First, an elderly couple in their 60s were interviewed by the newspaper and recounted what they saw on the night of the fire.
It was a sultry summer night, and the couple were fanning themselves in the sun on the rooftop.
They saw two figures loitering in front of the Qi family's door. The moonlight was bright at night, and they saw the general outlines of the two people. The man was the gambler from the Bai family, and the woman was his stepdaughter Bai Nanqing.
The two girls wandered around the front and back of Qi's house for two circles, as if looking for someone. Before the couple could ask them what they were doing, they disappeared. A few minutes later, the Qi family got angry.
Soon, the compound became chaotic, and everyone began rushing to fetch water from the well to put out the fire.
But that day was too hot and the air was dry, so the fire spread very quickly and reached the roof in just a few minutes.
The children's cries for help could be heard in the house, but the fire in front of the door was too big to get close.
At this time, the man from the Xu family who had just returned from outside saw the situation, took a wet military coat from his home, put it on, rushed in, and carried Qi Heng, who had fallen at the door, out on his back.
When he was about to go in to save people, the roof had already collapsed and the sea of fire engulfed the house next door, so they could not retreat.
In the end, the Qi couple and their little daughter all died in the fire. The fire burned the entire central courtyard to ashes, leaving nothing behind. Some neighbors moved away.
"After the fire broke out, did no one investigate the cause of the fire?" the reporter asked.
"A few people came and asked about it. After some investigation, they finally said that it was because of the hot weather and the fire was caused by the wires."
"Didn't you mention any suspicious persons at the fire site?"
"We asked, but we didn't get anything out of it. We all thought it was an accident. Who knows why the kid from the Qi family put the blame on the Xu couple?"
At this time, another Chinese woman spoke up again, "In fact, the night before the Qi family was burned down, I met the gambler from the Bai family who came to the Qi family to borrow money. The Qi couple refused, and they started arguing. Rather than saying that the Xu family set fire to the Qi family, I believe it was the Bai family who did it."
"The gambler in the Bai family doesn't recognize his relatives. He often asks his sister for money. If he can't get it, he borrows from everywhere and then asks his sister to pay it back. After his sister disagreed to pay the money for him, she notified the neighbors not to lend him money. So the Qi family refused to lend him money, and then they started a quarrel. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fire."
The newspaper even found the person in charge of the state-owned hotel where Xu Xinlan and her family of three dined on the day of the fire.
"Although I don't know what happened, the fire could not have been started by the Xu couple. They were sitting in our store a long time ago."
"Why are you so sure?" the reporter asked.
"If it was any other day I might not remember it, but the day they went to the hotel to eat was my son's 10th birthday. The man also had his birthday that day, and we chatted for a few minutes, so I have a particularly deep impression of it."
This interview was compiled and published in the newspaper on the next day. Although there was no exact truth about the fire that happened, it basically cleared the Xu couple of suspicion.
Moreover, due to the huge impact of this incident, the public security department is preparing to summon Bai Yuankai for interrogation.
After reading these interview reports while drunk in the room, Qi Heng felt like he was standing on the edge of an endless abyss.
The truth that deviated from his expectations was like a huge mouth with fangs, ready to swallow him up at any time.
He didn't believe it. He didn't believe that he hated the wrong person!
As for Bai Nanqing, after a week of horrific torture, she finally gave in and asked to see Xu Xinlan.
But in just one week, Bai Nanqing has turned from a screen goddess into a dull-eyed female beggar.
She had lost a lot of weight, her face was covered in blood and dirt, her clothes were worthless, and there were stains between her legs that gave off a foul smell.
"Go ahead." Xu Xinlan pressed the recorder in her hand.
"I said, will you... let me go?" Bai Nanqing lay paralyzed on the ground, like a pool of stinking mud.
"I am not you. If I promise to let you go, I will let you go."
"Okay, your parents were in a car accident...it was Qi Hengqian who tampered with the car brakes..."
Bai Nanqing told him everything he knew, and didn't forget to take off his clothes during the process.
Xu Xinlan kept her word and let Bai Nanqing go after recording her words.
Next, she waits and sees what fate will await Bai Nanqing...
Qi Heng wanted to see Xu Xinlan many times, but was turned away every time until he was summoned by the public security department and asked to assist in investigating the local fire case.
In the police interrogation room, he met Xu Xinlan, whom he had always wanted to see, and Bai Yuankai, who had not yet appeared.
"Qi Heng, why did you think that your parents and sister died because my parents deliberately killed them?" Xu Xinlan sat opposite him and asked quietly but indifferently.
This was not the first time she had asked him this question, but he had never given her a direct answer, as if she did not deserve to die knowing the truth. Today, in front of the police, she had to get it clear.
Qi Heng no longer had the elegance and refinement he once had. He was now wearing a rather shabby suit, his hair was a little unkempt, his eyes were full of bloodshot, and he looked rough and decadent.
He avoided Xu Xinlan's gaze and spoke slowly: "Bai Nanqing told me..."
It turned out that after the accident at Qi's house, Bai Nanqing told Qi Heng that she had overheard the conversation between the Xu couple.
They proudly said that the fire was a good thing, that the Qi couple and the girl who lost money were all dead, and they could naturally adopt Qi Heng.
They started the fire and planned the fire rescue scene. Qi Heng will be grateful to them for the rest of his life.
Bai Nanqing said that the reason why the Xu couple set the fire was because they were injured after giving birth to Xu Xinlan and could no longer have children.
But the couple next door, who have both children and daughters, always show off in front of them how smart and sensible Qi Heng is, and ridicule the Xu family for being extinct.
So the Xu couple, filled with hatred, set the Qi family on fire, and deliberately saved Qi Heng, just to make Qi Heng their son and take care of him in their old age.
Qi Heng had no doubts about this. First, he trusted Bai Nanqing very much at the time, and second, he did often see Xu Xinlan's mother arguing with his mother about the children.
But the 14-year-old boy had no idea that even though they quarreled verbally, they never took it to heart. Instead, the two women had always had a very good relationship and had talked about becoming relatives more than once.
Later, after the Xu family made it clear that they wanted to adopt Qi Heng, he became more convinced of Bai Nanqing's words.
It was the Xu couple who killed his parents and sister.
He was about to report to the police, but Bai Nanqing stopped him. She said that firstly there was no direct evidence, and secondly, the Xu family had connections, so there would be no problem.
It would be better to find a way to retaliate against them and make them suffer worse than being shot!
So he pretended to be obedient and submissive, and entered the Xu family with this hatred, and had been secretly planning just to avenge his family.
After listening to Qi Heng's words, Xu Xinlan suddenly laughed: "Hahaha... Qi Heng, how stupid are you? You believe everything Bai Nanqing says? Have you ever suspected that she is deceiving you for her own sake?"