The fake heiress loves to act? The max-level boss isn't interested in playing along.

Zhou Min remained silent.

Boss Zhang looked at the three waiters: "Which of you three helped cover for me just now?"

The three of them were pushing and shoving each other, and finally, the one with the ponytail...

He forced himself to speak: "Boss Zhang, we...we just followed the manager's advice. She said it was sold."

We just repeated what they said...we thought we had remembered it wrong.

"Listen to her?"

Boss Zhang sneered, "She told you to move everything from the shop to your home, and you moved it too?"

The three men turned pale and waved their hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, we really don't have that!"

Boss Zhang ignored them and looked at Zhou Min.

"What should we do with this little top?"

Zhou Min lowered her head, her voice trembling, "I...I'll pay for it."

"How much compensation?"

"Compensate according to...the purchase price."

"Purchase price?"

Boss Zhang looked at her. "Zhou Min, you used to work in a department store, you know the rules. What's the compensation policy for things stolen from the store?"

Zhou Min fell silent, and faint sobs began to escape her lips.

Mr. Zhang sighed, softening his tone.

But his tone remained firm: "We'll compensate you based on the selling price, 268 yuan, which you four will split equally."

Zhou Min's face completely lost its color.

Two hundred and sixty-eight yuan, four people paid the difference, so each person would have to pay over sixty yuan.

That's equivalent to more than half a month's salary for her.

The three waiters listening nearby also changed their expressions.

The girl with the ponytail opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Losing money is better than losing your job.

Boss Zhang looked at Fu Hua, his eyes seeking her opinion on the outcome of her handling of the matter.

Fu Hua's eyes flickered slightly, and she slowly said, "Not just this one thing today, Uncle Zhang, you'd better check the shop's previous accounts as well."

Zhou Min suddenly raised her head.

When Boss Zhang caught a glimpse of her expression out of the corner of his eye, his heart skipped a beat.

He didn't say anything, but turned the ledger to the front and looked at it page by page.

The shop was so quiet that the only sound was the rustling of turning pages.

Zhou Min stood there, her palms sweaty.

As Boss Zhang was flipping through the pages, his hand suddenly stopped.

He looked up at Zhou Min.

"This new batch of goods, totaling thirty-two pieces, arrived in the warehouse on the 6th of last month."

At the end-of-month inventory check, 23 items remained in stock. The sales record showed 7 items sold.

He paused.

His tone was cold and stern: "Where did those two items go?"

Zhou Min opened her mouth, but hadn't thought of a reason yet.

Boss Zhang lowered his head and continued flipping through the pages.

"Going back further, in mid-March, we received 28 pieces, and by the end of the month, we had 19 pieces left. We sold 6 pieces. We were short 3 pieces."

He turned the pages one by one, his face growing increasingly grim.

He flipped to the last page, then threw the ledger onto the counter.

Lean back in the chair and close your eyes.

"Ten items."

His voice was terribly tired: "There are ten pieces of clothing in total, but the accounts don't match up."

Zhou Min's legs went weak, and she grabbed the shelf next to her for support.

The three waiters were dumbfounded. They looked at each other, and none of them dared to say a word.

They never expected Zhou Min to be so bold.

Boss Zhang opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Min.

"Zhou Min, explain yourself clearly. Where did these ten pieces of clothing go?"

Zhou Min's lips trembled, and she couldn't speak.

"I hired you to look after the shop, paid you a salary, and entrusted the shop to you for management."

Boss Zhang's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like hailstones falling from the sky.

"Is this how you repay me?"

Zhou Min's tears fell, and she pursed her lips, unable to speak.

"say."

Zhang Wen couldn't stand it anymore: "Where did the clothes go?"

"I……"

Zhou Min's eyes darted around, and after a long pause, she managed to utter a sentence.

"I...I don't know, there might be a mistake in the inventory..."

"It can't be wrong."

Fu Hua took half a step forward, her tone indifferent and calm.

"Uncle Zhang checked everything meticulously, and there are records of everything that comes in and goes, but he's missing something here with you."

Zhou Min tried to put on a brave face, keeping her head down and remaining silent.

Boss Zhang, lacking any real backbone, looked up at her and said, slowly and deliberately:

"You're not going to tell me, are you? Fine, then I won't ask anymore. This is no small matter. Ten pieces of clothing, worth at least a thousand yuan, enough to warrant filing a case."

I'm going to the police station right now. If they really investigate, stealing public property will result in a fine and a demerit at best, and detention and a criminal record at worst.

If you think you can handle it and aren't afraid of losing face, then let's go through the procedures.

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Min looked up abruptly, her eyes widening and her hands trembling slightly:

"Mr. Zhang, you can't call the police."

If this were to be done publicly, not only would she lose all face,

From now on, my family members will also be criticized behind their backs.

Boss Zhang smiled faintly, showing no mercy whatsoever:

"This isn't my shop alone, and you can't just fool me like that. I'm only giving you a chance because of your father. Tell me, or do you want the police to come and question you?"

Zhou Min's legs went weak, and she immediately panicked.

"Uncle Zhang... I... I just... sometimes when friends come over, they see something they like, and I... I just think of giving it to them as a favor, because they say they'll come back to support our business in the future... I'm doing this for the good of our shop's business."

"friend?"

Boss Zhang looked at her.

"What kind of friend? What's their name? How many times have they come? How much business have they patronized?"

Zhou Min fell silent.

Boss Zhang stood up and walked over to her.

"Zhou Min, your dad and I were old colleagues. We worked in the same workshop back then. Your dad is a very honest person, and I respect him."

I asked you to come and manage the shop, firstly because you've studied it, and secondly because of your father. I thought his daughter couldn't be too bad.

He paused.

With a disappointed tone: "I misjudged you."

Zhou Min covered her face and started crying.

Boss Zhang stopped looking at her and turned to the three waiters.

"Do any of you three know about these things?"

The three of them shook their heads frantically.

"We don't know, we really don't know!"

"Does Zhou Min know about your practice of treating people differently based on their status?"

"Boss Zhang asked."

The three people stopped shaking their heads.

The girl with the ponytail stammered, "Boss Zhang, we...we won't do it again. We'll definitely serve our customers well."

Mr. Zhang ignored her and walked to the shop entrance.

Turn the "Open for Business" sign over to reveal the "Temporarily Closed" side.

He closed and locked the door.

"No one is leaving until the investigation is finished today."

He said.

The shop fell silent again, with only the rustling sound of the ledgers turning.

Mr. Zhang sat behind the counter, taking out all the invoices and bills for goods purchased and sold since the business opened.

He checked each page one by one, calculated each sheet one by one, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

Fu Hua stood to the side, glancing at him occasionally, but said nothing.

Zhang Wen poured a glass of water for Fu Hua and her father, placing it beside them without daring to utter a sound.

The three waiters stood in the corner, motionless like wooden stakes.

Zhou Min sat on the chair next to her, head down, tears had stopped, and her whole body was ice cold.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Boss Zhang finally finished reconciling the last account, closed the ledger, and looked up.

He rubbed his eyes, his face showing fatigue, but his gaze was hard.

"Alright."

He said.

He looked at the three waiters and called out their names one by one.

The three people took a step forward.

Boss Zhang picked up a piece of paper with numbers written on it: "You three, regarding that little coat today, although you didn't steal it, you neglected your duties. You didn't even notice the customer stealing. Shouldn't you be punished?"