Before Ji Lü and his father could react, Ji's mother had already rushed downstairs, her steps hurried as if carried by the wind.
"Wife!" Fearing she might do something foolish, Ji's father followed closely behind.
The person who loves the two children the most in the Ji family is not him, but his wife.
His wife would never back down on anything concerning their two children.
He was afraid that she might do something foolish in a moment of excitement.
Just as Zhang Xiaoai was placing the cleaned vase on the table and picking up the fresh flowers that had just been delivered that day to put in the vase, Ji's mother rushed up to her, her red eyes staring at her resentfully.
"Madam, what's wrong?" Zhang Xiaoai stopped what she was doing and asked guiltily.
Could it be that they discovered she was trying to sell the Ji family's antiques?
still……
“Madam, are you missing the eldest young master again? How about I accompany you to the cemetery to see him tomorrow?” Zhang Xiaoai asked tentatively.
Mentioning the cemetery chilled Ji's mother to the bone, and her gaze toward Zhang Xiaoai became even colder.
"Aunt Zhang, did you leak the contents of the handwritten manuscript to Jiang Yichen?" Ji's mother asked coldly.
Their family was not wasteful or extravagant; even when they hired servants, they didn't hire many.
One person cleans and tidies the house, another cleans and tidies the yard, and there's also a gardener who comes once every month and a half to tend to the flowers, plants, and trees.
Originally, their family's maid was not Aunt Zhang, but her fellow villager.
The previous auntie did a great job; she worked for them for several years, and they liked her very much.
However, she resigned because her daughter-in-law had given birth and needed someone to take care of her.
They were worried about where to find a reliable nanny, and that nanny recommended Zhang Xiaoai to them.
She came to their house for a trial period of a few days and found that she worked very carefully and diligently, so they signed a contract with her.
The servants who clean outside the courtyard would go home after finishing their work and would not step into the Ji family's residence.
In her own words, she was only responsible for the area outside the courtyard and would not enter the owner's house without permission.
As for the gardener, needless to say, he only comes once every two weeks, and each time he only comes for one morning.
After finishing one job, I immediately went to the next one.
This has been the case for many years.
They wouldn't step foot inside the Ji family's gate, and only Zhang Xiaoai was allowed to move freely around the house.
Their family only found the handwritten manuscript after Xiao Fei's death, and the contents of the manuscript must have already fallen into Jiang Yichen's hands before they found it, so that it could be published in time.
"Handwritten manuscript? What handwritten manuscript? Madam, I don't quite understand what you mean." Zhang Xiaoai was taken aback at first, then smiled, pretending not to understand.
No sooner had the words been spoken than a clear and loud voice rang out.
A clear finger mark was imprinted on Zhang Xiaoai's left cheek.
Ji's mother's hand trembled slightly. Her hand hurt from the slap, but her heart ached even more!
She had seen Zhang Xiaoai's expression just now, and how could she not see that it was a reaction of guilt?
Even Ji's father, who chased after her downstairs, was startled by the slap his wife had given him.
This was the first time he had ever seen his wife hit someone in all the years they had been married.
I just don't know if her hand hurts.
Father Ji felt a pang of heartache for his wife's hands.
“Zhang Xiaoai, I’ll give you one more chance. Did you leak the contents of my Xiaofei’s handwritten manuscript to Jiang Yichen? What benefits did Jiang Yichen give you? What else did he make you do?”
“I can joke around with you normally, but when it comes to things like Xiao Fei or Xiao Lu, you know I'm not going to let it go.”
As she spoke, Ji's mother moved closer to Zhang Xiao'ai, her imposing manner intimidating.
Zhang Xiaoai trembled from the slap and the imposing manner in which Ji's mother spoke. As she approached, she instinctively moved back and finally slumped into a chair.
Ji's mother stood in front of her, looking down at her with suppressed anger in her eyes.
"Since you enjoy stealing so much, the Ji family has occasionally lost some valuable trinkets, and some of my jewelry. Could it be that you stole them?" Ji's mother's voice was icy, and her eyes were as cold as a cave.
The Ji family has lost quite a few things over the years, but they were all small trinkets.
Some amounts are a few thousand, some are tens of thousands, but none of them are a lot of money for her.
She looked for it when it was lost, but couldn't find it.
Zhang Xiaoai said that she probably forgot where she lost it, and she might find it after a while.
She thought it made sense, so she didn't dwell on it too much and didn't call the police.
In her eyes, even Zhang Xiaoai, who had worked as a maid in the Ji family for several years, was considered family and would never steal anything.
In addition, she is sometimes careless and sometimes forgets where she put things.
However, the lost items were not found as expected.
Now, she has a premonition that Zhang Xiaoai stole those things.
She can even steal Xiao Fei's handwritten manuscripts, so what wouldn't she dare to steal?
The lost items were nothing to her, but to Zhang Xiaoai, even selling them for half price would be a fortune.
Upon hearing the word "stealing," Zhang Xiaoai trembled, her face turned deathly pale, and her expression changed slightly.
"Honey, didn't you say a few days ago that you lost an antique vase?" Ji's mother looked coldly at Zhang Xiaoai's reaction, then turned to her husband and asked.
Father Ji nodded, "Yes, we still haven't found it."
That antique vase was very small, maybe only about the size of a small ashtray.
He usually keeps it in a corner, because it's too small and inconspicuous, and it takes up too much space.
But the pattern on the small vase is unique and beautiful.
He paid a high price for that small vase because he was attracted by its pattern.
"Call the police," said Ji's mother calmly.
"The vase is worth 500,000 yuan. I believe the police will do their best to find out who stole it," said Mrs. Ji.
Upon hearing "500,000," Zhang Xiaoai's voice rose several decibels. She gestured with her hand to indicate the size of the vase, her face filled with shock as she exclaimed, "What? 500,000? Such a small thing, 500,000?"
Are you crazy?
It was just a tiny vase, no bigger than the palm of your hand!
She just saw the vase tucked away in a corner, unlike the other vases displayed, and assumed that since it was just a small thing worth a few thousand, the Ji family probably wouldn't care about it, so...
When she sold it, the person only gave her five thousand.
I never imagined that little thing would be worth 500,000!
That person who bought the vase was really heartless; they made more than a hundred times their money!
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Xiaoai immediately covered her mouth, inwardly thinking, "Oh no!"
Father Ji's face was gloomy and unpleasant. "When I asked you if you saw the vase while you were cleaning, you said you had never seen a vase that was put in a corner. How did you know it was a small thing? And how did you even know how big it was?"
"Zhang Xiaoai! Just how many things have you been hiding from us!" Father Ji strode up to Zhang Xiaoai, his face grim and his aura chilling.
“I…I…” Zhang Xiaoai stammered.
She regretted it; she should have found an excuse to leave the Ji family after finishing that deal with Jiang Yichen.
It's her fault, she was too greedy.
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