"Mom, don't stop him. Beating up a military family member is enough to put him in jail for a while."
Jiang Jianwei's slap was so startled by her words that it stopped mid-air and couldn't land.
She continued, "And then there's the crime of defamation and framing. Oh, and if a newspaper reporter writes an article about it, their whole family will be truly famous."
"puff……"
Aunt Ju, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, laughed and praised, "People who have lived in the city are different; they handle problems much more civilly, unlike some people, ugh!"
"What's it to you!" Jiang Jianwei raised his fist at her: "Get out of here, all of you!"
Old Mrs. Gu also grabbed a broom to chase people away and closed the courtyard gate, but this only attracted more onlookers, and a row of people climbed onto the courtyard wall.
"If you don't explain things clearly today, I'm definitely calling the police!"
If Jiang Wanqing had said this before, they would have just ignored her. But now that she's a military dependent, the nature of reporting it to the police is different. It will at least have some impact, especially considering the shadow of Jiang Xiu being criticized for reporting it these past two days...
"What are you talking about? Your mother stole Xiuer's radio, that's the thing. Xiuer already said she wouldn't hold it against her, so why are you still making a fuss?"
Old Mrs. Gu glared at her, her old, lifeless eyes filled with disgust.
Hearing them mention a radio, Jiang Wanqing guessed what it was and asked them with a cold smile.
"You mean the radio I left for my mother?"
"You left it for your mother? Hahaha... Don't joke around, Jiang Wanqing. If you had said it was a gift from Cheng Ran, I would have barely let you off the hook. Where did you get a radio to leave for your mother? That radio was clearly brought from the city by Yuan Zhiqing. He wanted to give it to me, but your mother stole it. Don't deny it!"
Yuan Zhong was also involved in this matter. If Jiang Wanqing remembered correctly, he did bring a radio from the city. However, he lost it when he gambled with another educated youth who had been sent to the countryside. Of course, he dared not reveal the truth, otherwise it would be one of his stains.
"Then let him confront us; he's just hiding outside."
Jiang Wanqing gestured towards the door. With her sharp eyes and the fact that she had paid too much attention to Yuan Zhong in her previous life, she spotted the good-for-nothing hiding in the crowd at a glance.
Upon hearing that Yuan Zhong was outside, Jiang Xiu hurriedly opened the door and pulled him in.
He immediately became the center of attention, with everyone pointing and whispering about them.
"So he and Xiuer really are dating."
"If it were just dating, that would be fine, but I saw Xiuer looking radiant the other day, maybe they've already... you know..."
"Tsk tsk, so shameless, getting involved with men for that kind of thing at such a young age..."
“I overheard it last time, and Wanqing saw them getting married in the cornfield. It seems I wasn’t wrong about them.”
That's how it is in the village; speculation and gossip can quickly distort the truth of a matter, not to mention that Jiang Xiu and Yuan Zhong's relationship was not exactly innocent to begin with, making it a frequent topic of conversation.
"Let me go! Why are you dragging me into your family's business? I need to go back to my studies." Yuan Zhong covered his face, looking utterly pathetic as Jiang Xiu forcibly pulled him in front of everyone.
"You have a bright future even if you don't study; that's your destiny. Now, the important thing is for you to help me identify the thief!"
Hearing this, Jiang Wanqing sneered. Fate? A bright future? What a pipe dream!
“Yuan Zhiqing, I won’t settle the score with you about your affair with Xiu’er for now. Just tell me clearly, was that radio you were going to give to Xiu’er? Was it stolen by Wanqing’s mother?”
Old Mrs. Gu was eager to confirm her stepson's wife's identity as a thief. She had originally disliked him being with her granddaughter, but now she put aside her dissatisfaction and wanted to rely on him to deal with Xue He and her daughter.
"I……"
He felt guilty, especially in front of so many people, and couldn't say a word.
Jiang Xiu didn't care about any of that; she was determined to embarrass Jiang Wanqing in this matter and get revenge for what happened at the department store.
She poked Yuan Zhong hard in the lumbar region, urging him impatiently.
“Say something! You told me you were going to give me a cash register, but it was stolen. My aunt knows there’s an extra radio. If it wasn’t stolen from you, then whose is it? Nobody else in our village has a radio!”
“Yuan Zhiqing, I advise you to think carefully before you speak. You know very well whether the radio is yours or not.”
Jiang Wanqing looked at him indifferently, her gaze devoid of the admiration and appreciation she once held, even less than that she would look at a dog. This irritated Yuan Zhong, who moved his lips to compose himself.
"The radio is mine."
Wow, as soon as these words were spoken, Jiang Xiu's family looked like ostriches stretching their necks, as if they were about to peck someone at any moment.
"Hmph, what did I tell you? Your mother stole my things! We should be the ones calling the police!"
"Report it." Jiang Wanqing patted her mother's back, telling her not to worry, she had a plan.
She glanced at Yuan Zhong casually, and the next sentence she uttered almost made his legs go weak.
“I just heard that there’s gambling going on where the educated youth are staying. Let’s investigate together to save police resources. What do you say, Yuan, the educated youth?”
Yuan Zhong looked up in alarm. He and the other educated youth were so bored in the village that they secretly gambled at their lodgings. At first, it was just something like flicking someone's forehead, but it gradually escalated to things like grain coupons and cloth coupons, and then to rare big-ticket items like radios.
He knew that the consequences of calling the police would be unimaginable, so he nervously swallowed and grabbed Jiang Xiu.
"Xiuer, forget it, it's just a radio. Aren't you family? Just share it. Stop making a fuss."
"Who's family with them? I don't want to share with them. They don't deserve it!" Jiang Xiu complained.
“You are not worthy. Actually, it’s very simple to find out whose radio it is. Yuan Zhiqing said it was his, so he must know how to use it. Why don’t we take it out and let him try it?”
Speaking of this, Jiang Xiu also felt it was strange. As a reborn person, she originally thought it was just a radio that she could turn on and use, but when she snatched it from Xue He, she found that it couldn't be used.
"Okay, you said it yourself. Don't be so ashamed of stealing that you have to kneel down and beg for forgiveness!"
She was convinced that the radio belonged to Yuan Zhong, because Jiang Wanqing's family didn't have a radio in her previous life, and she was certain of that!
She ran back to her room and took out the radio, and the people on the courtyard wall immediately pointed and started discussing it.
"That's the thing. I saw it when I came to the city, but... it seems a little different from what I saw before."
“You came to the city hundreds of years ago, maybe you’re mistaken.”
"that is."
New and unusual items always easily arouse gossip among the villagers.
Jiang Xiu placed the radio on the table like a precious treasure and even wiped it with her sleeve.
"Brother Yuan Zhong, come and try it out, open it and let them see."
He moved over, thinking it was just another radio and he could turn it on normally. But when he saw that it had a completely different structure from his own, he was dumbfounded.
He hesitated, unsure which finger to press, while Jiang Xiu urged him from the side.
"Hurry up and open it, you definitely know how to use your stuff."
That's right, the premise for using it is that the thing has to belong to him.
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