The living room of Zhou Shun's family in Building 5, Xinghua Residential Area, the fourth floor, east unit.
Zhou Shun's wife, Miao Sanxiu, sat opposite Zhang Jinzhu with tears streaming down her face.
Zhang Jinzhu said, "Sister-in-law, don't cry. I will help Brother Shun get justice."
Miao Sanxiu shook her head, "Zhuzi, you can't help with this, so don't get involved."
“That won’t do, I can’t just ignore it,” Zhang Jinzhu said. “If it weren’t for Brother Shun back then, I wouldn’t be alive today.”
Humans are complex creatures; bad people don't necessarily do only bad things their whole lives, and good people don't necessarily do only good things their whole lives.
Six years ago, Zhou Shun did a good deed.
At that time, Zhang Jinzhu's son was admitted to university and had a car accident while having a reunion with his classmates. His left leg was broken by a motorcycle.
The Zhang family was already poor, and the combined medical expenses and university tuition fees were overwhelming for Zhang Jinzhu.
They either use the tuition fees to treat their son's illness, or they don't treat his illness and let him go to school.
At the time, Zhou Shun was the director of the admissions office of a university in the provincial capital. When he heard about this, he lent Zhang Jinzhu money for medical expenses.
Later, the child recovered from leg injury, went to university in the provincial capital, found a good job after graduation, and got married and had children.
Zhang Jinzhu worked hard to pay off his debts.
Seeing his pitiful state, Zhou Shun tore up the IOU in front of him, preventing him from repaying the money.
At that time, Zhang Jinzhu knelt in front of Zhou Shun and insisted on recognizing Zhou Shun as his elder brother.
It has been six years since then, and during these six years, Zhang Jinzhu has visited the Zhou family every year during holidays.
He would do everything Zhou Shun asked him to do, and their relationship grew better and better. They were not blood brothers, but their relationship was better than that of blood brothers.
...
"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I will definitely get justice for Brother Shun," Zhang Jinzhu said in a deep voice.
“You can’t do anything foolish, and your older brother won’t let you do anything foolish either.” Miao Sanxiu shed tears again.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I won't do anything foolish," Zhang Jinzhu said with a smile.
The two chatted for a long time before Zhang Jinzhu took his leave and rode his motorcycle to the Xueyuan Road Detention Center to ask to speak with Zhou Shun.
Unable to meet Zhou Shun in the end, he rode his motorcycle to Dehua Community and knocked on the door of Ma Ronghua, the owner of Ronghua Supermarket.
Half an hour later, he left the Ma family home, went to a gas station to buy two large barrels of gasoline, and rode his motorcycle back to his son's home.
"Dad, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Go wash your hands and eat." The son said with a smile.
"I've already eaten." Zhang Jinzhu hugged his one-year-old grandson and took out four stacks of hundred-yuan bills from his bag.
“Dahai, take this 40,000 yuan. I won it playing cards a few days ago,” Zhang Jinzhu said.
Zhang Dahai and his wife were completely stunned. This was 40,000 yuan, while their combined salary was only 700 yuan.
"Dad, you never used to play cards, why are you suddenly playing cards?" Zhang Dahai asked anxiously.
"I suddenly got the urge to gamble, so I went to the casino and played a few rounds. I didn't expect to win money," Zhang Jinzhu said. "Don't worry, I won't gamble anymore."
Hearing this, Zhang Dahai finally felt relieved.
The couple were overjoyed to suddenly receive a huge sum of 40,000 yuan and insisted on having the elderly father stay for dinner.
The meal lasted until 8:30 p.m. Zhang Jinzhu rode his motorcycle home, ate dried peanuts with his liquor, and drank half a jin of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).
I stayed up until midnight and rode my motorcycle to Brothers Supermarket.
He sat at his locksmith business, easily opened the door of Brothers Supermarket, and carried two cans of gasoline all the way to the fourth floor.
The supermarket was empty; there wasn't a single person in sight.
When Wang Peng previously ran a tobacco and liquor store, it was set on fire. Ever since then, he has not allowed any employees to stay at the store at night.
There are no security systems such as surveillance cameras or alarms, but Zhang Jinzhu has a knack for picking locks and quickly opened all the doors.
He poured a bucket of gasoline on the fourth floor and another bucket on the third floor. He first lit the fourth floor with a lighter, and then lit the third floor.
A fire broke out, and he stepped into the flames to burn himself, but in the end, he chose to escape.
I originally wanted to take the supermarket down with me, but I didn't have the courage to commit suicide.
Instead of going home, Zhang Jinzhu rode his motorcycle westward, intending to make a living in Xinjiang. He still had 10,000 yuan on him.
A cozy garden.
Wang Peng's right eye kept twitching, and he kept rubbing it; his eyelid was very red.
"Honey, let's go to the hospital to get checked out." Li Mingzhu said with a worried expression.
"No need," Wang Peng said. "My eyelids have been twitching these past few days; something bad might be about to happen."
"Let's go to the supermarket. I'm worried someone might sabotage it." Li Mingzhu was a little anxious. They say a twitching left eye means good fortune, while a twitching right eye means bad luck.
Wang Peng shook his head. What's meant to be will be, so let it be.
"Call Du Lei and have him bring some people to the supermarket," Li Mingzhu said urgently.
“There’s no need,” Wang Peng said. “If someone tries to cause damage, at most things will be damaged. But if Du Lei encounters the saboteurs, he might lose his life.”
“Wife, in my opinion, no amount of money is more important than human life,” Wang Peng added.
Knowing her husband's temperament, Li Mingzhu stopped trying to persuade him. A wave of drowsiness washed over her, and she yawned.
Wang Peng gave her a hot bath, helped her to bed, and then went to his study to read.
I glanced at my watch; it was already 1:30 a.m. I was just about to take off my shoes and go to sleep when I heard a piercing alarm.
Listen carefully, it sounds like a fire truck siren.
His phone suddenly rang. He answered it and held it to his ear. "Hello, this is Wang Peng."
"Xiaopeng, this is Li Keyong. I have something to tell you..."
Li Keyong sighed softly, "Your supermarket is on fire. The fire is very large. I suspect someone set it on fire."
“Uh…” Wang Peng paused for half a minute, then chuckled, “I have insurance, the insurance company will pay out, Uncle, don’t worry.”
"Don't lie to me," Li Keyong said in a deep voice. "Miaomiao told me that all the money you had was used to buy goods, and this fire..."
Wang Peng said, "It's alright, the sky won't fall, and I won't collapse either."
As he spoke, he smiled slightly, "I don't sell counterfeit goods, and I don't profit from human suffering. I've already offended many people, and this day was bound to come sooner or later. It doesn't matter."
"Xiaopeng!" Li Keyong said urgently, "The sky won't fall, you can't lose heart."
Wang Peng said, "Today, a guy who was buying condoms caused trouble, and I got into a fight with him and kicked him hard."
"I stole Ronghua Supermarket's business, and Ma Ronghua is so desperate he wants to die with me. Wang Cheng of Huihuang Supermarket..."
"It shouldn't be Wang Cheng. Although he's a scoundrel, he wouldn't have set me on fire if he wasn't 100% sure."
After recounting everything in one breath, Wang Peng listed the suspects.
“Zhou Shun might also be involved.” Li Keyong sighed softly. “I’ll leave this to the police. I’ll find him even if I have to dig three feet into the ground.”
"Thank you." Wang Peng yawned. "I'm sleepy. We can talk about it tomorrow."
With that, he hung up the phone, turned off his mobile phone, and unplugged the landline at home.
He knew a lot of people would be calling later; the fire was already burning. He figured he could deal with everything tomorrow; all he wanted to do now was get some sleep.
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