The large group headed to Uncle Niu's house.
Lu Qiqi led the way into the courtyard and saw that the gate, which had been missing half of its door, had been repaired.
Aunt Niu heard a commotion outside and came out with Niu Niu in her arms to see what was going on.
When she saw so many people standing in front of her house, she was startled and shouted, "Damn it, there are so many people at the door!"
"Who is it?" Uncle Niu shouted.
The sound came from the room, and everyone heard it very clearly.
Aunt Niu Er shouted, "The people Xiao Zhou brought."
"Oh," Uncle Niu replied, "Let them in."
Lu Qiqi wasn't waiting for someone to invite her or get permission before she dared to enter; rather, she looked at the dilapidated house in front of her and was afraid it couldn't withstand so many people squeezing in.
She said, "Niu Xiaozhou and Xiao Dong take Niu Ergou inside, the rest of you wait outside."
As the village head, Lu Qiqi's words naturally carried weight, so the villagers dared not crowd in.
They could only stand one by one at the gate, craning their necks to peer into the house.
When Aunt Niu Er saw Niu Er Gou tied up, she didn't know what had happened, but this situation was definitely not a good thing.
Therefore, as she held Niu Niu, her heart was pounding, as if she knew something big was about to happen.
Lu Qiqi entered Uncle Niu's room, followed closely by the three people behind her.
Lu Qiqi looked around the room. The room wasn't big; there was only a bed and a small stool inside.
Uncle Niu was half-lying on the bed with his back against the wall. When he saw Niu Ergou being tied up and brought in, he understood everything.
He looked at the roof with his cloudy eyes and saw only straw and wooden beams. He said with relief, "Ask whatever you want."
Lu Qiqi raised an eyebrow; it seemed Uncle Niu was planning to tell her everything.
That's perfect, it saves her a lot of trouble.
Lu Qiqi moved the stool to a spot not far from the bed, straightened her skirt, and sat down gracefully.
"In that case, why don't you tell me yourself, Uncle Niu?"
Uncle Niu glanced at Lu Qiqi and said, "Did you save me?"
Lu Qiqi met his gaze, her eyes resolute, and said, "Exactly."
"Do you regret it?" Uncle Niu's voice was a little hoarse, as if he had eaten something that made him feel hot.
Lu Qiqi raised an eyebrow and said, "If you mean saving you, I can say with certainty that I won't regret it!"
"No matter who it was, if I were in your situation, I would have helped. If I hadn't helped then, I would have regretted it later."
Lu Qiqi spoke with a strong and clear voice, each word striking a chord in Uncle Niu's heart.
He muttered to himself, "If only you had come sooner, so many people wouldn't have died in the village."
Niu Xiaozhou was too far away to hear clearly, but Lu Qiqi heard everything Uncle Niu said.
She didn't understand what the necessary connection was between her arriving in Tianping Village earlier and him having Niu Ergou spread rumors.
But as she pondered Uncle Niu's words repeatedly, it seemed as if an answer hidden deep within her was about to be revealed.
"I don't believe it! It's impossible! I must ask him myself; this was definitely not done by my second brother!"
The noise outside quickly attracted the attention of the people inside.
Not long after, Niu Dahang strode in.
Niu Dahang was panting heavily, his eyes were red and swollen, as if something had squinted into them.
He said in a questioning tone, "Second Brother, everyone in the village is saying that you asked Er Gou to spread the news that I embezzled money. Tell me that's all false."
"Say it!"
Niu Dahang, like a stubborn young man, shouted loudly at Uncle Niu Er.
Uncle Niu closed his eyes and ignored Niu Dahang's words.
Lu Qiqi whispered, "Niu Xiaozhou, take your father away."
Following Lu Qiqi's orders, Niu Xiaozhou released Niu Ergou's shoulder and went to pull Niu Dahang.
"release!"
"I'm not leaving!"
"I'm your father!" Niu Dahang twisted his arms, preventing Niu Xiaozhou from pulling him. "Move again, and I'll kick you out of the house!"
"Alright! Stop making such a racket and you'll make the younger generation laugh at you!"
Uncle Niu spoke up, and Niu Xiaozhou stopped pulling his father out the door.
"You just want to know why I sent Er Gou out to deliver the message, don't you?" Uncle Niu said, "Because I was the one who started that fire!"
At Uncle Niu's words, everyone in the room stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief.
Lu Qiqi only guessed it after entering the house, so she wasn't too surprised at the moment. She just wanted to know how much Uncle Niu hated Niu Dahang's family that he would come up with this method to take revenge.
When Niu Dahang learned that his house had been burned down by Uncle Niu Er, his shoulders began to tremble. It was unclear whether he was heartbroken or filled with hatred for Uncle Niu Er.
He cried out in anguish, "Why? What have I done to wrong you? Why are you treating me like this?"
Uncle Niu Er, as if his tail had been stepped on, said with bloodshot eyes, “If you hadn’t stood by and watched them die, how could Kutou and Cuifang have died of illness, and how could Niu Niu have lost both her parents!”
Kutou and Cuifang were Uncle Niu's deceased son and daughter-in-law.
Lu Qiqi seemed to be deep in thought. According to Niu Xiaozhou, both of them died from the plague. What did this have to do with Niu Dahang? There must be some hidden story behind it.
Sure enough, Uncle Niu said, "If you had been willing to give them two doses of medicine back then, they wouldn't have died like this!"
"I shouldn't have pulled you out of the river in the first place, you ungrateful wretch!"
"I saved your life, and now you're leaving my son and daughter-in-law to die. You owe me, so I'll come and collect it myself!"
Niu Dahang never expected that Uncle Niu Er was after his entire family!
He was both resentful and heartbroken, but he still couldn't help explaining, "It wasn't that I refused to save them, but Kutou and Cuifang were too sick. The doctor said that the medicine could only save people with mild symptoms. You know that!"
Uncle Niu fell silent and stopped looking at Niu Dahang.
Lu Qiqi said, "That's not right!"
Her voice broke the standoff between the two, but it also made everyone present even more confused.
What exactly is wrong?
"Uncle Niu set fire to your family's house to kill you. Why didn't he just burn the roof? The weather was dry; a torch would have been enough. Why did he have to start burning from the kitchen?"
It is known that there is usually a water tank in the kitchen, which can easily extinguish the fire if it is discovered in time.
Uncle Niu snorted coldly and said, "I'm not as ruthless as him, but I have to leave one son for my Niu family!"
When it comes to only sons, everyone's attention turns to Niu Xiaozhou.
This explains why the fire started in the kitchen, because the kitchen was closest to the room where Niu Dahang slept!
Therefore, matters of money are all a smokescreen; otherwise, they wouldn't have waited so long to set the fire, instead of setting it on the very night they borrowed the money.
The purpose is to make Niu Dahang pay with his life!
Even if Niu Dahang hadn't been burned to death, the villagers would have suspected him of embezzling village money and he would have died under the scorn of the entire village!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
