Rong Zhaonan narrowed his eyes. Before he could speak, Tang Zhenzhen couldn’t take it anymore.
She hadn’t come here to watch two men protect Ning Yuan.
With a dark expression, Tang Zhenzhen gritted her teeth and looked at Huang Xuehong and Qin Xiaoxia beside her. “Say something!”
Tang Zhenzhen looked at Huang Xuehong and Qin Xiaoxia. “Xuehong, Xiaoxia, tell them, weren’t the things in this biscuit tin missing this morning?”
Huang Xuehong, who hated Ning Yuan to death, nodded frantically. “That’s right! I saw it with my own eyes. Zhenzhen’s money and snacks were gone this morning. Ning Yuan stole them!”
Qin Xiaoxia stammered, “The things in Zhenzhen’s tin are gone, and there are only five yuan left.”
She wasn’t lying, just being ambiguous. As for what others thought, she couldn’t control it.
With the two of them testifying, the crowd immediately broke into a flurry of discussion.
This was especially so since Tang Zhenzhen had always been popular among the Educated Youth, plus Ning Yuan had “willingly degenerated” by mixing with a bad element sent down from Jingcheng to the Cowshed.
The Educated Youth who had followed them all began to speak up for Tang Zhenzhen.
“That’s right. Everyone was at work early this morning, but you were the only one who wasn’t.”
“She’s an upright person! Yesterday, she thought something had happened to you, Ning Yuan, and she even ran so hard to get help for you that she lost her shoes!”
“Exactly! Ning Yuan, you have no conscience, stealing from people!”
Seeing the anger of the Educated Youth, Li Yan looked at Ning Yuan, his brow tightly furrowed. “Ning Yuan, you…”
Just as he was about to say something, a cool, detached voice suddenly cut him off. “None of you saw Ning Yuan steal anything with your own eyes. Words are no proof. Do you have any evidence?”
Ning Yuan looked at Rong Zhaonan, who had been silent all this time, with some surprise. Because of his “special” status, he had always been taciturn in front of everyone.
This time, he had actually spoken up twice, and in her defense?
Sure enough, the moment Rong Zhaonan spoke, everyone’s attention instantly focused on him.
Huang Xuehong pointed at him resentfully. “You bad element! You’re the one who corrupted Ning Yuan and made her steal, aren’t you!”
Her redirected anger immediately struck a chord with the Educated Youth and the villagers.
“That’s right! Maybe this bad element was the one who instigated Ning Zhiqing to steal!”
“Look, Ning Yuan wasn’t like this before. She even hit someone. She must have been influenced by a bad element!”
…
The more Ning Yuan listened, the more absurd it became. She finally understood why Rong Zhaonan always tried to minimize his presence and rarely spoke in front of others—
When a person was labeled as a bad guy, even if they were innocent, most people would blame them for any trouble that arose in the group!
This was the power of prejudice!
“Wait a minute! This has nothing to do with Doctor Rong. I didn’t steal anything in the first place, and I certainly didn’t steal any money. I have proof!”
Ning Yuan couldn’t help but step in front of Rong Zhaonan, shouting with all her might.
Her voice instantly drowned out the noisy chatter and contemptuous curses of the others.
Li Yan shot a cold glance at Rong Zhaonan. Just making things more chaotic!
Then, he looked at Ning Yuan and said in a deep voice, “Ning Zhiqing, if you have any evidence, just present it. The Production Brigade will not wrong a good person.”
As Li Yan, a leader of the Production Brigade, spoke, the villagers and Educated Youth quieted down.
Ning Yuan turned and went into the small hut next to the Cowshed. A moment later, she hurried out, holding something up in her hand. “Tang Zhenzhen, are these the biscuits and candies you were talking about?”
Materials were extremely scarce right now, which was why such a big fuss was being made over “high-end biscuits and candies.”
Decades from now, this incident would sound like a joke, but Tang Zhenzhen was mostly using it as a pretext to cause trouble.
In Ning Yuan’s hand was a pack of biscuits and a small handful of remaining Great White Rabbit Milk Candies.
Tang Zhenzhen’s eyes immediately lit up as she pointed at her hand. “My Wan Nianqing Biscuits and Great White Rabbit Milk Candy!”
This idiot Ning Yuan actually brought out all the evidence.
Wait a minute… some of the candy is missing!
Tang Zhenzhen glared at Ning Yuan in annoyance. “You even ate my things! There are only five Great White Rabbit Milk Candies left! And my Jade Chili Pepper!”
These candies and biscuits were impossible to buy in the countryside. Even she was reluctant to eat them casually!
Ning Yuan said coldly, “These are things my relatives sent me from Hushang. Why can’t I eat them?”
“You’re lying! My family sent those from Hushang!” Tang Zhenzhen sneered.
Ning Yuan had given them to her, so they were hers!
Huang Xuehong also clutched the bump on her head and shouted, “That’s right! We all saw it! They were sent by Zhenzhen’s family!”
As soon as Huang Xuehong finished speaking, the surrounding crowd started murmuring again.
“Now I don’t know what else Ning Zhiqing has to say. Coming to the countryside to support rural construction… it’ll be good enough if she doesn’t steal our things.”
“Tsk…”
Ning Yuan suddenly pulled a parcel slip from her pocket with a deadpan expression. “This is my evidence. It has a postmark from Hushang. You can all see what’s written on it.”
Tang Zhenzhen froze, a bad premonition suddenly washing over her.
Why did Ning Yuan still have this parcel slip? Months ago, she had watched her throw it in the trash!
Li Yan reached out and took it. Looking at the parcel slip, he read aloud, “One box of Wan Nianqing Biscuits, one bag of Great White Rabbit Milk Candy. Recipient… Ning Yuan.”
As his voice fell, everyone looked at each other in dismay—
Ning Yuan had evidence. The candies were hers.
“Alright, I’ve proven that I have candy and biscuits. What about you? How can you prove the items are yours?” Ning Yuan sneered.
The biscuits and candy she had been reluctant to eat herself, which she had given to Tang Zhenzhen, had become the very evidence this woman was using to frame her.
Fortunately, she had later picked the parcel slip back out of the trash to keep the Hushang postmark and stamp for her collection.
Tang Zhenzhen’s face turned a little pale. She subconsciously tightened her grip on Huang Xuehong’s arm. “That only proves you once had candy and biscuits! You’ve already eaten yours. These are mine!”
Huang Xuehong’s chubby arm ached from the grip, and she hastily nodded. “Ah, right, right, right.”
Leaning against the handcart, Rong Zhaonan suddenly interjected again, his voice cool. “The burden of proof lies with the accuser. She has already provided her evidence. It’s your turn to present yours. Do you have any? Is there any special mark on that Jade Chili Pepper?”
Tang Zhenzhen stared at him with resentment. “Xiaoxia and Xuehong both saw me receive the package! Besides, it’s not your place to speak here, you bad element!”
How was she supposed to know what kind of mark was on that Jade Chili Pepper carving!
Li Yan once again shot a warning glance at Rong Zhaonan, intending for him to shut up.
However, he still addressed Tang Zhenzhen with a serious expression. “Educated Youth Tang, it’s correct that the burden of proof lies with the accuser. Besides the Educated Youth in your room, do you have any other written evidence to prove that these biscuits, candy, and the Jade Chili Pepper are yours?”
Tang Zhenzhen bit her lip. Under everyone’s gaze, her eyes reddened. “If eyewitnesses aren’t enough, then I have nothing more to say. Let’s just say the biscuits, candy, and even the Jade Chili Pepper are all hers. It was my misunderstanding, alright!”
With that, she put on a wronged expression and turned as if to run away!
She had witnesses, and Ning Yuan had physical evidence. The matter was a stalemate anyway, so Ning Yuan’s reputation wouldn’t come out unscathed.
But Ning Yuan had, at some point, taken a few steps to block her path, saying coldly—
“Wait a minute, Tang Zhenzhen. You think you can just leave like this?”
Tang Zhenzhen looked at her irritably. “I’m not pursuing it anymore, okay?”
Ning Yuan let out a cold laugh. “But I am. I’m also missing five yuan. I now suspect that the five yuan in your hand was stolen from me!”
Not just Tang Zhenzhen, but even Huang Xuehong, Li Yan, and the rest of the group were stunned.
What did that mean?
In contrast, a strange light flashed in Rong Zhaonan’s eyes behind the lenses that covered half his face. He stared at Ning Yuan, lost in thought.
Tang Zhenzhen looked at her in disbelief. “What did you say?!”