She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Chapter 469

Grandma Xia and her sister finally returned. They opened the door chatting and laughing. Just as they came out of the kitchen to pour water, they looked up and saw Chen Xiangbei standing at the door with a resentful face, followed by Qiao Yi.

"Why are you two here so late at night?" Old Mrs. Xia asked casually as she sat down.

Chen Xiangbei sniffed. "Mom, Auntie, has anyone come to your back door recently?"

Grandma Xia understood immediately. It seemed they were looking for her hidden money and then discovered it was gone. She pretended to be clueless. "Who is it? I work during the day, and I haven't seen anyone come to my back door at night. What are they doing at my back door in the dark?"

Chen Xiangbei was heartbroken; that was a huge sum of money. Hearing his mother say she wasn't home during the day and therefore didn't know, he turned to Xia Yu'e and asked, "Auntie, what about you? You should have been home during the day, right? Did you see...did you see anyone acting suspiciously?"

When he said the second half of his sentence, his voice choked up, and Qiao Yi patted his back to comfort him.

Xia Yu'e really wanted to laugh, although she felt it was a bit immoral. But Chen Xiangbei looked so pitiful and wronged, just like a child, making her want to tease him. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here during the day. There aren't many strangers in our compound. Apart from the few people we know, everyone else would stay as far away from us as possible. Who would come here for no reason? Unless... they have something shady to do."

Chen Xiangbei felt a pang of guilt, but it was quickly overshadowed by the pain of losing his money. When he heard that his money was probably really gone, he couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Oh dear, oh dear, what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" Old Mrs. Xia grinned, showing her big teeth and squinting her eyes, but she still had to hold back her laughter.

Xia Yu'e also stood up, took out a handkerchief and went over to wipe his tears, "What happened? Xiang Bei, tell us!"

Qiao Yi instantly understood that her master and the others must know where Xiang Bei's money had gone.

She nudged Chen Xiangbei, trying to remind him.

But Chen Xiangbei was so engrossed in crying, lost in his own grief, that he didn't respond to Qiao Yi's reminder.

He sobbed, "I hid a lot of money under the eaves of your back door a few days ago, hidden it very well... Waaah... But today... it's all gone. Waaah..."

Old Mrs. Xia asked knowingly, "Where did you get such a large sum of money?"

Chen Xiangbei felt there was no point in hiding it anymore. The money was gone, and the more people knew, the more people would help him find it. So he told them the whole story about where the money came from, including the hardships he went through to steal it and the tricks he had played in Old Chen's box.

"It must be that even God couldn't stand my behavior anymore, so He made me suffer such a big lesson. I had already sworn not to steal anything, but... I was so afraid that my dad would spend all the money that my brother and sister had on that Yang Su, so I stole it."

I didn't intend to spend it all. I just wanted to wait until the right time to take it out, until my dad saw through that woman's true colors, and then I would return it to him. I didn't even tell my second brother; he'll definitely find a way to take all the money. I... I didn't intend to keep it all to myself. I just wanted to wait for an opportunity to return it to my dad. I just didn't want that money, which was meant for our important occasion, to be spent by that woman and her family.

"Mom, I didn't mean to spend that money. I've decided I'll never do anything bad again, I've made up my mind."

Seeing that Chen Xiangbei, that heartless brat, was genuinely upset, Old Lady Xia and Xia Yu'e exchanged a glance, then turned and went into their room. They then came out with the stack of money wrapped in mooncake paper. "Alright, alright, stop crying. Is this what you mean?"

She picked up the money and waved it in front of Chen Xiangbei. Chen Xiangbei sobbed for a moment, then shouted, "The money isn't lost!"

Grandma Xia: "We didn't steal this. The wind was so strong that day that it blew this bag of money down and almost hurt your aunt. You're such a careless child when it comes to hiding money. What if someone had taken it or it had blown into the river?"

Holding his recovered money, Chen Xiangbei's body was still trembling, but he felt extremely relieved. It was good he hadn't lost it; if he had, he wouldn't have been able to sleep at night because of guilt.

After being comforted by the three, Chen Xiangbei finally managed to compose himself, sniffling. He was still in the mood to settle the accounts. "Mom, I'm already so upset, and you just deliberately didn't tell me that the money was with you. You just wanted to see me anxious. And Auntie, you've become bad too!"

Thinking about the heartfelt conversation he had just had with Qiao Yi, and how he started crying as soon as he entered the door, Chen Xiangbei felt a surge of anger and embarrassment.

Grandma Xia tapped his forehead. "You're blaming us now. If we don't teach you a lesson, will you do even worse in the future? Can you just steal and hide money like that? You were lucky this time that your aunt found it, but what if we hadn't found it? And what are you planning to do with this money?"

Chen Xiangbei clutched the money tightly. "I don't know what to do either. How about I hide it with you?"

Old Mrs. Xia yelled, "You stole money yourself and now you want to drag me down with you?"

Chen Xiangbei: "I didn't steal the money, I will pay it back later."

Grandma Xia: "Taking money without asking is stealing. Your father hasn't officially given this money to you yet, and you took it secretly, which is stealing. Moreover, some of it wasn't even money meant for you; it was money he had saved up himself. You really didn't leave him a single penny. No wonder he got into a fight. If it were someone else, they might have ended up in the hospital without even fighting. Losing such a large sum of money would make anyone anxious."

Chen Xiangbei shouted, "He's not worried at all. He's so good at finding and buying jobs for his stepson that he doesn't even think about me, his own son. What's there for him to be worried about? Speaking of being worried, he's probably not as worried as Yang Su and her sons. Her savings were taken by her second brother, and now Dad's money is in my hands. She's got nothing to show for it."

Grandma Xia then grasped the key point: "What do you mean? Your second brother took her money?"

Chen Xiangbei nodded: "Didn't my second brother tell you last time? It was the time I came here and lay down for an afternoon, and then he chased after me. My sister and brother-in-law and I worked together to swindle Yang Su out of her money."

Seeing that Grandma Xia's expression was getting worse, he added, "I didn't get a single penny of the money. My second brother pocketed it all. I... I also felt it wasn't right. I even told my second brother, but he said that the woman would swindle all of Dad's money in the future, and he only took that little bit, so he didn't feel guilty at all."

Grandma Xia: "So, that's why you thought of stealing your father's money?"