Chapter 92
Editor: Princess
Such incidents had occurred before in earlier years when surveillance equipment remained incomplete. During those times, people had even climbed over walls to dig up and steal floor tiles for sale.
When the police heard that the building was a protected historical structure, their expressions grew considerably more serious. They immediately retrieved street surveillance footage to search for the perpetrator.
Gu Shaoyu arrived hurriedly after about ten minutes, having already made several phone calls. He feared the search might prove unsuccessful, so he had mobilized some personal connections to request assistance.
Yu Xiaosu and Cheng Liang stood there, shoulders heavy with self-blame. When Shen You saw them with their heads hanging down, she approached and patted Yu Xiaosu’s shoulder gently.
“If the thief knew those items were valuable, he would have targeted them long ago.”
After another half hour passed, they received notification that the suspect had been found at the nearest police station.
Shen You and the others all went there.
“How was I supposed to know that thing was some ancient carved decoration? I saw it lying on the ground and thought nobody wanted it, so I picked it up. Since when is picking up old wood illegal?”
The person loudly defending himself was the thief who had stolen the items.
Sitting in the police station, he showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, he displayed the shameless attitude of a scoundrel who feared no consequences, even spraying saliva onto the police officer’s face while speaking.
“Who said those were unwanted items! We even placed foam padding underneath them, with our tools right beside them.” Yu Xiaosu’s face flushed red with anger.
“A piece of broken wood and a window, yet you claim they’re worth a hundred thousand yuan. Don’t you people have any shame? You’re trying to scam money, aren’t you!”
The man cursed loudly, yet Shen You noticed a flash of guilt that crossed his face.
Of course he knew they were valuable.
“Those aren’t just pieces of broken wood, they’re antiques. This is no longer a matter of detention for a few days. You could face several years in prison! You’d better tell us where the items are!” The police officer banged the table as a warning.
However even after hearing about imprisonment, the man still refused to admit anything.
“I took them home but saw they were useless, so I casually threw them in the river. If you want to find them, go fish them out of the river yourselves. Why are you arresting me!”
The officers who had arrested him also reported seeing no stolen goods, yet his fearless demeanor made the experienced police officers understand the situation perfectly.
They had discovered that this man owed gambling debts outside.
Seeing the situation turning against him, the suspect began throwing a tantrum on the spot. “Just some rotten wood, yet you want me to pay a hundred thousand yuan. This is outrageous! You’re conspiring with the police to bully an ordinary citizen like me!”
“You’re mistaken.” Shen You corrected him. “A hundred thousand yuan is for one carved window. The window patterns in our place form a continuous design. Missing one window means the overall value loss of the house exceeds that amount.”
“If you tried to sell it on the market, others would pay you at most ten or twenty thousand yuan, and there might not even be buyers in Jiangcheng.”
The police had already investigated clearly. This man had previously applied for a security guard position nearby but failed to get hired, which sparked his criminal intentions.
He knew that some mansions usually remained unoccupied, and any carved wooden piece inside could sell for considerable money.
After wandering around for several days, he discovered these places were heavily secured with no opportunities to strike.
Finally, he noticed that Shen You’s workshop was undergoing renovation and needed to keep its doors open. With delivery people coming and going constantly, it provided the perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
As for the stolen items, they had likely already been passed to his accomplices for selling.
However, these were all speculations without concrete evidence. The man insisted he didn’t know the items were valuable and had thrown them away.
Without definitive proof, they truly had no way to deal with such a scoundrel.
Cheng Liang grew so angry he wanted to attack the man. Just as the suspect was feeling smug about potentially getting away with the crime, his accomplice was arrested.
The items had been handed over at 9:50 AM, the accomplice reached the antique street at 10:20 AM, and when arrested, it wasn’t even 11:00 AM yet.
Seeing the recovered items, everyone from the workshop still blazed with anger.
The accomplice, afraid of being discovered during the sale, had broken the carved wooden piece into sections.
They wanted to dispose of the items quickly, and the only place they could think of was the antique street.
The moment Shen You confirmed the theft, she had sent photos to several antique shop owners she knew.
So when the thief entered a shop to inquire about prices, the owner immediately recognized Shen You’s items. He invited him into a room without valuable goods, served him tea to keep him calm, then promptly reported him.
For items worth tens of thousands of yuan, who would want to offend Shen You?
Setting aside Shen You’s current reputation in the collecting circle, her personal craftsmanship alone meant they might need her help in the future.
When the accomplice was arrested, he was completely bewildered, thinking his partner had sold him out. He came in cursing and throwing punches.
The subsequent matters had nothing to do with them.
Gu Shaoyu brought in a lawyer to handle the case. Stealing such a large amount and damaging the items would definitely result in imprisonment.
When they returned to the workshop, Gu Shaoyu asked worriedly, “What about these items? Can they still be saved?”
He feared Shen You would have difficulty explaining to their behind-the-scenes partner. They had only been using the mansion for a short time before such an incident occurred.
“They can be repaired. We’ll need to hire specialists in ancient building restoration. There are some on the antique street. It’s not a particularly major problem, so don’t worry.”
“This happened due to our negligence, causing damage to antiques preserved for so long. Please deduct from our salaries to hire someone for repairs.”
Yu Xiaosu and Cheng Liang unanimously decided to take responsibility themselves.
“There’s no need. Repairing this carved wooden piece won’t cost much money.” Shen You comforted them gently. “I told you not to take it to heart. Just be more careful next time. Our workshop is a team, and when problems arise, we handle them together. Hey, it’s almost dinner time. Let’s see what we should eat.”
Gu Shaoyu leaned over to look at the menu on Shen You’s phone and suggested, “A new Chinese restaurant opened the day before yesterday with nice decor. Instead of ordering takeout, why don’t we go try their food?”
Shen You made an immediate decision. “Let’s go!”
With the problem resolved, they deserved a good dinner to help everyone calm their emotions.
The new restaurant was on the other side of the lake. Driving would require going around in a circle, so they simply took a hand-rowed boat directly across, which only took a few minutes.
This restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere. Seeing that her two assistants still seemed somewhat restrained, Shen You told them to order whatever they wanted, with the workshop covering the bill.
The food tasted decent and the presentation looked beautiful. They were essentially paying for the visual appeal and ambiance.
The 299-yuan “Life Like a Dream” featured a flower placed in the center, which would slowly bloom when the tea was poured.
While it looked quite beautiful, it had no particular flavor, giving Shen You the illusion that she could do just as well for that price.
After dinner, Gu Shaoyu and Cheng Liang returned first, while Shen You and Yu Xiaosu visited the nearby ancient town.
Shopping was definitely better done with another girl. At a traditional domestic cosmetics physical store, Shen You bought several goose egg compact powders plus many offline-exclusive items, while Yu Xiaosu also purchased some products.
“Miss Shen, why are you buying so much?” Yu Xiaosu asked curiously.
“To give as gifts to family and friends back home.” Shen You replied.
Afterward, they visited a shop selling embroidery threads. Although no one in the workshop knew embroidery, silk threads served as materials for making velvet flowers.
Shen You had recently viewed some velvet flower exhibitions in museums and wanted to try making them herself. Creating velvet flowers was much simpler compared to goldsmithing or restoring those intricate filigree jewelry pieces.
Since they were already there, she bought some materials along the way.
In the afternoon, they returned to the workshop where everyone spent considerable time consulting the almanac to discuss which day would be best for the official opening.
Gu Shaoyu suggested finding a master to calculate an auspicious date, mentioning that his family’s branch store openings and house purchases were all timed according to such calculations.
Shen You waved her hand. She felt that consulting the old almanac was sufficient. They finally settled on next Friday, ten days away.
With the date confirmed, they needed to announce this to everyone.
Nothing would be more appropriate than hosting a private collection exhibition here and sending out invitation cards.
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