Chapter 285 Turmoil
He didn't speak immediately, but slowly stubbed out his cigarette and patted the ash off his pants with his rough palm.
Then he said in a low voice, "Li An told me something today—the fire at the kindergarten was deliberately set by someone."
Li Hongmei's hand jerked violently, and the needle tip pierced her left index finger.
Blood beads quickly appeared, bright red and glaring.
She didn't say anything, quickly put her finger in her mouth to cover the wound, and frowned slightly.
After a moment, she asked in a low voice, her voice a little hoarse, "Huh? Really? Who said that?"
"Absolutely true."
Qiao Xuezhi's tone became serious. "Li An is a police auxiliary officer at the police station. He said that the fire department inspected the scene and found obvious traces of kerosene on the ground with a particularly strong smell. This kind of fire cannot be caused by a short circuit. It was clearly caused by someone deliberately spreading accelerants and then setting it on fire."
Li Hongmei lowered her head, staring at the unfinished garment in her hands, her hands still trembling slightly.
She felt as if her heart had been suddenly gripped, making it difficult to breathe.
Cold sweat silently seeped from my palms and slid down my fingertips.
After a long while, she murmured, "So... do you have any leads? Do you know who did it?"
Qiao Xuezhi shook his head, sighed, and said with helplessness and worry, "Not yet. There are too few clues, and no one has seen anyone suspicious. But Li An said that this matter is serious and will not be left like this. He promised me that he would investigate to the end and trace it back to the source."
Li Hongmei quietly breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing slightly, as if a weight had finally been lifted from her heart.
Her fingers unconsciously stroked the edge of her apron, but her eyes remained cautiously fixed on Qiao Xuezhi's expression.
"Red plum blossoms".
Qiao Xuezhi added, his voice low and hesitant, as if he were carefully considering each word, “Once the kindergarten is repaired, let’s go back to our hometown. It’s not right for us to just stay here.”
He scratched the back of his head, his brows furrowed slightly, his tone tinged with helplessness and hesitation.
“We’re farmers, honest people. We really can’t stand living in the city.”
He sighed, his gaze falling on a few old clothes drying in the yard, his tone gradually lowering as if talking to himself.
"What?"
Li Hongmei suddenly looked up, her eyes wide and bright, as if she had been pricked by a needle. "Go back to my hometown? Go back to that mountain valley where even the lights have been out for three months?"
Her voice suddenly rose, the last syllable trembling slightly, carrying a hint of disbelief and anger.
Qiao Xuezhi frowned, his brow furrowing into a knot: "Home is there, parents are there, and Miaomiao's school is there too."
He spoke each word carefully, as if trying to convince himself, or perhaps reminding her what a "proper destination" truly meant.
"I'm not going back!"
Li Hongmei slammed her hand on the table, so hard that the wooden table shook. The porcelain jar fell to the ground with a clatter, rolled a few times, and spilled water all over the floor, wetting her cloth shoes and trouser legs. "Go back if you want, I'd rather die than go back!"
Qiao Xuezhi was taken aback by her shout, and shrank back, his lips moving but his voice weak: "Hongmei, you..."
"What do you mean, 'what ...!"
Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice choked, but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. "Look at this yard, look how well Miaomiao eats and how decently she dresses! She has meat every meal, takes a bath every day, her clothes are always clean, and her schoolbag doesn't even need mending! Go back there to starve? To eat sweet potatoes?"
She became more and more agitated as she spoke, pointing to the muddy village road outside the house, as if that road was the source of all her suffering: "What's wrong with being a farmer? Isn't your sister also a farmer's daughter? She can live here, so why can't we? We work hard to farm and support our families, we haven't stolen or robbed, so why should we have to stay stuck in this mountain valley for the rest of our lives?"
She lowered her voice, but her tone was even harsher, each word like a nail striking the ground: "I'm telling you, you're just a block of wood! A blockhead, completely clueless! You can't feel the wind and rain outside, and you can't understand the coldness and warmth of human relationships!"
"Haven't you noticed that my sister's attitude towards us is different? She used to think we were in the way, and she would frown when she saw us and not want to say a word. But now... she's not so annoying."
Qiao Xuezhi was taken aback, his mouth slightly open, and he stood there stunned.
Upon closer examination, he realized it was indeed true.
The other day when my younger sister saw them, she didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, didn't greet them, and the food was served coldly and unattended.
But lately, they've been putting an extra bite of food in his bowl during meals, and when they come home from kindergarten covered in sweat, they'll bring him a cup of hot water and even ask, "Are you tired?"
A thought suddenly popped into his mind—was she... not going to kick us out?
"Hey, why can't you get it right?"
Li Hongmei's lips finally curled up into a smug smile, as if she had seen through the secrets of the world. "Didn't you see it at dinner yesterday? The way she looked at you mending the curtains was completely different. Before, when she saw you doing any work, she would either complain that you were clumsy or that you made things dirty. But yesterday, she actually said, 'Brother-in-law, your needlework is quite fine.'"
“We’ve been running around for the kindergarten these past few days, moving tables and chairs, painting walls, and taking care of the children. She’s seen it all.”
Li Hongmei put her hands on her hips and said firmly, "She doesn't think we're stupid, she's just afraid of being a burden to her. After all, she's from the city, and she cares about her reputation. She's always afraid of being gossiped about when relatives come over."
"But what about now? We didn't cause any trouble, we even helped. She may not say it, but she's already agreed in her heart, she just hasn't said it out loud."
She gave a soft hum, a shrewd glint in her eyes, as if she had already seen through the entire game.
As Li Hongmei rambled on, she fantasized about how wonderful life would be if she could stay.
She envisioned renting a small shop to sell breakfast in the future, so that Miaomiao could attend the best primary school in the city, where there would be heating in winter and fans in summer, and she would no longer have to get up in the middle of the night to cover herself with a blanket to keep mosquitoes away.
The corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up higher and higher, as if the door to a new life was quietly opening.
As Qiao Xuezhi listened to his wife's words, his heart slowly began to waver.
His brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if he were recalling something or weighing the pros and cons.
What was once an unshakable idea is now loosening little by little, like a sandcastle being blown by the wind.
He originally advised her to leave because he was afraid she would be a burden to his younger sister.
That girl became a platoon leader at such a young age, with a bright future ahead of her. If she were to be implicated by this messy family matter and have her future affected, he, as the eldest brother, would not be able to live with himself.
But now that I hear this, if it can really help, then why not stay?
At least, I can watch my daughter Miaomiao grow up, and when she calls me "Dad," I can personally answer her.
He was willing to do it for Miaomiao.
"Red plum blossoms".
He finally sighed, his voice low and weary, tinged with hesitation, "It's not that we absolutely have to leave, it's just..."
He paused, his fingers unconsciously stroking the fabric on his knees, as if carefully choosing his words, afraid that a single wrong word would stir up another storm.
"What is it?"
Li Hongmei's eyes lit up, and she quickly moved closer, almost touching him.
Her eyes shone brightly, as if she had seen a glimmer of hope.
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