Qian Manduo stubbornly raised her head, tears welling up in her eyes. When she couldn't hold back any longer, she turned her back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before turning back to continue glaring stubbornly at Sun Yurong.

"I said I didn't take it, and that's final. Don't try to frame me without any proof. I could say you took the money!"

Qian Manduo was no weakling who could be easily bullied, and she retorted forcefully.

Sun Yurong jumped up as if stung by a bee, and shrieked, "I'm not even in the dorm, how could I steal? Besides, my money is gone too, are you suggesting I steal my own money? That's ridiculous!"

"Who knows if you lost any money? You say you lost a thousand dollars, so you lost a thousand dollars? Who saw your thousand dollars?" Qian Manduo gradually calmed down and his thoughts became clearer.

She clearly saw no money in Sun Yurong's drawer when they were eating, so how could a thousand yuan suddenly appear?

It must be that bitch crying wolf, she staged it all herself.

Ye Qingqing slapped her forehead; she finally realized what was wrong—it was Sun Yurong.

Qian Manduo is right. Sun Yurong clearly didn't have any money at five o'clock, so how did she suddenly have a thousand yuan?

Furthermore, while Sun Yurong is indeed generous when it comes to buying clothes, she is very frugal in other aspects. While others go to public bathhouses to shower, Sun Yurong has never gone there. She always fetches hot water and showers in the dormitory bathroom, a practice she has maintained since the start of the semester.

Why did I suddenly go to the public bathhouse today?

Another point of contention is that Sun Yurong always used to lock the drawers, but why didn't she lock them when she went to take a shower today?

Ye Qingqing actually suspected Sun Yurong more than Qian Manduo.

The thief within the family is now confirmed, and there's no chance for an outside thief to get in and steal the money, except for Sun Yurong and Qian Manduo.

"I just withdrew the thousand yuan from the bank. It was exactly ten hundred-yuan bills, all brand new. I kept it in the drawer, and when I came back from taking a shower, the money was gone." Sun Yurong shouted loudly, attracting the attention of other students in the dormitory, some of whom were in the same class as Ye Qingqing.

Upon hearing that five or six thousand yuan had been lost, everyone's expression changed, and they began to discuss it amongst themselves.

"Let's report this to the teacher and have them investigate. This amount of money is no small matter."

"Yes, we must tell the teacher. I'll call Teacher Shu right now."

...

Qian Manduo chimed in, "I said I would report it to the teacher, but Sun Yurong refused and insisted that I took it."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it? You don't even have money for food, you're dirt poor. Maybe you saw so much money and got the urge to steal it!" Sun Yurong paused, then shouted again:

"Besides, you were the only one in our dorm for that half hour. Everyone else went to take a shower. Who else could it be but you? I was wondering why you've been coming to our dorm every day. You're here to scout it out, aren't you!"

Sun Yurong's words made everyone look at Qian Manduo with suspicion.

After all, Sun Yurong's words made sense. Qian Manduo was poor, and he liked to go to Ye Qingqing's dormitory. He also had the opportunity to commit the crime, so he was indeed very suspicious!

With so many eyes watching, Qian Manduo's face turned purplish-red, and tears still stubbornly welled up in her eyes. She twisted her body several times to secretly wipe away her tears.

"I didn't take it. I may be poor, but I would never steal. I would rather starve to death than do such a thing," Qian Manduo defended himself, tears streaming down his face.

Ruan Yingzi said, "I also think it's not because of a lot of money."

Qian Manduo looked at her gratefully, feeling a little better; it was good that someone was willing to believe her.

Ye Qingqing looked at Sun Yurong and asked, "When did you withdraw your thousand yuan?"