Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 293 - Chapter 293 Chapter 282 The Watch is Missing

Chapter 293: Chapter 282 The Watch is Missing Chapter 293: Chapter 282 The Watch is Missing Lu Jiajie left early in the morning for a distant trip, and because he was in a hurry, he forgot to wear his watch. When he returned a week later, the watch was nowhere to be found.

Ma Lili, upon hearing that his watch had gone missing, also helped in the search, but despite turning the drawers and wardrobe inside out, it was not found.

When they couldn’t find the watch in the house, they went to the children’s room to look for it, but to no avail. Ma Lili asked, “Did you possibly lose it outside? How could it disappear if it was in the house?”

Lu Jiajie replied, “I wanted to check the time on the bus when I realized I wasn’t wearing my watch, so how could I have lost it outside? Qiangqiang, Xiao Feng, have you seen Daddy’s watch?”

Both Qiangqiang and Xiao Feng said they had not seen the watch.

Lu Jiajie clearly remembered that if he had not worn the watch when he left, then it could only be in the house; after all, a watch isn’t a living being that can grow legs and fly away.

It was now past six o’clock, and the housekeeper, Aunt Song, had gone home for the day. When she returned the next morning, Lu Jiajie asked her, “Aunt Song, did you see my watch while you were tidying my room?”

Aunt Song nodded and said, “I saw it; it had fallen to the floor. When I was tidying up, I picked it up and placed it on the bedside cabinet. The next day when I tidied up again, it was gone. Didn’t Lili help put it away for you?”

Ma Lili said she had not seen the watch.

Aunt Song’s face changed color, and her voice became somewhat anxious, “That’s impossible, I placed the watch right on the bedside cabinet, how could it just disappear?”

Lu Jiajie, seeing her demeanor, quickly said, “Aunt Song, you’ve been working in our house for so long, we all know the kind of person you are. Please think again, did you maybe place it somewhere else?”

Aunt Song shook her head, her voice becoming hurried, “I remember very clearly, I picked up the watch and placed it on the bedside cabinet that day, I couldn’t have remembered it wrong.”

If the item was in the house, it couldn’t just vanish into thin air. Lu Jiajie suddenly asked, “Aunt Song, did we have visitors that day?”

Aunt Song was about to say no, but then she paused, looking hesitant.

Lu Jiajie said, “Aunt Song, that watch was a brand name item; it cost over six thousand yuan.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Song no longer hesitated and said, “When I left, your father-in-law and mother-in-law had come over with their grandson.”

Ma Lili’s face turned sour in an instant, “Aunt Song, what are you implying? You lost the watch and now you are falsely accusing my parents?”

Aunt Song’s face turned a shade of blue with indignation, she was not about to accept such a false charge, “I only said your parents came with their grandson, I didn’t say anything else. Maybe the child saw the watch and, finding it interesting, picked it up and put it somewhere else. How is that accusing your parents?”

Ma Lili retorted, “But your words just now, weren’t they insinuating something about my parents?”

Lu Jiajie trusted Aunt Song; otherwise, he would not have hired her in the first place. Moreover, Aunt Song had been working at their home for over a year without a single incident, whereas Ma Jixiang had been caught stealing money from the house to buy snacks.

Aunt Song made a vehement oath, “If I took Jiajie’s watch, may I suffer broken hands and feet, and my intestines pierce through my stomach…”

Lu Jiajie hastily interrupted her, “Aunt Song, don’t do this, I believe the loss of the watch has nothing to do with you.”

Aunt Song’s eyes reddened, “Jiajie, this matter must be clarified, I cannot bear this groundless accusation.”

“Don’t worry, I will certainly figure it out.”

Aunt Song took off her apron, “Ah Jie, I dare not stay at your house anymore, lest any more lost items get blamed on me. Rest assured, I won’t go anywhere until the matter is cleared up. I will wait at Ah Le’s home.”

Given Ma Lili’s words today, she was unwilling to continue working. Even though Lu Jiajie offered a good wage, it wasn’t difficult to find work these days, and she had no intention of tolerating such humiliation.

Lu Jiajie personally escorted her back to Ah Le’s home and also apologized to Ah Le’s mother.

Ah Le’s mother knew she couldn’t blame him, but her tone was fiery, “Ah Jie, my eldest sister has never taken so much as a needle from anyone’s house, and she can’t bear this injustice for nothing.”

Lu Jiajie said, “Once I’ve cleared this matter up, I’ll bring Lili over to apologize to Aunt Song.”

Aunt Song waved her hand and said, “I don’t dare let her come to apologize to me, for fear she’ll go around calling me a thief.”

Lu Jiajie had to say a whole basket of nice things before Aunt Song’s expression softened.

Just as he was about to leave, Aunt Song called him back, “Jiajie, there are some things I feel are matters within your family and it is not my place to comment. But today I’m going to speak out of turn–your wife often takes things you bought for the children back to her parents’ house.”

Whenever Lu Jiajie returned from a business trip, he would buy clothes, snacks, and health supplements for the children. The children were fair-skinned and also wore the clothes he bought, so he never asked questions.

After leaving Ah Le’s house, Lu Jiajie decided to go directly to the school to find Ma Jixiang. Back then, the regulations weren’t as strict as in later times, and once the teacher knew he was Ma Jixiang’s uncle, they agreed to let him take the student out of school.

Once outside, Lu Jiajie looked at Ma Jixiang and asked, “Where is my watch?”

Ma Jixiang’s eyes shrunk slightly, but he verbally expressed that he didn’t know what Lu Jiajie was talking about.

Seeing his reaction, Lu Jiajie was certain the watch had been taken by him. He slapped him fiercely and demanded, “Speak, where is my watch?”

Ma Jixiang covered his face, crying loudly.

Some passersby, seeing his harsh handling, stepped forward to say, “Comrade, children need discipline when they disobey, but you can’t hit them like that, you might hurt the child.”

Lu Jiajie’s face grew dark as he said, “He stole my watch, a watch that cost over six thousand yuan. He still won’t say where the watch has gone; do you think he shouldn’t be beaten?”

Upon hearing this, the bystanders didn’t dare to persuade him further–with over six thousand yuan’s worth of watch stolen and the thief not telling the truth, even if the thief were beaten to death, it would be deserved.

Lu Jiajie slapped him again with a heavy hand, and Ma Jixiang’s other cheek also swelled up, “Speak, where has the watch gone? If you don’t tell, I’ll beat you to death.”

Seeing the seriousness in his demeanor, as if he really was about to beat him to death, Ma Jixiang didn’t dare to cry, choking back sobs, he said, “I–I sold it.”

“Sold it where?”

“Sold–it to a convenience store.”

“For how much?”

“For fifty yuan.”

Lu Jiajie dragged Ma Jixiang to that convenience store and demanded the watch from the store owner. Unexpectedly, the store owner denied it, claiming he had never received Ma Jixiang’s watch.

Ma Jixiang also didn’t anticipate that the store owner would deny it, so he yelled in desperation, “You clearly took the watch. I wanted one hundred yuan for it, and you said it was only worth fifty. I bought popsicles and sodas, so you only gave me forty-nine yuan and fifty cents.”

The store owner denied it, asserting it was all made up by Ma Jixiang.

Lu Jiajie said with a grim face, “I bought this watch last year for six thousand eight hundred yuan, and I still have the receipt. If you return the watch to me, I’ll give you one hundred yuan and consider this matter settled. If I call the police and they find the watch, I’ll make sure you can’t keep your store open.”

The store owner, seeing Lu Jiajie’s menacing demeanor, also grew fearful, “Oh my, look at my memory. Last Tuesday, I indeed took in a watch. You wait here, I’ll fetch it for you now.”

After retrieving his watch, Lu Jiajie didn’t bother arguing with the store owner. He gave him one hundred yuan and tossed Ma Jixiang back to school.

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