Bai Xi did not extend her hand, but stared coldly at the man fawning before her. "Who are you?"
The man froze, awkwardly retracting his hand, rubbing them together as he smiled. "I am Jia Xi, the butler of the Bai family villa. Miss can call me Ah Xi, or Uncle Jia."
Bai Xi looked closely, her eyes clear and cold. She said indifferently, "Is that so? Then I declare, you are not anymore."
Jia Xi blinked, clearly not understanding the meaning of Bai Xi's words. After a moment, he asked, "Miss, what do you mean?"
Bai Xi frowned. "The literal meaning. I don't like repeating myself."
Jia Xi finally grew angry. "Miss, can I know what I did wrong?"
Bai Xi replied calmly, "If you were smart enough, you wouldn't ask that question."
Yesterday, this man had been among those who wanted to leave. Today, he was still here, meaning there must be another reason.
The reason was simple: either he was intimidated by her having dealt with the mercenaries yesterday, or he had ulterior motives regarding her.
If it were the former, he should be trembling now, afraid that his words might provoke her retaliation. But his current fawning, even deliberately getting close, indicated he had an agenda.
Most sudden, intense fawning and attempts at closeness were traps laid by others.
As soon as these words were spoken, Jia Xi's face flushed red.
His scheme exposed, his plan disrupted, instead of guilt, it bred anger in those who considered themselves wise.
Although Bai Xi had done nothing, Jia Xi felt as if he had been slapped several times. "Bai Xi, I address you as Miss out of respect. Don't push your luck. You should know that I was hired by Mr. Bai with significant funds when he took charge of the Bai Group. You have no right to dismiss me from my position as butler."
Bai Xi raised an eyebrow. "No right?"
Jia Xi blustered, "Yes, you don't have that right..."
Before he could finish, men in black close-fitting attire walked in. One of them grabbed the back of his suit jacket, lifting him entirely. "Please await Miss's judgment."
How dare he say his Bai Shen had no rights?
His Bai Shen's rights extended to personally crushing him to death right now, and that would still be considered acting within bounds.
It was just that their Bai Shen was benevolent and meticulous in his actions, not easily harming life unless it was unforgivable.
Bai Xi glanced at Jia Xi and said indifferently, "Investigate if he has embezzled any funds from the Bai family over the years. If not, strip him of his Bai family butler uniform and throw him at the Zhou family's doorstep. If he has used his butler status to deplete the Bai family's finances, beat him until he willingly returns all the money, and then throw him into the security bureau."
The man in black attire responded, "Yes."
Then, he carried Jia Xi out.
Jia Xi screamed loudly, "No, no, you can't treat me like this..."
Bai Xi didn't even look at him, directly entering the villa. The villa's main door closed smoothly behind her.
The servants on both sides were all terrified into silence.
Bai Xi glanced around indifferently. "Is everyone here?"
None of the servants dared to reply.
The man in black attire said, "Miss is asking you a question. Are you deaf or mute?"
At this, a servant finally spoke up, "There are still a few servants doing manual labor who are not here. Everyone else is present."
Bai Xi said calmly, "Then go and find everyone in the Bai family villa now. I have something to say."
The servant's face was filled with panic. "Yes."
Not long after, everyone was standing in the main hall, including the middle-aged woman who had been the only one to worry about Bai Xi earlier.
Seeing Bai Xi return, a smile appeared on her face. She wanted to speak, but then remembered her status and quickly lowered her head.
During this time, she did not forget to clasp her hands together, rubbing them lightly as if trying to scrub away all the dirt.
Bai Xi sat directly on the sofa and looked at the assembled people. With a gentle lift of her hand, a large leather suitcase was placed on the coffee table in front of her.
The suitcase was opened, revealing an entire case of money.
Bundles of cash were neatly laid out before everyone, making their eyes gleam.
Bai Xi, however, said indifferently, "Now it's time for a quiz. Whoever answers my question correctly can take a stack of money from here."
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, completely unsure of what this young lady intended to do.
Bai Xi said calmly, "First question: Among these people, who was taking care of young master Bai Han?"
Upon her return, besides clearing out the entire Bai family villa, she also intended to investigate who had harmed her brother.
Money could make ghosts turn millstones. Immediately, someone stepped forward and said, "It was Wang Qian and Wang Lan!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Bai Xi's gaze lifted.
The man in black attire immediately took out a stack of money and handed it to the woman who had just answered.
The woman's eyes were filled with unconcealed excitement as she received the money.
The two women named were so terrified they knelt on the ground. "M-Miss, spare us."
"Miss, please let us go."
Bai Xi said indifferently, "You ask me to let you go, which means you know you have done something unforgivable, is that right?"
At this, the two women's bodies stiffened slightly, their eyes filled with panic. Wang Qian said, "N-nothing."
Wang Lan lowered her head, trembling. "We did not take good care of the young master. We... have failed Miss."
Bai Xi looked calmly at the others. "Who knows what they did to wrong me, to be this scared?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd fell silent for half a second, almost in unison looking towards the banknotes in front of Bai Xi.
Finally, someone spoke first. "Wang Lan gave the young master leftover food that they had already eaten."
The moment the words fell, the man in black attire handed the speaker a stack of money.
Seeing the person take the money, others, not to be outdone, chimed in, "I also saw Wang Qian hit young master Bai Han!"
"I saw Wang Lan threaten young master Bai Han!"
"I saw Wang Qian tell young master Bai Han to die!"
"I saw Wang Lan push young master Bai Han onto broken vases!"
"I also heard that Wang Qian once, because she was in a bad mood, directly withheld young master Bai Han's meals for three days. Young master Bai Han cried out for food, but they hid outside the door and chuckled."
"That's right, I also heard that Wang Lan secretly stole valuable items from young master Bai Han's room and sold them, claiming the young master had broken them, which led to Mr. Bai punishing the young master, beating him with a belt, it was terrifying."
"..."
Accusations rained down endlessly, as if everyone was righteous in that moment.
The man in black attire distributed money without any change in expression, which emboldened their speech.
Wang Qian and Wang Lan were now completely terrified, shaking like sieves.
Bai Xi said calmly, "As servants, to disrespect your master, and even to harm them physically, you are truly formidable."
Her voice was very soft, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation, yet it was enough to send chills down their spines.