Chapter 35: If You Don't Like It, Suck It Up!

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Old Zhang was thoroughly enraged by now.

His eyes were bloodshot as he lunged viciously toward Lin Yang, then began shouting in a harsh, grating voice.

“I already explained everything clearly! How was I supposed to know those baskets were yours? That river isn’t your private property. Anyone can go there.”

“I saw several baskets in the river and figured nobody wanted them, so I picked them up and brought them home. Fine, I’ll return them to you right now. What more do you want?!”

The onlookers cast strange looks at him after hearing his outburst.

By now, the truth could not have been clearer: Old Zhang was blatantly trying to frame Lin Yang.

Lin Yang knew perfectly well that, with only this written statement in hand, it would be extremely difficult to do anything to Old Zhang.

Even if the matter were taken to the commune, it would probably be hard to achieve any tangible result.

The commune officials were already busy enough every day without setting aside time to deal with such petty disputes.

Besides, in those days, people did not take slander and false accusations very seriously.

Usually, as long as the matter was explained clearly, it would simply be allowed to fade away.

Lin Yang had painstakingly laid his plans for a long time, and Old Zhang and his wife had willingly played their parts. Naturally, he had no intention of letting the whole affair end as a farce.

A cold, mocking smile curved his lips. He stared straight at Old Zhang, his voice as frigid as winter frost.

“Since you insist that you merely found those baskets, then how are we to settle the matter of you framing me?”

“Taking something without asking—isn’t that theft? And unlawfully possessing someone else’s property carries consequences far more serious than you can imagine!”

Old Zhang was momentarily stunned by Lin Yang’s words. Then his eyes began darting rapidly, a sly glint appearing in them.

A moment later, he shouted again, “I’ve told you several times already—I had no idea who those baskets belonged to! I kindly picked them up and brought them home, waiting for someone to come looking for them.”

“And yet you came barging in, accusing me without bothering to distinguish right from wrong, and even slashed me with a knife! And now you’re claiming that you’re the one in the right?!”

Lin Yang disdainfully raised the written statement in his hand and gave a series of cold laughs.

“The statement is right here in my hand. It’s written in black and white, perfectly clear, and it even bears your fingerprint. If that isn’t evidence, then what is?”

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“Everyone here heard you loud and clear! Before this, you insisted that I was in the wrong. Now you’ve changed your story and claim the baskets were merely found. Your words contradict each other—so tell me, whom should everyone believe?”

“That’s enough, Old Zhang. Everyone knows exactly what kind of person you are. I won’t waste any more time arguing with you.”

“Come with me to the commune right now. While we’re at it, we’ll take everyone to your house and search it thoroughly, to see exactly how many things you’ve stolen from me.”

The moment Old Zhang heard that they intended to search his home, his heart gave a sudden lurch and panic seized him.

After all, there were still several fish in his water vat!

Earlier, he had taken great pleasure in mocking Lin Yang for failing to catch any game and even losing his baskets. Never had he imagined that matters would develop into their present state.

“Why should I let you search my house?! You’re the one who injured me. You owe me compensation!”

Old Zhang thrust out his neck, wearing the shameless, defiant expression of a man who refused to admit any fault.

Lin Yang flashed him a grin, then turned toward the villagers and raised his voice.

“You all saw that, didn’t you? He’s deliberately smearing me. I’m going to his house now to look for evidence. Tell me, am I doing anything wrong?”

“He has no evidence to prove his innocence, so all he can do is make a scene. If we let him get away with this, then whenever someone in our village loses something in the future, will anyone ever be able to recover it?”

In the past, whenever their own interests were not involved, most villagers had merely watched from the sidelines.

Even when someone occasionally spoke up on another’s behalf, it was only empty support. No one truly wanted to provoke Old Zhang, who was notorious throughout the village as an old rogue.

After all, nobody wanted to get into a bitter feud with him over a few vegetables. Everyone believed that avoiding trouble was better than creating it.

Once Old Zhang and his family took a grudge against someone, that person would have endless trouble to deal with.

But this time, the situation was entirely different.

Whenever they thought of Old Zhang’s habitual greed and petty thievery, anger smoldered in their hearts.

No one wanted to keep being bullied by him.

Those who had suffered at his hands in the past were especially eager to act. Seeing Lin Yang take the lead, they began shouting enthusiastically.

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“We have to search his house! If we don’t teach the old bastard a lesson, he’ll keep stealing from the village. If we let him get away with it, we’ll all suffer for it!”

“Exactly! Old Zhang is no good at all! This year, he stole dozens of ears of corn from my family. When I confronted him, not only did he refuse to admit it, he even accused me of framing him and cursed me until I could hardly stand it!”

“And this summer, I worked hard gathering astragalus in the mountains, hoping to dry it and sell it for a little money. Someone made off with more than half of it. I knew it was him, but I had no proof. That was the fruit of days of hard work!”

“That bastard is nothing but a shameless rogue! A few days ago, my hens laid eggs that I planned to sell for salt, and he stole every one of them!”

“That man has no conscience whatsoever! Last autumn, I gathered hazel mushrooms and spread them out in the yard to dry. In the blink of an eye, he had taken them all! These days, my dog starts barking nonstop the moment it sees him.”

…

As the villagers added one complaint after another, their pent-up resentment finally erupted.

Old Zhang had truly aroused the fury of the entire village. By now, no one cared how he had been injured earlier. All they cared about was whether he had actually stolen Lin Yang’s baskets.

Seeing this, the old village chief cleared his throat and deliberately raised his voice.

“Since everyone supports it, we’ll go to Old Zhang’s house now. If we really find that he stole Lin Yang’s baskets and took the catch inside them, then Lin Yang can decide what to do with him.”

“I refuse! What right do you have to search my house? You’re breaking the law!” Old Zhang shouted, his voice carrying the reckless desperation of a man who had decided to risk everything.

But before he could finish, rage surged through Lin Yang. He drove his foot hard into Old Zhang’s shoulder, sending him rolling across the ground several times like a ball.

Looking down at him from above, Lin Yang gave a cold laugh.

“If you don’t like it, then swallow your objections! Once we find the evidence in your house, you can wait to be sent to the commune prison!”

With that, he gave Old Zhang no chance to speak again and marched angrily toward the door.

The villagers immediately followed in a wave of righteous fury. Before long, they had all arrived at Old Zhang’s house.

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