Chapter 51: Tracking
When Gu Jialan said that she believed in herself and didn't steal the money, a hint of gratitude flashed across Lin San's eyes, and a warm current flowed through his heart.
Gujalan sat on the sofa, expressionless, and said: "I believe Lin San won't embezzle company money."
When Gu Jialan stepped out, Xiahou and Zhang Xiaomei both instinctively shut their mouths and stopped talking. They could debate or even argue with Lin San, but they absolutely dared not be disrespectful to Gu Jialan, after all, she was also half a boss now.
Gu Jialan beckoned Zhang Xiaomei who was standing on one side: "Come over here."
Zhang Xiaomei was taken aback, glanced at Xia Hou, and slowly walked to Gu Jialan's side. She crossed her hands over her chest, lowered her head, and didn't dare look at Gu Jialan.
"Zhang Xiaomei, I'm asking you, are you certain that you put those 100,000 yuan in the drawer?" Gu Jialan asked coldly.
Zhang Xiaomei nodded: "Yes, I put the money in the drawer and rushed to attend the meeting. About ten minutes later, when I returned to the office, Deputy Director Lin was still in the office. After Deputy Director Lin left, I found that the 100,000 yuan in the drawer had disappeared."
"Since you knew there was 100,000 yuan in the drawer, why didn't you lock the door when you left the office? Weren't you worried about losing the money?"
"Me..." Zhang Xiaomei's face changed: "I forgot..."
"Forgotten? As an accountant, you have a responsibility and obligation to protect the company's assets. Regardless of who stole the money, your failure to lock the office door when leaving is already a serious dereliction of duty." Gu Jialan coldly snorted.
Zhang Xiaomei's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, her body slightly trembling. Gu Jialan was right, if the matter were to be pursued further, Zhang Xiaomei indeed had some responsibility for dereliction of duty.
At this time, Xia Hou said: "Miss Gu, people are not saints, they will definitely make mistakes..."
"Did I let you speak?" Gu Jialan turned her head and swept a glance at Xia Hou.
"Ah!" Xiahou was swept by Gu Jialan's sharp gaze and immediately lowered his head, not daring to speak again.
Gu Changfeng lit a cigarette and leaned against the back of the sofa, silently puffing on it without saying anything.
Gu Jialan took a deep breath: "This matter must be investigated to the end, and Lin San's innocence must be cleared." From Gu Jialan's words, it was clear that he had already determined that Lin San was being wronged.
"Alright, the company will set up an investigation team internally to investigate the theft of 100,000 yuan from the finance department. Lin San and Zhang Xiaomei will both be suspended until the matter is cleared up." Gu Changfeng extinguished his cigarette butt, stood up, and walked out of the office.
Gu Jialan glanced at Lin San a few times and followed Gu Changfeng out.
"Lin San, I advise you to hand over the money voluntarily, lest you invite trouble upon yourself!" Xia Hou sneered.
Lin San glanced at Xia Hou with a slight curl of his lip: "I really want to see who ends up looking bad in the end." After that, Lin San turned around and walked out of the office with big strides.
Walking in the corridor, Lin San's face was gloomy and terrifying, with a thread of murderous aura flashing in his eyes from time to time.
Lin San was suspended from work and stayed at home to practice Taoist magic, hardly ever going out.
Guangyuanzi had been locking himself in his room since he saw the crescent-shaped jade pendant that Lin San brought back from the deserted island, and it had been over a dozen days without him coming out. Lin San thought of knocking on the door several times, but ultimately held back. Beforehand, Guangyuanzi had instructed Lin San not to disturb him unless there was something important, and Lin San didn't want to upset Guangyuanzi.
Three days have passed.
The case of theft in the finance department has not been investigated clearly yet.
Lin San sat on the sofa, holding a cigarette in his hand, slightly furrowing his brow, secretly thinking about his troubles.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." The phone on the coffee table suddenly started vibrating.
Lin San was stunned for a moment, then picked up his phone and answered: "Hello?"
"Lin Sanma, it's me, Li Cong." A anxious voice came from the phone.
"Oh, Li Cong, are you looking for me for something?" Lin San asked doubtfully.
"Lin San, I just heard that the company is going to fire you." Li Cong said hastily.
Lin San furrowed his brow: "Why?"
"It wasn't because of the financial department losing money, but after the company's investigation team investigated the financial department for several days, they finally concluded that you were the most suspicious of stealing money. Many company leaders asked to have you fired, and some even said they wanted to send you to the public security bureau for prosecution. However, in the end, it was all suppressed by Miss Gu." Li Cong described what had happened over the past few days.
"I didn't steal the money from the finance department at all!" Lin San said angrily.
"The key is that you don't have any evidence, Lin San. You'd better be prepared, I estimate the company will make a decision about you in these two days. I still have to go on duty, so I'll stop here for now." After finishing speaking, Li Cong hung up the phone.
Lin San slammed his phone onto the coffee table, furrowed his brow tightly, and his breathing quickened. Damn it, what a nuisance! He had just been promoted to deputy director of the security department and hadn't even had time to enjoy the perks of being a leader when someone framed him as a thief, which was utterly despicable and incredibly unlucky.
"No, I won't just sit here and wait to be framed. I have to find the person who stole the money and clear my name." Lin San slapped his hand on the tea table, stood up, and began pacing back and forth in the living room, thinking constantly: The loss of 100,000 yuan from the finance department was suspicious. It didn't happen before or after he went there, but only after he arrived at the finance department did the money go missing. This coincidence was too great. After some thought, Lin San suspected that Zhang Xiaomei, an accountant in the finance department, might be involved. He had received a call from her to go to the finance department, but when he arrived, she wasn't there. The door to her office was slightly ajar, allowing him to enter easily. Ten minutes later, Zhang Xiaomei returned, and soon after Lin San left the finance department, she discovered that 100,000 yuan in cash had disappeared from her drawer. It was only natural for her to accuse Lin San of being the thief, which eventually led to Gu Changfeng and Gu Jialan getting involved.
"There's something wrong with this Zhang Xiaomei." Lin San narrowed his eyes, recalling that day in Xia Hou's office when he casually mentioned that Zhang Xiaomei had framed him for theft, and how a flicker of panic had flashed across her eyes, though she had quickly covered it up.
Lin San took a light breath, pondered for a moment, changed his shoes, opened the door and walked out.
"Mengduo Community" was built in 2000, covering an area of over 100 mu. It is one of the most famous high-end communities in Lanzhou City. Although it has been 12 years, the building is still exceptionally new and there is no sign of aging.
It's already dark now, and there are many people going in and out of the community gate. Some go out for dinner, while others just get off work and return home.
On the left side of the gate, there is a huge pagoda tree with a very thick trunk. It's estimated that four or five people would need to hold hands to encircle it. Lin San hid behind the trunk, carefully staring at the crowd entering and exiting the community gate. After inquiring from many sources, Lin San finally learned that Zhang Xiaomei lived inside the Mengdu Community. As soon as night fell, Lin San arrived at the Mengdu Community, surveyed the terrain once, and then hid behind the pagoda tree, closely monitoring the community gate.
Time passed bit by bit, and the entrance of the residential area finally became quiet, with most people having returned home for dinner.
Lin San took out his mobile phone and looked at it, it was already 8:30. Lin San pulled out a bread from his pocket, leaned against the tree trunk, and slowly started eating.
Lin San didn't leave Mengdu Community until after 2 am and then returned home.
The next day, Lin San came to Mengdu Community again. This time, he didn't hide behind the pagoda tree, but walked into the teahouse opposite Mengdu Community, found a window seat, ordered a cup of tea, and quietly looked at the entrance of Mengdu Community. He sat there for a whole day, drinking more than ten cups of tea.
The whole day passed, but Zhang Xiaomei still didn't come out.
After dark, Lin San settled his bill, walked out of the teahouse, looked around, and took advantage of no one's attention to dodge behind a pagoda tree.
It wasn't until dawn that Lin San returned home, exhausted.
Like this, Lin San monitored the entrance of Mengdu Community day and night for three whole days.
That day, the sky was drizzling with fine rain, and from time to time, strong gusts of wind blew, and the pedestrians on the road gradually became fewer.
Lin Sansang hid behind the pagoda tree, tightened his clothes, shrunk his neck and dodged the dense small rain. Lin Sansang licked his lips and cursed secretly: Damn it! Is God intentionally going against me? Knowing that I come to Mengduo District every day for surveillance, it's still raining, really bullying people.
"Ah!" Lin San suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared fixedly at the entrance of Mengdou Community.
A woman wearing a white coat and blue jeans slowly walked out of the residential area, stood by the road to look around for a while, then hailed a taxi and headed east.
"It's Zhang Xiaomei." Lin San immediately jumped out from behind the pagoda tree, intercepted a taxi and chased after the taxi that Zhang Xiaomei was riding in.
Due to the rainy day, there were not many vehicles on the road, and taxis could travel more conveniently and quickly.
Lin San sat in the passenger seat, pointing to a taxi in front and said: "Driver, please follow that taxi closely, don't lose it."
The driver heard this and curled his lips: "Little brother, I'm not good at following people."
Lin San furrowed his brow, pulled out several hundred yuan from his pocket and threw it on the seat: "As long as you don't lose it, this money is yours."
The driver took a glance at the money on the seat, and suddenly his face lit up with a smile: "Sir, you've found the right person. My driving skills are renowned in the taxi company." As he spoke, the driver put the money into his pocket, then stepped on the gas pedal, and the car quickly sped forward, closely following behind another taxi in front of it.
Half an hour later, the taxi Zhang Xiaomei was riding in stopped in front of a coffee shop. The car door opened and Zhang Xiaomei quickly walked into the coffee shop with small steps. After that, the taxi drove away.
Before long, another taxi stopped in front of the coffee shop. The door opened and Lin San hastily got out of the car and walked quickly into the coffee shop.
The coffee shop is not small, with a classic decoration style, and a row of neon lights hanging from the ceiling. The coffee shop has two floors: the first floor is a large hall with dozens of couple tables, while the second floor is a private room. At this time, there are only about ten people scattered in the hall.
