Upon hearing this, Lin Hongying smiled and said, “He Yingchun, you’re so quick to shift the blame—could it be that you stole it?”  

“Speaking of which, why hasn’t the reflection meeting started yet? I still haven’t heard a sincere apology. Sister-in-law He, are you ready?”  

[He Yingchun’s Resentment +500]

He Yingchun: “You—!”  

Lin Hongying swept her gaze over the crowd, carefully observing their microexpressions.  

Zhou Yinhua felt a chill under her stare and instinctively averted her eyes, looking toward Widow Zhou (her mother) instead.  

Zhou Jinbao, who had been grinning earlier, glared back at Lin Hongying when she looked at him, then guiltily hid behind his mother.  

Even the youngest, Zhou Yinbao, began glancing around nervously.  

No further deduction was needed—Lin Hongying immediately locked her suspicions on the three “treasures” of the Zhou household.  

Not just because… they had a history of mischief, but because they were clearly guilty!  

Widow Zhou’s face darkened. “Lin Hongying, why are you looking at me? My children would never do such a thing!”  

Lin Hongying’s eyes swept over the three Zhou siblings.  

The moment the children saw her, they didn’t dare even breathe heavily, their minds instantly flashing back to the nightmare of having their backsides beaten raw by her. Ever since that thrashing, the three of them had taken detours to avoid crossing paths with Lin Hongying.  

Even now, their bottoms still ached faintly at the memory.  

[Zhou Jinbao’s Resentment +1000]

[Zhou Yinbao’s Resentment +1000]

It was Zhou Jinbao—she was sure!

Pointing at Zhou Jinbao, Lin Hongying pretended to intimidate him: “Jinbao, you stole the goose, didn’t you?”  

Zhou Jinbao immediately retorted, “Aunt Lin, I didn’t! Don’t accuse me!”  

[Zhou Jinbao’s Resentment +1000]

He had stolen the goose, but he hadn’t processed it—he’d just wrung its neck and hidden it outside, planning to retrieve and cook it once the heat died down. How could Lin Hongying possibly find evidence?  

A few days ago, when Lin Hongying had eaten goose meat, the rich aroma of braised goose had wafted all the way to them. Zhou Jinbao had drooled with envy.  

They got to eat so much meat—what was the harm in sharing just one piece with him?

Lin Hongying exchanged a glance with Shao Qingfeng, then subtly gestured toward Widow Zhou’s house with her eyes.  

Shao Qingfeng understood her meaning and quietly slipped away from the crowd, heading straight for Widow Zhou’s home.  

Lin Hongying dragged Zhou Jinbao to the center, crossing her arms as she looked down at him with amusement. “Jinbao, I bet you’re thinking, She has no proof—she can’t pin this on me, right?”  

Zhou Jinbao’s heart skipped a beat—how did she guess so accurately? But so what?  

He blinked innocently. “Aunt Lin, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  

Some of the neighbors began to feel sympathy, quietly thinking Lin Hongying was being too harsh. Not long ago, she’d beaten the poor boy until his backside was bruised, and now she was pinning the theft on him too.  

And he’d lost his father at such a young age—how pitiful…

A kind-hearted neighbor spoke up, “Lin Hongying, don’t blame Jinbao. This has nothing to do with him.”  

He Yingchun chimed in, “Exactly! What does a child that young even understand? Meanwhile, how did you get goose meat to eat?”  

A few days prior, Lin Hongying had brought back several containers of braised goose from her workplace—enough to weigh four or five pounds in total. Of course, she couldn’t finish it all in one meal, so she ate one portion a day and stored the rest in the freezer.  

“Good question. The goose meat I ate was brought back from work three days ago. Qingfeng and Weidong can vouch for me. Plus, I don’t have the time to commit the theft.”  

Lin Hongying’s gaze swept over the crowd. “Since you all refuse to believe Jinbao did it, then everyone here is a suspect. I’ll have to eliminate them one by one!”  

“I’ll ask each of you—what were you doing this morning? Do you have an alibi? We’ll go through this one by one.”  

She looked at Zhou Jinbao and smirked coldly. “Jinbao, let Aunt Lin teach you another old saying today: If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place. Whatever you’ve done will leave traces! You first.”  

She smoothly pulled out a notepad and pen from her bag.  

Lately, Lin Hongying had been recording data in the lab, so she always carried writing materials with her.  

Zhou Jinbao shrugged. “I had a snowball fight with my brother in the morning, then went to eat lunch at noon. That’s it.”  

The crowd erupted in chatter.  

Aunt Wu said, “I was at home pickling cabbage. I went downstairs twice to take out the trash. At noon, I went to eat—Sister Xu saw me when I went down.”  

He Yingchun rolled her eyes. “I was chatting with Xiao Liu in the morning.”  

Nurse Liu nodded. “Yes, we were catching up.”  

Lin Hongying paused her writing. “Did either of you see what Zhou Jinbao was doing?”  

Granny Xu took over. “He was playing snowball fights and building snowmen with a bunch of kids in the open area. I was at home listening to the news and knitting. The new girl, Xiao Ning, can vouch for me.”  

Someone else interjected, “Wait, Jinbao and the others only played for a little while. They left around nine and didn’t come back until past twelve. I was wondering why the kids had gone quiet.”

The others chimed in with their own accounts.  

Zhou Jinbao remained relatively calm as he tried to cover for himself: “Later, we went around to the back of the house to play. They just didn’t see us.”  

People in the Northeast were especially attentive toward children—because in winter, accidents could easily happen. Whether it was their own kids or someone else’s, they instinctively kept an eye out.  

Aunt Ning nodded. “The old lady didn’t leave the house today, I can vouch for that. But…” She frowned. “I was behind the eaves organizing the coal pile, and I didn’t see Jinbao and the others?”  

Nurse Liu added, “Jinbao and his brothers came back around one-something. They were all dirty and sweaty—who knows what they were up to? Yingchun and I ran into them on our way to eat.”  

Granny Xu, reminded of this, also recalled, “Later, Jinbao and the others seemed to have gone to play near the back hill.”  

Sweat beaded heavily on Zhou Jinbao’s forehead. That morning, the courtyard had seemed empty, devoid of people.  

But in reality, without them realizing it, countless eyes had been silently watching their every move.  

Lin Hongying’s lips curled into a faint smile as she looked at Zhou Jinbao with amusement. “Jinbao, you lied. Where did you really go this morning?”  

Zhou Jinbao panicked and scrambled for an excuse. “I forgot to mention—I also went to the outhouse near the canteen.”  

“That can’t be right, Jinbao. I was at the outhouse—how come I didn’t see you?” another neighbor cut in. “I’m the one in charge of it!”  

All eyes turned to Zhou Jinbao, whose sweat now dripped like beans.  

Cornered again and again, he finally shut his mouth.  

By now, everyone had caught on and began to believe Lin Hongying’s accusation.  

The few neighbors who had earlier accused Lin Hongying of framing Jinbao fell silent, their faces burning with shame.  

The testimonies, meant to be evidence, had instead become ironclad proof of Zhou Jinbao’s lies.  

Lin Hongying raised her voice and suddenly asked, “Yinhua! What were you doing at the time? I’ll give you one chance to confess and receive leniency!”  

Zhou Yinhua, jumped in fright and stared at Lin Hongying in horror—this had nothing to do with her!  

“I was… watching my brothers play, then went back to sleep,” she stammered.  

Since she hadn’t stolen anything, she spoke with more confidence. Even after being startled twice, she hadn’t produced any resentment points, so… Lin Hongying let her go.  

Zhou Yinhua immediately sighed in relief.  

Her gaze is terrifying! Yinhua was grateful she had firmly chosen to go back to sleep that morning instead of joining her brothers in their mischief.  

At that moment, Lin Hongying’s image had flashed through her mind—an instinctive certainty that if she did something bad, she would get caught. She had once said: Do no evil, no matter how small.

Just then, Shao Qingfeng emerged from Widow Zhou’s house and gave Lin Hongying a nod.  

Lin Hongying now had the full picture. “After preliminary investigation, I’ve obtained evidence of Jinbao and Yinbao’s theft. This is your last chance to confess and receive leniency!”  

She pointed at Shao Qingfeng and stared straight at Yinbao’s face. “Yinbao, you go first. Uncle Shao and Uncle Han are watching you right now. If you don’t tell the truth, they’ll shoot you dead!”  

Yinbao was only four years old—though mischievous, he couldn’t handle intimidation.  

“They’ll point a gun at your head, and it’ll explode like a watermelon!”  

He burst into tears. “Don’t shoot! I’ll talk, I’ll talk…”  

“The goose… big brother hid it… in the ice hole…”  

“Yinbao, what nonsense are you spouting?!” Zhou Jinbao glared at him furiously.  

Widow Zhou felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. The moment Yinbao admitted to stealing the goose, her eyes reddened instantly.  

Li Sanya let out a furious roar, “My goose! So it was your family, Widow Zhou!”  

Her eyes locked onto Widow Zhou—this was adding new grievances to old grudges, another debt to settle.  

Li Sanya raised her hand as if to slap Jinbao, but Widow Zhou spread her arms like a protective eagle, swiftly shielding her brood.  

Lin Hongying shot Li Sanya a cold look. “Aunt Li, step aside. This doesn’t concern you right now!”  

Even in her rage, Li Sanya was cowed by Lin Hongying’s sharp tone. Remembering how she had falsely accused Lin Hongying earlier, she awkwardly retreated.  

Shao Qingfeng pulled a few glossy black goose feathers from his pocket—exactly the color of the goose Li Sanya had described.  

“These were found under your bed.”  

When Zhou Jinbao saw the feathers, he knew the game was up. The feathers were so beautiful that he couldn’t resist keeping them, thinking he’d hidden them well. But…  

Lin Hongying realized this child’s roots had already grown crooked. Even with overwhelming evidence, he stubbornly refused to admit his guilt.  

If I don’t straighten him out properly today, I don’t deserve the name Lin Hongying!