"I..." Gu Anrou desperately wracked her brain for a way to escape this situation.
Damn it! She clearly saw Xu Qingqing hide the painting just now, so why wasn't it in her bag!
Gu Anrou wracked her brains, trying hard to recall what she had seen just now. Although she saw Xu Qingqing steal the painting, it was just her imagination that Xu Qingqing stuffed it into her bag.
Since Xu Qingqing didn't put the painting in her bag, she must have hidden it somewhere else.
Gu Anrou made a last - ditch struggle. "Just because the painting isn't in your bag doesn't mean you didn't steal it!"
"You must have hidden it somewhere in the villa!"
Xu Qingqing was instantly speechless upon hearing this. In just a few minutes, could she really have disappeared into thin air?
"It seems you're determined to pin the theft on me," Xu Qingqing said with a faint smile, crossing her arms and leaning against the table behind her. She looked at Gu Anrou coldly.
"Go ahead and search. Search every corner around me. If I didn't steal it, I won't feel the least bit guilty!"
"Okay."
Gu Anrou turned to Huang Tonghai and asked urgently, "Boss Huang, is there any surveillance in the living room?"
If they could turn on the surveillance, everything would be clear!
Huang Tonghai looked at Gu Anrou regretfully and shrugged awkwardly. "The surveillance is connected to the external power switch. During the few seconds of the power outage just now, it definitely didn't capture anything."
Gu Anrou was a bit disappointed at this reply, but she quickly turned to look at her uncle.
"Let's search quickly. We'll surely find it!"
Although this man was Xu Qingqing's uncle, he was on her side.
If they couldn't find the painting, Xu Qingqing's uncle would have to apologize to Xu Qingqing's father, which he surely didn't want to do.
Hearing Gu Anrou's call, the uncle quickly joined the search team.
Huang Tonghai took a deep look at the calm and composed Xu Qingqing. His suspicion of Xu Qingqing lessened a bit.
He didn't believe that a thief could act so boldly.
But even so, he still wanted to find his painting.
Everyone present helped Huang Tonghai search for the scroll, but even after they searched every corner around Xu Qingqing, they couldn't find the painting.
Gu Anrou was determined and was about to go upstairs when Xu Qingqing stopped her coldly. "Miss Gu, you think too highly of me. Do you think I could have gone upstairs in such a short time?"
Gu Anrou also thought her idea was a bit embarrassing and awkwardly came down the stairs.
Looking at the empty - handed people, Xu Qingqing let out a soft laugh and generously spread out her hands.
"Now that you've searched every corner around me, I didn't steal it. Shouldn't you fulfill your promise to apologize?"
"If you don't apologize, I'll call the police."
As she said this, Xu Qingqing took out her phone and pretended to dial 110.
But it was just for show. Just as Xu Qingqing was about to press the call button, Huang Tonghai rushed in front of her, forced out a laugh, and grabbed her phone. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she hadn't made the call.
"Miss Xu Qingqing, we can talk this out. There's no need to call the police."
There were many shady things in his house, like antiques he had fraudulently obtained from farmers. If the police came and saw them, he would be in big trouble.
He would have everyone searched again, but if he couldn't find the painting, he would just let it go.
Xu Qingqing coldly pulled back her phone and unceremoniously exposed Huang Tonghai's hypocrisy.
"When I was wrongly accused just now, Boss Huang didn't seem to want to stand up for me."
"Now that I'm in the right, does Boss Huang want to smooth things over?"
Caught in his thoughts, Boss Huang's face burned. He looked coldly at Gu Anrou standing aside.
"Miss Gu, this incident started because of you. You should handle it."
After all, it was Gu Anrou who had been shouting just now, which made them assume that Xu Qingqing had stolen the painting.
"Uncle Huang... Today my father let me come to your birthday party and even asked me to bring you a gift!"
After saying that, Gu Anrou took out the gift box from her bag that she hadn't given to Huang Tonghai. Her eyes were pleading, hoping to get Huang Tonghai's protection.
But Huang Tonghai stepped aside and refused to get involved.
"Miss Gu, you're not going to renege on your promise, are you?" Xu Qingqing raised her eyebrows and looked at Gu Anrou.
Gu Anrou felt extremely guilty and scared under Xu Qingqing's gaze. She was like a rat in the sewer caught by a cat, filled with deep - seated inferiority.
"Who says I don't want to fulfill my promise? We Gu family members always keep our words. We never go back on our promises!"
Gu Anrou squeezed out the words through gritted teeth. She knelt on the ground reluctantly, her head almost buried in her chest.
"I'm sorry!"
After the half - hearted apology, Gu Anrou got up from the ground and fled the Huang family as fast as she could.
As she ran, Gu Anrou cried, as if she was the one who had suffered a great injustice.
It was so embarrassing! So embarrassing!
She was supposed to humiliate Xu Qingqing, but instead, she was outwitted by Xu Qingqing!
Damn Xu Qingqing!
Hearing Gu Anrou's cries fade away outside the door, Xu Qingqing felt extremely elated. Her gaze then fell on her sneaky uncle who was trying to slip away.
"Uncle, it's your turn to fulfill your promise to me."
"Miss Lu has already knelt down and apologized to me. You're a man. You're not going to renege, are you?"
The uncle let out a shrill scream like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His voice was filled with anger and displeasure.
The uncle wanted to use his status to intimidate Xu Qingqing. He pointed at Xu Qingqing angrily.
"Xu Qingqing, I'm your uncle. Does your father know you're forcing me like this?"
"Uncle, don't worry. I'm correcting your mistake. My parents will surely support me." Xu Qingqing smiled sweetly, but her words were uncompromising.
"If you don't want to, it's okay. Just pretend this never happened."
The uncle also wanted to let this matter go, but under everyone's watchful eyes, if he really went back on his word, people might question his character.
The uncle closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. "I admit that I stole that painting when your father wasn't looking. I'll apologize to your father in the future."
"I don't want 'in the future'. I want you to apologize to my father this afternoon."
Xu Qingqing pressed on.
She knew this uncle very well. He was a chronic liar. Just because he was related to her father by blood, he always took advantage of their family.
If she let her uncle go, she didn't know when he would really apologize.
"I'm your uncle. Do you think I'll lie to you?"
The uncle was so angry that his beard trembled. He stared at Xu Qingqing fixedly. His gaze was not that of an uncle looking at his niece, but more like that of an enemy.
"But it was you, uncle, who played the main role in accusing me just now," Xu Qingqing said innocently.