Early the next morning, Liu Cuihua shouted, “You’d better be telling the truth! My house is right next to yours. Our hens have always lost one or two eggs now and then. Was it Song Wanning who stole them too?”
“That’s right! I was wondering why things kept disappearing from my house. Turns out we’ve had a thief in the village all along.”
“Village Chief’s wife, you have to deal with this properly. If there’s really a thief in our village, how are we supposed to feel safe keeping anything at home?”
“Exactly! Village Chief’s wife, you have to stand up for us!”
“Well then, Village Chief’s wife, you must give us justice too. Our family was robbed last night as well.”
The speaker was Zhou Fang, Wang Zhuzi’s mother.
She had gotten up early that morning only to discover that many things in their house had disappeared.
Terrified, she searched every corner of the house and realized that everything valuable had been stolen.
Even the large black dog in the yard had been poisoned to death.
The sight frightened her badly.
Someone had entered their home without anyone noticing, stolen everything of value, and even poisoned their watchdog.
Fortunately, only the dog had been poisoned.
If the thief had poisoned the food they normally ate and killed the whole family instead, where would they even seek justice?
She had originally intended to report the matter to the village chief.
But while passing by, she saw the village chief’s wife standing here and heard people talking about a thief.
Curious, she came over to listen.
When she heard that Song Wanning was being accused of stealing, she immediately thought of everything that had disappeared from her own house the previous night.
Whether Song Wanning had stolen it or not didn’t matter.
She intended to pin the blame on Song Wanning anyway.
Only then could she make Song Wanning compensate her for everything that had been lost.
Besides, even Liu Cuihua called her a thief.
If her own mother said so, then accusing her surely couldn’t be considered unfair.
Hearing Liu Cuihua and Zhou Fang’s accusations, Li Lan frowned deeply.
She had already heard that morning that Liu Cuihua’s house had been cleaned out completely.
Now another family claimed the same thing.
And of all the families in the village, only these two had suffered such losses.
Song Wanning set the bundle of firewood down by the doorway before slowly clapping her hands.
“Wonderful. Truly wonderful.”
“So because things disappeared from your houses, you’re saying I stole them?”
“If you’re going to accuse someone, you need evidence.”
“If you can produce proof, I’ll admit it.”
“But you don’t have a single piece of evidence, yet you keep calling me a thief.”
“So what if I said something disappeared from my house too?”
“What if I claimed that you stole it?”
She pointed one by one at the people who had just spoken.
“You.”
“You.”
“And you.”
The expressions of those she pointed at immediately changed.
One after another, they angrily protested.
“Song Wanning, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“We never stole anything!”
“No?”
“Then just now you all insisted that I stole your things.”
“So you’re allowed to make things up, but I’m not?”
The people who had claimed to be victims of theft stiffened their necks and argued again.
“Wasn’t it your own mother who said it?”
“If your mother hadn’t said you were a thief, why would we accuse you?”
“If you hadn’t done it, why would your own mother say such things?”
The one speaking was Li Guihua.
She had been one of the loudest people accusing Song Wanning of being a thief.
“In that case, why are you arguing with us?”
“If you’ve got the guts, argue with your own mother.”
“It was your mother who said you’re a thief, not us.”
Ever since Song Wanning had talked back to them earlier, they had been unwilling to accept it.
Back when they worked together in the fields, they often talked badly about Song Wanning.
Sometimes they even insulted her right in front of her face.
The old Song Wanning had been like a mute gourd.
No matter what people said about her, she pretended not to hear it and simply continued working.
She had never once argued back.
But now she was completely different.
Now she actually fought back.
“Enough! Every one of you, stop talking.”
“Don’t you all have work to do today?”
“Why are you all gathered here watching the excitement?”
“Go on, get back to work!”
Li Lan waved them away.
But everyone loved watching drama.
Not a single person was willing to leave.
Seeing that, Li Lan had no choice but to deal with the matter first.
Once everything was settled, the crowd would naturally disperse.
“Liu Cuihua. Zhou Fang.”
“Wanning is right.”
“You claim she stole your belongings.”
“So tell me exactly what went missing.”
“If you’re making accusations, you need evidence.”
“If you have no evidence, then you can’t simply make things up.”
“And if your homes really lost that many valuables, this isn’t something to take lightly.”
“It needs to be reported to the Public Security Bureau.”
Early that morning, she had already heard Liu Cuihua shouting that things had been stolen from her house, including several dozen yuan in cash.
That wasn’t a small amount of money.
It definitely had to be reported to the authorities.
Normally, minor disputes in the village could be settled by the village chief.
But this was no minor matter.
“Village Chief’s wife, I don’t believe it’s just a coincidence!”
“Yesterday Song Wanning split from our family.”
“Then last night our entire house was cleaned out.”
“No.”
“I have to search her house.”
“If I don’t, I’ll stay here and refuse to leave.”
“That’s right!”
“Our family lost so many things too.”
“I want to search her house as well.”
Liu Cuihua and Zhou Fang still believed that Song Wanning was the most suspicious person.
Deep down, they were convinced she was the culprit.
Song Wanning let out a cold snort.
“You want to search my house?”
“Fine.”
“Go ahead.”
“But let me make one thing clear.”
“If you search my house and find nothing, you must apologize to me.”
“Otherwise, don’t even think about stepping through my door.”
“And if you insist on barging in by force, that’s fine too.”
“I’ll report you to the Public Security Bureau for trespassing into my home and attempting to steal my belongings.”
“They can arrest every one of you.”
Liu Cuihua and Zhou Fang exchanged glances.
After hearing those words, both of them hesitated.
At that moment, Song Bao clutched his stomach.
“Mom, I’m so hungry.”
“I want eggs.”
“I didn’t even eat breakfast.”
“Cook me egg noodles later.”
His stomach growled loudly, and he looked like he was about to cry from hunger.
Liu Cuihua’s heart ached for him.
Thinking about how their only two laying hens had been stolen made her feel miserable.
Just then, they heard the unmistakable clucking of a hen that had just laid an egg coming from inside Song Wanning’s house.
Liu Cuihua’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Village Chief’s wife, did you hear that?”
“There’s a chicken inside her house!”
“That’s exactly what our hens sound like after laying eggs!”
“She left our family without taking anything.”
“So how could she possibly have chickens?”
“I’d say she stole ours!”
The moment Liu Cuihua finished speaking, she grabbed Song Bao and rushed toward the house.
But Song Wanning stepped in front of the doorway, blocking their path.
“I already said it.”
“If you want to search my house, that’s fine.”
“But if you don’t find anything, you must apologize to me.”
“Otherwise, don’t even think about entering.”
Seeing Song Wanning blocking the entrance so firmly, Song Miaomiao assumed she had a guilty conscience.
She walked over to Liu Cuihua, lowered her voice, and whispered into her ear.
“Mom… don’t you think Sister is deliberately trying to stop us from going inside?”