"You're lying."
Shen Nanchu's expression grew colder, her usually mischievous eyes now glazed with frost.
Her slender fingers tapped rhythmically against the desk, each "click" echoing like a hammer striking Li Mei and Fang Jie's hearts.
"Don’t think just because Jiang Shuyi took leave to go home, you can shift the blame onto her."
Shen Nanchu's voice was measured, yet carried an undeniable authority.
"You won’t get away with what you’ve done."
She suddenly raised her voice, startling Li Mei into a flinch.
"If no one ordered you, then the two of you acted out of malice."
Shen Nanchu stood, looming over them, her shadow engulfing Li Mei and Fang Jie.
"I’ll have you sent to the police station."
A flicker of surprise crossed Zheng Tongwei’s eyes.
Leaning against the wall, he observed Shen Nanchu’s every move in silence.
Wasn’t Shen Nanchu supposed to have a grudge against Jiang Shuyi?
Why was she defending her now?
Something wasn’t right.
This woman was definitely scheming something.
Zheng Tongwei rubbed the stubble on his chin, lost in thought.
Sure enough,
the next moment,
under Shen Nanchu’s relentless pressure, Li Mei and Fang Jie crumbled, their faces twisted in terror.
Li Mei’s lips trembled uncontrollably, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, while Fang Jie clutched the hem of her shirt so tightly her knuckles turned white.
If they were really sent to the police station, they could forget about ever returning to the city.
This wasn’t what they wanted.
Pale-faced and frantic, Li Mei stammered,
"Shen Nanchu, I—I’m sorry, I was wrong."
Her voice was choked with tears, as if someone had gripped her throat.
"Please don’t send me to the police station."
She lunged forward, trying to grab Shen Nanchu’s hand, but Shen Nanchu sidestepped effortlessly.
"We didn’t want to do this—it was Jiang Shuyi who egged us on!"
Fang Jie, now equally terrified, sobbed,
"I’m sorry, Shen Nanchu."
Tears streamed down her face like broken pearls.
"Please let us off just this once! I’ll never forget your mercy."
Her shoulders shook with each hiccup.
"It really wasn’t our idea—Jiang Shuyi told us to do it!"
Was this all the useful information they had?
Not enough for Shen Nanchu.
She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing them like a fox sizing up prey.
"If you can’t provide proof that Jiang Shuyi was behind this, then the charge of damaging collective property falls on you."
She emphasized "collective property," driving home the severity of the situation.
The moment Shen Nanchu finished speaking, Li Mei and Fang Jie burst into hysterical wails.
"This really has nothing to do with us!"
Li Mei’s shrill voice pierced the air.
"It was all Jiang Shuyi’s doing!"
Fang Jie echoed, the two of them performing a pitiful duet of desperation.
Shen Nanchu’s lips twitched in disdain.
Pathetic.
She took a deep breath, suppressing her impatience.
"You claim it was Jiang Shuyi—do you have proof?"
She guided them deliberately.
"Jiang Shuyi took leave to go home. She has an alibi."
She paused, letting the words sink in.
"How do you prove Jiang Shuyi, who’s miles away, gave you the idea to damage collective property?"
She’d practically spelled it out for them. Were they really this dense?
Shen Nanchu’s eyes flashed with contempt, as if staring at two blocks of wood.
Fortunately, this time, Li Mei wasn’t completely stupid.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, grasping at the lifeline.
"Jiang Shuyi didn’t go home!"
She blurted out, words tumbling over each other.
"She’s in town—she told us the plan there!"
Fang Jie chimed in urgently,
"That’s right!"
She wiped her tears.
"The day after the caretaker selection, we went to town, and she told us at the state-run restaurant!"
Her voice trembled with desperation, afraid Shen Nanchu wouldn’t believe her.
Finally, the answer Shen Nanchu wanted.
A faint smirk curled at her lips as she shot Zheng Tongwei a glance.
Zheng Tongwei immediately understood. He turned, grabbed paper and pens from the desk, and placed them before Li Mei and Fang Jie.
"One of you sit here, the other there."
He pointed to opposite corners of the room, ensuring they couldn’t communicate.
"Write down everything that happened, from start to finish. Clearly."
His tone turned sharp.
"Make it good—your fate depends on it."
Li Mei and Fang Jie didn’t dare scheme any longer. They obediently wrote down the details.
The room fell silent except for the scratching of pens and occasional sniffles.
Their separate accounts matched, both pointing the finger at Jiang Shuyi.
Wang Jianguo had them locked in the storage shed under the watch of two villagers.
Inside the village committee office,
Shen Nanchu, Zheng Tongwei, and Wang Jianguo huddled around the worn wooden table, reviewing the two confessions as they debated how to handle the situation.
Outside, cicadas droned incessantly, adding to the oppressive heat of the afternoon.
Wang Jianguo’s fury was barely contained, his calloused hands slamming the table with dull thuds.
"Disgraceful!"
"Outrageous!"
"Tomorrow, I’ll send someone to town to track down Jiang Shuyi."
His voice grated through clenched teeth, thick with rage.
Zheng Tongwei, more level-headed, rubbed his chin, brows furrowed.
"Don’t waste the effort—she’s long gone."
He analyzed coolly.
"If she dared orchestrate this, she’d have planned an escape."
Shen Nanchu, ever composed, leaned back in her chair, expression unreadable.
"These confessions alone won’t be enough to punish Jiang Shuyi."
She stated matter-of-factly, flicking the densely written pages.
Her words silenced the room.
Wang Jianguo’s face remained stormy. He slammed the table again, sending tea splashing from his cup.
"So we just let her get away with it?"
Those rabbits were Wang Jianguo’s pride. That Jiang Shuyi would dare harm them was unforgivable.
"Not a chance."
Zheng Tongwei said firmly, then glanced at Shen Nanchu.
Something about this felt off.
Hadn’t Jiang Shuyi been competing with Shen Nanchu for a man?
This mess—was Shen Nanchu behind it?
The more Zheng Tongwei studied Shen Nanchu’s calm demeanor, the more convinced he became.
Shen Nanchu sensed Zheng Tongwei’s probing gaze and met his eyes without hesitation.
"Tracking someone’s whereabouts shouldn’t be too difficult for you, right?" Shen Nanchu suddenly asked, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Zheng Tongwei paused for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah."
He responded instinctively, completely unaware that Shen Nanchu had just led him into a subtle trap.
"Good, then I’ll leave this matter to you."
Shen Nanchu cheerfully settled it just like that, his tone as casual as if they were discussing what to have for dinner.
"Alright."
Zheng Tongwei agreed readily, not overthinking Shen Nanchu’s intentions.
Only later did he realize he’d inexplicably taken on a hot potato.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again under Shen Nanchu’s knowing, half-amused gaze.
As for Li Mei and Fang Jie, since the rabbit hadn’t suffered any serious harm, Wang Jianguo generously decided to give them both major demerits—along with three months of unpaid rabbit hutch cleaning duty.
Wang Jianguo made it clear: if anything happened to the rabbit again, they’d be held fully accountable.
And so, the rabbit incident came to a temporary close.
......
