Before Su Qingluan showed up, everyone thought this was just a case of an idle village thug doing something dishonest, and they would just take him to the village head and give him a good lesson. If the theft was particularly valuable, the village head would escort him to the county magistrate.

But it was not a big deal after all, and the villagers were not surprised that Zhao Tianbao could do such a sneaky thing - after all, he had Zhao Youde, his gambler father who would beat and scold people at any time, and Chen, his evil mother who was either a shrew or a gossipmonger all day long. Even if Zhao Tianbao had a fair and gentle face, what good bamboo shoots could he produce from such a bad bamboo?

Unexpectedly, after Su Qingluan pushed the door open, Zhao Tianbao, who had been dejected and ready to confess his guilt, suddenly started to argue, saying that although the purse he was holding belonged to Su Qingluan, it was a token of love she had given to him on her own initiative.

The villagers who were watching the fun around were really excited.

The villagers of Huaxi Village are all ordinary people, so naturally there is no such cumbersome formality that requires men and women to get married after just meeting once - even widows marrying for the second time are not uncommon in the village.

But even though there are no strict etiquette like the ladies of noble families, when a teenage girl in the village privately gives a man a sachet, which is a personal item, there is always a hint of eroticism. No matter how you look at it, it is always damaging to the girl's reputation.

Moreover, if they meet a family with a thin skin, they will really consider their own reputation and send their daughter to the man's family without caring about the reason.

Su Guangfu and Yang were certainly not foolish parents. They also understood that their eldest daughter was so busy all day that she almost kicked her head and had no time to have a tryst with a man outside.

But in this situation, no matter how you try to figure it out, as long as you don't have solid evidence, you will be at the mercy of the other party and you will be left with no way to defend yourself.

When Yang thought about the Zhao family, which was full of rotten people, she was afraid that they would get involved and put her daughter in trouble.

Thinking of this, tears slowly welled up in her eyes, which were already red from anxiety and anger.

Su Guangfu didn't relax his grip at all, still firmly suppressing Zhao Tianbao. He was indeed furious and anxious, but he thought of his eldest daughter, who always had her own ideas, and wanted to see what she would say.

When Su Qingluan was listening to the people around her telling the whole story, her expression was very calm - she did not show any panic, and when Zhao Tianbao said that she was the one who gave the sachet to him, she did not rush to refute him. She just listened to the whole thing silently as if she was an audience who had nothing to do with this matter.

When everyone around them had finished talking, Su Qingluan simply nodded calmly and looked at Zhao Tianbao: "You said this was a 'token of love' I gave you. If that's the case, then let me ask you, on what day, when, and where did I give it to you? What did I say when I gave it to you?"

Zhao Tianbao obviously did not expect that a woman would be slandered in such an unbearable way. Her first reaction was not to refute or deny it, but to continue asking questions. She was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes rolled around.

After a moment, he muttered, "It was a few days ago in the evening when you asked me to meet you by the creek behind the village. You said you didn't care about my family background, but that you only liked my fair complexion and good looks. You gave me this and wanted to sleep with me..."

"You're talking nonsense!" Yang couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward to kick Zhao Tianbao in the back.

Although Yang Shi usually seemed good-tempered and always smiling, and she wasn't a big, strong woman, she worked all day and had quite a bit of strength. With this venting kick, Zhao Tianbao screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

But Su Guangfu was suppressing Zhao Tianbao tightly. Zhao Tianbao was usually idle and weak. Even if he was kicked hard, he could not break free from Su Guangfu's hands that were like iron pliers.

Yang's eyes were red as she cursed shrilly, "How could my innocent daughter fall for a scoundrel like you! If you keep spewing filth, I'll tear your mouth off!"

Su Qingluan had been squatting beside Zhao Tianbao, questioning him. Seeing her mother was furious, she was afraid she might get hurt, so she quickly stood up and patted Yang's back. "Don't be angry, mother. What's true can't be false, and what's false can't be true. Someone is trying to make a false accusation against someone else, so we can't let ourselves get angry."

Then she looked at her younger siblings and said, "Xuanhe, pour Mother a glass of water. Xueyan and your brother should go inside. If it weren't for Xueyan, our family would have gone broke today. I'll make you something delicious later!"

The two little kids also understood that this was not a place for children to play, so they went into the house obediently.

After sending the two children away, Su Qingluan casually lowered her head and looked down at Zhao Tianbao, who was lying on the ground covered in dust. "You're just talking nonsense, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning? It's been a hot summer lately, and there have been many thunderstorms. I hope you can be more careful."

Zhao Tianbao's face turned pale, his eyes rolled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "We clearly agreed to elope together, but who knew you would turn around and deny it! Could it be that besides me, you have other men..."

"Shut up." Su Qingluan glared at Zhao Tianbao with a cold tone.

The girl's voice was very pleasant, and her tone wasn't too angry. However, for some reason, Zhao Tianbao felt a chill down his spine just from hearing these two simple words.

Not only Zhao Tianbao, but Su Guangfu, who was standing nearby, also noticed that his eldest daughter looked very unfamiliar. The usual cunning or lively expressions on her face had all disappeared, as if she had become another person. The look she gave Zhao Tianbao was also very cold - as if she was not looking at a living person, but just an object.

"...Daya?" Su Guangfu asked softly with uncertainty, with a look of doubt as if he wanted to confirm something.

Su Qingluan blinked and looked at her father. Su Guangfu found that the coldness in his eldest daughter's eyes disappeared, as if the previous moment was just an illusion of his.

Su Qingluan lowered her head and looked at Zhao Tianbao again, asking, "Since I 'voluntarily' gave you this item, and it's been several days, why didn't you bring it out to confront our family earlier? Why did you have to wait until today, to be treated as a dirty thief who deserves to have his hands and feet chopped off?"

Su Qingluan said it nonchalantly, but when Zhao Tianbao heard the words "chop off your hands and feet", he was so frightened that his whole body trembled.

However, now that things had come to this, he could only bite the bullet and continue his story: "I... I had originally thought of taking advantage of these few days to do more work and perform well in front of the future Master Taishan Taishui, but I never expected such an accident to happen..."

"In that case, the sachet has been with you for a few days. Where have you kept it all these days?" Su Qingluan asked without giving Zhao Tianbao any time to think.