Su Xiaonuan said to the neighbors who had gathered around, "Please, everyone, help us find the children. They're definitely alright; they're definitely still alive."
After he finished speaking, he bowed to everyone.
The neighbors who had been watching all joined in and helped clean up.
With many people working together, the entire burned site was quickly cleared, but the children were nowhere to be seen.
People were whispering among themselves:
"They've probably all been burned to ashes. We've turned them upside down, but we couldn't even find a bone. Poor children."
"Five children, burned alive to ashes just like that."
"Heaven is blind; not a single person was left alive."
......
After a period of silence, Su Xiaonuan suddenly roared at the people who were talking. "The children aren't dead! They're alive! They're alive..."
“Xiao Nuan…” Aunt Chen said softly. “The children were asleep inside. I didn’t expect a fire to break out.”
"That madman set the fire!" a stranger shouted.
Xiao Moran grabbed Xie Zhi, who was unresponsive, and demanded, "Tell me, did you set the fire?"
"Hehe." Xie Zhi started chuckling again.
He acted too calmly just now, so calmly that he didn't exhibit any of the characteristics of a madman. Since someone has specifically named him as the one who set the fire, and he is still under Lan Yin's surveillance, he has to continue to pretend to be crazy.
"Tell me quickly, did you set the fire?" Xiao Moran had lost his patience and raised his fist at Xie Zhi.
Xie Zhi continued to feign madness, nodding and shaking his head intermittently.
"Taking in a madman at home, trouble is bound to happen sooner or later." Someone shook their head and sighed. "There has to be a limit to doing good deeds. Taking in someone whose mind isn't clear is a recipe for disaster."
"It seems that it really was this madman who set the fire."
......
Xiao Moran raised his fist and punched Xie Zhi, who fell to the ground with a "bang," and an empty bottle rolled out of his pocket.
Su Xiaonuan quickly picked up the empty bottle, opened the cap, and smelled gasoline. Her eyes pierced Xie Zhi's heart like sharp knives. She kicked him off the ground, held up the bottle, and asked him, "Did you pour gasoline in the room?"
Xie Zhi sniffed the air and confirmed it was indeed the smell of gasoline. But the empty bottle wasn't his. He remembered someone brushing against him when he came in, so it was possible that someone had put it in their pocket at that moment.
Xie Zhi understood that Lan Yin wanted to frame him, and she was definitely going to go all out.
There must be some helpers that Lan Yin hired here. When he looked at the crowd, he found that the person who had accused him of setting the fire was gone.
Clearly, having achieved his goal, the person had already slipped away.
He can't clear his name even if he jumps into the Yellow River, but he doesn't dare to tell everyone openly that the children are still alive. At the very least, he has to wait until everyone leaves before he dares to tell the truth.
Xiao Moran frantically searched his body for evidence.
Matches and an empty gasoline bottle were also found on Xie Zhi, which confirmed that he had committed arson.
Poor Xie Zhi was punched and kicked by Xiao Moran and Su Xiaonuan on the spot.
Su Ming, fearing something might happen, stopped them from committing violence. "Stop hitting him! He's a madman. Madmen can set fires without breaking the law, but if you beat him to death, you'll go to jail."
Zhang Yulan and Ye Mei were so exhausted from crying that they collapsed on the ground, unable to get up. They didn't even have the strength to stand up and beat Xie Zhi.
Aunt Chen was even more dejected, regretting that she shouldn't have begged the Xiao family to take in Xie Zhi.
Su Xiaonuan and Xiao Moran were thrown into a panic.
Only Su Ming remained rational; after all, he was a veteran, and he suppressed his inner pain to handle the aftermath.
He dispersed the onlookers, called the police, and had Xie Zhi taken away. Even if he was crazy, he had to be handed over to the relevant authorities for handling.
The Xiao family was deathly silent.
Except for Su Ming, everyone else sat slumped in front of the burned-down shed, neither eating nor drinking, just staring longingly at the ashes.
Su Xiaonuan scraped through all the ash she had cleared out, not letting go of even a slightly hard stone. She would hold each stone in her hand and examine it for a long time. She was so black that she looked like she had come out of coal ash.
She dug and dug through the ashes but found no answers. At that moment, she desperately wished that Tiesuo had taken the children out to play. Perhaps, after a while, the children would appear alive and well before her eyes.
But no miracle occurred.
As it was getting dark, she began to dig through the pile of ashes that she had already sifted through twice.
"Xiao Nuan, stop digging." Xiao Moran hugged her tightly, heartbroken, seeing that both her hands were injured and all ten of her fingernails were gone. "The children are really gone, please don't do this."
“No, the children are alive.” Tears streamed down her face, leaving two pale streaks on her skin as she stared menacingly at Xiao Moran. “Don’t curse my children. They are angels sent to me by God. Angels don’t die. They are alive, alive, you understand?”
"Xiao Nuan..." Xiao Moran hugged her tightly.
It slowly got dark.
None of the Xiao family members were willing to go back inside.
The phone at home has been ringing non-stop, but no one is answering it.
Now, even if the sky were to fall, they wouldn't care. Their minds are filled with images of their children. In the future, without their children, their lives would be like stagnant water, utterly meaningless.
While the Xiao family was suffering and grieving, Lan Yin and her daughter were celebrating at home with drinks.
"Mom, come on, let's have a drink." Lan Yin raised her glass of wine and clinked it with Li Chunxiang's. "You've done a great job today, it's so satisfying. From now on, there will only be my laughter in this world. As for that bitch Su Xiaonuan, let her be sad and miserable for the rest of her life."
“This neighborhood is unlucky. We won’t live here anymore. Yinzi, let’s sell the house and buy a house somewhere else, or live somewhere else. Remember this place and never come back.” Li Chun was a little scared afterward. People who have done a lot of bad things are not afraid of the living, but they are afraid of the dead. She was afraid that the children who were burned to death would come back to haunt her.
“Okay, let’s sell the house and move to a better place.” Lan Yin clapped her hands. “Now, all the frustration in my heart has disappeared. I don’t need to fight with Su Xiaonuan anymore. She has lost her fighting spirit. In the future, I, Lan Yin, will rise in the business world. Before long, I, Lan Yin, will be the richest person in this provincial capital. Hmph, I have basically learned all of her money-making tricks.”
"Yinzi, aren't you going to tell your mother the truth yet?" Li Chunxiang leaned closer. "Where did you put that money?"
"Mom, why are you asking this?" Lan Yin looked at her warily.
"Look at you, you still treat your mother like an outsider, are you?" Li Chunxiang rolled her eyes. "Now that your father is dead, Su Xiaonuan and Xie Zhi's child is dead, and Wang Xiaobao and Xiang Qiuyun are wanted criminals, no one can threaten us anymore. Can we withdraw the money now?"
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