75 Stealing
The one with a straight back was the Su family’s fourth daughter, Su Xue. She was only a year older than her fifth sister, and the two of them had the best relationship among the seven sisters. They had been inseparable since they were young, herding cattle and cutting pig grass together. They even went to school together. The fourth sister was obviously one year older than the fifth sister, but in order to be with her fifth sister, she had to wait for a year.
Su Xue’s expression was cold to the point of despair. One of her hands naturally hung down and held her fifth sister’s hand tightly. She was completely unmoved by the criticism, disappointment, and anger of the people around her. The two sisters just stood there silently, moving forward with the crowd little by little.
The two sisters had no regrets about being accused of stealing, and they did not care about it anymore. Big sister had said that they were not allowed to study anymore. According to the time big sister had told them last time, she should have been here long ago. It was a good thing that she had not come yet.
Compared to not being able to study, what was the infamy of stealing?
Someone was anxious. “Su Xue, explain yourselves. Did you steal it?”
Su Xue shook her head after a long while. “We didn’t.” They were poor and hungry, but they would never steal from others.
The students who were close to the two of them immediately regained their confidence when they heard Su Xue’s words. They loudly questioned the round-faced girl, “Did you hear that? Su Xue said that she did not steal anything. Hmph! It could also be one of you who stole it and deliberately framed Su Xue and fifth sister Su.”
“That’s right.” Someone chimed in.
He Xiaomei crossed her arms and scoffed coldly. She looked at Su Xue with eyes full of ridicule.
She just could not stand Su Xue’s look. She was so hungry that she had to steal, but she still had to act so proud.
Who was she straightening her back for?
“Who else could it be? Other people didn’t need to steal things. Everyone in our dormitory can eat their fill, but they don’t even have a bowl of cornbread now. Humans, once forced into a corner, would do anything. Who knows what they’ll do when they’re starving?” Zhao Yuan said with conviction.
These words stirred up many people.
Everyone had starved when they were young. If delicious peach crisps appeared in front of them when they were the most hungry, no matter how good a person was, they would not be able to control themselves.
After thinking it through, the people who were originally speaking up for the sisters lowered their heads and kept quiet. Some of the more emotional girls had reddened eyes and were secretly wiping away their tears.
They were both Su Xue and fifth sister Su’s classmates. They had been together for three years. They still had some feelings for each other. Now that the Su sisters were going to drop out of school and were bearing the infamy of stealing, they would never be able to lift their heads in the future.
A boy who could not stand it stepped forward. “He Xiaomei, how many peach crisps did you lose? Name a price and I’ll compensate you on their behalf.”
The boy who spoke was called Cao Jun. Although he was only 16 years old, he was tall, handsome, and had good grades. Most importantly, he lived in town. His family was very well-off, and all the boys in town followed him.
He was very influential among the students, and his words were final.
When He Xiaomei heard Cao Jun speaking up for Su Xue, she was so angry that her nose almost became crooked. This made her even more unhappy with Su Xue. She wondered if Cao Jun was blind to speak up for her all the time.
“No need. I’ll just treat it as feeding it to the dogs,” He Xiaomei said unhappily.
Tears welled up in fifth sister Su’s eyes as she bit her lip hard. She was about to rush back when she heard He Xiaomei’s words, but she was caught by Su Xue.
“Where are you going?” The fourth sister berated her in a low voice.