Chapter 42 Murder and Arson
Liang Jinyu felt uneasy and suddenly realized something.
Now that Chunniang is gone, she has no reason to sleep in a separate room from Chen Laifu.
What should she do if Chen Lai-fu takes a tough stance and even directly breaks up with her?
Liang Jinyu was worried the whole afternoon, but Chen Lai Fu didn't mention asking her to go back to her room until the evening, which made Liang Jinyu secretly relieved.
"I heard something." Chen Dani was helping in the kitchen and chatting with Liang Jinyu. "Tiedan Niang said that Wang Erniu went to the village chief to borrow money, but in the end he didn't get the money and was scolded by the village chief."
Liang Jinyu frowned: "When did it happen?"
"This afternoon, you were busy moving lumber, so I didn't tell you."
Liang Jinyu became worried. According to what Wang Erniu said before, Chunniang should have made an appointment with them to meet in the bamboo forest last night, but she didn't expect that something like that happened, which resulted in Chunniang being unable to go.
The brother and sister who had been waiting in the bamboo forest saw them and followed them up the mountain.
"I'm afraid his sister is sick again." Liang Jinyu thought so and immediately left the kitchen.
She found Ding Fang and took out the two cakes she had saved that morning and stuffed them into his pockets: "Go to Wang's house first. If Juan'er is really sick, I'll find a way to send her to Liuhe Manor to see a doctor tomorrow."
Liang Dingfang went there and came back in less than an incense stick of time.
It is said that Wang Juaner is really ill. She fell ill a few days ago and her condition has become more serious now. She caught a cold last night and now she can only lie in bed and needs someone to feed her.
Liang Jinyu was overwhelmed, thinking about the little money left in her pocket, and gritted her teeth: "Take her to see a doctor tomorrow."
Before going to sleep, Liang Jinyu was still thinking that if she and Dingfang couldn't leave tomorrow, she would simply let Wang Erniu carry Juan'er to Liuhe Manor. It was a bit far, but the brother and sister could get there slowly in the morning.
Of course, it would be best if she could go with them, firstly so that she could understand Juan'er's condition, and secondly so that she could find Li Zheng to ask about the household registration certificate.
The Chen family is like a quagmire that will only make people sink deeper and deeper. She has to hold on tight.
In a daze, Liang Jinyu fell asleep unknowingly.
"Sister!"
"Sister, wake up, something happened!"
Liang Jinyu rubbed her eyes and stood up helplessly: "It's late at night, what's wrong?"
Liang Dingfang's face was filled with anxiety, and he almost carried Liang Jinyu on his back and ran away.
"There's a fire, there's a fire in front, hurry up!" Liang Dingfang grabbed the clothes and put them on Liang Jinyu.
"Fire? What's the fire?" Liang Jinyu hadn't finished speaking when old man Chen's shouting came from the front yard.
Then one could hear Wang banging on the door and crying for help.
In an instant, Liang Jinyu felt cold all over. Without thinking too much, she grabbed her clothes and ran out.
When the brother and sister ran to the front yard, they saw a figure climbing over the wall and escaping.
"I'll go after him." Liang Dingfang said.
Liang Jinyu hurriedly grabbed the other person and said, "Don't worry about it, save people first."
Liang Jinyu was stunned when she said this. Save people? Save whom?
She was hurt so badly by them in her previous life, and she was reborn to make them pay the price. If that's the case, why should she do this?
Let them burn to death!
"Help! Is there anyone there? Save us!" Wang pounded on the door and shouted in fear.
The door was locked from the outside and they couldn't get out.
There were a lot of kindling piled under the door and windows, which caught fire as soon as they were lit. In addition, the wind was strong tonight, and the flames spread to the eaves in a moment, and a lot of thick smoke poured into the house.
The entire front yard was illuminated by the fire and was as bright as day!
"Sister?"
Liang Jinyu suddenly woke up, "No, Dani is still in the room."
She had to save people, at least save Dani!
At this moment, there was a loud "bang bang" and the window was broken from the inside.
As old man Chen leaned out of the window, the flame outside the window suddenly shot up half a meter high, and old man Chen fell backwards in fright.
"What are you still standing there for? Go get some water!" Chen Lai Fu covered his face and saw the Liang siblings in the yard from a distance.
"Sister, don't go over there. I'm going to fetch some water." Liang Dingfang warned and ran away.
Unlike Liang Jinyu, Liang Dingfang had not experienced those things yet, so even though he hated the Chen family at this moment, he would not watch them burn to death.
Liang Jinyu gritted her teeth and had to go fetch water for Dani's sake.
There will be plenty of opportunities to take revenge on the Chen family in the future, but if Dani dies, she will regret it for the rest of her life.
After several buckets of water were thrown over, the fire near the window was much smaller.
When Old Man Chen saw this, he was the first to jump out, followed by Chen Lai-fu and Wang who also fled out in a hurry. Several of them fell to the ground, crying and cursing.
Liang Jinyu didn't see Dani, so she asked Chen Laifu: "Where's Dani? Why didn't she come out with us?"
Chen Laifu collapsed to the ground and said in panic, "I don't know, it should still be inside."
Seeing the fire that had just been put out being blown up again by the wind, Liang Jinyu was extremely anxious. He glanced at Dingfang carrying water and rushed over to pour the water on his head.
"Sister? What are you doing?" Liang Dingfang asked fearfully.
Liang Jinyu didn't have time to explain. She moved a row of fir boards to the windowsill and rushed into the room without saying a word.
"Sister——" Liang Dingfang shouted, almost collapsing.
The room was filled with black smoke, and the scorching flames made Liang Jinyu feel like her exposed skin would be burned at any time.
She called out several times but received no response from Dani. Remembering that she and Wang slept in the same room, Liang Jinyu hurried through the main hall to the room opposite.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the fire started from outside. There was thick smoke in the house, but there were not many open flames and the beams had not yet burned.
"Dani!" Liang Jinyu found Chen Dani at the foot of the bed, already unconscious.
Liang Jinyu covered her mouth and nose with one hand and carried Chen Dani on her back with the other, but one of her feet was not stable and they both rolled to the ground.
"Sister, let me do it." Liang Dingfang ran in at some point, grabbed Chen Dani and carried her on his back.
Although Liang Jinyu was annoyed at the other party for taking the risk, it was not the time to lecture him now. Just as she stood up, she accidentally glanced at the clay pot under the bed.
*
There was a sudden fire in the Chen family's home late at night, and the entire house was burned down.
By the time the villagers saw the fire and rushed over to help put out the fire, half of the house had already been burned. Only the woodshed was spared because it was far away.
Wang sat on the ground and cried loudly, saying that someone was trying to harm her.
Old man Chen was also certain that someone had set the fire on purpose because the door was locked.
Even though there was a grudge between them and the Chen family, the village chief still came over in the middle of the night to deal with such a big matter.
In the Chen family's yard, a large group of people were making a lot of noise, shaking their heads and sighing as they looked at the house that had been burned to ruins.
Some people said that the fire broke out because of the Chen family's carelessness. After all, most people would not be so cruel.
Some people also said that the Chen family was used to being domineering, so they offended others, and now they were taking revenge.
As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of the Chen family members changed, but they subconsciously denied it.
Chen Laifu had buried Chunniang himself, so she was definitely dead. She had no brothers or sisters, no other relatives, only two children, and Wang Erniu and his sister didn't even know that Chunniang was dead.
"It's Chun Niang!" Old man Chen suddenly spoke.
Everyone fell silent instantly, realizing that they had not seen Chunniang for a long time.
Old man Chen showed hatred on his face, and was very sure: "It must be Chunniang, she ran away with someone, and set fire to the house before running away!"