Chapter 72: Grasping Human Nature

After hanging up the phone, Shui Miao turned to Sister Tang.

Sister Tang looked astonished. She found it strange—Guo Ming and Guo Liang were just regular maintenance workers. How could they have fled with the hotel’s money? Had they robbed the company safe?

Before Sister Tang could ask, Shui Miao whispered, “Sister Tang, go to the employment agency and find a few maintenance workers, preferably ones with hotel experience. Let them try out for three days first—room, board, and three thousand yuan monthly salary upon becoming permanent staff. I trust your sharpness to handle this well. I have an urgent matter to attend to and must leave immediately.”

“Then I’ll get off, and you drive straight back,” Sister Tang, a woman who always put her career first, was already anxious in her heart upon hearing about the hotel issue.

Shui Miao waved his hand, “No, I’ll get off.”

There was no need to argue over such a matter—Shui Miao always believed men should yield to women.

After Shui Miao stepped out, Sister Tang reminded him a few times to stay safe. These simple words of concern might seem trivial to others, but to Shui Miao, they warmed his heart. Hailing a taxi, he got in and thought to himself that Sister Tang was now the most suitable candidate to become the hotel manager. She was capable, smart, and definitely up to the job. But one tree doesn’t make a forest—she needed a few good assistants.

Shui Miao was someone who couldn’t bear others’ kindness. After just a few words of concern from Sister Tang, he immediately started thinking about her future.

※※※

At Guo Ming and Guo Liang’s small restaurant, there were now four people inside—two men and two women: Guo Ming, Guo Liang, and their respective wives—packing up in a rush. They looked like refugees fleeing a disaster, scared that a moment’s delay might trap them forever. Just as they shouldered their bags, dragged suitcases, and tucked packages under their arms preparing to leave, Chen Bing appeared at the door.

Chen Bing grinned, “Hey, where are you all off to?”

“Chen Bing, why are you here? Didn’t Shui Miao fire you?” Seeing someone blocking the entrance startled the couple. Guo Ming quickly recovered, his eyes darting, and added, “Chen Bing! We’ve got a family emergency—we have to rush back home. We don’t have time to chat now. When we come back, we’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Haha, if you leave like this, I’m afraid I’ll never get to drink with you. Let’s not beat around the bush—I heard you were robbed when you went to withdraw money, but I’ve noticed you packing for a while now. You never even went to the bank.” Chen Bing sneered, spreading his legs to block the doorway, clearly showing no intention of letting them through. “Besides, even though I was fired by Shui Ge, we’re still brothers.”

Guo Ming had only told Shui Miao about the robbery. Now that Chen Bing knew, it was obvious he had been sent by Shui Miao.

“Brother, what do we do? Maybe we should just…”

Guo Liang grew anxious. He had been willing to hand over the money, but after returning home, Guo Ming had changed his mind. Not only did he refuse to give the money back, he planned to deceive Shui Miao and leave before he arrived. His intention was to show Shui Miao that even if he caught them, there would be no money left—better not to get caught at all.

It had to be admitted that Guo Liang seriously underestimated Shui Miao’s intelligence.

“Shut up!”

Guo Ming raised his hand to stop Guo Liang. Glaring murderously at Chen Bing, he coldly said, “Chen Bing, we’ve known each other for two years—we’re at least half-friends. Let us go, and I’ll give you two hundred thousand. If you don’t let us go, I’ll kill you right here!”

Guo Ming dropped his bag and pulled out a dagger he had prepared earlier.

“Brother, you’re losing your head! Chen Bing is just a worker—your real opponent is the hotel! Chairman Lin has power and wealth. If you really hurt one of her people, do you think you’ll have any way to survive? Let’s just give up the money and avoid disaster!”

Guo Liang rushed forward to grab Guo Ming’s arm, trying to stop him from doing anything rash. Losing money could be recovered, but losing their lives meant everything was over.

Guo Ming’s wife and Guo Liang’s wife also stepped forward to plead.

“But this money was hard-earned. I can’t just give it up!” Guo Ming was momentarily impulsive. After hearing his brother’s words, he calmed down a bit.

“Ai! What a fool!” Chen Bing shook his head and sighed, “Greed blinds people. Brother Guo Ming, you’ve been blinded by money! Shui Ge has been more than fair to you—he only asked for six hundred thousand! If Huang Fei, the former manager, had handled this, he’d have ruined you completely. If it had been Gao Bo, you two brothers and your two sisters-in-law might already be dead. Now, I won’t stop you, but you can’t escape either. With today’s technology and surveillance everywhere, don’t be so naive, okay?”

“Yes, Brother, don’t lose your head!”

Guo Liang saw clearly—only having to hand over six hundred thousand meant he could still keep three hundred thousand. That was enough to start a big business back home. Besides, the restaurant hadn’t cost much—most of the materials were stolen from the hotel. If they weren’t satisfied with that, they truly were blinded by greed and beyond salvation.

Seeing that Guo Liang was reasonable, Chen Bing felt relieved. He stepped back outside and glanced down the road to his left. He saw five security guards running toward them, each holding an iron chain. He shook his head again and said, “You can’t escape anymore—the hotel security is already here. As a friend, I’ll give you one last piece of advice: a worker, in a position of guilt, trying to fight someone more ruthless than himself is just asking for death. Now, only Shui Ge can save your lives.”

“Clang…”

The dagger fell to the ground with a crisp sound. Guo Ming slumped onto the floor, his face dark green with fury and frustration.

After Xiao Liu and others arrived, Chen Bing, to avoid unnecessary onlookers and to keep the incident quiet, asked Xiao Liu to take the others back, leaving only Xiao Hu. Seeing that only Guo Ming was being stubborn, and knowing Xiao Hu’s skills were more than enough to handle him, Xiao Liu called Shui Miao for confirmation before leaving with the team.

Inside the restaurant, Guo Liang and others were persuading Guo Ming to hand over the money.

Outside, Chen Bing chatted with Xiao Hu, waiting for Shui Miao’s arrival.

Soon, Shui Miao arrived. Seeing Guo Ming still sitting on the floor, clearly unwilling to accept his fate, Shui Miao decided to compromise. He walked straight into the restaurant and spoke to Guo Ming politely, “Since you’re so不服气 (unconvinced) and believe you can escape, fine—I won’t play the good guy anymore. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But if you get arrested later, that will be your own problem. Take care.”

Without another word, Shui Miao turned and left with Xiao Hu and Chen Bing.

Suddenly abandoning the matter, Shui Miao caused Guo Liang to panic first. He immediately reached out to Guo Ming, “Brother, I can’t care about anything else anymore. You have 1.2 million now—give me my 600 thousand. I’ll hand 300 thousand to the hotel and get out of this mess.”

Guo Liang decided to split the money and clear his own name first.

With their own brother now turning against him, Guo Ming had no choice but to sigh heavily. He stood up and called out to Shui Miao, who hadn’t gone far yet, “Manager, I’ll pay the money—but you have to give me a few more days.”

Guo Ming was smart. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to part with hundreds of thousands of yuan. He understood the same logic Guo Liang did. The reason he hesitated was that he suspected something unusual—he believed this money wasn’t actually for the hotel, but was being pocketed by Shui Miao himself. If Chairman Lin Qing’er had ordered it, he would have handed over the full 1.2 million without hesitation. But the one demanding it was Shui Miao, a former waiter he had never respected. He couldn’t accept it—he simply didn’t believe it!

“I’ve already decided not to handle this anymore. You can talk directly to Chairman Lin. Whatever she asks you to pay, just pay it,” Shui Miao replied. Seeing Guo Ming trying to negotiate with him, his eyes catching a hint of doubt in Guo Ming’s gaze, Shui Miao immediately realized the young man suspected him of embezzlement.

Hearing this, Guo Ming’s heart sank. He decided to test Shui Miao one last time, “I don’t have Chairman Lin’s number. Could you give it to me?”

“No problem.”

Shui Miao took out his phone, recited Lin Qing’er’s number, and immediately walked away. As he walked, he sent Lin Qing’er a text message.

Guo Ming swallowed hard and dialed Lin Qing’er’s number… Lin Qing’er saw an unfamiliar number and assumed it was a nuisance call, so she hung up without answering. Moments later, she received a message from Shui Miao: “Guo Ming doubts me. Let him give back however much he took—scare him a bit.” Right after reading the message, her phone rang again.

“Who is this?”

Lin Qing’er was in the middle of a conversation with a friend and was annoyed by the interruption, her tone sharp.

Hearing Lin Qing’er’s voice, Guo Ming’s heart tightened, “Chairman, it’s me—Guo Ming from Maintenance. Do you know about Shui Miao asking me to pay back the money?”

“What? You don’t want to pay?” Lin Qing’er frowned and questioned sharply.

Guo Ming waved his hands frantically, “No, no, not at all! I just wanted to ask… how much do you want me to pay back?”

“You stole from our hotel—return every penny you took. What’s there to ask?” Lin Qing’er shouted and hung up.

“Gulp!”

Guo Ming put down the phone, his face pale with terror, completely stunned!

※※※

Soon after, as Shui Miao was just walking to the side entrance of the hotel, Guo Ming and Guo Liang chased after him. Both wore sycophantic smiles, Guo Ming holding a bank card, “Manager, Manager! Please forgive us small people. Help us one last time. We’ve worked hard for so many years—this card has 600 thousand yuan, password is six 8s. Please accept it. Also, here’s the restaurant agreement…”

Guo Ming wore a fawning expression, completely different from his earlier self.

Though Guo Liang also smiled, his heart was filled with bitterness. He hated his foolish older brother for making a fool of himself unnecessarily.

“Sorry, I already said I’m not involved anymore. Go directly to Chairman Lin to settle the payment. I have other matters. Excuse me,” Shui Miao coldly turned and left, but inside he mused: To achieve great things, understanding people’s hearts is truly an art. Guo Ming was a sharp man, yet his cleverness backfired. In the end, he still submitted. A simple incident like this fully exposed human weaknesses. If one wanted to achieve great things in the future, one must pay attention to this skill.