Page 207

Chu Yuening frowned and gave her a glance. "Please be quiet."

The middle-aged woman had no choice but to sit down again and awkwardly said, "Master, don't listen to her nonsense. She's the only one in the family who would steal money. Please help me calculate my missing funds quickly."

Neighbors nearby tried to mediate.

"Don't panic, Master will help you figure it out."

"Let the Master ask his questions first."

"Yes, there's no need to rush."

Chu Yuening turned to the girl, noticing the fear in her watery eyes. Gently stroking the girl's head, she said, "Don't be afraid. What about before? What happened?"

The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I took it."

"Why did you take it? You could've talked to your parents," Chu Yuening asked, puzzled.

"They wouldn't give it to me," the girl replied, feeling aggrieved again as she sniffled. "Since I was young, they only gave pocket money to my brother. I...I took the money just...just to have a better breakfast."

"My classmates can afford to have dim sum for breakfast, and... I'd like to try it too."

The girl then anxiously waved her hands. "Each time I take money, I only dare to take a hundred yuan. A hundred thousand yuan really wasn't taken by me."

It was another case of gender bias.

Chu Yuening's expression turned grim as she comforted the girl. "I believe you."

This time, she lowered her voice. "So, can you tell me if the cigarettes, alcohol, and... intimate items are true?"

Her voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear.

The girl blushed, unsure how to respond. Under Chu Yuening's encouraging gaze, she finally whispered in a barely audible voice.

"The cigarettes and alcohol were out of curiosity about their taste. After trying and finding the taste unappealing, I didn't continue."

"As for... that item, it was... because I was curious..."

At sixteen years old, the girl's curiosity was entirely normal.

Chu Yuening didn't sense anything amiss.

Instead, she felt that the middle-aged woman was too careless and negligent when it came to educating the young girl about sexuality.

"Sister," the girl choked out, "Am I... really that strange?"

Both parents accused her of being promiscuous.

She even went as far as to say that she was beyond redemption, that she should learn to be wicked and not return home to tarnish her younger brother's reputation.

She was truly enduring immense suffering.

"Certainly not unusual," Chu Yuening replied. "It's perfectly normal for someone your age to be curious. The fault lies with your mother."

The girl was shocked, with a hint of disbelief. At last, there was someone who wouldn't call her promiscuous, someone who was willing to understand her.

"Truly?"

"Indeed," Chu Yuening assured. "Just give me a moment, little one. I'll clear your name and help locate that missing hundred thousand yuan."

The middle-aged woman, upon seeing the two whispering, urged impatiently, "Master, don't waste time. Quickly tell me where my money is. My son will be finishing school soon, and I need to rush home to cook."

Chu Yuening smiled. "Sure, first think about the money, then write a character for me to see."

There were various methods of fortune-telling.

Facial readings, birth dates, bone divination. And another, called character divination, which involved locating people or objects based on a character written by the seeker.

The middle-aged woman wrote a character.

After glancing at it, Chu Yuening said, "Your ten thousand dollars is right in your house."

The woman instinctively denied it. "Impossible! The police searched the whole house that day and didn't find the money."

"Completely searched?" Chu Yuening scoffed. "Did they check your son's room?"

The middle-aged woman was taken aback.

"Yes, my son's room wasn't searched. Originally, the police intended to, but they were worried about affecting his psyche, so they didn't let them look," she explained.

Chu Yuening scoffed coldly. "You didn't look for him because you were worried about affecting your son's psyche?"

"You didn't believe your daughter when she said she didn't take the hundred thousand, and you even called the police? Is your daughter's mental well-being not important to you?"

Feeling the scorching gazes of the onlookers, the middle-aged woman fidgeted uneasily, shifting her weight from side to side before glancing quickly at the girl. Guilt began to creep up on her.

In truth, she had no concrete evidence that her daughter had taken the money.

However, with so many people watching, the middle-aged woman stubbornly stated her suspicions. "That wayward daughter has a history, so she's untrustworthy. My son attends a prestigious school; he has high morals and wouldn't touch my money."

"You're mistaken," Chu Yuening countered, revealing her calculations. "The money was indeed taken by your son. To keep up with his classmates' designer brands, he hid thirty thousand under the mattress in his room."

"As for the hundred thousand, don't expect to recover it all. He's already spent fifty thousand. If you don't act quickly, the remaining twenty thousand he's holding will be gone soon too."

"No... That can't be true."

The middle-aged woman utterly refused to accept this outcome.

Chu Yuening smiled faintly and pulled out her mobile phone, dealing a royal flush. "No need for you to believe it. By the way, you called the police, right? Conveniently, I know who the thief is. It's just in time to clear your daughter's name."

As she spoke,

Chu Yuening dialed the emergency number.

The middle-aged woman was shocked and hurriedly tried to stop her. "No, you can't call the police!"

Avoiding her, Chu Yuening answered the call.

With a slight smile, she said, "Officer, I'm calling to report a theft. The amount involved is 100,000 yuan, and the stolen goods are at... "

When the middle-aged woman heard her own address being revealed, she turned icy cold. "This can't be... How could you possibly know where my house is?"

After hanging up, Chu Yuening kindly reminded the stunned woman, "Now isn't the time to dwell on this. Are you giving up on that 20,000 yuan?"

"I'll tell you the location."

The location Chu Yuening provided was at an upscale boutique within a commercial complex. During school hours, the daughter was left at home by her mother, forbidden from attending classes unless she had the money to spend.