"Help! Fire!" Although it was quite far from the village, the noise was so loud that Zhu Zi cried out in pain.
"Honey, why is it so noisy outside? Has something happened in the village?"
"I comforted my son first. Tingting took out some prepared milk from her space and started feeding him. She also changed his diaper."
Jianjun saw that a fire had started in the village. He didn't know which house was on fire, but the flames were so big that he could smell the burning from a distance.
“Wife, a house in the village is on fire. I’m going to see if anyone can help. You stay home and watch the pillar. You two don’t go; it’s too dangerous.”
"Okay, go take a look. But don't rush forward too much, or the roof beam might fall and hit you. My son and I are still waiting for you at home."
"Don't worry, it's snowing outside. Jianjun put on his thick cotton-padded coat and hurried to the village."
When he arrived at the destination, he saw his father and two older brothers. He asked what had happened.
"Father, eldest brother, second brother, what's going on? Why is it on fire? Isn't this the Qin family's house?"
"Yes, the Qin family's house suddenly caught fire today for some reason. No one was home, and it just started burning."
"This is all heavy snow, it shouldn't catch fire normally, it couldn't have been started by someone."
"Go ask around, the stuff is almost all burned."
When the Qin family returned, they began to wail loudly. Old Mrs. Qin collapsed to the ground, almost losing her breath. How could there be a fire in this snowy weather? Which wretched woman set the fire? Damn it!
"Quickly go find the captain and find out who set the fire!" The eldest and second eldest sons of the Qin family hurriedly went to find the captain.
"Captain, my house has been set on fire! Please come and help us!"
“Fire! In this weather, okay, I’ll go right now.” So I took the villagers and went with the main force. Most of them were just going to watch the excitement.
"This old lady Qin is usually immoral, and this time she's getting her comeuppance."
"Don't talk nonsense. The house is on fire, so be careful she doesn't hate you. After all, this old lady isn't reasonable."
"Mother, do you think it was that slut Qin Yecai who set our house on fire out of revenge?"
“Auntie, I know you hate me for what happened last time, but I wouldn’t be stupid enough to set a fire in winter, would I? Where would our family live? It’s so cold, we’d freeze to death. We’ve run out of food, how are we going to survive?”
“If you’re going to frame me, you can go stand in the fence. Let me tell you, don’t think you can bully our whole family just because my parents are honest.”
"You little bitch, you're all talk and no action. Once we find out you were the one who put it there, you're finished. Stop gloating."
When the captain entered the courtyard, although the fire was huge and the main buildings were reduced to ashes, only the bottom half remained because the ground floor was covered in snow. But what use was that? It was definitely uninhabitable.
When Old Mrs. Qin saw that the house had burned down, she knew that all the food, money, and ration coupons were gone, and she was wondering how she would get through the winter. She fainted immediately.
Jianjun and the captain observed the marks themselves and concluded that it was from a fire, but the firewood, if lit in winter when it snows, should produce a lot of smoke and generally doesn't catch fire easily.
The fire burned so quickly; someone must have set it on purpose. The dry firewood left behind, along with the clothes and blankets on the ground, were all flammable materials that accelerated the combustion. It seems like it was premeditated.
"Alright, stop crying. Your whole family went out today. What have you been doing all winter instead of staying home?"
Grandma Qin finally woke up after her eldest and second sons pinched her philtrum.
"That's how it is," said Wild Vegetable's mother. "Today, Wild Vegetable was looking for food in the mountains and found a river in the mountains. They said there were fish there, so our whole family took buckets and went there to break the ice and catch fish."
People around whispered among themselves about catching fish, yet they didn't tell the villagers—what a heartless old woman!
When Qin Laoda saw that everyone was saying this, he said, "There aren't many fish. It's so hard to catch fish these days. We just hope that there will be enough to eat for our large families."
“Your whole family went up the mountain. Who ordered this house? In a bit, check which families in the village have members who have gone out and report them quickly so I can see who has gone out.”
As Jianjun listened to their conversation, he knew that the place he and Tingting always went to had been discovered. It seemed that Qin Yecai also had a space where she could hunt, and this fire was definitely related to her.
"Captain, we haven't found that scoundrel Wang. Has he run away?"
"Go find him quickly. Where could he have gone without a letter of introduction? He's definitely involved in this fire."
The whole village began searching, looking every inch of the mountain.
"A man, a man, the village chief!" Aunt Li was so frightened she couldn't speak.
"What's wrong? Take a breath and speak properly."
“I saw Wang Laizi fall into that trap, and no matter how I called out to him, he didn’t answer.”
Jianjun observed Qin Yecao's expression and saw the corners of her mouth slightly curl up before quickly relaxing. He was terrified and immediately looked down at Aunt Li, trying not to let her notice.
"I wonder what this girl did before. She's so ruthless. I guess I have to stay away from her and not offend her."
When the captain saw that Wang Laizi had been carried out and was already gone, and that the trap was full of spikes, he knew that Wang had accidentally fallen in and died.
When the villagers saw that all the money on Wang Laizi had fallen out, Old Lady Qin, seeing the money she had lost and found, quickly took it out. Not a single penny was missing; it was a full 800 yuan, along with many receipts.
Although I was happy to have it back, losing the house was also a great tragedy, and I was momentarily in a daze.
"Is this your family's money?" the captain asked.
“It’s my family’s money, this cloth belongs to my family, this bastard!” Qin’s sister-in-law cried as she spoke.
Seeing this situation, the captain was also afraid of affecting himself, since such a big incident would not have a good impact on him, so he said, "It has been found out that this Wang Laizi had premeditated the theft and arson."
"In his panicked escape, he fell into a trap in the mountains. That's the end of the matter. Wang Laizi has been punished. The villagers will find him a place to stay."
This Wang Laizi is usually an idle loafer. He lives alone and is always either at this widow's house or causing trouble. He's a scourge on the village.
Although the matter was closed, Jianjun knew in his heart that it was inextricably linked to this time-traveling woman. Her ruthlessness was rare, and he should avoid dealing with her.
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