Chapter 25: Black-jack Grass
Ms. Lin's voice grew louder. "What evidence do you have?"
Five or six villagers watched with keen interest, eager to see how the confident girl could prove Su Cheng's innocence.
The news of Su Bin's disdain for Qin Zhenzhen and the animosity between her and her siblings had already spread throughout the village.
Curiosity piqued as they witnessed Qin Zhenzhen stepping up to defend Su Cheng.
Qin Zhenzhen calmly responded, "Firstly, you are not a credible witness."
"Secondly, our sweet potato field is the only route for corn thieves to escape. Anyone could have hidden in the field in the sweet potato field."
"In other words, if this matter were to be taken to the governmental office, Su Cheng would not be convicted!"
"If you resort to force, we are not ones to be easily bullied."
"Qian Erhu, you should consider whether you can defeat me or not!"
Qin Zhenzhen believed that evil should be met with equal force.
Threatened by a woman, Qian Erhu seethed with anger. However, he also recognized that he stood no chance against Qin Zhenzhen's four brothers, let alone Qin Zhenzhen herself.
Qin Zhenzhen continued, "I am not unreasonable. I possess a few pieces of evidence that prove Su Cheng's innocence."
"Firstly, I just examined the surroundings. Your field is damp, and the soles of your shoes and your mother's shoes are wet, as are mine. However, the soles of Su Cheng's shoes remain dry."
Qin Zhenzhen nodded and gestured for Su Cheng to show the soles of his shoes.
Qian Erhu was taken aback, realizing he had overlooked this crucial detail. His family had recently irrigated their corn fields, resulting in damp soil.
Had they wrongly accused Su Cheng?
Driven by doubt, Qian Erhu couldn't help but examine the shoes of the group of boys. To his surprise, he discovered that three of them had wet soles.
Qian Duoduo's shoes were also wet, but he vehemently protested.
"Are you singling us out just because our shoes are wet? Are you that clueless? You're being easily led!"
The other two boys expressed their anger as well.
"I just came from the stream, so my shoes are wet."
"I don't know why the soles of my shoes are wet, but I came straight from home, and my basket is still empty. How could I have hidden anything?"
Most of the land at the foot of the mountain was dry, so the majority of children's shoes remained dry.
Qian Duoduo shot a glance at Su Cheng before turning to Qin Zhenzhen, accusing her.
"Third Sister-in-law of the Su Family, it's understandable that you want to clear Su Cheng's name and make him like you. But you shouldn't go against your conscience and consider wet shoes as suspicious!"
The other two boys glared at Qin Zhenzhen, while the onlookers expressed their support for evidence-based judgment.
"Please, Village Chief, come and handle this!"
"Evidence is crucial; let's not make false accusations."
Qin Zhenzhen closely observed the reactions of the three boys.
While the other two boys seemed to respond normally, Qian Duoduo's words made her feel as if he had been caught off guard.
Her suspicions about Qian Duoduo grew stronger.
Qin Zhenzhen locked eyes with him. "I merely stated that the shoes were not suspicious, not that they were wet. Why are you so nervous?"
Then she turned to Qian Erhu and continued, "You have black-jack grass growing in the field, and both you and your mother have black-jacks on your pants. As for me, I have them too, but Su Cheng's pants are free of them."
Qian Erhu suddenly grasped the meaning behind Qin Zhenzhen's words.
"There really is black-jack grass in our field!"
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