The old tailor looked at the half-dried grape skins, then raised his eyes to look at Secretary Wang, and asked with his goatee raised, "Which bastard stole my grapes?"
His family's grapes are in the yard, and he can't watch them outside all the time. He always has time to eat and work in the house. Especially at night when he sleeps for such a long time, he wouldn’t even know if someone climbed over the wall to come in.
There weren't many grapes on the rack, but he hadn't counted them one by one. If one or two bunches were missing, it wouldn't be noticeable, and he wouldn't be able to discover it.
Secretary Wang looked at him and asked, "It seems... you don't know about this?"
The old tailor snorted, "If I had known, would I have let this bastard run away?"
Secretary Wang cleared his throat and wrapped the grape skins again. "The person who reported it said that she was from Fengyan Brigade, the granddaughter of Secretary Ruan Zhigao, whose name was Ruan Xi. We have to go find her and ask her again..."
“Stop, stop, stop, stop…”
Before Secretary Wang finished speaking, the old tailor raised his hand and said "stop" repeatedly.
Secretary Wang stopped talking, and the old tailor frowned and asked, "Who did you just say? The one who stole my grapes?"
Secretary Wang saw him speaking like that and thought he was old and hard of hearing, so he raised his voice a few degrees and repeated very solemnly: "The granddaughter of the secretary of Fengyan Brigade is called Ruan Xi."
“Nonsense!”
The old tailor slammed the small table next to him, scaring Secretary Wang and others.
Ruan Xi originally had the look of a bystander, but after listening to it, he found out that he was actually the protagonist of this theft. All he had on his face was speechlessness and a ridiculous feeling.
She cleared her throat, looked at Secretary Wang and said, "Secretary Wang, I am the Ruan Xi you are talking about."
What?
Secretary Wang turned his head and looked at her - what was going on?
The thief who stole the things is in the old tailor's house?
The old tailor said angrily, "She is my new apprentice. When she came home last night, I picked a bunch of grapes for her myself. How can this be considered stealing? Tell me clearly, who reported this?"
Before Secretary Wang could say anything, Ruan Xi said, "It must be Sun Xiaohui, my second mother."
this……
Secretary Wang was silent...
Ruan Xi held his breath, gritted his teeth, and suddenly pounded the table with his clenched fist.
After beating her, she stood up, picked up her schoolbag and walked out.
After walking a few steps, she turned back and said to Secretary Wang coldly, "You want to find out the truth, so come with me to find Sun Xiaohui. I didn't steal anything, you have to clear my name and don't let her slander me."
Secretary Wang has come here to find out the truth. Now that the matter has come to a conclusion, he doesn't really want to confront Sun Xiaohui again and thinks that the matter will just pass. It's just a misunderstanding, it's not a big deal.
Ruan Xi saw from Secretary Wang's expression that he didn't want to make any more trouble, so before he could find an excuse, she quickly said, "If you don't go, she will probably think you are protecting me and will report it to the higher authorities."
Secretary Wang glared, "She dares to do this?"
Ruan Xi clenched the strap of her schoolbag with her fingers. "Why wouldn't she dare? She dared to report me to you for stealing grapes based on her own imagination and malicious speculation without any evidence."
Secretary Wang lowered his brows and thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Let's go together!"
He was not afraid that Sun Xiaohui would report him again. After all, the truth was the truth. But he didn't want to bother with this matter any further, and thought it would be better to make it clear and resolve it once and for all to avoid any other complications.
Ruan Xi carried his schoolbag and went to the farmland of Fengyan Brigade with Secretary Wang and several others. Each member of the team has a different division of labor. Some dig copper in the mine, some apply fertilizer in the fields, and some pull weeds in the fields.
Sun Xiaohui and a group of women were weeding in the cornfield.
I found the edge of the cornfield. The corn stalks were so tall and the leaves were so lush that I couldn't see if there was anyone inside. Ruan Xi rolled up the loudspeaker and shouted several times toward the field: "Sun Xiaohui! Come out!"
A few minutes after shouting, Sun Xiaohui emerged from the corn bush wearing a sun hat.
Seeing Secretary Wang and his men, as well as Ruan Xi with a gloomy face and deep eyes, she subconsciously felt that something bad was going to happen.
But she still took off her straw hat and walked in front of Secretary Wang and Ruan Xi, fanning her face with the straw hat and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ruan Xi's face was full of anger. He looked at Sun Xiaohui and threw the newspaper in his hand to the ground. The newspaper ball fell at Sun Xiaohui's feet and loosened, spilling out a handful of grape skins.
She stared at Sun Xiaohui: "What's wrong?"
As soon as Ruan Xi finished speaking, several women's heads popped out from the cornfield. They all heard the noise and figured out that Ruan Xi was looking for Sun Xiaohui to quarrel with, so they tacitly came out from the ground to watch the fun.
Seeing the grape skins scattered on the ground, Sun Xiaohui said confidently: "You stole something, so you should be taught a lesson!"
Ruan Xi still stared at her, "Who told you that I stole the grapes? These were given to me by my master, the old tailor of the Golden Crown Brigade. You have no evidence, so how can you say that I stole the grapes?!"
More and more women came out of the cornfield, slowly gathered together, and began to whisper to each other.
Sun Xiaohui sneered, then suddenly turned around and slapped her palms at all the women who were watching the fun. "Tell me, everyone, is this a huge joke? She actually said that the old tailor was her master and gave her grapes to eat. Is that possible?"
Many women nearby shook their heads, "It's really unlikely."
Ruan Xi glared at Sun Xiaohui before she could say anything. Secretary Wang cleared his throat and said, "Speaking of this, I have to come out and prove it. We just came out of Uncle Song's house. Uncle Song did take Ruan Xi as his apprentice. Uncle Song also said that he gave the bunch of grapes to Ruan Xi last night."
Hearing this, Sun Xiaohui's eyes widened. "Hey, Secretary Wang, if you didn't punish her for stealing, then that's fine, but why did you help her lie? I'm her second mother, and I didn't cover up for her. You can't cover up such things, it will hurt her. You're not helping her lie for her grandfather's sake, are you?"
As expected, if this matter is only given the results of the investigation without explaining it to the person in person, who knows what kind of comments will be spread. Even if he follows her now, Sun Xiaohui can still only believe what she wants to believe.
As long as things don't match her imagination, she thinks someone else is up to something.
Secretary Wang's face darkened. He looked at Sun Xiaohui and said, "Comrade, how can you say that? We, as officials, do things based on our conscience, based on evidence, and based on the truth! We don't do things based on anyone's face!"
Sun Xiaohui was not afraid of him at all. "Don't yell at me. What's the point of yelling at me? Ask the others present and see if they believe what you and this girl said. Everyone knows who the old tailor is!"
After she finished speaking, a woman beside her said, "If it's really what you said, why don't you just ask the old tailor to say it? If the old tailor comes to speak in person, who can not believe it?"
Hearing this, the cadre next to Secretary Wang said, "Mr. Song is old and has difficulty walking. He usually goes up and down the mountain to make clothes for people, and he has to ask people to carry them there. Why bother him?"
Sun Xiaohui sneered, "You are just talking nonsense! Anyway, the old tailor is not here, so you can say whatever you want. If you are not afraid of the old tailor coming to confront you, just bring him over. I think you are too guilty to shout!"
Ruan Xi gritted her teeth and held her breath, looking at Sun Xiaohui: "Then you wait for me, I will find someone to carry him away now!"
As a result, before she turned around, she heard the old tailor's voice behind her. His voice was not as strong as usual, weak and breathless, and he said with all his strength: "No need to lift! I can do it myself!"
Hearing the sound, everyone turned to look over.
Ruan Xi turned around quickly and saw the old tailor walking towards him staggeringly with a snake-head cane in his hand.
Many of the women watching showed surprise on their faces, and some spoke up:
"Look, look, is that the old tailor coming?"
"Is my vision dazzled? It really is the old tailor who has arrived!"
"He usually doesn't hang out, and doesn't interact with people except making clothes. Why is he here?"
"Did he really accept Xiaoxi as his apprentice?"
"That's impossible? Maybe he came to identify Xiaoxi as the person who stole the grapes."
"Just look at what he says."
…
While watching the woman speak, the expression on Sun Xiaohui's face kept changing. She finally thought that the old tailor might be here to identify Ruan Xi, so her expression relaxed a little.
Ruan Xi ignored what the woman was saying. She quickly came to her senses, ran to the old tailor, held his arm and said, "Why did you come here by yourself?"
The old tailor took two steps, stopped and breathed a sigh of relief.
He panted and said in a hoarse voice: "You have to inherit my mantle. I can't let anyone bully you!"
He turned around and asked directly, "Who is Sun Xiaohui?"
"!!!"
The onlookers, including Sun Xiaohui, were all stunned and almost dropped their eyes out of shock - the old tailor did not come to accuse Ruan Xi of stealing the grapes, but came specifically to support her! He really treated Ruan Xi as his own disciple!
Looking at the old tailor, the expression on Sun Xiaohui's face instantly fell apart, leaving only unwillingness and disbelief on her face, and she was just about to burst out with a sentence - This is impossible! How is this possible? !
If this kind of thing could happen, the sun would rise from the west, and a hundred of them would come out at once!
Seeing that no one said anything, the old tailor asked again: "Who is Sun Xiaohui?!"
Sun Xiaohui was called back to her senses, but she held the straw hat in her hand and said nothing. She hunched her head and wished she could turn around and dive into the cornfield nearby. She also hated herself for shouting for the old tailor to be brought over for a confrontation.
This feeling of having someone to back her up was really good. Ruan Xi unconsciously gained more momentum, and standing next to the old tailor, he raised his hand and pointed at Sun Xiaohui, "Master, she is Sun Xiaohui, my second mother."
"Second mother?" The old tailor spat, "Hammer!"
After spitting, he looked at Sun Xiaohui and said, "You have seen and heard everything clearly today. This is my formal disciple. I will never change my attitude. I gave the grapes to my disciple last night. Do you have anything else to say?"
People were blocking her way, and it was like an invisible slap on her face. What else could Sun Xiaohui say?
Being stared at by so many people, she felt her face burning. She quickly put on the straw hat in her hand, turned around and was about to go into the cornfield, saying, "I don't have time to chat with you guys here. I have to go to work."
But just as she was about to turn around, the cadre next to Secretary Wang pulled her back.
Sun Xiaohui frantically slapped the cadre's hand away, tugged at his clothes and said, "What are you doing?!"
The cadre asked, "You haven't finished talking yet, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Sun Xiaohui raised her hand and pulled down the brim of her hat. "Isn't this all clear? I misunderstood Xiaoxi, but I didn't mean to slander her. If it weren't for Master Song saying so, who would believe that Master Song would give her grapes to eat?"
Secretary Wang took on the proper attitude and told Sun Xiaohui, "Since it has been confirmed that this is a misunderstanding, then you should apologize to Ruan Xi and let this matter be over."
Asking her, an elder, to apologize to a junior in front of so many people? Doesn't she have any face?
Sun Xiaohui was unwilling to do so and said, "I have already admitted that I misunderstood her. Why should I make amends? I am her second mother. I should beat her, scold her and discipline her. What's wrong with misunderstanding her?"
Secretary Wang was about to speak, but before he could get the words out, two people, one old and one young, suddenly rushed out from the crowd. The young one followed the old one and walked quickly, while the old one had a fierce look on his face.
People from other villages don’t know Secretary Wang, but Ruan Xi, the woman in the crowd, and Sun Xiaohui know him. The two people who rushed out were an old man and a young boy. The old one was Ruan Xi's grandmother Liu Xinghua, and the young one was Ruan Xi's cousin Ruan Jie.
Everyone forgot to say hello. Liu Xinghua rushed up to Sun Xiaohui with a dark face. Before anyone could react, she gritted her teeth and slapped Sun Xiaohui hard in the face.
“Pah—”
Four finger marks instantly appeared on Sun Xiaohui's left cheek.
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