In all his years, Yin Jin'an has never shown any respect to anyone except Xie Zhaozhao. Who is Ye Ting to him?
At that moment, Ma Chenyang was called over and told, "Go find Landlord Wang and tell him to investigate who dared to embezzle relief supplies. The embezzled supplies must be returned."
Ma Chenyang was also very angry, as his family was poor.
He knew best that in winter, the whole family shared one cotton-padded coat. When one person went out, the others, who had no cotton-padded coats, could only continue to huddle in their quilts or straw nests.
That woman from the neighboring county, with her two children, traveled dozens of miles to Longmen Town to collect cotton-padded clothes and grain, but Ye Ting deliberately withheld some, damaging Jiutian's reputation. It was truly despicable.
He went to find Landlord Wang and told him that the young master in brocade robes and Master Jiutian were very angry.
Landlord Wang quickly went to investigate to find out exactly how many people had been shortchanged on supplies.
Standing on a high place, Da Bao asked loudly, "A complete set of cotton-padded clothes includes a cotton-padded jacket, cotton-padded trousers, and cotton-padded shoes. Check everyone to see if anyone has been shortchanged."
As a result, several older people squeezed over, some saying they were missing shoes, others saying they were missing cotton-padded trousers.
According to everyone's feedback, one cotton-padded jacket, two pairs of cotton-padded trousers, and four pairs of shoes were all given to others short of what was given to others in just one afternoon.
This does not include those who have already returned home.
The investigation all pointed to the same person—the woman in the red coat, Zhang Xiangliang's new wife.
Landlord Wang was furious. He found Aunt Zhang and Zhang Tiezhu, and discreetly tried to save them some face.
"Tiezhu, Tiezhu's family, you've had a hard morning," said Landlord Wang. "Is that your daughter-in-law in the red coat?"
"It's her. She was bored, so I asked her to come and help out." Aunt Zhang didn't know what was going on; she had just had lunch at Landlord Wang's house.
"Here's the thing, you guys don't need to work this afternoon, go back and rest, and while you're at it, ask your daughter-in-law if she's seen any cotton trousers or cotton shoes."
Aunt Zhang wasn't stupid; her face flushed red instantly, and she said angrily, "Mr. Wang, what do you mean by this? Do you suspect my daughter-in-law of stealing?"
"The supplies distributed this morning were missing an adult cotton-padded jacket, two pairs of cotton-padded trousers, and four pairs of shoes. Everyone else was fine, only your daughter-in-law was missing something."
Aunt Zhang said angrily, "Maybe she just didn't have time to give it to anyone else and it's still in the stack. How can you suspect her of stealing?"
Landlord Wang was taken aback. It wasn't impossible; perhaps Ye Ting had been in a rush and hadn't given everyone all the items.
"Okay, I'll do an inventory check after I've sent everything out. Tell your daughter-in-law not to work this afternoon; she's just married, she should rest well."
Aunt Zhang and Zhang Tiezhu blushed with shame and said, "Master Wang, you can't wrongly accuse my daughter-in-law of stealing. This is a act of kindness from heaven. Even if we were not particular, we would never embezzle or deduct the donated cotton clothes."
Landlord Wang said, "No matter what you say, none of the forty-odd people who helped today got into trouble except for your daughter-in-law. I was just reminding you; I didn't say she stole anything."
Everyone spared her face and didn't say anything more. Aunt Zhang was so angry that she quit and went home with Zhang Tiezhu.
My son and daughter haven't come back yet; there's no one at home.
Aunt Zhang searched everywhere but couldn't find Zhang Xiangliang and Ye Ting.
Ye Ting didn't return until dusk. Aunt Zhang called Ye Ting over and asked, "Ye Ting, where did you go?"
Ye Ting clutched the hem of her clothes and asked timidly, "Mother, did I do something wrong?"
"I need to talk to you. Where did you go this afternoon?"
"Xiang Liang and I are going out for a walk."
Aunt Zhang moved her mouth a few times, but swallowed her words. It was really not appropriate for Aunt Zhang to ask the young couple what they were doing.
They're a newlywed couple, all love and happiness, it's not appropriate for the mother-in-law to pry.
Aunt Zhang was too embarrassed to ask her if she had stolen anything, and only said, "I'll go check your house. The weather looks bad, like it's going to snow, I'll see if you need to repair your roof."
Ye Ting accompanied her into her house, and Aunt Zhang looked around.
I didn't notice anything unusual, and I didn't see any cotton-padded clothes or trousers, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law discussed the homecoming visit the next day, and then moved on from that topic.
After dinner, Aunt Zhang pulled Zhang Xiangliang into the kitchen and whispered, "Eldest son, check your room. Do you have any cotton-padded jackets, trousers, or shoes that were given out for poverty relief today?"
Zhang Xiangliang frowned and said, "Mother, what do you mean? You suspect Tingting of stealing?"
Aunt Zhang said, "There were more than forty people helping out today, but she was the only one who was short of cotton-padded jackets, trousers, and shoes. Landlord Wang specifically came to find your father and me. I'm so upset and upset."
Zhang Xiangliang said angrily, "What does Landlord Wang mean? We worked for free all afternoon, and he's accusing us of theft? If this reputation gets out, how can Ye Ting face anyone? I'm going to find him!"
Aunt Zhang said, "Check your room first. If you find it, return it quietly. If not, you can go find Landlord Wang later."
Zhang Xiangliang hurriedly went to his new house and searched everywhere, in the closets, under the bed, and even in the folded quilts.
"What are you looking for?" Ye Ting asked.
Seeing how pitiful she looked under the lamplight, Zhang Xiangliang couldn't bear to say he suspected her of stealing.
"My mother asked me to see if I needed anything else, and she would get some for me."
Ye Ting said, "Why do I feel like you're looking for something?"
"No, I'm just looking around," Zhang Xiangliang said. "You get some sleep. Tomorrow is the third day since we went back to our parents' home. My mother and I will discuss it again and see if we can add any more gifts."
Ye Ting said happily, "Brother Xiangliang, you are so good to me. My parents passed away early, and I have suffered so much. Over the years, I have worked with my brother and sister-in-law every day, even breaking the ice to wash clothes in the dead of winter."
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