The fire shot up into the sky, crackling and illuminating half the sky. Waves of heat came one after another, and people were running around telling each other, "There's a fire! There's a fire!"

Yu Tang's legs went weak, and if her maid Shuang Tao hadn't supported her, she would have probably fallen to the ground.

"Miss, Miss!" Shuang Tao was so frightened by the scene that she couldn't speak clearly. "How could this happen? Didn't the Pei family's guards get up in the middle of the night to patrol their shop with the government officials? The third elder of the Pei family said that this summer is particularly hot and dry, and they are afraid of fire. A few days ago, they specially asked people to set up 38 large water tanks on both sides of Changxing Street, and every day they asked the shopkeepers to fill the tanks with water. How could Changxing Street have a fire? Then, what should we do with our shop?"

yes!

What about their shop?

Yu Tang's eyes were moist and the images in front of him became a little blurry.

She was reborn!

And he was reborn on the evening when their shop burned down.

She had a harmonious family, close siblings, and grew up smoothly until she reached the age of 15. Before that, the most unpleasant things in her life were that her parents did not allow her to climb trees or go to the river, and forced her to learn needlework and not go out. Therefore, the memory seems smooth and warm, but not very impressive. Only this summer, a sudden fire burned down all the shops on Changxing Street. The lacquerware shops of her family and her uncle's family were not spared. Not only were the materials in the shops burned, but the warehouses and workshops in the backyards of the shops were also burned clean. The goods that were about to be delivered were gone, and the precious templates left by the ancestors were also gone. The Yu family was unable to recover from this and began to fall into decline.

Not far away, someone was about to rush into the shop to put out the fire, but was buried in the fire by the suddenly collapsed beam.

"Boss! Boss!" The woman ran over to save the man, but she was at a loss as to what to do and was stopped by someone.

There was also a man who fell to the ground, slapped his legs and cried loudly: "How can we live like this?"

Yu Tang and Shuang Tao were bumped on the shoulders by people who came over one after another after hearing the news, and Shuang Tao came to her senses.

She hurriedly pulled Yu Tang aside and said anxiously, "Miss, the wife is still sick and the master is not at home. You ran out without saying a word..."

Yu Tang also came back to his senses.

To Shuang Tao at this time, she just lost her balance while swinging on the swing and fell from the sky, unconscious for a long time; but to her, she had already experienced the decline of her family, the death of both her parents, the early death of her fiancé, and she was coveted by her eldest uncle as a widow. She finally escaped from her husband's house, but was killed in the nunnery that sheltered her.

The fire was important, but her mother's illness was more important.

Her father Yuwen and her mother Chen were deeply in love. Even though her mother was injured when she gave birth to her and could not have any more children, her father still loved her and her like treasures and never had any rifts. However, her mother had been bedridden since she was born and had to take medicine seven out of ten days. Her father learned from a friend a few days ago that Dr. Yang Douxing had retired and returned to his hometown, so he rushed to Suzhou City to seek medical advice for her mother.

In his previous life, his father returned empty-handed, and his mother was frightened by falling off the swing, and her condition worsened and she was bedridden. His father decided to take his mother to see another hermit doctor Wang Bo who lived in Putuo Mountain for treatment, but on the way back, they encountered a storm and the boat capsized, and he died.

"Let's go home quickly!" Yu Tang was suddenly anxious and pulled Shuang Tao to run home.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Shuang Tao ran after her breathlessly, saying, "Where are you going? Home is over there!"

Yu Tang stopped and remained silent for a moment.

She hadn't been back to her home in Qingzhu Lane for ten years, and she didn't even remember there was such a path between Changxing Street and Qingzhu Lane.

Perhaps because Changxing Street was flooded, there were people walking in this usually quiet and deserted alley. However, they were all in a hurry. They only looked up at her and then passed by her with heavy faces.

The courtyard at the back of the Yu family's home was quiet. Several clusters of tall and straight bamboos stood quietly in the moonlight with swaying branches and leaves. The noise and chaos of Changxing Street seemed to be from another world.

The mother's cough was clearly audible, with a faint hissing sound: "How is Atang? Is he awake?"

The one who answered my mother was Chen Pozi, her personal attendant: "She woke up early in the morning and said that she needed to eat sugar-roasted chestnuts to get better. Where can I find sugar-roasted chestnuts for her at this time of year? She tricked me into drinking a bowl of sweet-scented osmanthus syrup and eating three pieces of peach cakes before she went to sleep."

Yu Tang's tears suddenly welled up.

In her previous life, she was heartless. Her mother was ill all year round, but she didn't think it was a big deal. Instead, she took advantage of falling off the swing to cheat and eat and drink, and did everything her mother didn't allow her to do on weekdays. When her father took her mother to ask for medicine, before leaving, she still insisted that her father bring her two packets of Poria cocos powder, otherwise she would not recite the book.

"Mom!" Yu Tang couldn't help but shouted while standing in front of his mother's door.

The door opened with a creak.

Mrs. Chen poked her head out and winked at her while saying, "What do you want to eat now, young lady? The fire in the stove is out at this hour. At most, I can give you a bowl of fried rice to fill your stomach. There is no more."

Yu Tang was stunned.

She is no longer the carefree little girl who was held in the palm of her father's hand and knew nothing.

Mrs. Chen looked strange, her mind racing.

Could it be that at this time in the previous life, my mother's condition was already not good?

Yu Tang's face darkened, and she looked at Mrs. Chen with a serious look. She made a "follow me" gesture to Mrs. Chen, but her voice was a little coquettish like a little girl: "Is my mother's illness better? I'm not hungry, I just want to say a few words to my mother."

This kind of Yu Tang made Mrs. Chen feel very strange and surprised. But she didn't have time to think about it, and nodded to Yu Tang, saying to her: "Madam has just taken medicine and has washed up and gone to bed. If you have anything, come over tomorrow!"

Yu Tang stretched his neck and looked towards the compartment.

My mother, who had just been talking to Mrs. Chen, didn't say a word.

Obviously he doesn't want to see her.

Yu Tang felt heavy in her heart. She tried her best to imitate the tone of her fifteen-year-old self: "Okay! I'll go back to sleep first. Remember to tell Mom that I was here."

"Remember! Remember!" Mrs. Chen smiled and said meaningfully, "It's cold and dewy here. I'll take the young lady back to her room!"

There is no wind or dew in this season. I just want to find a chance to talk to her in private.

Yu Tang agreed and went to his own room next door with Mrs. Chen.

Because they left in a hurry, the quilt was thrown on the bed in a mess, and the soft shoes were strewn all over the place, one in front of the bed and one in the middle of the room. Mrs. Chen scolded Shuang Tao in a low voice: "How do you serve the eldest lady? The room is a mess. If the lady sees this, she will teach you a lesson again."

Shuang Tao blushed and turned to clean the room.

Yu Tang pulled Mrs. Chen aside and said, "What happened to Mom? Don't try to fool me. I know that the one who often comes to our house to treat Mom is Liu Sandie from Jimin Hall. I will go to Jimin Hall to find him when the time comes."

Mrs. Chen looked at Yu Tang in surprise.

Yu Tang was spoiled by her family when she was growing up. Although she was not spoiled, she was not a strong-willed girl. This was the first time she was so aggressive.

Mrs. Chen couldn't help but feel a little hesitant.

Yu Tang knows her own business. To put it nicely, she is simple-minded, and to put it bluntly, she is brainless. If something happens at home, she is not someone to rely on, and no one will tell her.

She simply said to Mrs. Chen: "Look at me, I am dishevelled and dirty. I just ran away. There was a flood on Changxing Street and our shop was burned down."

In the dim light, Mrs. Chen realized that Yu Tang's clothes were in disarray. She asked in shock, "What did you say? There was a flood on Changxing Street?"

Yu Tang nodded: "All the goods in the shop are gone, the farmland will not bring income until after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I have to pay for my mother's medical treatment. There is no money left at home."

She didn't say this to fool Mrs. Chen.

This was how it was in my previous life.

The Yu family had little money, so they were not ruined by the burning of the two shops. But this time, the fire broke out, and a batch of goods ordered by others in the warehouse were also burned. The Yu family lost a large sum of money. It was time to pay for the painting "Fishing in Songxi" by Li Tang, a painter from the previous dynasty, which my father had bought from a friend. My mother didn't want to disappoint my father, so she took the initiative to sell 30 mu of the family's top-quality farmland. When my father took my mother to Putuo Mountain, she sold another 20 mu of the family's top-quality farmland without my mother's knowledge... After my parents passed away, in order to have a decent funeral, she sold the remaining 50 mu of top-quality farmland.

The property her grandfather had given to her father was gone, and her uncle was also in trouble and couldn't help her.

Only then did she agree to the Li family's marriage proposal.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Yu Tang's expression became even more serious.

She said coldly: "If anything happens to Mom, Dad will not forgive you when he comes back!"

Mrs. Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She was Chen's companion and also Chen's wet nurse. When Chen was not doing well, she was more anxious and distressed than anyone else. Yet the eldest lady actually threatened her.

But seeing the young lady like this, she felt inexplicably relieved.

She thought for a moment and told Yu Tang, "The weather is too hot. I am suffering from the summer heat and can't eat anything. I am worried about your injury and my husband's busy life outside. I can't eat well and can't sleep. I have lost weight. I dare not let you know."

Yu Tang felt guilty and blamed himself.

In her previous life, she always made her parents worry and had never been a caring little cotton-padded jacket for them, let alone a support.

Thinking of this, Yu Tang couldn't help but put his hands together and chanted "Amitābha" towards the west.

In her previous life, she was not a devout believer, but the Bodhisattva had mercy on her and allowed her to return to the present, to the time when her parents were still alive. She will definitely cherish the present time and not let the hatred of her previous life happen again, and not let this family be broken up and her relatives separated.

Yu Tang's tears fell like rain.