"check!"
"We must find out the truth!"
On days when there's no work, everyone's incredibly bored. The women can at least gossip online about this and that, but the men are practically just sitting at home doing nothing.
When there's a good show to start, everyone's happy to watch.
Bai Shiqing wasn't here today, and Li Xiulian had nowhere to vent her emotions. She could only glare at Bai Jiaojiao with hatred, "You're falsely accusing an innocent person. Why should I cooperate with your investigation? Who do you think you are? What, does this village still belong to the Bai family?"
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Don't worry. Since someone is framing you, we're investigating to find out the truth. It's for your own good. Otherwise, if this matter is left unresolved, how can your reputation be good?"
Bai Jiaojiao's words won everyone's support.
"You're right, you have nothing to hide, and investigating this is for your own good!"
Li Xiulian rolled her eyes, realizing that apart from Shen Hui's empty words, she had no evidence, so she agreed: "I'll investigate, but tell me how you're going to investigate?"
"First, explain yourself clearly: why did you pass by the village entrance that day? If you can't explain it clearly, then you're lying, aren't you?"
"That's a private matter! What's wrong with me not saying anything?"
Li Xiulian stubbornly refused to admit it, saying it was better than having the truth exposed.
Bai Jiaojiao rubbed her face, which was stiff from the cold: "Okay, then Shen Hui, whose kids were you playing with back then? Tell me a few names, and we'll call all those kids over. As bystanders, they might see something."
Li Xiulian sneered: "I called Shen Hui far away before disciplining him. What could those kids possibly hear?"
Are you panicking?
"What do I have to panic about?"
Bai Jiaojiao looked at Shen Hui, and Shen Hui named four children, all of whom were unruly and mischievous kids in the village. The parents of these children, or those who lived nearby, spontaneously went back to call for help.
Soon, all four children came over. They stood together and looked at each other questioningly: What trouble have you gotten into this time?
He looked guilty.
Bai Jiaojiao couldn't bear to look, so she covered her face, thinking to herself that her future children with Shen Heng wouldn't be this naughty, would they?
"Quickly tell everyone, it was Li Xiulian who came to me that day, gave me half a peach shortbread, and asked me to help her bump into Bai Shiqing!" Shen Hui was very anxious.
When the children heard Shen Hui say that this matter had nothing to do with them, they immediately relaxed: "We don't know anything about what you're talking about."
It's common for children to be called away by adults while playing together, and nobody takes it seriously.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiulian smiled and said, "Bai Jiaojiao, what other skills do you have to turn black into white?"
Bai Jiaojiao and Shen Heng exchanged a glance. Li Xiulian was like a piece of rubber, impossible to cut or break. She wouldn't say anything if asked, and there were no eyewitnesses. They couldn't find a single flaw in her story.
"Alright, Uncle Qing, I'll let this go for your sake. My father is right, we're all family. Bai Shiqing is carrying the eldest grandson of the Li family, which makes him my nephew. How could I possibly harm him?"
After Li Xiulian finished speaking to Li Shiqing, Li Shiqing blushed deeply.
Li Lide also said, "Brother, you've watched Xiulian grow up since she was a child. Could she really do something like that?"
Just as Li Xiulian was feeling smug, one of the four children suddenly said, "Chen came back after eating peach shortbread that day. He had some crumbs on his face, and I snatched them and ate them. The shortbread was a bit damp, and it smelled a bit like mothballs."
Li Xiulian said she was taking Shen Hui over to teach him a lesson, but how can you teach a child a lesson and then give him peach cakes?
At first, the child was too embarrassed to speak up, but seeing Li Shiqing's awkward appearance, and remembering that Li Shiqing had given his family a pound of sweet potatoes during the famine years ago, and that his father had always told him to remember this kindness, he had no choice but to speak up.
You're lying!
Li Xiulian glared at him; she hadn't expected Shen Hui to be someone who couldn't clean up his own mouth.
"Li Xiulian, what else do you have to say? If one child lies, can't two children lie in the same way?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Shen Hui suddenly perked up. "The peach shortbread she gave me smelled like mothballs. She must have put mothballs where she put the shortbread!"
Bai Jiaojiao gave Shen Hui a disdainful look. This child ate half a peach shortbread, which was worse than someone who stole a crumb.
Bai Jiaojiao said to the child, "You've been a great help. Come to my house this afternoon, and I'll get you some snacks."
"Really?" The little boy's eyes lit up immediately, but his father slapped him on the back.
"What are you going to eat!" his father yelled at Bai Jiaojiao. "Don't spoil this kid, he won't eat!"
"Look, they've conspired together!" Li Xiulian pointed at Bai Jiaojiao and started biting people indiscriminately.
"So, should I put some mothballs in your cupboard?"
Bai Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow.
Not many people in Shili Village use mothballs, since no one has much food and they all store it carefully so that insects and rodents can't reach it and won't breed.
However, the Zhou family was considered a prominent family in Shili Village, so it was normal for them to use mothballs when they had cockroaches.
The truth is quite clear, and some people, not wanting to miss out on trouble, shouted: "Do you dare to take us to your house and see if your peach shortbread is stored with mothballs?"
"That's quite a generous gesture, actually using peach shortbread as a bribe."
“We can’t even afford to buy a peach shortbread to try during holidays, so tell me, how much did that Zhou guy embezzle on the ship?”
The crowd began to discuss the matter, and Zhou's mother finally couldn't sit still any longer.
"What nonsense are you talking about! We never use mothballs at home, this child is just spouting nonsense!"
Of course, Zhou's mother would side with Li Xiulian, after all, it was a matter of face for the Zhou family. Besides, if something happened to Li Xiulian, who would take care of her son during the ten years he was in prison?!
Zhou's mother was clearly siding with Li Xiulian, and everyone scoffed, "What you say is useless. If you're so capable, why don't you take us to see for ourselves?"
"Do you think you can just open your cabinets to show others whenever you want?" Zhou's mother retorted.
When Li Xiulian saw Zhou's mother come out to speak for her, she went to her side and cried out, "Mom!"
He looked incredibly wronged.
Bai Jiaojiao thought to herself, "Could this be some kind of trick they're using, like Widow Zhou?"
"Okay, then, none of us will go in. You can let Uncle Shiqing, the brigade leader, and your father go in and take a look. You don't even trust the brigade leader of this village, do you? Don't you want to prove your innocence?"
Li Xiulian couldn't refuse Bai Jiaojiao's proposal.
But Bai Jiaojiao searched for a long time but couldn't find Zheng Xu.
Where did he go?
"Your uncle went to Huangjiazhuang to exchange for piglets," Zheng Xu's wife reminded him.
Bai Jiaojiao then remembered that it was she who suggested to Zheng Xu that they could take the piglets to Huangjiazhuang to exchange for some piglets that were not related by blood, so that they could breed pigs themselves the following year.
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