"Mom! Liangliang!" Wen Qing shouted, "Pengpeng!"
No one paid any attention to her. People from the village, one by one, carried wooden buckets or plastic basins, fetching water from the well and ditch, and hurriedly ran towards the row of houses where her house was located, accompanied by shouts.
"Bring the water in a porcelain basin!"
"Use a fork to separate the straw!"
"Hurry, hurry, move the things that aren't burning away!"
"Children, don't run around! Don't get in the way!"
"Quickly move the grain out of the hut! Otherwise it will all be burned!"
"Oh my God! Is this any way for anyone to live?!" someone cried out.
"..."
The entire scene was like a boiling pot of eight-treasure porridge, a complete mess. No one paid any attention to Wen Qing, who looked up at the tiny sparks in the thick smoke.
Fire? Her house is on fire?
A thought flashed through Wen Qing's mind, and she hurriedly ran to her own door.
"Mom! Mom!" Wen Qing started calling out before even running into the yard.
Thick smoke billowed from behind the courtyard, almost engulfing the main room. The courtyard itself was also filled with a thin layer of smoke, the smell pungent. Just as Wen Qing was about to enter the main room, she glanced around and saw that the fence had been burned down to a width of two people.
Wen Qing was startled: "Mom! Liangliang! Peng..."
Before Wen Qing could finish speaking, Wen Peng suddenly darted out from outside the collapsed fence, covered in dust and carrying a chipped porcelain basin, rushing into the yard in a panic.
"Pengpeng!" Wen Qing called out.
Wen Peng's eyes hardened as he looked at Wen Qing in surprise. Without wasting any words, he said directly, "Big sister, there's a fire! It's burning all the way from Aunt Wang's house at the village entrance to our house. Our straw stack and fence are on fire!"
Wen Qing was alarmed: "Where are Mom and Liangliang? Are you hurt?"
"No. We're all putting out the fire! The team leader and the village chief are here! They're in the backyard!"
Hearing that the person was alright, Wen Qing felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. As long as they were alright, that was all that mattered.
"Big sister, hurry up, or all our straw stacks will burn down." Wen Peng said, taking quick steps to the well to fetch water. He filled a basin with water, which spilled out of the basin, but Wen Peng didn't care. He dashed over the fallen fence and ran to the backyard.
Wen Qing hurriedly went into the kitchen, but after searching for a long time, she couldn't find a suitable water container. In the end, she took two relatively large gourd ladles, filled them with water, and then stepped over the fallen fence and ran to the backyard.
The row of straw stacks in the backyard was burned to a crisp, blackened mess, still emitting thick black smoke and a mixture of gray and white smoke. Not only were the straw stacks damaged, but the mud walls of the houses in the row next to Wen Qing's house were also burned black. The worst damage was to Aunt Wang's house, where half of a thatched hut was burned down, and the bed and cabinet inside were exposed to the sky. People were still pouring water on it.
Aunt Wang was sitting on the ground, slapping her thigh and crying, "My God, what am I going to do? I'm going to die, I'm going to die, there's no way out, there's no way out!"
Other neighbors, carrying various water containers, stood in front of their respective haystacks, watching with lingering fear.
The village chief of Shuiwan Village also arrived, directing more than a dozen burly men to use wooden forks to separate the wet wheat straw and chaff to prevent any sparks from catching fire again.
Wen Qing spotted Yao Shiling and Wen Liang at a glance, and she turned and walked towards Yao Shiling.
"Mom," Wen Qing called out.
Yao Shiling turned her head, glanced at the gourd ladle in her hand, and asked, "When did you get back?"
"You just got back. Are you alright?"
"It's alright." Yao Shiling looked worried. The person was fine, but a year's worth of wheat straw and corn stalks had been burned. Yao Shiling said, "Your house is still leaking and the fence and wall haven't been repaired."
Wen Qing didn't care about those things: "Mom, everyone's alright, that's all that matters."
Yao Shiling nodded reluctantly.
As soon as Wen Qing finished speaking, they suddenly heard Aunt Wang crying out, "It was those few reckless brats who started the fire! They burned all my wheat straw and wheat! What are we going to eat now?!"
"Which bastards?" Aunt Wang's husband, Wang Da, asked loudly, determined to find the murderer.
"Qiangqiang, Dadao, Weiwei, and Pengpeng!" Aunt Wang cried.
Yao Shiling was startled.
Wen Qing and Wen Liang both looked at Wen Peng.
Wen Peng's face turned pale, and he hurriedly said, "No, I didn't. I haven't been in the village at all. I... I went to the bramble bushes with Da Dao to catch grasshoppers, and then we went to the woods to catch cicadas and collect their shells. We had just come back when we saw the fire. You can ask Da Dao if you don't believe me!"
Yao Shiling's face turned cold: "Wen Peng! Tell the truth!"
"I'm telling the truth!" Wen Peng insisted, his eyes reddening with grievance. "I didn't set the fire. Why would I set the fire?"
Wen Qing patted Wen Peng's head: "Mom, I believe in Peng Peng."
Wen Peng's tears, which were about to well up, were held back.
"What's the use of believing that?" Yao Shiling whispered, "We don't have any male laborers in our family. Do you think Aunt Wang will say that Qiangqiang, Dadao, and Weiwei are the ones who set the fire? They'll definitely say that Pengpeng started it."
“I didn’t!” Wen Peng said again.
Yao Shiling was anxious.
Wen Liang clasped his hands tightly.
Wen Qing turned her head and saw that Aunt Wang was staring at Wen Peng with a vicious look in her eyes.
Qiangqiang, Dadao, and Weiwei's parents quickly explained what their children were doing at noon, and that they hadn't started any fires.
Yao Shiling remained silent.
Wen Qing continued, "Pengpeng has never been in the village, and he didn't start the fire."
“If it wasn’t him, who was it? Everyone ate lunch and went to sleep. It’s just that your family members are all obsessed with money, especially Wen Liang and Wen Peng. They never sleep at noon and just run around collecting cicada shells and chopping firewood to sell for money. Who else could it be but him?!” Aunt Wang cried with tears streaming down her face. Wen Peng had become the murderer who killed her whole family.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Wen Liang rushed forward.
Wen Qing pulled him aside and shielded him with her body, signaling him not to be impulsive, as the Wen family would definitely lose to Aunt Wang's family in a group fight.
Wen Qing calmly said, "Aunt Wang, is it wrong to be greedy for money? We earn money cleanly and never do anything to extort people. You say Wen Peng set the fire, where's the evidence?" The implication was that Aunt Wang was extorting money.
Aunt Wang, embarrassed and angry, jumped up and questioned, "You don't do extortion? You're better at it than anyone else. Didn't your second uncle, who went to jail, help you extort a rich man? Aren't you always clinging to him?"
Wen Qing was not angry and tried her best to stop Wen Liang.
"Aunt Wang, just state the facts." Yao Shiling couldn't stand others talking about Wen Qing like that, and she trembled with anger: "How did Wen Qing extort money? Did she accept a bride price from that side, or did she marry that person? Where did you hear that Wen Qing was going to marry a rich man? Aunt Wang, you need to provide evidence. Our family is poor, but we don't cling to anyone. I didn't even know Wen Qing was going to marry a rich man. How did you know?"
Wen Qing looked at Yao Shiling. Her mother always had a calm and indifferent demeanor. In her past life, she always thought that her mother did not love her. Now, seeing how much her mother protected her, she realized how much her mother loved her.
Aunt Wang was speechless at Yao Shiling's words. It was true that no one in the Wen family had ever publicly acknowledged the marriage between Wen Qing and Ji Yanjun. Who spread this news?
Everyone looked at Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang was speechless for a moment, then pointed at Yao Shiling and said, "Wen Peng started this fire, no one else did it!"
None of the neighbors said a word. They all knew that when Aunt Wang got angry, she was as tough as three people, and she was quite domineering in Shuiwan Village. Now that her wheat straw had been burned, and the wheat in her thatched hut had also been burned, she would extort money from anyone who spoke up.
In those days, people depended on the weather for their livelihood, and the grain tax was so heavy. Every year, the grain produced in the fields was enough to feed them until the next harvest. Who could afford to compensate Aunt Wang for her wheat and straw?
Wen Qing coldly retorted, "Aunt Wang, where's the evidence?" Wen Qing looked at the people beside her and asked, "Who saw Wen Peng set the fire? Step forward. If you have evidence, then do what you're told. If you don't, don't try to bully me!"
Everyone hadn't seen Wen Qing so domineering in a long time, and they couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. You see, Wen Qing used to be fearless. Her second uncle went to jail for almost beating someone to death, and Wen Qing had always followed him. She also had a very fiery temper.
If Aunt Wang was a tough character, then Wen Qing was someone who wasn't afraid of death.
Between the reckless and the fearless, who is stronger?
None of the neighbors spoke up. Help Aunt Wang? Wen Qing's family hadn't done anything wrong; they definitely couldn't help Aunt Wang—that would be against their conscience. Help Wen Qing? Aunt Wang was a scoundrel; they couldn't win against her.
Aunt Wang glanced around at everyone and, seeing that her husband wasn't scolding her, felt she had done the right thing. Everyone else had male laborers, but the Wen family only had Wen Liang, who was still young. Wen Qing was a little older, but she was a girl, so what could she do? Anyway, Wen Qing's second uncle was dead, and she couldn't let her family's grain go to waste. Pointing at Wen Peng, she shouted, "No evidence needed, it's him!"
Wen Peng felt extremely wronged. He pursed his lips, looked at Da Dao beside him, and whispered, "Da Dao, Da Dao, you be my witness. I didn't set the fire. We were together the whole time. The fire started when we came back from collecting cicada shells, right? Da Dao, right?"
"Yes..." Da Dao had barely begun to speak.
Big Knife's mother reached out and covered Big Knife's mouth: "Don't talk nonsense. Do you still want to eat in the future?" Otherwise, Aunt Wang would make both families pay compensation, since her family already doesn't have enough food to eat.
Unable to break free from the broadsword, Wen Peng's dark eyes dimmed instantly, filled with disappointment.
Wen Qing didn't miss Wen Peng's gaze. Feeling sorry for him, she reached out and stroked his little head, saying, "It's okay, your older sister is here."
With red eyes, Wen Peng lowered his head and mumbled, "Big sister, I didn't set the fire, it wasn't me."
Wen Liang clenched his fists, wishing he could hit someone right away.
Yao Shiling lowered her head and remained silent.
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