Chapter 954: It Was Not Her
“There’s no need.” Yan Huan’s throat stung slightly. She really needed a cup of hot water, even a mouthful would do. Yet, she was also painfully aware of the villagers’ exclusion toward her, so she would not go.
“Aunt, I’ll be leaving first,” Yan Huan turned around. She dragged her limp leg as she took each step further away from the place. There was not much snow accumulated in the village aside from the thick layers dusted upon the roofs of the cottages across the entire village.
Changsheng’s mother was unable to persuade her to stay. The sight of the bundle of firewood lying by the door was ineffably heavy on her heart.
It’s not easy for a woman to be on the streets when it’s snowing this heavily.
“Changsheng’s mother, you should stop talking to that cripple.” a woman uttered to Changsheng’s mother. “I’ll have you know that she’s a thief! Though we have very few valuables, it will still be quite a bit of hassle for us to replace things if they are stolen, not to mention if it is something precious!”
“She’s right, Changsheng’s mother,” another woman chimed in. “Don’t they say that one must always remain vigilant to the harm of others? You ought to be more careful.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Changsheng’s mother only realized how heavy the bundle of firewood was after she hefted it. The bundle was heavy enough to be a burden to a man, much less a woman, not to say for someone who was crippled.
Just before she entered the cottage with the bundle of firewood, she turned to the crowd of middle-aged women. “Since none of you have seen her steal, how can you be certain that she was the thief?”
“Who else could it be if it wasn’t for her?” one of the women responded shrilly.
“We’re all honest people in this village, surely none of us would do such a thing. Only penniless outsiders would consider doing such sneaky deeds.”
“There’s a fly in the ointment,” Changsheng’s mother sighed. She was well aware of who the true culprit was.
“Didn’t you mention that the thief left a large boulder under the victim’s windowsill?” Changsheng’s mother opened the door as she added.
“You don’t say, that boulder is still lying there.”
“Yeah, I saw it for myself. It was this big,” said another woman, making a gesture of a large object. “It was quite large indeed, large enough for someone to climb on.”
“Oh, if so…” Changsheng’s mother shook her head. “If the boulder is that large, even a man will not be able to carry it, much less a woman so obviously thin. How strong is she to be able to carry such a gigantic boulder and climb on it? Isn’t it obvious that she is crippled? Do you really think that it’s possible for a crippled woman to move such a large boulder and climb on it?”
Changsheng’s mother’s words made the women’s faces burn with shame.
Changsheng’s mother carried the firewood into the cottage. She could understand how difficult things would be for a single woman. Now that Yan Huan came to this village, she would do everything within her capabilities to help her despite the village’s poor condition. After all, it would be a noble deed to save a life. She simply could not let them say such horrible things about a girl who was helpless.
Changsheng found an extra bundle of damp firewood when he returned to his cottage. He was certain that he had gathered enough firewood before autumn to avoid a situation where one would have to go out into the snow to collect firewood. In such cases, not only would the firewood weigh more, one’s clothes would be pretty much drenched by the time of return.
“Mother, where did this bundle of firewood come from?”
He placed the damp firewood aside, realizing in the process that the bunch was surprisingly heavy. This could not be their stockpile of firewood that got buried under snow after being left outside, could it be? But then again, he had just arranged those earlier this morning. It was quite unlikely that he had left such a large bundle in the snow either.
“Oh, that?” Changsheng’s mother emerged from the kitchen. “The girl you saved brought it over. I’m sure that child is uninvolved, but the other villagers insisted that she was the burglar at Uncle Dongsheng’s place last night.”
“Mother, it wasn’t her.” Changsheng placed the firewood and walked out. He had never suspected Yan Huan since the beginning as he had faith in his judgment.
“I believe you,” Changsheng’s mother sighed. “I am not undiscerning. That boulder they spoke of was so large, it could not possibly be moved by a woman. Not to mention, your uncle Dongsheng’s place was locked. How could a cripple like her climb over the wall? I wonder who’s the sneaky one in the village who’s been doing all the thieving recently.”
Speaking of the sneaky one, a person came to her mind. Who else could it be other than Jin Gen?
The father was to be blamed for a poorly mannered child. Similar to Changsheng, Jin Gen lost his father when he was young. However, surely one must not spoil a child simply because of that. Whenever he had nothing better to do, he would nick some crops here and there or take an egg or two from someone else’s hen. Rather than properly tending to his crops, all he thought of were sneaky schemes to gain without effort. It was no wonder that he could not find a wife despite his age. It only made much sense for young ladies who were dumb to tie the knot with someone from the Jin family.
She had a hunch that the whole ordeal was probably Jin Gen’s doing. As a woman of experience, she could see deeper than the others so naturally, she thought further too.
The boulder was placed right outside the young couple’s window. Its height was just right for a man to stand on it and peek in. Clearly, it was not meant for stealing, it was meant for eavesdropping.
Who else in the village would be so free as to eavesdrop in the middle of the night? Those who were too young would not have thought of such a thing, while the older ones would long have gotten a wife. Who would go out in the middle of the night when there was a warm and toasty bed to sleep in? Only an old single man would think of doing such a despicable act.
Changsheng’s mother felt a bad taste in her mouth as she thought about that. No one would wish for such an embarrassing thing to happen to them. Upon another thought, she silently took note of improving the door security when Changsheng got himself a wife to prevent some shameless person from climbing over and eavesdropping on her son and his wife at night. The thought itself was distasteful enough.
“Right,” Changsheng’s mother suddenly recalled something. “Don’t we have a few old bed frames?”
“Yeah,” Changsheng crouched on the ground and began eating. As a young man with a laborious job, he was often hungry and his diet was large. The old bed frames his mother was talking about were left over when he made a new set of bed frames last autumn.