Her sharp gaze swept over Yang Dapeng's family.
"She bullied my Jiajia and pushed her down! You'd better give me an explanation today, or this isn't over!"
Liu Yingzi's eyes were fixed on Shanshan's face.
Zhang Yunhua didn't like the look of that one bit. She immediately stepped in front of Shanshan, shielding her.
She put one hand on her hip and pointed at Liu Yingzi with the other.
"What are you staring at? If you have something to say, say it properly. What kind of person scares a child?"
"Shanshan was with us in the city all day. She didn't even come back to the village, so how could she have found the time to bother your daughter?"
"Hmph, who said it had to be today? My Jiajia was pushed over, and she was too scared to say a word even though her clothes were torn. If I hadn't found the rip in her sleeve and the scrapes on her arm, I'd still be in the dark!"
Liu Yingzi snorted, her voice full of resentment.
"You've got some nerve, making things up. Accusing a child just like that?"
Zhang Yunhua's temper flared, and her neck flushed red.
"Are those the words of a grown-up? Making baseless accusations without any proof, and against a little girl? Has a dog eaten your conscience?"
Of course, Zhang Yunhua didn't believe a word of it.
But to her surprise, Shanshan nodded and admitted to it herself.
The little girl tilted her head, blinking her big eyes, with no trace of fear on her face.
She nodded emphatically, her voice crisp and clear.
"That's right! I'm the one who ruined her clothes!"
Zhang Yunhua froze, then quickly turned, crouched down, and examined Shanshan from head to toe.
She grabbed Shanshan's shoulders, looking her over from left to right, up and down, terrified she might be hurt somewhere.
"Are you hurt? Let your auntie see. Why didn't you say something sooner when this happened?"
"Hehe, I'm fine! They started it. They tried to snatch my little bag, so I fought back."
Shanshan grinned, revealing a set of small white teeth.
Then she wiggled the small cloth bag on her back and said proudly, "My treasure is super sturdy. They couldn't take it."
Only then did Zhang Yunhua feel relieved.
She let out a long sigh, reached out, and gently tapped Shanshan's little nose. She chided, "You bold little girl, you scared me to death! Next time something happens, you have to call for a grown-up first, understand?"
Yang Dapeng stood to the side, but his ears hadn't missed the crucial detail.
"You said 'they'? Besides Jiajia, who else bullied you?"
"Those two big brothers, too!"
Shanshan raised her hand and pointed directly at a pair of little boys cowering behind their parents.
One of the boys, who was wearing a blue shirt, took a half-step back in fear.
Yang Dapeng and Zhang Yunhua followed her finger. The two children were trembling with fear.
Their lips quivered slightly, and their eyes darted around nervously.
One of them even tried to hide his foot behind his mother's skirt.
The parents looked mortified and quickly pulled their children out.
The two mothers had ugly expressions. One dragged her son forward by the arm while the other snapped, "Stop hiding! What happened? Say it clearly! What are you hiding for?"
The children stumbled forward, their faces beet red.
"What exactly happened? Explain yourselves!"
The two little boys stood there sniffling, but they refused to speak.
"Uncle, Auntie, it wasn't like that!"
Cao Jiajia suddenly struggled out of Cao Daqiang's arms and ran—PATTER PATTER PATTER—right up to her two friends.
"We were just playing peacefully in the woods when that wild girl suddenly showed up!"
"Is that what happened?"
The two sets of parents exchanged a grave look and simultaneously looked down to question their own children.
Cao Daqiang crouched down and asked his daughter softly.
"Jiajia, is that true? Don't be afraid, Daddy's here."
On the other side, Yang Dapeng also bent down and took Shanshan's small hand.
"Shanshan, tell Uncle, what really happened?"
"It was..."
A chubby little boy kept his head down, his lips trembling slightly, as he timidly glanced at Jiajia, who was standing a short distance away.
The chubby boy struggled internally, his palms sweating. Finally, he gritted his teeth, mustered his courage, and prepared to speak.
"Liars aren't good kids, you know. Heaven will punish them."
Shanshan suddenly spoke in a soft voice.
She looked straight at the chubby boy, her gaze clear and pure.
In that instant, the little boy shuddered violently. His eyes quickly turned red, and he was on the verge of bursting into tears right then and there.
But before he could cry out, he took a deep breath and, in a trembling voice, revealed the truth.
"It was Jiajia... she told us to snatch it from her... She said if we helped her steal that bag, she'd give us candy."
He raised a trembling hand and pointed to the old cloth bag that Shanshan still had on her back.
The boy's voice grew quieter, until he was almost mumbling.
"She... she also said there was good stuff in that bag, and if we got it, we'd split the candy, three pieces each..."
"Yeah," the other, thinner boy couldn't help but chime in. "Jiajia called her a wild girl and threw mud at her. She-she only pushed us because she was angry, but Jiajia wasn't standing steady and her foot slipped. That's how she fell... Shanshan didn't hit her at all!"
After they finished speaking, the two of them practically scrambled to hide behind their mothers, only daring to peek out with half a head.
The atmosphere instantly became incredibly tense.
The surrounding women exchanged glances.
Liu Yingzi felt her face burn, and her ears turned bright red.
But how could she possibly admit to this?
If this was confirmed, her Jiajia would be labeled the instigator.
Not only would she lose face, but how could they ever hold their heads high again?
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"My Jiajia is usually so generous! She's given you candy, lent you toys, and even let you draw water from our well in the summer! And this is how you repay kindness with ingratitude? With slander?"
Before she could finish, Zhang Yunhua, standing at the front of the crowd, let out a cold snort.
"Are you trying to scare children?"
Zhang Yunhua stood with her hands on her hips, her face a mask of righteousness.
"Is it right to threaten children in front of so many people? They're young and don't know any better. You can't just interrogate them like this! If you've truly wronged these kids, Heaven won't forgive you later!"
"WAAAH... Mom, I'm not lying! Everything I said is true!"
The chubby boy from before finally broke down and began to sob.
Tears streamed down his face, his shoulders shook violently, and his little face was flushed red from holding it in.
"I'm really not lying... Jiajia gave us five pieces of candy... yesterday afternoon... They were wrapped in paper and hidden in a hole in the acacia tree... I even ate two of them... WAAAH..."
The other, thinner boy started wailing too, his voice heart-wrenching.
"I... I'm not a bad kid either... My mom said you have to be honest... I'm really not lying... If I told a lie, I'll fall down on my way to school tomorrow!"
Seeing the two children trembling with fear, their stories consistent and even matching in detail, the crowd had already made up their minds.
One by one, they turned to look at Liu Yingzi, their gazes no longer respectful but filled with disapproval.
"Stop making a scene!"
A woman in a blue cotton shirt finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.
"Just think about it. She's just a little slip of a girl, skinny as a bamboo pole. How could she possibly beat up three kids? Use your brains, will you? Even if she was really angry, a push would at most make someone stumble. How could it make them fall and bleed? This is obviously a frame-up!"