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"How can one blame us for this? He kept promising again and again that he wouldn’t steal anymore, who knew he’d be so untrustworthy!" Ding Liang snorted, "Serves him right for getting caught! Let’s see if he dares to steal again next time!"

As for there being a next time, who knows if it’ll even come.

Lin Yuan muttered to herself inside, and when she glanced at Lin Yongcheng, she was shocked to see how gaunt his face had become, his bones nearly protruding. No wonder Lin Jiaxin had softened, anyone would find it hard to abandon their nephew in such a state.

While she was thinking, Aunt Wang’s voice suddenly carried from outside the ancestral hall, drawing closer. Seeing her disheveled appearance, it was clear she had rushed back from town upon hearing the news.

"How could such a thing happen? Oh heavens, what are we to do!" Aunt Wang, clearly distressed, pushed her way into the ancestral hall. Upon seeing the people from her natal village and Lin Yongcheng kneeling on the floor, she finally accepted the truth, "It’s really true! Good Lord, isn’t this just terrible! Such a good boy, how could he do something so shameful? Big brother, oh sister-in-law, I’m so sorry, so sorry! "

Aunt Wang too hadn’t expected Lin Yongcheng to do such a thing and quickly turned to apologize to Wang Dagen. After all, she had been the one to matchmake, and now that such an incident had occurred, she was too ashamed to face the people from her natal village.

Wang Dagen, an honest man, was both angry and anxious, "I just knew something was off when our house suddenly lost so many things, it turns out, it was all his doing!

And to think, I had considered him educated, a scholarly man, and it was you who introduced him to us.

I thought my daughter would be in good hands marrying him! Who could have guessed, he, this, oh!"

Thinking of his daughter, Wang Dagen felt utterly heartbroken and too ashamed to meet anyone’s gaze, repeatedly waving his hands, "This boy, our family is certainly out of his league now, this marriage, let’s just forget about it, forget about it."

Fortunately, they had only met a few times and hadn’t finalized the marriage; otherwise, his daughter would never have been able to marry anyone else.

Aunt Wang kept apologizing, too weary to even look at Lin Yongcheng anymore; she glanced at Lady Ma, heaved a sigh, and retreated to stand by Lady Liu’s side.

Even though the engagement with Lin Yongcheng was off, Wang Dagen didn’t leave, because he still needed to seek justice. Including his, nearly four or five nearby households had been robbed of their silver, and now that the thief was caught, they needed to retrieve their money.

The normally silent Village Chief Wang finally spoke up, "Old village chief, this man is from your village. I don’t care if he has committed offenses in your village, but he has stolen from several households in ours, and you need to give us an explanation for this."

The matter was unquestionably their fault, and the old village chief nodded repeatedly, "Certainly, certainly."

Having said that, the old village chief furrowed his brow, looking down at Lin Yongcheng on the ground.

When he first found out that Lin Yongcheng was the thief, he truly hadn’t expected it—how could such a good kid do something like this?

Although he had stolen bricks from Lin Yuan’s house before, the chief was more inclined to believe that it had been out of spite.

But this time, he had never seen the people from Wang Village before, so could it also be out of spite?

"Sigh." The old village chief let out a sigh and turned to Lin Jiazhong, "This is your son, you tell us, how should we deal with him?"

Lin Jiazhong quickly bowed with clasped hands, "Old village chief, my son surely committed the error unintentionally, I implore you to spare him this once."

The old village chief tapped his cane, helplessly saying, "It’s not that I won’t help you. If this had happened only in our own village, maybe I could’ve tried to cover for you. But you know, as the village chief, I cannot show favoritism. I have to provide an explanation to Village Chief Wang."

At this point, the old village chief gave Lin Jiazhong a meaningful look.

Having worked as Mr. Accountant in the Landlord’s house for a long time, Lin Jiazhong was adept at reading people and understood the old chief’s intention in a glance.

He hurriedly bowed to Village Chief Wang, looking genuinely remorseful, "Village Chief Wang, my son is naive, but he has always been kind-hearted and honest. He surely was bewitched this time.

I beg you to have a generous heart and forgive him just this once. "

"Mr. Lin, it’s not that I insist on sending your son to the County Government Office for justice, but he really has committed too many crimes.

Do you realize how many people he has stolen from in our village?

A total of six households! Our Wang Village has been established for over a century and such a thing has never happened before.

We were about to become in-laws with your Lin family, and we treated your son with respect. But now, oh."