Su Yanxi swallowed hard, still feeling a lingering fear, and turned to ask the staff member guarding the RV, "Xiao Wang, perhaps... you left the RV midway through your shift?"
Xiao Wang thought about it carefully, first shaking his head, then nodding.
Su Yanxi didn't understand: "Is it yes or no?"
“No…? He didn’t leave for more than three minutes, but he did leave for a minute or two.” Xiao Wang looked around and carefully lowered his voice. “When I was packing up the RV, Song Yanqi from the film crew next door suddenly came over.”
"Song Yanqi?" The moment that troublesome name appeared, Chen Yongyan immediately became extremely alert. "What's he doing here?"
"I saw him go to the sink and wash his hands first," the staff member said, pointing to the bathroom outside through the small window of the RV.
The RV was parked near the public restrooms inside the park. However, the door leading to the restrooms was locked by the park manager, and only the sink and mirror on the outside were currently usable.
Chen Yongyan then asked, "Is their film crew also shooting in this area? Even if they are, isn't there a public restroom at the park entrance? Why do they have to come here to wash their hands?"
"I don't know." The staff member shrugged and continued, "After I washed my hands, Song Yanqi came over and chatted with me. I was packing my things in the RV, and he was standing at the door. We chatted for about three to five minutes."
"Oh?" Zhou Tong frowned. "So he knew there was a ring in the drawer too?"
The staff member nodded firmly: "He knew. He saw a ring among the things I packed and asked whose it was. I... I knew he was also an actor, so I wasn't wary of him."
“I told him directly: It’s starring Su, and it seems to be of great significance. Even when he’s not in the shot, he wears the mask.”
Chen Yongyan frowned: "And then?"
The staff member said that after chatting with Song Yanqi for about three minutes, he suddenly noticed two stray cats in the park. Since there were several washed costumes hanging outside the RV, the staff member was afraid that the stray cats would damage them, so he quickly stopped chatting, grabbed some snacks, and got out of the vehicle to chase the cats away.
"I walked quite far because I wanted to shoo the cat away... but it didn't take long! I was probably only gone for a minute, maybe less."
Chapter 132
"When I came back, Song Yanqi was gone. He probably got impatient and left first."
"Besides Song Yanqi, has no other outsider approached the RV?" Su Yanxi pressed.
"Yes. Except for the minute I spent chasing the cat, I never left the RV."
Su Yanxi was speechless for a moment.
This turn of events really makes it easy for people to think that Song Yanqi is the thief who stole the ring.
"Could it be... that Song Yanqi stole the ring?" Chen Yongyan asked bluntly.
Director He gestured for staff member Xiao Wang to leave. Only after everyone was inside the RV, "our own people," did they dare to speak freely.
"Impossible?" Although Su Yanxi had the same guess as Chen Yongyan, she still couldn't think of a suitable motive. "Now it seems that Song Yanqi is very suspicious, but why would he take it?"
"First, the ring itself isn't worth much; second, Song Yanqi himself isn't short of money. Besides, with his spoiled and arrogant young master's temperament, why would he stoop to taking my things?"
Su Yanxi might not understand others, but she knew the "young master's temperament" all too well.
Bie Yunzong has the typical temperament of a young master. He is arrogant and does whatever he wants. Apart from Su Yanxi, he doesn't like to listen to anyone or pay attention to anyone.
They have a very strong sense of self, believing that their decisions are always correct, their choices are always the best, and what they possess is always the best.
Driven by this intense self-awareness, they disdain other people's belongings. They wouldn't even bother looking at them, let alone taking them.
The same logic applies to arrogance. Su Yanxi was a proud and aloof person, always maintaining integrity and self-respect, eager to distance herself from all wrongdoing. How could someone with arrogance possibly set aside her pride and commit theft?
Su Yanxi's words made sense. The group remained silent for a moment, each lost in thought.
"Then, is it possible that...?" Chen Yongyan boldly speculated, "Song Yanqi heard that the ring was very important to you, and even wore it while filming, so he misunderstood the meaning of the ring and thought it was a symbol between you and me..."
A token of love?
Chen Yongyan did not finish speaking, but all three people present understood what he meant.
Zhou Tong gasped and looked at Su Yanxi: "That's possible?"
After all, there had been a hidden camera incident the night before, and Song Yanqi did indeed misunderstand that there was an ambiguous relationship between Su Yanxi and Chen Yongyan. Following this line of thought, Song Yanqi might indeed have misunderstood the meaning of the ring.
Seeing that if they continued speculating, Song Yanqi would become a thief whose crime was sealed, Su Yanxi quickly interrupted the conversation and changed the subject.
"Don't let your thoughts wander too far. Let's wait for the police to arrive and retrieve the surveillance footage before we talk about it."
Because the lost items were of high value, conservatively estimated at 30,000 yuan, the situation was serious and involved suspected embezzlement or theft. The police took it very seriously and directly filed a case against Su Yanxi.
After questioning several staff members who knew about the incident, the police retrieved the surveillance footage from the park management. They thought the footage would solve everything, but unexpectedly, the sunshades extending from both sides of the RV perfectly blocked the surveillance camera on the left.
This results in blind spots in the surveillance footage. Although people can be seen moving around, it cannot be determined whether the blind spots are completely unoccupied.
The surveillance footage clearly shows Song Yanqi walking in and out. Given that no staff members left and the footage didn't capture anyone else, Song Yanqi is indeed the prime suspect.
Even so, Su Yanxi still believed that Song Yanqi hadn't stolen it.
As I said before: it's unnecessary.
There's really no need for that.
"What should we do? If this continues, Song Yanqi will really be mistaken for a thief." On the way back to the hotel after filing the case, Su Yanxi was filled with worry.
Zhou Tong found it strange and asked, "Why are you so worried that Song Yanqi will be mistaken for a thief? Judging from the current situation, he is indeed the most suspicious."
“Because deep down I believe that Song Yanqi could not possibly be a thief,” Su Yanxi sighed. “Even if Song Yanqi misunderstood the meaning of my ring, I firmly believe that he would not steal it.”
“I believe the real culprit is someone else, and Song Yanqi just accidentally took the blame.”
As Su Yanxi spoke, she tried calling Bie Yunzong. Before, the call only went "no answer," but this time, the phone was simply switched off.
Su Yanxi hung up the phone in annoyance, rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath.
"That damn thing... At such a crucial time, where has he gone off to again! Not answering the phone is one thing, but he even turned it off!"
Is your phone out of battery?
"Who knows if it's because the battery is dead, or if he deliberately turned it off? There are power banks everywhere now, if the battery is dead, why doesn't he know to find a charger?" Su Yanxi was both angry and anxious, so she simply stopped looking at her phone.
Thinking about how she had been running around trying to get the ring, filing a case and reviewing surveillance footage, she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, while that damned bastard was still enjoying himself somewhere. Su Yanxi felt another surge of anger and couldn't help but mutter a complaint under her breath.
"If it weren't for trying to please that stinky dog, I wouldn't have worn the ring out today; if I hadn't worn the ring out, I wouldn't have lost it."
"Sigh, in the end, it was my own carelessness."
Zhou Tong patted the artist's shoulder with concern to comfort him.
"Speaking of which, is your wedding ring really only worth 30,000 yuan?" Zhou Tong still found it hard to believe, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that Su Yanxi was lying. "Did you deliberately underreport the amount to avoid attracting attention?"
“I didn’t intentionally underreport the value; that ring really isn’t worth much!” Su Yanxi reiterated repeatedly. “When I asked someone to design it, I emphasized to the designer that ‘practicality outweighs aesthetics.’ I wanted to wear it more often, so I chose platinum and made a simple pair of plain rings with only two small diamonds inlaid in them.”
Chapter 133
"Oh my god..." Zhou Tong's face was filled with shock.
She never expected that the wedding rings of the young master and mistress of another family would be so cheap!
"Judging from how much Young Master Bie treasures your wedding rings, I thought they would be priceless!" Zhou Tong belatedly realized. "But thinking about it this way, Young Master Bie really values your relationship. Someone as well-off as him, who has everything good, would value a wedding ring that's only worth 30,000 yuan so much."
"My goodness, Young Master Bie really loves you!"
"Hmm." Su Yanxi smiled slyly, "That's why I bought a 'cheap wedding ring'."
Compared to "cherishing something that is already valuable," it's more interesting to see the pampered young master "cherishing something that isn't very valuable."
Zhou Tong snorted softly, increasingly impressed by the sophisticated methods her artist had employed in her marriage.
"Su Yanxi, Su Yanxi, you're so shrewd, no wonder the young master loves you so much!"
"Yes, thank you for the compliment, Sister Tong."
Su Yanxi blinked innocently, steer the conversation back to the main topic.
"It is precisely because my wedding ring is worthless that this incident is so perplexing."
"In the same drawer where I kept my ring, there were also two of my diamond bracelets. They were from high-end luxury brands, with the brand logo and set with diamonds, and they looked much more valuable than my wedding ring; but the thief deliberately didn't take the valuable ones, and only took the worthless but meaningful ones?"
Su Yanxi became increasingly confused as she thought about it.
"I don't understand. Do you think this thief is genuinely stupid, or just pretending?"
Back in their hotel room, Chen Yongyan immediately came over to visit and inquire about the progress of the ring investigation. He was even more eager than Su Yanxi, wanting to know as soon as possible whether the thief had been caught and the ring had been recovered.
Su Yanxi told him the results of the investigation one by one.
Chen Yongyan was furious after hearing the investigation results. Already prejudiced against Song Yanqi, he was now even more certain that Song Yanqi was the thief!
He was so angry that he couldn't sit still on the sofa. He impulsively got up and was about to go to Song Yanqi's room to confront that spoiled young master.
"It's definitely him, there's no mistake!" Chen Yongyan was 100% certain. "I've been bothered by him for so many years, I know his temper too well! He must have misunderstood the meaning of the ring, so he's jealous of you!"
Driven by jealousy, he acted impulsively and took the ring without thinking!
"Alright, alright, calm down," Su Yanxi tried to reconcile. "Even the police aren't 100% sure that Song Yanqi took it, so don't jump to conclusions for them."
From Su Yanxi's perspective, Chen Yongyan was being overly agitated. Perhaps due to the excessive harassment he had suffered at the hands of Song Yanqi in the past, Chen Yongyan harbored an extremely strong prejudice against Song Yanqi.
Su Yanxi could understand the existence of this prejudice. But to be fair, Su Yanxi really didn't believe that Song Yanqi was involved in this incident.
"If it wasn't him, then who could it be?" Chen Yongyan, overcome with emotion, ignored Su Yanxi's attempts to stop him and stormed out. "Yanxi-ge, don't stop me! I'm going to his room right now to find him and get all the answers out of him!"
Su Yanxi was slender, while Chen Yongyan was strong—similar in build to Bie Yunzong. When they really put their strength into it, Su Yanxi couldn't stop Chen Yongyan at all.
"Don't be impulsive! Hey—hey!"
Seeing Chen Yongyan rushing off in a rage, Su Yanxi panicked and hurriedly called Zhou Tong to follow.
"Chen Yongyan, don't let prejudice blind you!"
Su Yanxi's reaction was a bit slow. By the time he followed Chen Yongyan out of the room, Chen Yongyan was already out of sight. He didn't know which direction Song Yanqi's room was in, so he took a few steps to the left before realizing that Chen Yongyan had gone to the right.
When he followed Chen Yongyan's voice and found Song Yanqi's room, the two junior brothers of the same grade had already started talking to each other.
Su Yanxi's breathing stopped abruptly, and two huge bold words popped into her mind: This is bad!
—Missed it!
"Xiao Yan, what brings you here?"
This was probably the first time Chen Yongyan had taken the initiative to approach Song Yanqi, and Song Yanqi looked pleasantly surprised. Song Yanqi was unaware of Chen Yongyan's dark expression, nor did she realize what might happen next.
This was Su Yanxi's first meeting with Song Yanqi. To be fair, Su Yanxi thought Song Yanqi was quite cute; if she didn't know Song Yanqi's spoiled young master nature, Su Yanxi would probably have thought Song Yanqi was a very cute little boy.
"Did you take Yanxi's ring?" Chen Yongyan asked directly, his face dark and his voice low.
Song Yanqi's surprised expression turned to astonishment, and she asked in confusion, "Who? Whose ring?"