Seeing Su Hongxia grow suspicious, Su Wangcai answered with a serious expression.
“Of course it’s true. I even brought the family here. Ask them yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Su Wangcai pointed at the two people behind him.
They were a middle-aged man and woman in their forties.
Someone recognized them and immediately began whispering.
“Isn’t that Cheng Da and his wife? Their family just had a new baby yesterday. Why are they here now?”
“I heard Xiu’e went to the Cheng family yesterday to help deliver the baby. Don’t tell me she really stole something from them?”
“I heard Su Wangcai say at the livestock station yesterday that Xiu’e stole something. I didn’t believe it then. Looks like it might be true.”
Su Hongxia’s expression darkened, but she still didn’t believe Ye Xiu’e would do such a thing.
“Stop gossiping. Xiu’e will be back soon. We’ll hear what she has to say.”
Hearing this, the crowd quieted down.
When Su Wanwan heard Su Wangcai accuse Ye Xiu’e of theft, she had already guessed this involved the Cheng family.
So this was retaliation because he hadn’t gotten to eat the meat patties.
No.
It probably wasn’t that simple.
With so many people present, if Ye Xiu’e’s theft was confirmed, how would she continue living here?
She was a barefoot doctor who visited people’s homes regularly.
If she gained a reputation for having sticky fingers, who would dare let her treat them?
Once Ye Xiu’e’s reputation was ruined and nobody asked her to treat patients anymore, Xu Shi’s opportunity would come.
The meat patties weren’t important.
But in this era, reputation was everything.
This family kept launching one scheme after another.
They were trying to force her and her mother into a dead end.
Right.
Ye Xiu’e had said Old Madam Cheng gave her the patties.
Old Madam Cheng was someone who repaid kindness.
She probably wouldn’t falsely accuse Ye Xiu’e.
Thinking of this, Su Wanwan whispered a few words into Su Hongxia’s ear, asking her to find Old Madam Cheng.
Su Hongxia looked at Su Wanwan doubtfully.
Since when had Wanwan become so clever?
Should she really listen to a seven-year-old child?
Su Wanwan stared at her firmly.
“Auntie, please.”
Fine.
For the sake of the child finally calling her Auntie, she would go.
Su Hongxia made an excuse to find Ye Xiu’e and left.
Inside the room, Su Wangcai looked around.
His gaze soon locked onto the biscuit tin.
He stepped forward to grab it.
But Su Wanwan reacted faster.
She snatched it first and hugged it tightly to her chest.
“This is something my father left me. It’s the only thing I have left. Uncle, can you please stop taking things from me?”
The only thing left?
Then where were the other things?
Everyone naturally assumed Su Wangcai had taken them.
The villagers saw this and silently remembered it.
Their gazes toward Su Wangcai became even more disdainful.
Su Wangcai, who had never actually taken anything, felt deeply wronged.
Although he had secretly searched the room before, he hadn’t found anything.
Su Youcai hadn’t left anything behind at all.
Su Wanwan’s words were practically pushing him into the river.
Anxious, Su Wangcai raised his voice.
“Wanwan, that’s not right. When have I ever taken anything from you?”
Startled by his loud voice, Su Wanwan trembled.
Then she shook her head hard, her voice thick with tears.
“No, no. Uncle didn’t take anything. He didn’t take anything at all.”
Her reaction made it look even more like she was being forced to deny it.
The crowd became even more convinced Su Wangcai had taken her belongings.
Su Wangcai didn’t think that far.
But he did notice that everyone’s eyes seemed to be burning with anger.
Why?
The ugly girl had clearly admitted he hadn’t taken anything.
Why didn’t anyone believe it?
Watching his foolish expression, Su Wanwan was secretly delighted.
How could someone this stupid try to frame another person?
What exactly was he thinking?
At that moment, Xu Shi squeezed into the room.
She had been listening outside the whole time.
Seeing her husband make the situation worse and fail to get to the point, she had no choice but to step in.
“Everyone, don’t listen to this girl talking nonsense.
Youcai died away from home, and it’s been three years.
How could he have left anything behind?”
Hearing this, a few people nodded in agreement.
Xu Shi continued,
“Besides, today the Cheng family came looking for someone. We should settle the matter in front of us first.”
She looked toward Cheng Da and his wife.
Only then did the couple recover their senses.
Cheng Da’s wife spoke first.
“Yes. Yesterday Ye Xiu’e came to our home to help deliver my daughter-in-law’s baby. After that, things went missing from our house. She must have stolen them.”
Since even the Cheng family said so, some villagers began believing Ye Xiu’e really had stolen something.
“What did your family lose?” someone asked.
“We lost five meat patties and one hundred yuan.”
The crowd gasped.
Su Wanwan was shocked too.
One hundred yuan?
Most ordinary families couldn’t save that much in an entire year.
“You’re lying! There was no such thing!”
Su Wanwan wished she could take a syringe from the laboratory and jab these people with it.
She had thought they would only claim the meat patties were stolen.
She had still underestimated their shamelessness.
Ye Xiu’e willingly gave her entire monthly subsidy to Old Madam Su.
That alone showed she wasn’t greedy for money.
At this point, Su Wangcai jumped in again.
“Didn’t you eat meat patties last night? Have you forgotten?”
Now Su Wanwan had nothing to say.
She had indeed eaten the patties.
Su Wangcai had even seen them.
There was no way to deny it.
Seeing her fall silent, Su Wangcai became even more pleased.
Taking advantage of her distraction, he suddenly snatched the biscuit tin from her arms.
Su Wanwan didn’t fight for it.
Everyone already knew she had eaten meat patties.
There was no point trying to hide it now.
Su Wangcai opened the tin.
Inside lay three partially eaten meat patties.
The moment Cheng Da saw them, he immediately said,
“Those are the patties missing from my house!”
The crowd exploded.
Ye Xiu’e usually had a good reputation, so some people insisted she must have been framed.
But most believed she had stolen them.
After all, the patties were solid evidence.
Just then, someone in the crowd shouted,
“The brigade leader is here!”
The villagers automatically parted.
Ye Xiu’e rushed in first, with brigade leader He Liang following behind her.
Ye Xiu’e immediately went to Su Wanwan.
Seeing the tear stains on her daughter’s face, she knew Wanwan had cried.
“Wanwan, how are you? Did anyone hit you? Where does it hurt?”
She had been careless again.
She should have known better than to leave her daughter alone at home.
Now Wanwan had been bullied once more.
Seeing her mother’s anxious expression, Su Wanwan quickly comforted her instead.
“Mom, don’t worry. I’m fine.”
Only then did Ye Xiu’e relax.
Then, thinking of Su Wangcai, she turned and glared at him fiercely.
Originally, Ye Xiu’e had returned with Su Hongxia.
But because she needed to speak with the brigade leader about dividing the household, she let Su Hongxia go ahead.
She had spent a long time trying to persuade him, but He Liang refused to approve the separation.
In the end, she brought up Su Wanwan’s abuse.
She said that if he still refused, she would take the matter to the commune.
As the widow of a martyr, she was supposed to receive some care from the brigade.
Helpless, the brigade leader finally agreed to come check Su Wanwan’s situation.
On the way, someone came to tip them off.
They said Su Wangcai had kicked open Su Wanwan’s door and was about to beat her.
Ye Xiu’e was terrified and ran home immediately.
She cried from anxiety the whole way, afraid her daughter had been hurt.
Fortunately, so many people had gathered.
Su Wangcai hadn’t dared do anything worse.
He Liang looked at the broken door lying on the ground.
Then he looked at the crowd packed inside and outside the room.
His expression darkened.
“What exactly happened here?”