Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Things started to spiral out of control.

The three items were each more valuable than the last.

If one item is lost, it could be misplaced somewhere, but losing all three together is rather unusual.

Lin Hongbo stood up and asked the butler to call the servants in the villa: "Search, don't miss any corners."

"I'll go check the security camera footage in the hallway." With that, Lin Zhixia walked towards the study.

Seeing this, Lin Zhiwan and Lin Zhiyao followed.

Before long, all the servants returned to the living room.

Lin Hongbo asked in a deep voice, "Have you searched everything?"

The butler nodded: "The search is complete. Apart from the master and madam's rooms, only the two young masters' rooms haven't been searched."

Why not search?

Before the housekeeper could answer, Lin Zhixia came out of the study.

"What clues do you have?" Lin Hongbo asked.

"No." Lin Zhixia shook her head: "The surveillance footage from the past two days has been lost."

Lin Zhiwan behind her looked anxious, while Lin Zhiyao looked aggrieved.

Bang!

Lin Hongbo slammed his hand on the sofa armrest: "This is outrageous!"

"How about we search my room first?" Lin Haozhe stood up, his tone frank.

Watching this farce unfold, Lin Ran shook his head slightly: "Let's skip the useless formalities. I bet those valuables are in my room."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at him.

Lin Zhiyao's eyes widened: "So, you're admitting you stole our things?"

"You can't just say things like that," Lin Ran casually denied. "I only guessed the item was in my room, I didn't say I stole it."

"If you didn't steal it, why is it in your room?" Lin Zhiyao pouted.

"Who knows?" Lin Ran said nonchalantly. "I'm just guessing. Shall we go take a look?"

Afterwards, the group went upstairs.

Lin Ran pushed open the door to his room, walked to the wardrobe, reached out and grasped the door handle, glanced back at everyone, and then pulled it open.

Inside the wardrobe, on the top shelf were several faded old T-shirts and two pairs of jeans, and below them hung a set of Xinhai No. 1 Middle School uniform and two dark-colored tracksuits.

At the very bottom of the wardrobe, three items were neatly arranged on a folded sweatshirt: a blue diamond necklace, a nano combat suit bracelet, and a white jade amulet.

These items, displayed alongside Lin Ran's old clothes, created a stark contrast, even appearing somewhat jarring.

Lin Zhiyao stepped forward, pointing to her jade pendant: "What else do you have to say now?"

"Do I really have to say it?" Lin Ran asked calmly.

"certainly!"

"Alright then." Lin Ran put on an innocent expression. "Who put this stolen stuff in my closet?"

Lin Zhiyao stomped her foot in anger: "You still haven't learned your lesson!"

"Isn't this what you wanted me to say?" Lin Ran shrugged.

The method of framing was clearly clumsy, yet some people still believed it, which is truly frustrating.

Lin Zhiyao said righteously and sternly, "I want you to admit your mistake!"

"That won't do." Lin Ran shook his head. "I didn't do anything wrong, why should I admit it?"

"You stole things, and that's wrong?" Lin Zhiyao said indignantly.

Lin Ran said with a hint of disdain, "Just because the things are in my room doesn't mean I stole them?"

"Could it be someone else..." Lin Zhiyao paused halfway through her sentence.

She glanced around at the people, then turned back, a hint of uncertainty in her voice: "Impossible. Who would do something so pointless?"

"Then I don't know." Lin Ran said calmly.

In fact, based on his guess, this matter is probably related to Lin Haozhe.

However, he had no evidence, since Lin Haozhe was always with him, going to and from school together, and he had no opportunity to commit the crime.

Of course, he didn't need any evidence.

Lin Zhiwan stepped forward, picked up the blue diamond necklace from the wardrobe, and examined it under the light.

After confirming that the necklace was undamaged, she turned to leave, saying, "I have to go now, I'm going to miss the banquet."

"No!" Lin Ran reached out to stop him, his tone serious. "This is evidence of a crime; how can you just take it away like that?"

Lin Zhiwan stopped and frowned slightly: "This banquet is very important to me."

"Then let's change the necklace. Is this all you have?" Lin Ran said nonchalantly.

Lin Zhiwan looked at him, slightly impatient: "I don't have time to mess around with you."

"What nonsense? I don't think this is nonsense." Lin Ran leaned against the wardrobe door, arms crossed. "Items worth hundreds of millions, the sentence won't be light."

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, a playful smile on his face.

"You mean someone is framing you?" Lin Zhixia stared at Lin Ran's expression, her tone calm and her demeanor composed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lin Ran shrugged. "Such a big matter, why not let the Public Security Bureau investigate?"

At this moment, Lin Zhiyao belatedly realized, "So that's how it is."

She glanced at the few shabby clothes in Lin Ran's wardrobe and frowned slightly.

Lin Haozhe stepped forward, his tone urgent: "Brother Ran, no matter what, let's return the necklace to Big Sister first. The important matter is what matters."

Perhaps because Lin Ran mentioned the Public Security Bureau, a hint of panic flashed in Lin Haozhe's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

Lin Ran turned to look at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "What you said makes sense. But what does that have to do with me?"

"You're part of this family too. When it comes to important family matters, does Brother Ran have to act impulsively?" Lin Haozhe's words were barbed.

"Is this really that serious?" Lin Ran paused briefly, his tone becoming even more earnest. "Then I absolutely cannot allow anyone to take away the evidence here."

Lin Zhiwan took a deep breath and slowly said, "I really need this necklace right now. I'll just use it today and return it until things are cleared up."

"It seems the person who did this knows your situation very well." Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. "They even knew you had to use this necklace today."

His words immediately made everyone's hearts tighten.

Lin Zhixia looked at Lin Ran with a serious expression: "You mean, the person who framed you is someone from your family?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongbo and Song Yishu exchanged a glance.

"Don't worry, Xiao Ran. Your parents will definitely get you justice!" Lin Hongbo said in a deep voice.

Looking at the few faded old clothes in the closet, Song Yishu's voice choked with emotion: "You've been back for over half a month, and you still haven't bought a few decent clothes. It's my fault for not taking good care of you."

"Hey, hey, hey? We've gone off-topic!" Lin Ran interrupted, "Is the issue the clothes? We need to discuss these valuable items!"

He scanned everyone present, his gaze shifting from the Lin family members to several servants standing in the corridor.

"The person who could sneak things into my room must be someone who has been staying in this villa for a long time. At least when I wasn't in my room, this person was still in the villa."

The servants looked at each other, some with resentment and others with nervousness.

The butler's expression froze for a moment, then turned serious.

He turned around and his gaze swept across the faces of the servants one by one.

"Whoever did it should step forward and apologize to the young master. Otherwise, if the police come to investigate, it won't be so easy to resolve."

The living room was silent for a few seconds, and no one stepped forward.

Lin Ran leaned against the wardrobe door, arms crossed: "Fine, I gave you a chance but you didn't cherish it, then let the police investigate."

"Brother Ran, there's no need to make such a fuss. After all, it's a family matter," Lin Haozhe said awkwardly.

"You don't understand." Lin Ran shook his head: "You can guard against anything, but it's hard to guard against a thief within your own ranks. This kind of person dares to frame me now, and next time he'll dare to target you. You must not underestimate him."

Song Yishu, who hadn't grasped the main point before, now felt that Lin Ran's words made a lot of sense.

"Xiao Ran is right! This kind of thing absolutely cannot be tolerated!"