After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Wang Hehua reacted quickly and tried to smooth things over: "Child, why are you saying such hurtful things! Your grandma is just worried about tarnishing your reputation. What kind of family would it be to end up in court? Just return the things, admit your mistake, and your grandma says we'll let it go."

"Afraid of tarnishing my reputation?" Lin Qianjiao suddenly laughed, her eyes reddening. "You come here to cause trouble every few days, what reputation do I have left? Today you even brought half the village to block my door, calling me a 'thief' and a 'robber'—and then expect me to be grateful?"

She abruptly stopped laughing, her gaze sweeping across the crowd like a knife:

"I didn't steal or rob, what wrong have I done?"

Lin Xiaohua panicked, rolled up her sleeves, and was about to rush inside: "Mom! Why waste words with this brat? Just go in and take everything!"

"Oh?" Lin Qianqian raised her eyelids slightly. "Is my aunt trying to rob me outright?"

"So what if I take things from the Lin family?!" Lin Xiaohua's voice was shrill. "When you divided the family property, you didn't have a single copper coin, and now you can eat meat and buy cloth. Where did you get it if not stolen? Tell me! Tell me!"

"Yes! Explain yourself clearly!"

"Stealing is stealing, what's the use of being stubborn?"

The Lin family members took turns speaking, their voices rising higher and higher.

The onlookers began to whisper among themselves, their gazes growing increasingly uneasy.

Lin Qianqian took a deep breath.

This is the moment she's been waiting for.

"You want to know where my money came from?" she suddenly raised her voice, drowning out the noise of everyone else.

The area outside the courtyard gate fell silent instantly.

Lin Qianqian looked around and said, slowly and deliberately:

"I earned it by selling poisoned potatoes."

Dead silence.

The wind rustled through the locust tree at the entrance of the courtyard.

Then--

"What?!"

"Poisonous potatoes?!"

"That thing is deadly! How can you possibly make money from it?"

The crowd erupted in chaos, the chatter flowing like a dam bursting. Some were terrified, some disbelieving, and some took a few steps back, as if Lin Qianqian carried something unclean.

Old Mrs. Lin was stunned at first, then her eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh and wailed even louder: "Listen to this! Listen to this! She said she's selling poisonous potatoes! Everyone in the village knows those poisonous potatoes; eating them will kill you. How can she sell them for money? Who are you trying to fool?"

"Milk." Lin Qianqian uttered just one word, shutting her up again.

She stood on the steps, her back ramrod straight, her gaze sweeping over everyone and landing on the very back of the crowd.

"It's true that poisonous potatoes are poisonous. But the poisonous potatoes I sell won't poison people."

Some people scoffed, "You think it's poisonous just because you say so?"

Lin Qianqian remained calm and unhurried, extending her fingers to count them one by one:

"I ate it. My brother ate it. Tiger ate it too."

She spread her hands: "The three of us are standing right here, alive and kicking. Who was poisoned?"

"As for the silver, Manager Su of the restaurant in town can testify to that."

"If you don't believe me, you can go to town and ask right now."

The crowd fell silent.

Granny Li's expression changed first. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Grandma Lin's eyes darted around a few times, and her voice noticeably lowered: "Who knows if you're telling the truth or not..."

"Then report it to the authorities." Lin Qianqian uttered those four words for the second time, this time in a softer tone but with greater weight. "Let the officials come and verify. If it's fake, I'll plead guilty. If it's real—" She paused, her gaze slowly sliding from Old Madam Lin's face to Wang Hehua, then to Lin Xiaohua, "What is the punishment for falsely accusing a relative? Uncle, you've probably reached the end of your studies."

Grandma Lin's lips trembled twice, and she couldn't speak.