Chapter 106 A cornered dog will jump over the wall
Ma San Niang listened to Lin Changning's words with a blank expression, holding her bowl. After sitting there for a while, she suddenly stood up and said, "Half a month ago, half a month ago my father invited Commander Shi to dinner at home."
Ma San Niang seemed to have thought of something and suddenly looked up at Lin Changning: "Sixth Brother, half a month ago, my eldest brother was discussing marriage with the niece of Commander Shi's family. Apart from inviting Commander Shi and his brother to drink that day, no one from my family came."
Lin Changning's heart sank: "I still stand by what I said, we need evidence now."
Ma San Niang nodded and placed the bowl on the table in the hall: "Thank you, Sixth Brother. I know what to do. I'll go back and find the evidence now."
With that, she got up and walked outside. Lin Changning gestured for Shilang to see her out, while she yawned and prepared to go back to her room to sleep. To be honest, she was exhausted.
There are indeed suspicious points regarding Commander Ma's matter. If Ma San Niang can be found, then she can be exonerated.
Commander Zhou is right. Commander Ma is rough around the edges, but he is also meticulous in his character. He is a bit impulsive and straightforward, but he has no bad intentions. He is loyal and would never do anything to stab someone in the back.
She didn't really believe he was a traitor. Admittedly, she had the intention of testing him that day, but thinking back, Commander Ma didn't seem like a very smart person. He even knew how to destroy evidence. Commander Ma usually tore toilet paper into four pieces before using it. How could he possibly throw precious paper into water? Given his stingy nature, it would be more practical for him to use it as toilet paper.
Lin Changning lay in bed, thinking hazily, and soon fell asleep.
Night had fallen, and Lin Changning slowly woke up. She had slept well during the day, so she woke up naturally and felt incredibly comfortable snuggled in her warm bed.
"It's so comfortable in bed during winter!"
Lin Changning sighed, then stretched his arms, yawned, and yawned after finishing before getting out of bed to get up for the night.
As soon as Lin Changning stepped out of the main room, he sensed something was wrong. There was a faint smell of something burning in the air. Lin Changning sniffed to make sure he wasn't mistaken, wrapped his clothes tightly around himself, and went out.
In the boundless darkness, the orange glow mixed with black smoke in the southeast was particularly striking in the winter night. Lin Changning's heart skipped a beat when he saw the towering flames that revealed their ferocious claws; "Damn it! The granary!"
Realizing what was happening, Lin Changning hurriedly wrapped himself in his clothes and ran towards the door, shouting as he ran that there was a fire. In the dry border region, most of the houses were connected, and such a large fire could easily spread to the surrounding houses.
As Lin Changning shouted, he ran quickly toward the granary. At first, there were only wisps of black smoke mixed with firelight. But as Lin Changning got closer, a crackling sound suddenly rang out, and the raging fire, along with billowing smoke, swept wildly toward the horizon.
The flames, like a greedy python, recklessly licked the granary building. Under the high temperature, the grains popped with a small but dense sound, crackling and popping, mixed with the sweet aroma of popcorn in the air.
Lin Changning walked into the granary. A sharp bugle call rang out from the garrison. Border soldiers filed in from all directions, carrying buckets of water and burlap sacks, dousing the fire and fighting it. The sound of "granary on fire" pierced his ears, and Lin Changning's mind went blank.
The soldiers, some of whom were barefoot and not fully dressed, were bumped a few times by the soldiers who were putting out the fire. Lin Changning suddenly turned back and rushed towards the entrance of the granary.
"gather!!"
Lin Changning shouted hoarsely. Fortunately, some of the soldiers who rushed over were her men. Looking at the quickly assembling ranks, Lin Changning loudly ordered, "Ten men per group! One group, go door-to-door to borrow buckets and fetch water from the nearest well to put out the fire! Second group! Quickly demolish the surrounding residential buildings to prevent the fire from spreading! Third group! Check the granary for any areas with smaller fires. Go get me axes and demolish all flammable buildings!! Hurry!!"
The leaders received their orders and quickly took their positions to fetch supplies. Following Lin Changning's instructions, they began fighting the fire. Lin Changning followed the third team to a villager's house to borrow an axe and rushed into the granary. They found that the fire in the three granaries at the back was relatively small, and half of the first team had already been deployed there to extinguish the fire. The fire in many places had already been put out.
Lin Changning and his men, armed with axes and saws, were dismantling the wooden buildings and frames next to the rapidly spreading fire, and they also shoveled soil around them to create a makeshift firebreak.
The three teams worked in an orderly manner, with clear division of labor. In less than half an hour, they managed to extinguish several fires. Other people who arrived spontaneously joined the teams to help.
Buckets of ice water were poured onto the raging fire. Muddy water mixed with sweat dripped down as Lin Changning frantically poured water from the wooden buckets onto the most intense parts of the fire. The water instantly steamed up in large swirls, mingling with the thick smoke and surging outwards.
Lin Changning was choked and coughed violently. Sweat slowly slid down his reddened cheeks, burning his skin.
Lin Changning quickly pulled two or three soldiers who were at the very front of the charge out of the room. The smoke was too thick; if they stayed any longer, they would suffocate. The men she dragged out squatted by the roadside and coughed as soon as they were outside. Their faces were blackened by the smoke, and when they wiped them with their hands, they left a black streak.
Lin Changning was also in bad shape; he had just inhaled too much smoke and almost suffocated inside.
"Commander, no, the fire is too big here, let's move the grain out!"
Lin Changning, supporting himself on his knees and bending over, coughed and waved his hand: "Go, cough cough cough, go get it, be careful."
Upon hearing this, several soldiers beside Lin Changning who hadn't inhaled too much smoke rushed inside, hoisted the grain onto their shoulders, and ran out, trying to salvage as much food as possible.
People gradually arrived from outside, some carrying buckets of water to put out the fire, others using brooms to beat out the flames, and still others rushing inside to salvage the grain.
The residents of the surrounding houses were all evacuated. The men carried buckets to put out the fire, while the women and children drew water bucket by bucket from the well.
Lin Changning went in to grab the grain, and a burning beam clattered and crashed down. Just as it was about to hit the soldiers in front of him, Lin Changning grabbed the grain sack and pushed the soldiers away, but he himself was hit on the shoulder by the beam.
The scorching hot beam struck Lin Changning's shoulder, leaving a small burn. Lin Changning merely frowned slightly, helped the shaken soldier up, and went outside.
"This place is about to collapse. Come on, let's get out of here."
The soldier was so frightened that he lost his composure. Upon hearing this, Lin Changning helped and dragged him out of the granary that was about to collapse.
After Lin Changning went out, he coughed twice. Things had happened so fast that he forgot to cover himself with a damp towel before coming back in. Now his throat was dry and sore, and he was even breathing a little rapidly.
"Chief, are you... is your shoulder alright?"
The soldier looked at Lin Changning's shoulder, which had been burned and hit by the beam, with a guilty look in his eyes and asked, "What happened?" Lin Changning raised his arm, but the movement caused him excruciating pain. His shoulder was still burning, so it must have been a combination of burns and a fall.
Lin Changning shook his head without changing his expression: "Go ahead and get busy, I'm fine."
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. Lin Changning strode out, placed the grain on the ground with one hand, and looked up to see Qi Rong rushing over.
Qi Rong's eyebrows twitched as he looked at Lin Changning, whose clothes were disheveled, hair was loose, and whose face and hands were covered in black grime. Then, noticing the blood slowly seeping from her shoulder, his heart tightened, and he strode over.
"Injured? Is it serious? Doctor!"
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