Chapter 23

He Shanshan rode her bike as fast as she could, her face full of anger. Now, she just wanted to fly back home and give Xia Qingning a good scolding.

“Shanshan…” Wang Mingfang, who was returning home, saw her daughter riding her bike and called out to her.

He Shanshan slammed on her brakes and stopped the bike in front of Wang Mingfang. She was full of grievances and anger, as if she had found someone to confide in. She started to rant at her mother:

“Mom, you don’t know how arrogant that stinky girl Xia Qingning was today. It made me so mad.

She went to our supply and marketing cooperative and bought a lot of things, towels, toothbrushes, soap, a whole bunch of stuff, and even Dacron and two enamel basins.”

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand to gesture, her eyes wide open. She continued, “And, and, she even treated Wu Xiaodong to a five-cent popsicle. She spent over ten yuan…”

When she heard over ten yuan, Wang Mingfang was also taken aback. She looked at her daughter and confirmed again:

“She really spent over ten yuan? Did you see it clearly?”

“I saw it clearly. She was so generous when she paid. She didn’t hesitate at all. She even said that she was spending her own salary to buy her own things and that it was none of my business.” He Shanshan was even angrier, her face flushed red.

“That’s not right.” Wang Mingfang reacted and said, “It’s not her payday yet.”

For the past two years, whenever Xia Qingning got paid, she would immediately go and collect the money. So Wang Mingfang knew exactly when Xia Qingning got paid.

“Then where did she get so much money?” He Shanshan asked in surprise, then urged Wang Mingfang, “Mom, let’s go. We’ll go back and ask her.”

The two of them rode their bikes back home quickly. Xia Qingning had already finished making all the hair accessories and tidied up the scraps of fabric. She walked out of the room.

He Shanshan, full of anger, entered the courtyard and went straight to the house. As soon as she went in, she saw Xia Qingning walking out with something in her hand.

Because the sewing machine was outside her room, seeing Xia Qingning coming out from that direction, she thought she had come out of her room. She immediately rushed over and scolded her:

“Xia Qingning, what are you doing in my room?”

Oh, she’s back so soon. The good show is about to begin!

“Who went into your room?” Xia Qingning looked at He Shanshan, her eyes showing no fear.

“You’re not admitting it. I saw it.” He Shanshan said confidently, then moved her gaze to Xia Qingning’s hand, staring intently, and asked, “What are you holding?”

As if she had thought of something, she quickly ran into her room, picked up her pillow from the bed, and reached inside to search carefully.

She searched for a long time, but found nothing. She became anxious and pulled out the entire pillowcase. There was still nothing inside.

Her money was gone!

She threw the pillow on the ground, rushed to Xia Qingning, pointed at her nose, and cursed, “Good for you, Xia Qingning. I was wondering why you had so much money to buy so many things today. So you stole from me. You thief. You stole people before, and now you’re stealing money. You shameless wretch.”

“Why are you saying that!” Xia Qingning’s gentle eyes were filled with anger. She had never been cursed with such dirty words in her life. She didn’t back down and shouted, “Who stole your things? Say it clearly!”

Seeing Xia Qingning, who was usually weak, resist her twice, He Shanshan felt that her authority had been challenged. She started to curse, “It’s you, you shameless wretch! If you didn’t steal it, why were you in my room? If you didn’t steal my money, where did it go? Did it grow legs and run away?”

She had a loud voice and her voice was penetrating. She soon attracted the attention of the neighbors. Everyone came to the Lu family’s house.

“I didn’t take your money, and I didn’t go into your room. Let’s ask everyone to judge. How can you wrongly accuse someone and curse them like that?” Xia Qingning said righteously, as if she was going to argue with her.

Hearing Xia Qingning say this and seeing people watching from outside, He Shanshan became even more excited. She was sure that Xia Qingning had taken the money. Afraid that others wouldn’t know, she pulled Xia Qingning into the courtyard, shouting loudly as she walked:

“Everyone, come and see! Xia Qingning is a thief. She stole over ten yuan from me. I caught her…”

Xia Qingning’s intention was to make a big deal out of it. She pretended to struggle for a while, but she actually cooperated and let He Shanshan pull her out.

This body was already weak. She pretended to struggle for a while, and to outsiders, it looked like the strong and powerful He Shanshan was dragging her to the courtyard.

“Shanshan, maybe there’s a misunderstanding. Lu Er’s wife is always honest and law-abiding. How could she steal money? You can’t wrongly accuse her.”

Aunt Wu, who was standing nearby, felt a little sorry for Xia Qingning and spoke up for her.

“I’m wrongly accusing her? Go ask your son Wu Xiaodong. Didn’t she go to our shop today and buy a lot of things? She even treated your son Wu Xiaodong to a popsicle. She didn’t get paid this month. If she didn’t steal from me, where did she get the money?”

As soon as she mentioned the afternoon’s events, He Shanshan became furious. She didn’t care about her image anymore and shouted loudly, like a shrew.

“Isn’t Qingning working at the textile factory? Her salary isn’t low. Even if she didn’t get paid this month, she still has her past salary, right? How can you be so sure that she stole the money?”

Mai Miao, who had just arrived, immediately grasped the key point and asked back.

“Her past salary…” He Shanshan was about to explain, but Wang Mingfang bumped her with her shoulder. She immediately reacted and said, “Anyway, she couldn’t have that much money. When I got home, I found my money was gone. She was sneaking out of my room, and she was holding something in her hand…”

When she said this, she suddenly looked at Xia Qingning’s hand, as if she had found evidence. She said, “You stole something else from my room, let me see.” Before Xia Qingning could speak, she reached out to grab it.

Facing the wild and violent He Shanshan, Xia Qingning deliberately clenched her fist, pretending to be afraid of something being taken away. She shouted, “Let go of me!”

The more she resisted, the more certain He Shanshan was. She rudely forced her hand open. The moment her hand loosened, hair ties and hairbands fell to the ground.

Seeing that it wasn’t her things, He Shanshan’s face became a little embarrassed. Mai Miao saw this and immediately said:

“Look, Qingning didn’t take your money! You’re just wrongly accusing her!”

“She stole it. She already spent it today!” He Shanshan’s voice was sharp and thin, piercing the eardrums. She was furious and raised her hand, pushing Xia Qingning hard.

This body was really frail. Even though Xia Qingning tried to stabilize herself, she still fell to the side.

At that moment, a strong hand reached out and caught her steadily. The next second, she fell into Lu Jingzhe’s arms.

Lu Jingzhe helped her stand up. Seeing that she was okay, he protected her behind him, turned to He Shanshan with a cold face, and shouted angrily:

“What are you doing?”

He was tall and imposing, his expression cold, and his voice was filled with anger. His already sharp eyes were now filled with anger. The aura he exuded was powerful and oppressive.

“I…” He Shanshan was intimidated by his powerful aura and couldn’t speak for a moment. After a while, she said, “She stole my money.”

Seeing Lu Jingzhe step in to defend her, the kind-hearted Wang Mingfang immediately walked to Xia Qingning’s side. She didn’t blame her, but instead, she tried to persuade her gently, “Qingning, just admit it. We’re all family. We won’t ask you to pay it back. It’s okay to make mistakes. We won’t take it from you in the future.”

Now everyone was here. Xia Qingning knew the time was right. It was time for her to strike back. She didn’t back down and loudly denied, “I didn’t take it!” Then she looked at He Shanshan with determination and asked, “You said I took your money. What evidence do you have?”

“The things you bought today are proof. If you didn’t steal it, then tell me where you got the money to buy those things?” He Shanshan said arrogantly.

She knew that Xia Qingning hadn’t been paid, so she couldn’t have that much money. Humph! Let’s see how she can still argue.

Just as she was feeling smug, a cold and resounding voice came from beside her:

“I gave it to her.”