Gu Susu thought the old lady wanted her to kneel and was about to explain herself when she noticed the old lady’s eyes were fixed on Huang Xiuli. She realized the words weren't directed at her.
Huang Xiuli’s eyes widened, and she pointed at herself, asking, “Old Madam, she’s the one making a fool of herself online now. You want me to kneel?”
“Kneel,” the old lady said, her expression unchanged, but her voice grew sterner.
Huang Xiuli glanced at Gu Susu, feeling utterly unwilling to kneel before a junior like Gu Susu and Qin Tianyi. “Old Madam, I haven’t done anything wrong. Why should I kneel?”
The old lady said to Rong Ma, who had returned to the dining room, “Go to my room and bring me the financial statements of Mishang Company.”
Huang Xiuli began to sweat all over. Jin Meiyao stood by the side, watching the drama unfold silently, thinking this matter had nothing to do with her. She had merely accompanied Huang Xiuli to join in the fun.
Gu Susu was also confused about the situation. Wasn’t everyone supposed to attack her for the online video?
Why was the old lady now reprimanding Huang Xiuli?
The old lady’s expression softened slightly, and she smiled. “Yang Liang’s wife, it’s good you’re here. Actually, even if you hadn’t come to me today, I would have sent someone to invite you. If you don’t kneel, I’m afraid Ya Xuan will face more than just kneeling.”
“Old Madam, what’s wrong? Gu Susu has only been your granddaughter-in-law for a few days, but I’ve been your daughter-in-law for many years. How can you believe an outsider like this and dislike me and Ya Xuan? What wrong have we done?” Huang Xiuli stubbornly held her ground, gambling that the old lady was just bluffing.
Rong Ma brought a document and handed it to the old lady. The old lady threw it directly at Huang Xiuli. “Look at this yourself. What did Ya Xuan do when I let her manage the company?”
Seeing the accounts marked in red on the financial statements, Huang Xiuli’s face turned deathly pale, and her legs gave out. She slid down to her knees.
“Falsifying accounts, cutting corners on fashion materials, embezzlement, creating counterfeit brands to supply the low-end market! What are you trying to do? Hollow out Mishang to enrich yourselves? Any single entry on this report could land Ya Xuan in jail for ten to eight years,” the old lady enumerated unceremoniously.
Huang Xiuli not only knelt but also lowered her head. “Old Madam, that’s not true. Someone must be framing Ya Xuan. Ya Xuan wouldn’t do such a thing. You must investigate thoroughly!”
“Of course, Ya Xuan wouldn’t do such a thing,” the old lady said. “I was wondering how a young girl fresh out of school would understand these things. It’s all your fault as a mother!”
Huang Xiuli could no longer maintain her composure, tears welling up in her eyes. She had never expected things to turn out this way.
She and Ya Xuan had been unable to swallow their pride. They discussed it at home and instructed their people in the company to have Zhang Gaoyuan’s wife directly confront Gu Susu and cause as much trouble as possible.
They had also sent people to follow Guo Mei and report the situation to them at any time.
But Guo Mei was truly useless. After a few words from Gu Susu, she shook hands with Gu Susu, and then Mishang Company’s security escorted Guo Mei away.
The people they sent recorded this incident. Last night, the mother and daughter discussed it at home. They decided to have someone post the video online, hire some internet trolls, and use a comment from a bystander in the video as the headline to ruin Gu Susu’s reputation. They hoped the old lady would no longer favor or protect her, and perhaps the company could return to their hands.
After some online manipulation, the video indeed became a trending topic by noon, causing a huge stir.
However, they knew the old lady didn’t like the internet. Besides making phone calls, she didn’t use other functions on her phone, so Huang Xiuli came in person.
When she met Jin Meiyao in the large house, she explained the situation after seeing the video. Jin Meiyao also spoke ill of Gu Susu.
They then came to the old lady’s place, expecting to see the old lady extremely disappointed in Gu Susu, only to find themselves becoming the targets of the old lady’s reprimand.
This was truly a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. She admitted her mistake, “It’s all my fault, Old Madam. Please forgive me, and please don’t call the police. I’ll never dare to do it again…”
The old lady said resentfully, “Look at your incompetence. You only cause trouble after marrying into the Qin family. Our second son has always been useless because of you! And you still have the nerve to ask me to forgive you.”
Huang Xiuli crawled to the old lady and tugged at her trouser leg, saying, “Old Madam, we are family after all. If I get into trouble, what will happen to Yang Liang and Ya Xuan? Our little family still needs me?”
“Return all the money you took from Mishang, and I won’t pursue it further,” the old lady stated with no room for negotiation.
Gu Susu had been watching from the side, finding it strange. Yesterday, she had just told Fan Zhihua about investigating the handover of accounts, and by noon today, the old lady already had the financial statements showing their accounts were problematic. This speed of work was truly remarkable.
She couldn’t help but glance at Qin Tianyi. He stood beside her with a blank expression, but he didn’t seem surprised, as if he had already known about this.
Huang Xiuli gritted her teeth. “Okay, we’ll all withdraw. But some of the money has already been invested by Yang Liang in other ventures and cannot be recovered immediately.”
The old lady did not intend to let them off easily and asked, “How much can you withdraw?”
Huang Xiuli calculated in her mind. “We can only withdraw two million yuan right now.”
The old lady did not reply. Jin Meiyao, glancing at the financial statements, said, “Really? You’re only withdrawing two million? I see that any single entry on here is more than that. No wonder you’ve been buying so many expensive bags and jewelry these past few years. I thought second brother had struck it rich, but it turns out he embezzled a lot of money from the old lady’s company.”
“What do you mean by that?” Huang Xiuli’s face showed anger as she looked at Jin Meiyao. Hadn’t they agreed that Jin Meiyao would help her before coming to the old lady’s place?
When she was in trouble, Gu Susu hadn’t spoken yet, but Jin Meiyao jumped out and bit her.
Jin Meiyao had come to watch Gu Susu’s downfall, but she didn’t expect Huang Xiuli, this useless firecracker, to be outmaneuvered by the old lady. But seeing how much benefit Huang Xiuli had reaped for her daughter at Mishang Company, she was certainly envious.
After all, her husband was in charge of the entire Qin Group, and he hadn’t gained so many benefits. How could she feel comfortable seeing this useless Huang Xiuli embezzle so much money?
“Although we are all family, we each have our own affairs. If everyone were like you, blurring the lines between public and private and only looking out for themselves to make money, the Qin Group would be hollowed out…” Jin Meiyao said righteously.