As I pushed open the door, I saw Aunt Wu lying motionless on the ground, and let out a startled cry. This drew Mei Shuping to quickly run over. "Whatās wrong?"
"Wu... Aunt Wu isnāt moving." Xie Lingzhiās face turned pale with fright as she pointed at Aunt Wu on the ground.
"Whatās going on?" When Mei Shuping saw Aunt Wu lying there motionless, he quickly stepped forward to lift her up. He patted Aunt Wuās face a few times. "Aunt Wu, Aunt Wu?"
The couple called out to her several times, eventually rousing Aunt Wu. As soon as she woke up, she let out a cry of fear, quickly curled her body, and seeing that it was Mei Shuping and Xie Lingzhi beside her, she began to cry out loudly.
"This is not good, not good. Weāve had a burglar. There was a shadow, no, a man who just... broke in like this... Tall and intimidating." Aunt Wu pretended to be frightened and rambled incoherently. This behavior was not surprising considering the circumstances; it was normal for someone to be scared after a home invasion.
Mei Shuping and Xie Lingzhi didnāt doubt her. Hearing about the burglary, the couple hurriedly ran to check the rooms.
Aunt Wu let out a breath of relief, thinking she had finally gotten through the situation. It wasnāt that she felt guilty; she was also helpless.
Yesterday, sheād accidentally dropped a child under her care and hadnāt recovered from the shock. Now, another burglary at night; she was just a small nanny and couldnāt bear this responsibility.
Actually, she had already woken up around two in the morning. When she awoke, she immediately went out to check. The study rooms of Old Mei and the master had been ransacked, clearly indicative of a robbery.
This scared her; being home when the robbery occurred was something she couldnāt easily explain.
Unable to come up with any other solution, she decided after an hour of thinking to continue pretending to be a victim, believing it to be the right choice.
However, she wasnāt foolish enough to lie motionless on the ground for too long. Instead, she lay in bed sleeping until dawn, alertly listening for any sounds outside. Only when Mei Shuping and the others knocked on the door did she quickly lie on the ground and pretend to be unconscious.
She wanted the family to find her as a victim too, so that she could shirk some of the responsibility.
Mei Shuping and Xie Lingzhi saw the two study rooms on the first floor were thoroughly ransacked, particularly Old Meiās study. The cabinet door, which was always tightly locked, had been pried open. Needless to say, things were missing immediately.
Mei Shuping didnāt know exactly what was missing from Old Meiās room, but they were aware that Old Mei had some valuable antiques hidden away, but theyād never seen them, only knew theyād always been locked in this cabinet. Now the cabinet had been pried open, and it was empty insideāthe thief hadnāt left anything behind.
"Shuping, what should we do? Letās report this to the police right away." Xie Lingzhi was anxious, eager to rush to the police station.
After inspecting Old Meiās study, Mei Shupingās face was dark, almost dripping ink, and he ignored Xie Lingzhiās urgency, rushing to his own study to see what he had lost.
Seeing Mei Shuping go to his own study, Xie Lingzhi instantly thought of her own things.
She quickly made it into the study ahead of Mei Shuping, dashed to Mei Shupingās bookshelf, leaned down, and retrieved a small package from under the cabinet.
Quickly opening it, she saw everything inside was intact, and let out a sigh of relief.
Mei Shuping watched his wifeās actions, surprised to see her pull out such an item from his bookshelf. "When did you put that there?" he asked.
"Humph, Iāve had it here for a while, without letting you know." Xie Lingzhiās words left Mei Shuping a bit helpless. Their little treasures, hidden by his wife right in his room, were completely unknown to him.
The couple searched from the upstairs to the downstairs, from downstairs to upstairs, checking everywhere. Only the first floor was disturbed; specifically, only Mr. Meiās study room was affected. Nothing else was stolen from elsewhere.
Xie Lingzhi wanted to call the police, but Mei Shuping refused, knowing that his father hadnāt obtained those items through legitimate means. If reported and discovered, it would be far more complex than a simple loss of items.
Thinking it over, Mei Shuping called Surprised, asking him to come home.
He didnāt say what the matter was on the phone, just mentioned it was important, urging him to return quickly. It wasnāt until reaching home that he learned about the burglary.
"How could this happen? How did a thief get into our compound?" Being in the military compound, under normal circumstances, outsiders couldnāt get in.
"The door was locked from the inside. The thief must have entered through a kitchen window, and this thief is quite familiar with the Mei Family. He went straight for the study rooms; nowhere else was disturbed. He was primarily targeting Dadās study. To divert suspicion, he mightāve deliberately messed up my study room, but nothing was actually lost there." Mei Shuping said in a deep voice.
"If thereās been a robbery at home, why not call the police? What good does calling me back do? Iāll first go and report this to the police." Surprised wanted to report the burglary right away.
Mei Shuping quickly held him back, saying, "We canāt call the police. Dadās items werenāt obtained through legitimate channels. If we report it and itās investigated by someone unfamiliar, it could be problematic."
"What? What exactly has Dad hidden?" Surprised didnāt know anything about Old Meiās possessions.
"Sigh... Itās stuff Dad collected when he was young, kept secretly." Mei Shuping couldnāt hide it from his brother.
"Foolish, does he even know what heās done?" These incidents left Surprised increasingly disappointed in his father.
"Nowās not the time to discuss this. I called you back to consult on what should be done. Has Dad woken up yet? If he has, letās quickly ask him what was in the cabinet. We canāt report this to the police; we have to find the thief ourselves. Just now I asked Aunt Wu, she said the thief came around past midnight. Later Iāll go ask the guards who entered and exited the compound last night."
"Reporting is necessary. Letās look for Old Wei and have him handle the case," Surprised thought for a moment, feeling it wasnāt right not to report. With their own person, the situation might be easier to manage.