Chapter 8
In the book, a granary burned down in Rongshan Brigade, the author's hometown, resulting in the loss of all food for the entire Rongshan Brigade. What was supposed to be a bumper harvest turned into a total loss because of the fire.
The reason why Tang Zhenzhen in the book, who was in the city hundreds of miles away, knew about this was because her hometown was having a hard time because of this incident. Tang Jianjun and Zhao Dahua took Tang Qingqing and Tang Xingwang in the book to the city to find Tang Jianguo, hoping that he would help.
This part of the story focuses on the extreme and nasty nature of this family of four, and vividly displays the vulgarity and greed of some rural people.
The family of four came straight over without any notice, purely to take advantage.
Tang Qingqing in the book stole the heroine's clothes, used her things, took her New Year's money, and did many strange things.
Upon learning that Tang Zhenzhen had joined the art troupe, Tang Qingqing in the book also became interested and begged Tang Jianguo to send her in.
Tang Jianguo naturally disagreed, as the art troupe was not owned by his family, so the four of them started to make a fuss by digging up old scores.
It was a chaotic time, until Tang Qingqing in the book almost caused the heroine to break her leg and she could not continue dancing. Only then did Tang Jianguo no longer care about his face and drove away the whole family of vampires.
The time in the book is rather vague, and it does not specify the month or date when the granary was burned. According to the description, it should have been during this period.
This book is very long, and Tang Qingqing "finished" it in a very short time, so some details need to be triggered before she can remember them.
Tang Qingqing was originally a little suspicious and worried that she might have hysteria, which was why she had hallucinations, but now she is sure that everything is real.
It’s just that the person in the book is from another world, and in this world, her fate has been changed.
But why is this world so different from the other?
Although Tang Qingqing was very surprised, she accepted this matter calmly because of the previous experience.
She seemed a little dazed and her mind was in a mess.
"Sister Qingqing, the food in the granary is gone. Will we go hungry next year?"
Wang Cao'er held Tang Qingqing's arm, her eyes red.
As a farmer's son, I know the value of food.
Now everything is gone, what will we do next year?
Wang Cao'er pulled Tang Qingqing out of her thoughts. When Tang Qingqing thought about the tens of thousands of kilograms of grain in the granary that had been burned, she no longer had the heart to think about her own affairs.
Although her heart was now a tangled mess that she couldn't sort out, she was sure of one thing.
She felt very fortunate that she was not the daughter of Tang Jianjun and Zhao Dahua.
They are not her parents, and they are very likely the culprits who caused her fate to be changed. If she doesn't listen to them and is unfilial to them in the future, she won't be afraid of being criticized.
Tang Qingqing had never been close to them. She disliked them in her heart and even hated them.
But she never dared to say such words to others, for fear that others would say she was cold-blooded and heartless, and that she had raised him for nothing to end up being such a person.
Even her parents don't love her, so it would be better to raise a dog than her.
Now she seemed to have untied the shackles on her body and was no longer bound by this so-called family affection.
From now on, I won't have to do what they have always instilled in me, that is, to be filial to them when I grow up, to be good to my three younger brothers, and to work hard to help them earn dowry money in the future.
Like many girls, she gave everything for her younger brother. Even after getting married, she still missed her younger brother from her natal family, and her husband and children came second.
She is not their daughter, and she was forcibly separated from her parents. She is not the one who is being unreasonable.
At this moment, Tang Qingqing felt as light as a swallow. If the situation wasn't wrong, she would have wanted to cheer.
"No, we have more than just wheat. We also have corn and sweet potatoes, and so many sheep."
"Yes, yes, we still have sheep." Wang Cao'er felt a little more at ease after hearing this.
Wang Heizi kept scratching his head, "How could this happen? How could it catch fire in the middle of the night?"
The tall boy: "I don't know. The fire started suddenly and it was very big. We were woken up in the middle of the night and all the men, women and children in the production team ran to put out the fire. Some people even brought urine bottles, but the fire was too big and couldn't be put down. We watched the food burn helplessly."
Little boy: "You didn't see how big the fire was. It was like a volcano. We used rakes and shovels to dig it out, and we poured water on it, but it was all useless.
My father and uncle were in the front, their hair was singed, their clothes were full of holes from sparks, and their hands were covered with blisters. Our captain's beard was burned off, and a large group of people cried. Some old men and women would have rushed into the fire if someone hadn't stopped them.
The tall boy said: "We almost forgot about helping you herd the sheep, but then we realized that all the food is gone. If we don't take good care of the sheep, our team won't be able to survive next year."
"Why--"
The two boys sighed heavily at the same time.
Now there are still some people standing beside the burnt granary, cursing non-stop, as if this is the only way to make themselves feel better.
Wang Heizi: "This doesn't make sense. There is no fire near the granary. There was no thunder yesterday. It's cold at night. How could it catch fire?"
The tall boy said, "Who said it wasn't true? That's why the captain went to the police early in the morning, thinking that something was fishy."
"Someone must have set the fire on purpose! Kill them! If they are caught, they must be severely punished! That is food. It is such a sin!"
Wang Heizi was so angry that he turned around on the spot. When he thought of the burnt food, he felt a pain in his heart.
"No, I have to go see what's going on."
Wang Heizi said this and ran away with the two boys.
Wang Cao'er was already used to Wang Heizi leaving her alone, so she was not surprised.
"Sister Qingqing, if someone really set the fire on purpose, that person must be very evil."
Tang Qingqing was also very angry: "This kind of person is mentally ill. Even if he has a grudge against our village, he can't attack our food."
"Sister Qingqing, could it be someone from Caojiazhuang?"
Caojiazhuang and Rongshan Brigade are neighbors and have an old feud.
The two villages quarreled over water for irrigation almost every year, and during drier times, they even fought over water.
Therefore, the relationship between the two brigades has always been bad. Men would not marry girls from that brigade, and women would not marry over there either.
There were frequent frictions. If the commune hadn't sent people to mediate every year, who knows how bad things would have gotten.
It's okay at ordinary times, but when it comes to using water, it's hard to control.
After all, water is related to whether the entire brigade can survive. If the water problem is not solved, conflicts will always exist.
"I don't think so. There has been a lot of rain this year, so there haven't been any major conflicts. In previous years, there were fights, but no one was so wicked as to burn down the granaries."
Neither of them knew what was going on and could only make wild guesses.
"Tang Qingqing, Boss Tang!"
Wang Heizi came back and started shouting Tang Qingqing's name from a distance.
"Why are you back again?"
Wang Heizi stared at Tang Qingqing with sparkling eyes: "Didn't Zhai Zhiqing say before that someone solved a murder case by looking at the footprints in the newspaper. You are so capable, maybe you can catch the arsonist, Gui Sunzi."
Tang Qingqing was very moved after hearing this.
Wang Cao'er: "Sister Qingqing, if you want to go and take a look, go ahead. I'm watching here, and I will definitely not lose the sheep this time."
Tang Qingqing no longer hesitated and returned to the village with Wang Heizi.
As soon as the two men reached the entrance of the village, they saw a group of people gathered there, holding rakes, shovels and other tools in their hands.
They didn't get enough rest yesterday after putting out the fire, and they all looked haggard, but their eyes were full of energy and anger.
The deputy captain put one hand on his waist and cursed loudly.
"All of you, go back here! The police haven't investigated the case yet, why are you making such a fuss?"
Someone shouted, "Deputy Captain, isn't this obvious? Yesterday, someone saw people from Caojiazhuang wandering around our village, and the fire started in the evening. If it wasn't them, who else could do such a ruthless thing!"
"Hasn't Caojiazhuang done enough evil things over the years? This year our brigade had a bumper harvest, but their village didn't do so well. They must be jealous of us for taking the lead, and they are deliberately trying to harm us!"
"Only people from Caojiazhuang can do such a wicked thing as arson. We must seek justice from our team!"
"Take their food!"
I don't know who shouted this, but everyone got excited and started shouting along.
"Yes, take their food!"
The deputy captain is relatively young and has just taken up the position. He does not have the prestige of the captain, so everyone is not so cautious in front of him.
When the deputy captain heard this, he was so angry that he almost wanted to swing his stick and hit someone.
"What the hell are you talking about? Are you dissatisfied with your background and want to be a bandit? Or are you dissatisfied with your own bed and want to go to jail?"
This roar brought a brief silence to the noisy scene.
"If you have anything to say, wait until the captain comes back to talk. If you dare to step out of Rongshan Brigade today, all your family's work points will be deducted!"
When it came to work points, everyone calmed down for the moment and were no longer in a hurry, but they did not put down their weapons and were ready at all times.
Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi originally wanted to bypass the crowd and sneak to the granary, but they were discovered by the sharp-eyed Tang Xingwang in the crowd.
Tang Xingwang yelled, "Tang Qingqing! You didn't go to herd sheep, but ran back to the team to play!"