room. That must be it."
Wu Shiren sneered disdainfully, "Then tell me, who wants to frame you?"
"This..." Chen Feng hesitated, his eyes sweeping over the crowd. He saw several master chefs glaring at him angrily.
He panicked and hurriedly raised his hand to swear, "Manager Wu, this, this, this really wasn't me. I swear to God."
"What kind of oath are you making? You've been caught red-handed, what are you still trying to deny? Quickly take out the money and return it to Mr. Wang. Considering how many years you've worked for him, we'll pretend this never happened."
......
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