The female guest was causing such a scene that Zhang Cailu, with the floor supervisor absent that day, had no choice but to summon Jian Gang, the supervisor of the guest service center.
Seeing how loud and disruptive the guest was, Supervisor Jian quickly ushered her into his office to minimize the disturbance. Xu Miyu and Zhang Cailu followed them in.
Once inside the office, the female guest angrily reiterated her accusation: Xu Miyu had stolen her expensive luxury brand diamond ring while cleaning her room.
"That was my husband’s anniversary gift to me! What kind of hotel is this, hiring a thief as a housekeeper? Should I call the media and let them give this incident the publicity it deserves?"
Her tone was laced with both sarcasm and threat.
Zhang Cailu promptly asked the guest to describe the missing ring and its value.
Fuming, the guest named a luxury brand and snapped, "It’s the prettiest design in their fifty-thousand-yuan range!" Growing angrier, she pointed at Xu Miyu and told Zhang Cailu, "She must have been tempted by the sight of it!"
Supervisor Jian first tried to calm her with reassuring words, then turned to Xu Miyu, his gaze turning cold. "What really happened? Did you take the guest’s belongings or not?"
Under Jian Gang’s glare, Xu Miyu’s tongue felt tied. "I didn’t take it. The guest was in the room the whole time I was cleaning…"
The female guest thrust a finger toward Xu Miyu and exclaimed to Jian Gang, "Listen to her! She sounds so guilty! Yes, I was in the room while she cleaned, but—" She swiveled her head, glaring at Xu Miyu, and spat out each word indignantly: "Let me ask you—when you came in to clean, didn’t I tell you to do your work and not bother me?"
Xu Miyu thought back. It was true. She nodded. "Yes."
"And wasn’t I wearing headphones the whole time, painting my nails with my head down?" The guest’s voice rose sharply.
"Yes." Xu Miyu’s heart sank a little.
"Wasn’t I listening to music the entire time, so absorbed that I didn’t even notice when you finished cleaning and left? Wasn’t I?" The guest’s voice sharpened like an unsheathed blade, its cold edge aimed squarely at Xu Miyu.
"...Yes." As Xu Miyu forced out the answer, her heart plummeted to the depths.
Yet something felt off. Everything seemed too coincidental…
"So, you see, supervisor," the guest pressed, "even though I was in the room, I had my headphones on and was focused on my own business. I didn’t hear or see what she was doing. It’s entirely possible she got bold and stole my ring during that time, isn’t it?"
Xu Miyu’s heart thudded hollowly in her chest.
Everything was too coincidental—so much so that she had no way to defend herself. The fact that the guest had been in the room the entire time made it even harder to explain than if she hadn’t been there at all.
She wanted to plead her innocence, but the words that came out sounded feeble and weak: "Supervisor Jian, I really didn’t steal this lady’s ring…"
Ever since the day she confirmed her ex-husband’s infidelity, she had lost all desire for rings that symbolized promises.
"I truly have no interest in rings…""Give it a rest! You might not be interested in the ring, but how could you not be interested in the diamond on it?" The female customer stepped closer to Xu Miyu. "Stop playing innocent and pitiful, will you? If anyone's innocent here, it's me—the one whose belongings you stole!"
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves while advancing.
Zhang Cailu immediately stepped forward, positioning herself between Xu Miyu and the customer, and began placating the nearly violent woman with soft, appeasing words: "Madam, please calm down. Listen to me—even if she did take the diamond ring, you can't resort to violence. Otherwise, wouldn't you be turning a justified case into an unjust one? Besides, I believe our hotel staff uphold professional integrity. Let us question her further to clarify the situation, alright?"
The customer seemed to take Zhang Cailu's words to heart and withdrew her hand. "Fine, I'll give you face today and not slap her. But you must provide me with a solution: either she compensates me for the diamond ring—50,000 yuan—apologizes to me, and your hotel fires her; or I'll call my media friends right now and give your Siwei Hotel some negative publicity. Let everyone know how dishonest the staff at this so-called five-star hotel are, and see if anyone still dares to stay here! The choice is yours!"
She crossed her arms and waited angrily for a response.
Xu Miyu murmured, "I didn't steal it. If you don't believe me, you can call the police... Let's call the police. I trust they can prove my innocence."
The customer turned and glared at her fiercely. Before the customer could speak, Zhang Cailu and Supervisor Jian spoke in unison: "We can't call the police!"
Xu Miyu looked at them.
"It would create a bad impression," Supervisor Jian stated bluntly.
"Exactly, we're running a business with constant foot traffic. If a bunch of uniformed police officers suddenly show up, people will gossip, and even if nothing happened, rumors will spread," Zhang Cailu elaborated further.
The customer chuckled triumphantly. "Then call the police! Go ahead! If you don't mind the trouble, neither do I!"
Xu Miyu furrowed her brow. So this is what the workplace is like? Even if an employee is suspected of being framed, they can't involve the police to protect the company's reputation?
At that moment, Supervisor Jian shot Zhang Cailu a look and called her out of the office.
Standing in the corridor, Supervisor Jian lowered his voice but couldn't hide his irritation. "What's going on, Zhang Cailu? Why is it always your floor causing trouble? Just the other day, I received complaints from the penthouse suite butlers, saying the staff on your floor are cunning and full of schemes—no sooner does one try to cozy up to the big boss than another scheming woman shows up. Seriously, who hired this person? How long has she been working here?"
Zhang Cailu quickly replied, "She's a new hire arranged by our deputy manager of the guest center. She hasn't even passed her probation period yet."
Hearing that she was arranged by the deputy manager, Supervisor Jian grew impatient. "Causing trouble before even finishing probation! Just fire her!"
Zhang Cailu hesitated. "Is that appropriate? After all, she was arranged by the deputy manager. If we fire her directly, wouldn't it undermine his authority when he asks about it later?"
Supervisor Jian snapped impatiently, "You said it yourself—he's the 'deputy' manager. Besides, who knows how long he'll last? More importantly, I only answer to the manager. Do you understand what I'm saying?"Zhang Cailu nodded. This meant that with him, the general manager's trusted subordinate, present, she need not worry too much about the deputy manager's side.
"But so far, the claim about the stolen diamond ring is only the customer's one-sided statement. Wouldn't it be procedurally inappropriate for us to fire Xu Miyu outright? What if she files for arbitration or something..."
Manager Jian thought for a moment and said, "Can she prove she didn't steal it? If she can't provide proof, we'll take the customer's word as final. Anyway, I have to accompany our manager to a dinner tonight, so we need to resolve this matter quickly."
After speaking, he returned to the office and said to the female customer with a warm smile, "Madam, rest assured, we will definitely give you a satisfactory resolution."
He then turned to Xu Miyu, his smile vanishing as his expression darkened, and asked, "Xu Miyu, can you prove that you did not take the customer's ring?"
Xu Miyu froze at the question.
Even though she had spent most of her past days as a housewife, she had learned from television about concepts like "innocent until proven guilty" and "the burden of proof lies with the accuser." If this female customer insisted that she had stolen the diamond ring, shouldn't it be the customer's responsibility to provide evidence proving that she had indeed stolen it? Why was she, the one presumed innocent until proven guilty, now being asked to prove that she had not stolen it?
She recalled what Zhang Cailu had said earlier: In the service industry, we must unconditionally trust customers and prioritize them above all else.
Fine, she thought, she would just have to try to prove her innocence.
She knew that if she couldn't prove it—
"If you cannot prove by the end of the afternoon shift that you did not steal this lady's diamond ring, then unfortunately, I will have to terminate your employment on behalf of the hotel," Manager Jian declared firmly, like a god of justice.
With only two hours left until the end of the afternoon shift, Xu Miyu knew she had little time to prove her innocence. She needed to pull herself together and stop drifting through this in a daze.
Although she lacked social experience, she hadn't been completely isolated at home. Television and the internet had subtly become her teachers.
Thinking back to the dramas she had watched, the first step in a situation like this seemed to be checking the surveillance footage.
Acting on the thought immediately, she requested permission from Manager Jian to review the hallway surveillance footage.
In the surveillance room, she saw that from the time the female customer checked in until she intended to check out, only one person had entered and exited that room—her, Xu Miyu.
Xu Miyu stood in front of the surveillance monitor for a full minute.
She had hoped that others had also entered and exited the room, which would indirectly support her case by showing she wasn't the only person associated with the missing ring.
But as luck would have it, no one else had entered or exited the female customer's room besides her.
What was meant to clear her suspicion now seemed to reinforce it instead.
Xu Miyu felt lost. What should she do next?
After leaving the surveillance room, Xu Miyu rode the staff elevator back to her duty floor in a daze.
As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she realized that everyone already knew about her situation.
She marveled at how, in human society, bad news could indeed travel a thousand miles in an instant.
For a moment, unsure of what to do, she wandered aimlessly back to the housekeeping department.As she reached the entrance of the guest services department, the door was ajar, allowing the conversation inside to flow out unobstructed and seep into Xu Miyu's ears.
"That Sister Xu is really unlucky. She hasn't been here long, and she's already caught up in this mess. Anyway, I don't think she's the thief."
It was Ke Wenxue's voice.
"Hmph." That was Yin Xiang.
Then Ke Wenxue spoke again: "I heard the supervisor even spoke up for Sister Xu in front of our department head, saying there's no evidence to prove she's the thief, so firing her wouldn't be appropriate. That's how Sister Xu got the chance to prove her innocence."
Yin Xiang let out another hum.
"Do you have some kind of humming sickness today? You've been humming nonstop!" Ke Wenxue complained.
Luo Qingping's voice chimed in: "How do you know the supervisor spoke up for Sister Xu? Did she tell you herself? She's so good at this—whenever she does even the slightest thing for someone, even if it's just a 1, she'll make sure everyone knows and exaggerate it to a 10. Who knows what her real intentions are?"
Ke Wenxue's voice carried a mix of impatience and annoyance: "Yes, yes, in your eyes, no matter who the supervisor is, they're no good. You wish all supervisors besides you would just drop dead so you could become one!"
No sooner had she finished her complaint than she resumed her questioning.
"Yin Xiang, do you think Sister Xu can prove she didn't steal the ring?"
Yin Xiang hummed again.
Then she said: "How can she prove it? There's no way. If it were you, could you think of a way to prove it?"
There was a brief silence, followed by Ke Wenxue's sigh.
"I thought about it, and wow, I really can't think of any way to prove it. Looks like Sister Xu is done for this time—she's definitely getting fired!"
Standing outside the door, Xu Miyu felt as if a heavy stone were pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe, and her feet felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds.
She struggled to lift her feet and walked into the room.
As soon as she entered, Ke Wenxue approached her with a mix of sympathy and excitement: "Sister Xu, Sister Xu, we all know about your situation!"
Xu Miyu asked in return: "How did you find out?"
Ke Wenxue replied: "The supervisor came by and told us. She said if you can't find evidence by the end of the day, you'll be fired. She asked us to help you if we can."
Xu Miyu felt a warmth in her heart.
Ke Wenxue pressed further: "Sister Xu, you look really pale. Are you feeling unwell?"
Luo Qingping sneered from the side: "As if you really care about Sister Xu. You just want more details to share with your gossip squad."
Ke Wenxue put her hands on her hips and retorted: "Hey, you! Why do you always have to be so sarcastic and unpleasant?"
Luo Qingping laughed: "Am I wrong? Before Sister Xu came back, weren't you already gossiping about it with Li Kunlun from the catering department and Lu Xiaoyan from the front desk?"
Afraid they might argue because of her, Xu Miyu quickly interjected: "No need to help, thank you."
Right now, even she didn't know what to do. Even if she wanted someone to help, she wouldn't know where to tell them to start.
The most important thing now was to calm herself down and try to think of any way to prove her innocence.Thanks to Ke Wenxue and the others' spreading power, almost everyone in the hotel now knew about this matter. If she couldn't prove her innocence before the end of her shift, even if she left, she would be carrying the stigma of theft.
Moreover, after being fired from the Sway Hotel, what else could she do to support herself? Having failed to pass the probation period at one of the city's best five-star hotels, any new company's HR department would only need to make one call to the Sway Hotel to learn she had been dismissed under accusations of stealing from a guest. Who would hire her then?
At this thought, Xu Miyu felt a trace of despair. All the doors of life seemed to have slammed shut in front of her. To survive, she had to find a way to prove her innocence—she had to kick those closed doors wide open.
She heard someone calling her. Snapping back to attention, she saw it was Ke Wenxue.
She was asking her:
"Sister Xu, Sister Xu? So, do you need our help now?"
Ke Wenxue's tone was filled with genuine sympathy.
Xu Miyu then glanced at Yin Xiang beside Ke Wenxue. Yin Xiang's expression seemed more complex when looking at her—a mix of sympathy and restraint, as if holding herself back from being overly compassionate.
Luo Qingping chimed in from the side, snapping at Ke Wenxue: "All your help and sympathy are just empty words. Can you actually do anything for real?"
After saying that, she walked away. Ke Wenxue glared at her retreating figure and said indignantly, "What does she mean by that? She doesn't even offer empty words of sympathy!"
Yin Xiang answered her question.
"What she means is, if Sister Xu asked to borrow money from us to buy a ring, would we actually be willing to lend it?"
Ke Wenxue rolled her eyes. "Why would Sister Xu borrow money from us to buy a ring? If she really took the guest's ring, she should just return it; if she didn't take it, why should she pay for a ring out of her own pocket?"
Ke Wenxue's words clearly caught Yin Xiang off guard.
"But your assumption is kind overall," Ke Wenxue patted Yin Xiang's shoulder, "At least you assumed Sister Xu didn't take the guest's ring, so she'd need to buy one to compensate."
Yin Xiang brushed Ke Wenxue's hand away and said irritably, "What nonsense are you spouting? You've confused me."
She turned to look at Xu Miyu.
Xu Miyu was deep in thought. Then she suddenly looked up, her eyes bright as if lit up, and smiled at Yin Xiang, her eyes curving and lips lifting, as if she had become a different person. Yin Xiang and Ke Wenxue were both slightly stunned.
Xu Miyu smiled and said to Yin Xiang, "Thank you for reminding me. I think I know what to do now!"
She immediately stood up, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, then hurried out of the housekeeping department, her steps filled with a hint of hope and excitement.
Yin Xiang went from slightly stunned to fully bewildered and asked Ke Wenxue beside her, "What did she just say? Thank me? Why thank me? Was she being sincere or sarcastic?"
Ke Wenxue answered irrelevantly, "Hey, Yin Xiang, don't you think Sister Xu looks like a different person when she smiles? I think she's just too haggard and too thin. If she gained a little weight and took better care of herself, she'd be really pretty!"
Yin Xiang glanced at her and shook her head. "Talking to you is like playing the lute to a cow."That afternoon, Li Kunlun delivered afternoon tea to the top-floor suite. While Xue Rui was receiving the meal at the door, Ji Feng was sitting in the semi-open leisure bar area of the living room, harvesting crops and planting seeds on his tablet.
It wasn't until he had finished planting all the crops that Xue Rui brought over the afternoon tea.
"What were you whispering about out there? Why did it take so long?" Ji Feng frowned slightly as he took the teacup, asking impatiently.
Contrary to his usual chatty nature, Xue Rui hemmed and hawed without saying anything.
Ji Feng slowly sipped his tea while squinting at Xue Rui, the chill in his gaze turning into sharp blades ready to shoot—as if poisoned words were coated on them: Think carefully about whether you want to keep things from me.
Xue Rui felt restless under Ji Feng's piercing cold gaze.
But he remained caught in a dilemma, hesitating back and forth.
After all, when he went out to receive the meal earlier, Li Kunlun had brought him the latest hotel gossip—still about that Xu Miyu, the person Ji Feng had strictly forbidden anyone to mention in front of him.
Thinking of this, Xue Rui decided it was better not to say anything.
He went from stammering to tightly pursing his lips.
Suddenly, there was a sharp "crack" sound beside him, making Xue Rui's eyelids jump with fright.
It was Ji Feng forcefully half-throwing, half-dropping his teacup onto the bar counter.
Xue Rui cautiously looked over to see Ji Feng's cold face, raised eyebrows, and the question: "Who are you trying to tease? Do you really think I can't find another assistant? What were you whispering about just now? Speak."
That single word "speak" nearly scared half the soul out of Xue Rui.
Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Weighing his options, he finally quickly blurted out: "It's about that Xu... that woman whose full name can't be mentioned in front of you. She was just accused by a guest of stealing a diamond ring. The hotel management told her she has to prove her innocence before leaving work tonight. If she can't clear her name in time, she'll be fired! Other hotel staff who know this sister all say she seems wrongly accused, but it's useless because the management doesn't appear interested in helping her—they just want to quickly settle the matter."
He finished in one breath, almost suffocating, then gasped before adding: "I think this sister is definitely going to get fired this time."
He saw Ji Feng listening with a disgusted expression: "Is the hotel management really that incompetent?" He sneered, "The longer I stay here, the more I realize this place is a complete mess."
After a pause, the disgust on his face intensified: "She should have been fired long ago, useless as she is." Another pause, then he suddenly frowned and glared at Xue Rui, demanding irritably, "Didn't I say not to tell me anything about this person anymore?"
"..." Xue Rui immediately felt choked by these words.
—But you were the one who forced me to say it just now!!
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