Hearing this, Zheng Jinghe broke out in a cold sweat, his eyes darting around, not daring to meet her gaze.
"Sorry. I'm going to the restroom,"
Shen Xi signaled Jian Fan, who was standing to the side, to follow him.
As soon as they entered the restroom, Zheng Jinghe quickly shut the door and bolted it from the inside.
"Hey? Why are you locking the door?" Jian Fan tried to push it open, but it was too late.
"I'll be right out," Zheng Jinghe said loudly from inside.
Glancing towards the restroom, Shen Xi didn't think much of it. Instead, she turned to the bewildered Manager He and said,
"Manager He, you must be wondering how I know so much about this artifact. Actually, this artifact was sold by my father to a Mr. Yin in K City many years ago. Later, he was in a car accident, his company went bankrupt, and this artifact disappeared without a trace."
Mr. Yin? Car accident?
Manager He couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Are you perhaps referring to Yin Yuan of Hongrui Group from five years ago?"
Yin Yuan's car accident, Hongrui's bankruptcy, the Yin family's assets being frozen, and his daughter and son disappearing over a month later had shocked the entire K City.
He had just started working at this auction company back then and had heard about the incident.
"Yes. Him," Shen Xi replied, her eyes dark.
Manager He frowned. "But I heard that all of the Yin family's belongings were auctioned off to pay debts. How did this artifact end up in Mr. Zheng's possession?"
At that moment, Jian Fan's voice came from the restroom door, "Mr. Zheng, are you done?"
Shen Xi's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered Zheng Jinghe had been inside for quite some time and had a bad premonition.
She quickly hurried over and said loudly, "Jian Fan, kick the door down."
Upon hearing this, Jian Fan looked back at her and immediately kicked the restroom door open with force.
When they entered, Zheng Jinghe was nowhere to be seen.
Shen Xi quickly went to the window and looked down. Zheng Jinghe had already climbed out the window and leaped to the first floor.
"Jian Fan, hurry up and chase him! Zheng Jinghe is running away."
Jian Fan paused, hesitant. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me. Finding him is the most important thing. Go!" Shen Xi looked at him with urgency, urging him to go downstairs quickly.
At this moment, Manager He also walked to the window and looked down. He saw Zheng Jinghe stumbling and running towards a black car, his confusion growing.
"Manager He, why do you think Zheng Jinghe would escape through the window?" Shen Xi asked him calmly.
"Why?" Manager He countered, this being the very question in his mind.
Shen Xi walked out of the restroom and approached the blue-and-white porcelain artifact. "It's because he has something to hide. This artifact doesn't belong to him at all; he stole it."
If they calculated based on the situation at the time, all of the Yin family's possessions were confiscated by the relevant authorities to pay off debts, and only this one item had fallen into the wrong hands.
Coupled with Zheng Jinghe's nervous demeanor, this was the only possible explanation.
She remembered that after her father bought this artifact, he had shown it to her a few times before taking it to the company.
"That's impossible, isn't it?" Manager He asked incredulously.
After all, Zheng Jinghe was the CEO of a company; how could he do something like that?
Shen Xi looked at him with a dark gaze. "Do you know who this Zheng Jinghe is? He was the vice president of Hongrui Group back then. He had the inside track, you understand?"
Shen Xi recalled her father mentioning that Zheng Jinghe also had a fondness for antiques and had praised this blue-and-white porcelain artifact to him multiple times, expressing his admiration.
A clear image now formed in her mind: after her father's car accident, Zheng Jinghe had secretly sneaked into the CEO's office and brazenly taken the artifact he had coveted for so long.
At that time, Hongrui was in chaos, and she herself was dealing with many personal issues, so she hadn't been to the scene. No one would have paid attention to this matter.
"Ah?" Manager He exclaimed in surprise after hearing this.
"Therefore, this artifact does not belong to Zheng Jinghe at all; it was obtained illegally by him. I demand to retrieve this artifact now, and I ask Manager He to arrange for someone to pack it for me."
Seeing that he had basically believed her story, Shen Xi seized the opportunity to make her request.
Upon hearing this, Manager He was startled. "That won't do. Even if this artifact doesn't belong to Zheng Jinghe, I can't hand it over to you. It should be handed over to the police."