Zhou Xiao dare not to speak after seeing A Miao's unpleasant expression. Beside them, Bai Lu proposed, "Let's be fair. We'll have everyone open their bags and show them to this young lady."
While speaking, she took the initiative to put down her knapsack. The young lady who lost her ring immediately stopped her. "It's alright, Miss Bai. You left earlier. Even if you're the one who took it, you would've long shifted it. Moreover, I believe in your character. You wouldn't do something like this."
"Someone has already inspected my bag earlier," one of the guests hastily added.
The rest nodded. "Ours were inspected as well."
A Miao glanced at Bai Lu and saw the latter looking embarrassed as she said, "That means only Zhou Xiao's bag is uninspected."
"Go ahead and take a look." A Miao threw Zhou Xiao's bag to the floor. She would be a fool if she still didn't understand what these women were scheming.
When Bai Lu saw A Miao turning around to leave, she looked as if there was something she wanted to say. To her surprise, A Miao turned her head and told Zhou Xiao, "I'll give Auntie Song a call and tell her that we'll be home late."
"Ah..." Zhou Xiao was puzzled. Since when did their mother urge them to come home sooner?
However, this time she had learned from experience. She closed her mouth and nodded.
Shen Xinglan was in a meeting when Shen II suddenly said in a quiet voice, "Boss, a call from Miss."
"Hand it to me." He took the phone without even thinking about it. Then, likely because he was annoyed by his own reaction, he held the phone for some time without answering.
On the other end of the line, A Miao was about to give up when the call got through.
"I'm in a meeting. If you don't have a good reason to disturb me..."
"Help me!" A Miao interrupted him.
Shen Xinglan was stunned. He asked, "Where are you?"
A Miao told him everything before finally sighing. "I'm sure the ring is in Zhou Xiao's bag. I don't know what to do..."
She was both afraid and worried because she had never encountered something like this in her life.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away from that Zhou Xiao? Would you be happy only when she brings you to ruins?" Shen Xinglan's voice was very low. She could tell that he was angry.
The rims of A Miao's eyes reddened. "I know she's not good but she's my only friend! I'm begging you, please help us."
This was her first time not retorting Shen Xinglan. The man on the other end of the line felt as if he could see her crying. However... This made Shen Xinglan even angrier.
"Hmph. You're begging me for something this insignificant?"
A Miao nodded with a whimper, not knowing what her mistake was. "Please help her. If this incident blows up, Auntie Song will be worried."
"Let her settle what she has brought upon herself." Shen Xinglan left behind no more than these cold words before hanging up.
A Miao's heart quivered. She wiped away the tears that had begun flowing without her knowledge. Clenching her teeth, she prepared herself to return and face the fallout when her phone suddenly rang.
"Hey? Are you willing to help me now?"
Silence greeted her. Then came an unfamiliar voice. "A Miao?"
"You're..." A Miao realized it wasn't Shen Xinglan's voice.
"I'm Jiang Hua. What's wrong? Did you cry?"
On the other side, Shen Xinglan was irritated after ending the call.
"Boss, do we continue the meeting?" Shen II reminded him. The managers in the room looked like they were about to cry.
Shen Xinglan abruptly rose to his feet. "No. Get the car."
Shen II immediately opened the door for him. "Boss, I know where Miss is."
Right then, A Miao had already returned to the locker room. Sure enough, they found the ring inside Zhou Xiao's bag.
"This must be a misunderstanding." Bai Lu desperately tried to give an explanation. "There's no way Zhou Xiao would do something like this."
The short-haired woman replied indignantly, "Miss Bai, stop trying to speak up for her. If it's not her, then it's that woman who went out earlier. Either way, they're in this together."
When Zhou Xiao saw A Miao return, she tugged at the latter's arm with a pale face. "A Miao, what should we do? I don't know what's going on with the ring. I didn't take it!"
"Didn't you lose your keys? Since you can open your locker without a key, surely you're the people who opened my locker and steal the ring!" The woman who lost her ring pointed at A Miao. "I'm calling the police!"
Zhou Xiao began to panic. She yelled, "Nonsense! A Miao would never steal!" She pulled onto A Miao's sleeve with all of her strength. "Say something, A Miao!"
A Miao was no longer panicking. She said indifferently, "I didn't touch your locker. Neither have I seen your ring."
Bai Lu immediately nodded. "That's right! Do you know who A Miao is? She would never do something like this."
"Who is she? No matter who she is, she can't steal." The woman sized up A Miao with a contemptuous look. "Don't tell me she's someone's mistress!"
"You're a mistress!" Zhou Xiao cried. "A Miao is Shen..."
"Zhou Xiao!" A Miao firmly tugged at Zhou Xiao's arm. "Shut up." She then stared fixedly at Bai Lu and the latter quietly swallowed the words she wanted to say.
A Miao took in a deep breath before looking at the short-haired woman. "I suggest we speak in a different place. I'm sure they have CCTV here."
"There's no CCTV inside the locker rooms," said the staff who had been standing on the sidelines. "But it's true that this isn't a convenient place to speak. Why don't we head to the lobby?"
When they arrived at the lobby, the short-haired woman looked at A Miao. "Tell me what should we do now. Do we settle this privately or we get the police involved?"
"It's just a misunderstanding! There's no need to call the police, I suppose?" A man pushed the door open and entered the lobby. The staff immediately walked over and deferentially addressed him.
"Boss!"
The middle-aged man gave her a look, a warning look. It made the staff panic.
"Jiang Hua!" A Miao spotted Jiang Hua who was walking behind the middle-aged man.
Jiang Hua gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm here to fetch you."
The first thing the owner of the place did was apologizing to the short-haired woman. "I'm very sorry. It's our staff who is responsible for this matter."
"What?"
"Boss?"
Amid the differing reactions, A Miao noticed that the first person that the staff looked at was Bai Lu.
"This is the private matters of our club. I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience this brings." The middle-aged boss waved and the man standing at the door ran in and handed him some cards.
"Here are our club's annual VIP cards as gifts to all you young ladies. Consider them our sincere apology!"
The short-haired woman and her friend accepted the cards without another word after looking at them. These cards were worth a lot more than their ring!
The owner told his subordinate to see the women out and even gave them several sets of cosmetics.
"How wonderful, A Miao!" Bai Lu suddenly pulled A Miao's hand. "Didn't I say it was all a misunderstanding? So their staff is responsible for this incident."
Right then, the staff looked at Bai Lu in horror. She was about to open her mouth when Bai Lu looked at her. "Sigh! I'm sure you'll lose your job. What would you do when that happens?"
"I..." The staff opened her mouth but slowly lowered her head under Bai Lu's gaze.
Jiang Hua patted A Miao on the shoulder. "Let's go!"
"Oh, okay!" A Miao immediately pulled Zhou Xiao with her. Bai Lu followed them out of the club and addressed them with an apologetic face. "I'm very sorry. Things would have been fine if I didn't leave. I didn't think something like this would happen."
She glanced at Jiang Hua. "But I didn't expect Professor Jiang to come!"
Jiang Hua gave her a faint smile. "I have business with A Miao. When I heard that she's in trouble, I came over to have a look."
"Is that so?" Bai Lu looked at A Miao with a smile. "I'll treat you to dinner some other day. I'll be taking my leave!"
A Miao didn't have the mood to play along with her. After Bai Lu left, she said, "Zhou Xiao, hurry and go home. There won't be any minibus later."
"What about you?" Zhou Xiao was experiencing a lingering fear after such an incident. She didn't need A Miao's reminder to go home.
"Don't worry about me." A Miao saw her off at the bus stop. After seeing Zhou Xiao board the minibus, she turned around and bowed. "Thank you, Professor Jiang!"
Jiang Hua laughed. "Then why don't you treat me to dinner?" He pointed at the coffee shop by the road.
"No problem!" A Miao was also laughing. "Let's go."
Both of them entered the coffee shop, briefly passing by a car driving in the opposite direction.
In the lobby of the club, a staff was sobbing as she pleaded with her boss.
"I wouldn't dare to do it anymore. Please don't fire me, boss."
The middle-aged man snorted. "Idiot! Who do you think you are, getting yourself involved in the games of those young ladies? Do you know who the girl is? You nearly brought me huge troubles and you still dream of staying?"
"I..." She wanted to say that Miss Bai Lu told her that the girl wasn't anyone important but then she saw a sudden change in her boss' expression. She followed his line of sight and saw several men walking in with quick steps.
She gaped at the man in the middle. How could there be such a good-looking man in the world?
"President Shen!" Her boss immediately went up to the man to welcome him.
"I heard my fiancee got into a little trouble in your club." Shen Xinglan glanced at him. "Where is she?"
The middle-aged man instantly paled. That woman was Shen Xinglan's fiancee? Then what was her relationship with the man who called him to personally settle this issue?
"President... President Shen, your fiancee has left," he finally brought himself to reply. He felt like he had learned some major secret.
Shen Xinglan narrowed his eyes. "She left?"
"Yes, yes, yes. I've already settled the issue. It's all a misunderstanding. A man came to fetch her."
Back in the car, Shen II looked at Shen Xinglan and cautiously asked, "Why don't I give Shen I a call? He's shadowing Miss."
"What's there to call?" Shen Xinglan's eyes narrowed. "Return to the company."
Shen II answered in affirmation before reminding him, "It's after-work hours..."
"What after-work hours when the meeting isn't over?" Shen Xinglan wore a sinister expression. "Tell them to bring their asses over for the meeting."
"Yes!"
When the car reached the junction, Shen Xinglan suddenly called for Shen II. "Stop the car."
"Boss?" Shen II barely reacted when he saw Shen Xinglan opening the car door and entering a coffee shop by the road with large strides.
A Miao was happily listening to Jiang Hua's stories about archaeology when a shadow suddenly enveloped her vision.
"Why are you here?" She looked up and got a fright when she saw Shen Xinglan.
Shen Xinglan's gaze fell on Jiang Hua. The two men exchanged looks before Shen Xinglan swiftly looked away.
"I'm here to fetch my fiancee!" Shen Xinglan looked at A Miao. "Are you done with your dinner? Let's go home if you're done."
A Miao looked at him like she was looking at a mental patient. "I can go home by myself, no need to inconvenience you."
"Looks like you're done," Shen Xinglan said, ignoring her. "Let's go."
He reached out to grab A Miao's hand and pulled her to her feet.