Zhang Xiaohua angrily raised her voice. “Lin Fengxia, what do you mean?!”
Lin Fengxia said calmly, “Zhang Xiaohua, from the incident to its resolution, it was only one hour. When did you say it, and to whom?”
Zhang Xiaohua froze and gave no response.
“I… I…”
“I just couldn’t stand you and told others about it. If someone misunderstood and spread it, how is that my fault?!”
Zhang Xiaohua shoved past Lin Fengxia. “Stop blocking my way!”
Lin Fengxia grabbed her. “Since you caused this, you must apologize and clarify the whole matter to everyone!”
Zhang Xiaohua refused. “Why should I!”
“Since when do you get to control who I chat with?”
The two began arguing, attracting many onlookers.
Now everyone in the compound knew Lin Fengxia was a thief, so they pointed and gossiped about her.
Lin Fengxia didn’t care about the voices.
She had already died once — she simply disdained what others said.
Zhang Xiaohua tried to break free but discovered Lin Fengxia was very strong and she couldn’t escape.
More and more people gathered, surrounding them.
Many spoke up for Zhang Xiaohua.
“A thief, yet still so arrogant?”
“Relying on Commander Qin’s kindness to do whatever she wants!”
“People like this should be kicked out of the compound!”
The accusations came nonstop. Zhang Xiaohua gritted her teeth and said, “Lin Fengxia, without Commander Qin protecting you, do you think you could still stand here?”
Lin Fengxia tightened her grip, and Zhang Xiaohua cried out in pain.
Her expression changed. “Lin Fengxia, are you crazy?!”
“Let go of me!”
A woman close to Zhang Xiaohua stepped forward and tried to pry Lin Fengxia’s hand off.
Lin Fengxia pressed her lips together, expression unchanged, staring fixedly at Zhang Xiaohua.
Her gaze made Zhang Xiaohua uneasy.
At that moment, an angry shout rang out: “What are you all doing!”
The crowd immediately parted and looked toward Qin Jianguo striding over.
Panic appeared on Zhang Xiaohua’s face.
A woman close to her complained, “Commander Qin, Lin Fengxia is a thief!”
“Kick her out of the compound!”
Qin Jianguo’s face was cold as water. “Who said she’s a thief?”
The moment he said that, the place fell silent.
He walked to Lin Fengxia’s side. Zhang Xiaohua tearfully said, “Brother Qin, help me!”
“Lin Fengxia’s gone crazy — she grabbed me!”
Qin Jianguo looked at Lin Fengxia. “Sorry, this matter was my oversight.”
Only then did Lin Fengxia release her hand.
A red mark was clearly visible on Zhang Xiaohua’s wrist.
With tears in her eyes, she glared resentfully at Lin Fengxia.
Facing the crowd, Qin Jianguo said sternly, “Do you have any evidence she is a thief?”
Everyone fell silent. They had only heard rumors that Lin Fengxia stole the cultural performance funds.
Qin Jianguo said, “The theft of the performance money is a rumor.”
“When the money went missing, Comrade Lin immediately reported it and was willing to write an IOU to repay it!”
“When did such unhealthy behavior spread in the compound?!”
“Making baseless rumors and targeting innocent people!”
“Today, everyone attends a meeting — including Zhang Xiaohua!”
He looked at Zhang Xiaohua coldly. “You made a mistake. You must do a public self-criticism and apologize to Comrade Lin!”
Zhang Xiaohua drooped like a frost-struck eggplant.
She lowered her head, feeling like the sky had collapsed.
Everyone stayed silent and obediently went to the meeting.
All gathered in the open ground of the compound, with Qin Jianguo standing in the center.
With a stern face, he explained the origin of the rumor and made Zhang Xiaohua go on stage to read her self-criticism and publicly apologize to Lin Fengxia.
Others who had discussed Lin Fengxia were also called out and made to apologize one by one.
Qin Jianguo strictly warned that no one was allowed to gossip behind others’ backs again.
After the crowd dispersed, Lin Fengxia felt very grateful to Qin Jianguo.
When Qin Jianguo saw her, his expression softened.
“It was my negligence that led to you being attacked by rumors.”
“I don’t know when this kind of atmosphere appeared in the compound. I’m truly sorry.”
Lin Fengxia felt embarrassed. “You don’t need to apologize. You’re not the one who did wrong.”
Qin Jianguo was concerned about her mood. “Are you okay now?”
Lin Fengxia nodded. “I’m fine. If they want to curse me, let them. I won’t lose a piece of flesh.”
Qin Jianguo relaxed. “As long as you’re fine.”
A guard ran over. “Comrade Lin, your parents came looking for you!”
Lin Fengxia frowned.
If they came at this time, it definitely wasn’t for anything good.
“I won’t see them.”
Interacting with the Lin family only brought her bad luck.
Qin Jianguo escorted Lin Fengxia back, but the guard ran over again.
“Comrade Lin, you’d better go take a look — they’re making a scene at the gate.”
Lin Fengxia followed the guard to the entrance.
Lin Laohan and Zhang Landi were shouting loudly.
“It’s our failure to educate our child — letting our daughter steal in the compound!”
“This time we came to talk properly to prevent her from making mistakes again!”
Lin Lanzhi was beside them supporting them.
Seeing Lin Fengxia, she wiped her tears. “Uncle, Auntie, don’t say that.”
“There might be a misunderstanding.”
Lin Laohan snorted. “What misunderstanding?”
“The whole village knows she stole things! She’s disgraced the Lin family — she still has the face to stay here, but we don’t!”
Lin Fengxia asked coldly, “Who said I stole something?”
Lin Laohan was about to flare up, but when he saw Qin Jianguo’s cold face, he shrank back and didn’t dare speak.
“Where did you hear that Lin Fengxia stole something?”
Zhang Landi, who had been crying, was frightened by Qin Jianguo’s imposing manner.
She stammered, “W-we don’t know.”
“We just heard people say she stole something. We were afraid she made a bigger mistake, so we hurried over.”
“Commander Qin, we know you’re a good person, but theft is serious. You can’t keep covering for Fengxia just because you pity her!”
Qin Jianguo narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze sweeping across their faces.
Lin Lanzhi timidly asked, “Fengxia, I believe in your character, but there’s no smoke without fire… could this be some misunderstanding?”
Lin Fengxia sneered. “Lin Lanzhi, no need to act fake. Besides, this is my family’s matter — since when is it your place to comment?!”
Lin Lanzhi’s face instantly turned pale.
Her lips trembled before she even spoke, and tears poured down.
She wiped her tears, crying uncontrollably as if she had suffered a great injustice.
“Fengxia, I treated you as a good sister — how could you treat me like this!”
Lin Fengxia smiled without warmth. “Did you really treat me as a sister?”
Facing Lin Fengxia’s mocking gaze, Lin Lanzhi’s heart skipped, and a bad premonition arose.