My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

Tian Jing looked at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of helplessness and sympathy.

"Yang Jing is just playing a delaying tactic with you," she said, emphasizing each word. "He's dragging things out until you lose patience, until things are exposed, and then, in the end, you're the one who'll have to take the fall!"

Su Ming's expression changed.

Tian Jing continued, "Similar things have happened in the warehouse before. About three years ago, there was a warehouse keeper who was in charge of valuable materials. He was usually quite honest. But as the end of the month approached and we were doing inventory, he suddenly left without notice and disappeared."

Su Ming felt a chill run down his spine and anxiously asked, "What happened next?"

"Upon further investigation..." Tian Jing's voice lowered even further, "the warehouse clerk's records showed a missing IC chip, worth 50,000 yuan. The company reported it to the police, and the person was eventually caught. But after interrogation, it turned out he hadn't stolen it at all. He trusted the supplier too much; that night he received the goods on behalf of the supplier but didn't have time to count them, and ended up getting ripped off."

She looked at Su Ming with a serious expression: "He called the delivery company, and at first they said they would check, but they kept dragging their feet until they finally stopped responding to him. Later, the salesperson on their side resigned, and he disappeared."

Su Ming felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this.

He recalled Yang Jing's enthusiastic tone, his words "Don't worry," and his promise to "investigate as soon as we get back"...

Those words, now, sound like a dull knife, slowly cutting into his nerves. It's exactly the same old routine!

Tian Jing gently nudged his lower back with her elbow and earnestly advised, "Be prepared for both possibilities. Companies that play these kinds of tricks are usually not big companies. And coincidentally, Jingming Company isn't big either."

She paused, then asked, "Do you know what Jingming does?"

Su Ming shook his head.

Tian Jing sneered: "From what I understand, he comes from a trading background. To put it bluntly, he's just a middleman. A company like that might be here today and gone tomorrow. Where are you going to find someone like that? Besides, you've already signed the papers. Valuable goods should be counted in person. Whoever signs is responsible. They'll win any lawsuit."

Su Ming's heart sank completely.

He stood there, his mind blank, with only one thought repeating over and over: It's over.

It's really over.

He suddenly thought of Yang Tian, ​​of the sweetness they shared in the projection room last night, of her saying, "My brother will definitely find out the truth," and of the warmth of her against his chest...

Could it be that Yang Tian also lied to him?

The moment this thought arose, it coiled around his heart like a venomous snake.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Could it be... that Yang Tian lied to me too?"

Tian Jing was stunned for a moment, and her expression changed slightly.

She stared at Su Ming, her gaze becoming complicated: "You wouldn't... really be dating Yang Tian, ​​would you?"

Su Ming blushed and remained silent.

Tian Jing watched him, her expression shifting repeatedly. Finally, she bit her lip and sighed helplessly.

"If that's the case..." her voice was a little hoarse, "then you really deserve it."

Su Ming looked up at her.

Tian Jing sneered, her tone laced with sarcasm: "You slept with Yang Jing's sister, so it's normal for her to ask you for help when she's in trouble."

Su Ming panicked and quickly said, "I didn't sleep with Yang Tian!"

Tian Jing was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away.

"Why are you telling me this?" Her voice turned cold. "Whether you slept with her or not is none of my business."

After saying that, she turned and left.

The high heels clicked rapidly on the ground, and the shoes quickly disappeared behind the shelves.

Su Ming stood there, watching her retreating figure, his mind in turmoil.

He recalled Tian Jing's words, her mention of a "delaying tactic," and the fate of the warehouse clerk three years ago...

He thought of Yang Tian again, of her bright, sparkling eyes, of her saying "wait for my twentieth birthday," of the warmth of her against his chest...

Will not.

Yang Tian wouldn't lie to him.

But why is it such a coincidence?

But just as he and Yang Tian started dating, he met her brother.

Unfortunately, her brother was in a hurry to deliver the goods and leave, so he didn't even have time to count them.

Ironically, the one that's scarce is the most expensive chip?

Su Ming's heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by a hand, the pain making it hard to breathe.

He leaned against the shelf, closed his eyes, and his mind was a jumbled mess.

Just then, a series of footsteps approached from afar.

He opened his eyes and saw that Tian Jing had returned.

She walked up to him, stopped, and looked at him.

Su Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Tian Jing was silent for a few seconds, then raised her hand and gently patted his shoulder.

"Alright." Her voice softened, the coldness from before gone. "Don't overthink it."

Su Ming looked at her, and his eyes suddenly felt a little sore.

Tian Jing sighed and said softly, "I was too impulsive just now. I shouldn't have said those hurtful things."

Upon hearing this, Su Ming's mental defenses crumbled instantly.

Unable to contain his grief any longer, he turned around and hugged Tian Jing tightly.

He buried his face in her shoulder, his body trembling slightly, like a helpless child.

"Sister Jing, it's my fault!" Su Ming's eyes welled up with tears.

Tian Jing was stunned for a moment, her body stiffened for a second, and then she slowly relaxed.

She raised her hand and gently patted his back, softly comforting him, "Alright, alright, let's not worry about it anymore. What's done is done, so we have to figure out a way to deal with it together."

Su Ming looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed.

"How do we face this?" His voice was a little hoarse. "If this drags on any longer, it will be discovered sooner or later."

Tian Jing thought for a moment, then her expression became serious.

"I checked..." she said, "This chip is used in large quantities, almost every day."

Su Ming looked at her, not understanding why she said that.

Tian Jing continued, "The greater the amount used, the greater the loss. The greater this is, the more room there is for maneuver."

Su Ming's eyes lit up: "How do I do it?"

Tian Jing lowered her voice and began to explain to him: "You know the defective goods warehouse, right? All those substandard and scrap products are piled up there. Usually, no one checks the numbers in the defective goods warehouse. Generally, after a long time, they are just scrapped. When scrapping, at most a rough count is taken, unlike the good goods warehouse which requires precision."

Su Ming listened intently, his heart starting to race.

"Once this batch of goods is in the warehouse and sent online..." Tian Jing said, "you need to build a good relationship with the warehouse manager in the defective goods warehouse and get a few dozen ICs from him to make up the numbers."

"A few dozen?" Su Ming frowned. "That's still not enough. There are three thousand in total."

Tian Jing smiled, a smile with a hint of slyness.

"No rush, take your time."

She started counting on her fingers: "There are daily losses on the production line. Think of a way to get some defective products from the production line. Then, when their material handlers write the invoices, ask them to add two or three extra pieces each time."

She earnestly instructed, "Remember, not too many. Too many will arouse suspicion from above. Usually, open two at most, and occasionally three."

Su Ming nodded.

"In a month, we should be able to produce about sixty or seventy pieces," Tian Jing continued calculating. "Adding the defective products the production line helps us get, we should be able to produce about thirty more a month. That's about a hundred pieces in total."

"If the defective goods warehouse helps you get 100 pieces, that's 200 pieces."

She looked at Su Ming with encouraging eyes: "There's a month and a half in total. If we work hard, we should be able to eliminate the number of three hundred."

Three hundred?

Su Ming silently calculated in his mind—he was still short 2,700 coins.

That's a huge hole worth hundreds of thousands. Even if he sold it, it wouldn't be enough to cover the losses!