Chapter 404: Arson
Chapter 404: Arson
"Sister Qin, Sister Qin!" Sha Zhu shouted and ran to Jia's house.
"Shazhu, what do you want from me?" Qin Huairu came out with a spatula.
"Sister Qin, do you remember that you promised to introduce me to someone?"
"Oh, really? When did it happen? Why can't I remember it?"
Sha Zhu said dissatisfiedly: "Hey, Sister Qin, how can you not keep your word? If you hadn't promised to introduce me to a date, why would I jump into the cesspool to save Bang Geng?"
"Last time, when I was in the hospital, I told you about it. You said you would talk to me after I was discharged. Now that I'm discharged, how come you forgot?"
Being exposed, Qin Huairu explained awkwardly: "You are talking about this matter, I remember it, look at my memory, it's not that I have been busy recently, I forgot it."
Sha Zhu continued, "Sister Qin, I'm glad you remembered it. When can you introduce this guy to me? I'm not a child anymore, it's time for me to get married."
Hearing this, Qin Huairu held up the spatula, feeling embarrassed and not knowing how to explain.
Sha Zhu looked at Qin Huairu standing there in a daze, and asked with concern: "Sister Qin, Sister Qin, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
Qin Huairu looked at Sha Zhu who kept asking questions and knew that if she didn't give an explanation, Sha Zhu would never give up.
"What's coming has come, so you might as well confess it."
Her cousin Qin Jingru is only 10 years old now, not even 15 years old, not yet old enough to get married. It is useless to fool people year after year.
We can't let Sha Zhu wait until Qin Jingru grows up, that would be a waste of time, and Sha Zhu can't afford to wait.
Thinking of this, Qin Huairu had no choice but to confess.
"Silly Zhu, I'm sorry, I lied to you. I wanted to introduce you to someone, my cousin, but she's not even 15 years old yet."
After the explanation, Sha Zhu immediately became dissatisfied, "Hey, Sister Qin, how could you do this? You asked me to do something for nothing."
Qin Huairu apologized repeatedly: "Shazhu, I'm really sorry, how about this, if you haven't married in a few years, my cousin will be grown up, I will introduce her to you, what do you think?"
"Sister Qin, you are cursing me. It won't take me many years to get married."
Qin Huairu followed Sha Zhu's words.
"Yes, yes, what Shazhu said is right, and what I said is wrong. Shazhu is tall and strong, and he's also a chef. How can you not have trouble finding a wife if others beg to marry you?"
After hearing Qin Huairu's nice words, Sha Zhu felt much better. Since the introduction of a partner could not be successful, Sha Zhu was too lazy to argue with Qin Huairu.
"I'm leaving. Next time you ask me for help, don't tell me nonsense." After saying that, Sha Zhu turned around and was about to leave.
"I don't need your help anymore!" Suddenly, a voice came.
I saw Banggeng yelling angrily at Shazhu with an indignant expression on his face.
"Hey, you kid!"
Qin Huairu patted Banggeng's head gently: "Banggeng, don't talk nonsense. Your silly uncle has helped you. Apologize to your silly uncle."
Bang Geng said stubbornly, "I won't! We don't want your help in the future!"
Seeing Banggeng so stubborn, Qin Huairu stopped forcing him, "Shazhu, I'm sorry."
"Forget it, you little brat, I don't want to bother with you." Sha Zhu was too lazy to argue with Bang Geng, but he didn't know that his contemptuous attitude would bring him trouble.
Seeing Shazhu leave, Qin Huairu lectured Banggeng: "Banggeng, why are you so rude? Have you forgotten that it was your uncle Sha who rescued you from the cesspool?"
"Hmph!" It would have been fine if Qin Huairu didn't mention this matter. As soon as she mentioned it, Banggeng instantly got angry and stared at Shazhu with bared fangs and claws.
Ever since he fell into the pit, his friends have been making fun of it, making him lose face and refusing to play with him, leaving him all alone now.
If he wanted to find someone to play with now, he had to go to other alleys and find people who didn’t know him.
"Hmph, Shazhu! I won't let you go!" Banggeng looked at Shazhu's receding back with hatred.
In this yard, Banggeng hates two people the most, one is Shazhu and the other is Li Kailang.
Banggeng only dared to take revenge on Shazhu, but not on Li Kailang, as he still remembered clearly what Li Kailang had done to him before.
But this doesn't mean that Banggeng will let Li Kailang go. "When I grow up, Li Kailang, just wait for me!"
Li Kailang had long been on guard against Banggeng's revenge. It was possible that this ungrateful guy would do anything out of line. He was the typical person who only remembered the food and not the punishment.
"Go wash your hands, we'll be eating soon."
For the entire afternoon, Banggeng was thinking about how to take revenge on Shazhu.
The only means of revenge he is best at now is to smash the windows, but this is useless.
At worst, he can just pay to replace the glass. It's no big deal for Shazhu. How could Banggeng take revenge like this?
"Ah, what should I do?" Banggeng rolled around on the bed, unable to think of any solution.
Suddenly, Banggeng looked through the window and saw someone passing by with firewood in his arms and a cigarette in his mouth.
"Oh, I got it!" Suddenly, an evil idea came to Banggeng's mind and he smiled maliciously.
After thinking of a solution, Banggeng made up his mind and started to keep his eyes on Shazhu's house.
After dinner, Banggeng was still staring at Shazhu's house. He saw Shazhu going out with clothes in his arms, apparently going to the bathhouse to take a bath.
"Finally I got out." Banggeng suddenly felt that the opportunity had come. If Shazhu stayed at home and didn't go out, Banggeng would have no chance at all.
Looking around, he saw that there was no one in the middle yard, and no one came from the front and back yards. He Yushui was studying at home, so Banggeng immediately took action.
He crouched down, avoided the lights in the middle courtyard and quietly came to the door of Sha Zhu's house. He looked around again to make sure no one was watching him, and immediately crouched down and went into Sha Zhu's house.
Looking at the pitch-black house of Shazhu, Banggeng originally wanted to steal some money, candy, tickets, etc., but without the light he couldn't see, so how could he rummage through the drawers and steal things.
"Hmph, I'll come next time."
Banggeng went straight to the kitchen and looked at the kitchen full of firewood, rice, flour, grain, oil and other items, and he smiled evilly.
"It was all burned down."
Banggeng quickly began to set up the "crime scene" by breaking up all the firewood and then removing all the seasonings.
Sha Zhu's seasonings are extremely rich. Ordinary people only have four or five kinds of seasonings, but Sha Zhu has prepared at least twenty kinds of seasonings.
No wonder his cooking is so delicious. Besides his cooking skills, it’s all in the seasoning.
Unfortunately, now they are all knocked to the ground by Banggeng.
Soon, the kitchen was in chaos, with all kinds of things scattered on the floor. A match was lit with a stick and a fire was placed under the stove.
Looking at the firewood being lit, Banggeng smiled and said that when the fire started, all the firewood outside the stove would be ignited.
After a while, the fire gradually grew bigger. Seeing this, Banggeng hurriedly left Shazhu's house.
Seeing that there was no one in the middle courtyard and no one was paying attention, Banggeng hurried back home, lay on the bed, and saw through the window that there was a red light dancing in the kitchen of Shazhu's house.
"Hehe." Bang Geng showed a triumphant smile.
Before long, thick smoke rose from Sha Zhu's kitchen and flames shone out.
"It's a misfire! It's a misfire!" Suddenly, a shout that echoed through the sky rang out.
Everyone hurried out of the house and saw fireworks rising from Sha Zhu's house.
"Quick, put out the fire, put out the fire!"
Everyone in the yard immediately started moving, some filled basins with water, and everyone hurriedly tried to put out the fire.
At this time, Sha Zhu came back from taking a shower. He was quite happy to see everyone rushing to the central courtyard to put out the fire.
"Hey, whose house is on fire? How unlucky! I can't even keep the fire under control. It's good that it burned. It will teach me a lesson."
Sha Zhu came leisurely to the central courtyard and saw that his house was bustling with people coming and going. It was so lively that it was not even so lively during the Chinese New Year.
"Oh, fuck, who burned my house!" Sha Zhu threw down a piece of clothing and hurried home to see what was going on.
When everyone saw Sha Zhu coming back, they couldn't help but show expressions of sympathy and pity. Poor Sha Zhu, his house was on fire.
After everyone's rescue efforts, the fire was put out, leaving only smoke.
"Ah! My home!" Sha Zhu looked at his kitchen which was burned black and nothing was left, and he immediately fell to his knees.
All the things kept in the kitchen, including firewood, rice, oil, salt, and twenty kinds of seasonings, were burned, leaving only the iron pots and shovels that were difficult to burn.
Fortunately, only the kitchen was burned and the fire did not spread to other places. The preliminary estimate of the loss was more than ten yuan, which is neither big nor small.
Things like firewood, rice, oil, salt and so on are gone, but for Sha Zhu, the most important things are the seasonings.
"Who! Who did it!" Sha Zhu roared, looking at everyone. "Whose? Sha Zhu, are you doubting that it was us? We are kind enough to put out the fire, are you trying to slander us?"
"You idiot, I haven't bothered you yet, but you've bothered us instead. Do you know that our house was almost burned down because of the fire in your house?"
Everyone started to scold Sha Zhu.
"Shut up!" Sha Zhu glared at the whole audience, "Whoever did this, come out and show yourself!"
Sha Zhu's words instantly aroused public anger.
"Silly Zhu, what do you mean by that? Are you doubting that we set the fire?"
"You are such a black-hearted person. We helped you put out the fire, but you slandered us. This makes us wrong. If I had known, I would not have helped you put out the fire and would have just watched your house burn."
Everyone started to blame Sha Zhu.
Sha Zhu then realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, everyone. I didn't say it was you who put it there. I was just talking nonsense just now. I didn't mean it that way."
"Hmph, you're a smart kid."
Everyone understood that Sha Zhu was so angry that he lost his mind, so they didn't take it to heart. However, everyone was not in a good mood after being slandered by Sha Zhu.
The most urgent task now is to find the cause of the fire.
Yi Zhonghai asked, "Shazhu, when you went out, didn't you notice that the stove was not turned off?"
"Uncle, there is no way the fire started in the stove. When I left, the stove had been off for half an hour. I checked when I left and there was no firewood in the stove. How could it have started a fire?"
"That's strange. According to what you said, how did the fire start? Think about it carefully. Is there anything unusual?"
Sha Zhu thought hard but couldn't come up with any idea.
Sha Zhu said confidently: "No, it was fine when I left. I turned off everything that needed to be turned off. There is no way there could be a fire."
Yi Zhonghai: "Then this fire wouldn't start for no reason. I think we should call the police and let them find out what happened."
"Did the firewood catch fire by itself, or did someone light it?"
Someone immediately said, "Call the police, you must call the police. If they dare to burn Sha Zhu's house today, they will dare to burn other people's houses tomorrow. We must catch the arsonist!"
This man was only separated from Sha Zhu's house by a wall, and his family was the first to discover the fire. If Sha Zhu's house caught fire, his family would definitely be affected.
His family is the one that cares the most about the arsonist, second only to Sha Zhu's family.
"Zhang San, hurry up and go to the police station to report the case." After instructing one person, Yi Zhonghai looked at everyone.
"Everyone is here now. Let's talk about what everyone did before the fire. Did anyone notice anything unusual?"
"We are all at home, watching each other, and we haven't gone out."
"We are all eating as a family."
"Our family just came back from outside, and they are not at home."
"I'm not at home, but I'm with Li Si, and we can testify for each other."
Everyone took turns to explain what they were doing, but after talking around, they found nothing unusual.
Everyone is either with their family or can prove to each other that there is no such thing as being alone.
Of course, Yi Zhonghai asked the adults, not the children.
Bang Geng, the instigator, was hiding behind Qin Huairu at this time, afraid of being seen by everyone.
Feeling Qin Huairu's gaze, Bang Geng lowered his head in fear, fearing that Qin Huairu would betray him.
Seeing this, Qin Huairu sighed. How could she not understand who started the fire?
She didn't notice when Banggeng went out, but when Banggeng came back, she noticed that he was in high spirits.
Considering the fire in Sha Zhu's house, Qin Huairu was 100% sure that it was Banggeng who started the fire, but Banggeng was her son, so how could Qin Huairu possibly give him away?
"Jia family, what about you?" Yi Zhonghai asked.
Jia Dongxu was about to explain, but Qin Huairu said first: "It's the same in our family. We all stay together and watch over each other."
Qin Huairu didn't give Jia Dongxu any chance to speak. Looking at his puzzled eyes, Qin Huairu signaled him to shut up.
When Banggeng heard that his mother did not betray him, he felt relieved and felt a warmth coming from his head. He looked up and saw Qin Huairu touching his head.
"So, since we are all together and can testify against each other, could it be that the fire was started by ourselves?" Yi Zhonghai was puzzled after hearing everyone's explanation.
He did not notice anything unusual about the Jia family, so naturally he did not suspect anything.
Qin Huairu said, "Maybe it's possible. It's so dry this time, and it might catch fire if I'm not careful."
Hearing this, everyone nodded and could only agree with this statement.
The kitchen of Sha Zhu's house was burned black, and the floor was covered with everyone's footprints. Even though they knew it was Bang Geng who did it, they couldn't find any evidence because everything was covered up.
"The police are here! The police are here!" At this time, Zhang San also called the police.
"Is the fire out? Whose house is on fire?" the police asked hurriedly.
"Comrade police officer, the fire has been put out. Thank you for your trip." Yi Zhonghai explained.
"How did the fire start?"
"It should be due to the dry weather. Something accidentally set off the fire. It should not be man-made."
"Is there any evidence?"
"Yes, everyone just said that if we stay together, no one can start a fire."
After Yi Zhonghai's detailed explanation, the police also inspected the scene, but found no clues and had to leave.
"The weather is getting colder now, so everyone should be careful with fire." The policeman said something about being careful with fire and left the yard.
"Let's go." Seeing this, everyone left.
Since the arsonist and the cause of the fire were not found, Sha Zhu had to bear the loss himself.
"My seasoning!" Sha Zhu wanted to cry but had no tears.
The daily necessities of life are all easy to deal with, but seasonings are his darlings. Without seasonings, his cooking skills would be at least half as good.
"Hey, everyone, don't leave yet, let me say a few words!" At this time, Li Kailang suddenly said loudly.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Qin Huairu and Banggeng looked at Li Kailang in fear, afraid that he would give Banggen away.
But Li Kailang just glanced at Banggeng. Anyone who heard his pounding heart would know that it was him who did it. Banggeng thought he would be fine as long as he hid behind Qin Huairu.
Li Kailang didn't care about the fact that Banggeng burned down Shazhu's house, nor did he bother to expose it, because it was not his house that Banggeng burned down.
It was just that he needed to warn Bang Geng about the arson, so that he would not burn down his own house.
Li Kailang reminded loudly: "It is still unclear whether this fire started by itself or how it was started."
"But! If someone is found to have deliberately lit the fire, no matter if he is an adult or a child, don't blame us for not giving him the face to report it."
"Adults go straight to jail, and children go to juvenile detention centers. Don't think juvenile detention centers are good places. They are almost the same as police stations."
"I won't say much more about this since adults know their own limitations. If you have children at home, please take good care of them!"
After saying that, Li Kailang glanced at Bang Geng one last time and left.
Those who had children at home, upon hearing what Li Kailang said, immediately warned their children not to play with fire.
After listening to this, Yi Zhonghai was thoughtful and felt that Li Kailang would never say such words without any purpose.
As if he had thought of something, Yi Zhonghai glanced at the trembling stick stem and instantly understood what Li Kailang meant.
"Xiao Qin, you must discipline your child well, otherwise it will cause disaster in the future." Yi Zhonghai reminded meaningfully.
After saying that, he began to comfort Sha Zhu.
In the whole incident, Sha Zhu was the most unlucky person. Not only did his house burn down, he also lost more than ten dollars and had to suffer the consequences himself.
After hearing the warning, Qin Huairu quickly took Banggeng away and went home to give him a lecture.
After listening to this, Yan Bugui and Yi Zhonghai seemed to be thinking about something. After looking around at the children, they finally stared at Bang Geng.
Seeing Qin Huairu's serious expression, Yan Bugui smiled and understood what was going on.
(End of this chapter)