This lowest-grade coal, with its strong smoky smell, is called bituminous coal. Few people here use it for heating at home.
After all, they are in the south, and each household does not need to heat the kang or heat the house like in the north. In this case, basically no one buys bituminous coal directly to use for heating, except for burning red bricks, steam boilers, etc.
After all, the whole house will be filled with smoke, and it will be impossible to stay here and warm yourself by the fire. It would be better to just burn firewood!
But this winter was different. Normally, a few hundred kilograms of anthracite would have been enough to last everyone the entire winter. But now, with so little coal, everyone had burned through it in just seven or eight days. And because of the heavy snow, it was impossible to go up the mountain to chop firewood, so they could only use the bituminous coal to barely keep warm.
If someone comes to steal coal at this time, it would be particularly hateful.
"You can tell the difference between bituminous and anthracite here at a glance. Jiang Hongmei, why don't you just do as Miss Qin asked and take a look? Don't wrongly accuse a good person," Zhao Xingguo said with a frown. He didn't quite believe that the person who stole the coal last night was Qin Suyun.
"Yes, Aunt Jiang, why don't you go and take a look at the back? Don't wrongly accuse a good person! I remember that some time ago, my husband helped Miss Qin to look after a lot of firewood!" Among the onlookers, some people also remembered that Qin Suyun had paid someone to chop firewood.
"Yes, I remember when the weather was hot during that period, people from the coal mine came to deliver coal. A whole truck was piled high, enough to burn for a long time." Another middle-aged man who was a little older in the crowd also nodded and talked about Qin Suyun's purchase of coal in the fall.
Because the temperature last year was strange and it was still very high until autumn, some people in the village talked about Qin Suyun buying coal. They thought she was a fool for buying so much coal.
Now thinking about the price of coal the other party bought at that time, and comparing it with the price they bought a few days ago, the middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh at the other party's foresight.
A group of people stood in the wind and snow with umbrellas, talking to each other, and they all felt that Qin Suyun should not be the thief who stole the coal this time.
They all remembered clearly how the other party had helped them during the earthquake. How could he have done something like stealing when the earthquake struck? Besides, the other party had plenty of money. If he really wanted coal, he could have just gone back and bought it from someone else. There was no need to steal coal from someone else's house in the middle of the night.
Before they came, they didn't quite believe that Qin Suyun had stolen the coal, but Zhu Dahai's wife made it sound so convincing that they had no choice but to come and take a look.
Now after hearing Qin Suyun's explanation, everyone became more certain of their previous thoughts.
The other family had so much anthracite and firewood, so why steal Jiang Hongmei's anthracite? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble? Besides, the other family had solar energy to cook.
Jiang Hongmei frowned in thought, but Xiao Cuizhen looked a little embarrassed, with displeasure written all over her chubby face.
These people haven't even entered Qin Suyun's house to take a look, but they all believe that the coal was not stolen by the other party. This is too biased!
"You haven't even checked out her backyard? How do you know she didn't steal it? Besides, does the stolen coal have to be placed in the utility room in the backyard? Can't it be placed somewhere else? In my opinion, we should search her house from top to bottom to determine whether she stole the coal! Otherwise, why would that man carry a load to her house last night?" Xiao Cuizhen refused to give in and even dragged He Zhennan, who was next to her, into the water.
Xiao Cuizhen rolled her eyes and pointed at He Zhennan, saying, "Even if Qin Suyun didn't steal the coal last night, that doesn't mean he didn't steal it. This guy has an unknown background, and you can tell he's not a good person!"
Almost everyone in their village knew that the man had a gunshot wound.
In such a peaceful era, anyone who is fed with bullets is probably not a good person!
"Aunt, you are just bullying me because I have lost my memory. I can't argue with you. I'm not angry with you. Just pretend that I haven't heard you say that." Being pointed at and scolded was not a good thing. He Zhennan didn't get angry at all. Instead, he said with a smile: "I was just standing aside and listened to you for a long time. Someone stole the coal from Aunt Jiang's yard last night. Then, this coal thief happened to be seen by Aunt Xiao who went out to sweep the snow at night. She saw the other party carrying a load towards us, so Aunt Xiao thought it was us who stole the coal from Aunt Jiang's house, right?"
"Hey! Who are you calling 'Auntie'?" Before anyone else could say anything, Xiao Cuizhen was already practically pissed off by He Zhennan's words. She was only in her thirties, who was she calling 'Auntie'?! You're a young man who looks about 28 or 29, who are you calling 'Auntie'?! Is she really that old?!
He Zhennan completely ignored Xiao Cuizhen's expression of being about to explode with anger, and did not respond to her words. He stared at Jiang Hongmei and continued to ask: "Aunt Jiang, what I just said is right."
"That's right, I saw someone carrying a load coming to your house in the middle of the night! If it wasn't you, then who was it?!" Xiao Cuizhen spoke without waiting for Jiang Hongmei to nod or say anything.
"In that case, I would like to ask you, did you really see someone carrying a load coming towards us at around 3 a.m. last night?" He Zhennan looked at Xiao Cuizhen and said slowly.
"Of course. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes in the early hours of last night, would I have come here to find you this morning?!" Xiao Cuizhen put her hands on her hips and snorted disdainfully.
"The earthquake that happened a few days ago has left everyone without electricity. I'm sure everyone is aware of this." He Zhennan said, "Since no one in the village has turned on the lights, and there was a blizzard last night, with no moon or stars outside and it was pitch black, how could you tell me how you saw someone carrying a load coming towards us in such darkness?"
yes!
Even if the snow reflects light at night, there have been blizzards these days, and there are neither stars nor moon at night. How did Xiao Cuizhen see someone carrying things coming here?
After hearing what He Zhennan said, the people around immediately frowned and looked at Xiao Cuizhen with strange eyes.
Facing everyone's changing gazes, Xiao Cuizhen's face suddenly changed slightly, and she immediately shouted: "Of course I saw it. That person was holding a flashlight when he left, how could I not see it?!"
"Since the other party was holding a flashlight, Aunt Xiao must have seen his face clearly. In that case, why did Aunt Xiao still say that Miss Qin and I stole it?" He Zhennan touched his chin, looked at Xiao Cuizhen with a sigh, and said, "It snowed heavily last night. Miss Qin and I were still awake until after 3 o'clock in the morning. We were playing hide-and-seek with the dogs at home. I happened to take a video with my phone and plan to keep a copy as a souvenir when I get home. The video clearly has the year, month, day and time on it. I'll show it to you now... I think this should be able to prove Miss Qin and I'm innocent."
As He Zhennan spoke, he looked at the crowd around him casually and said, "These days, apart from the police, not just anyone can go into someone's house and search it. If you go into someone's house without a search warrant and rummage through their belongings... I've heard before that's called trespassing, illegal entry into a residence, and the sentence is three years. Look at this group of people, they're coming in with such force... Maybe if the crime is serious, the sentence could be over ten years."
Everyone around seemed to be stunned by He Zhennan's words. They all took a step back and stayed three feet away from Qin Suyun's gate. Especially Zhu Dahai's wife Xiao Cuizhen, the expression on her face was as if she had been struck by lightning, and she was a little dumbfounded.
Qin Suyun was also a little dumbfounded. She stared at He Zhennan blankly, with a slightly confused look in her eyes. How come she didn't know what video she had filmed last night?
She clearly remembered last night that in order to save electricity, she, He Zhennan and the furry kids at home would almost always go back to their rooms to sleep before 8 o'clock in the evening, and last night was no exception.
Who would get up at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night to shoot a video?
However, since the other party said so, Qin Suyun still did not interrupt, but the look she gave He Zhennan was a little strange.
This guy now really doesn't look like he has lost his memory at all, and he is completely different from the previous person who said something aggrieved and refused to leave Wanxi Village.
Qin Suyun felt a little overwhelmed and didn't even know how to put her facial expression on display.
However, at this moment, Xiao Cuizhen jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "You're lying! Your house wasn't even dark last night. Why are you filming a video?! Isn't the video pitch black? You can't see anything! How can you prove that you didn't steal the coal?!"
"It's true that we didn't turn on the lights, but we burned firewood at home, and the light from the firewood was bright enough for us to shoot a video. But... our house is so far away from the village, how did you see that there were no lights on here, Aunt Xiao? Could it be that you were the one who came to our house carrying a load last night?" He Zhennan looked at Xiao Cuizhen with a puzzled look, and looked her up and down.
He Zhennan's exaggerated tone and facial expressions clearly meant: Could it be you, Xiao Cuizhen, who stole the coal last night?
Someone in the crowd saw Xiao Cuizhen looking like someone had been stepped on, and immediately burst out laughing.
Everyone's attention was focused on Xiao Cuizhen.
He Zhennan even said deliberately, "We took a video to prove that we are both innocent, but Aunt Xiao, you can't seem to prove that you got up last night just to sweep the snow... Your house isn't made of wood with a straw roof, it's made of solid cement bricks. There won't be any problems with the snow overnight. So why did you bother getting up in the middle of the night to sweep the snow? Why didn't you choose to clear the snow at home during the day?"
"Yes, Xiao Cuizhen... I remember that your family didn't have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to sweep the snow a few days ago. Every time you would clear the snow on the roof early the next morning." Someone in the crowd immediately echoed and nodded to confirm what He Zhennan said.
"That's right, I saw you sweeping the snow in the morning two days ago! Why did you get up in the middle of the night to sweep the snow last night? That's not right! I don't think that's your style!"
"I remember you said that to me before!" Another person nodded in agreement. She remembered the expression on Xiao Cuizhen's face clearly.
The person who spoke was a family that used to live next door to Xiao Cuizhen. However, the earthquake had just struck, and their house had collapsed. They had been living in the old house next door for a while. The old house was made of wood, so it was very earthquake-resistant. However, because of its age, it had been used as a storage room, and the roof was just made of tree bark.
Therefore, on such a heavy snowy day, their family had to get up at least twice every night to sweep the snow off the roof before they could go home to sleep.
Because of this matter, Xiao Cuizhen often showed off in front of her.
It was nothing more than talking about how good the quality of his house was and how it didn't collapse after the earthquake. But the other person was really angry at the time because no one's house was built by the wind, they built it with great care. And yet he had to accept such criticism and ridicule.
But they have to get up twice every night to clean the roof.
But generally speaking, one time is around 12 to 1 o'clock in the evening, and the other time is around 4 to 5 o'clock in the morning. After all, climbing stairs late at night is not very safe, and it is impossible to clean too frequently. There must be an interval of four or five hours.
That's why Xiao Cuizhen said that when they saw someone carrying a load at 3 a.m., no one in their family said anything, because no one in their family got up at 3 a.m. They were all still sleeping in their quilts.
It was so cold and there was a snowstorm outside. No one wanted to go out and climb the stairs to shovel the snow at night. It was pitch dark and they could only hold a simple torch. The simple task of shoveling snow became a dangerous task.
Just to prevent the house from being crushed by the heavy snow, they also said they would get up and clean it up.
Logically speaking, in this situation, someone should be able to see people clearly when clearing snow from the roof late at night.
But what is so coincidental is that there are not many residents on the road from Jiang Hongmei to Qin Suyun's home. In total, there are only five households living on this road. Two of them have brick houses that have not collapsed, and the other three households did not notice any movement last night.
This led to everyone having to believe what Xiao Cuizhen said and not daring to stand up and say anything more.
After all, they are real. They saw nothing, heard nothing, and knew nothing. So what opinions can they express?
But now looking at Xiao Cuizhen's appearance and her obviously strange and unreasonable behavior.
Other thoughts arose in everyone's mind.
"Xiao Cuizhen, tell me the truth. Did you actually see that person stealing coal from our house last night?" Aunt Jiang grabbed Xiao Cuizhen's arm and frowned. "Since you said the person was using a flashlight, you should have seen their face clearly. Why didn't you just say who they were? And why didn't you shout when you clearly saw someone stealing?"
"I saw it, I really saw it..." Xiao Cuizhen was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on her back. She hurriedly explained, "But the other person only showed his back. How could I know who he was?..."
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