Chapter 194: Burning the East Room

Sun Shi didn't move.

Her eyes were fixed on the direction of the East Room, her eye sockets red, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Eldest Daughter-in-law, can't you understand human speech? Why are you still standing there!" Li Family Old Woman, seeing that she hadn't moved, immediately opened her mouth to curse.

However, Sun Shi just glanced at her indifferently, then lowered her head and walked straight toward the East Room.

"Rebelling against the heavens!"

Li Family Old Woman was so angry she stomped her feet. Just as she wanted to rush up, she was held back by Li Family Old Man again. "Forget it, forget it, she's not feeling well inside right now. Second Daughter-in-law, you go cook."

Zhu Shi curled her lips and went to the kitchen unwillingly.

Sun Shi entered the East Room; it was pitch black inside, and she couldn't see anything.

Li Shoude and Yun Ying were sleeping soundly, naked, when they suddenly smelled a scent of kerosene.

The two woke up in a fright, and upon opening their eyes, they saw Sun Shi standing in front of the bed holding a kerosene lamp, her face gloomy, like a soul-reaping ghost.

"Sun Shi, what are you doing in the middle of the night!" Li Shoude was startled and immediately pulled the quilt over to cover the terrified Yun Ying in his arms.

Sun Shi seemed not to see his small movements; her eyes stared fixedly at him, her voice carrying a trace of hoarseness: "Li Shoude, tell me honestly, did you know from the very beginning about the fact that Feng was sold over?"

"What fact?" Li Shoude shifted his eyes away with some guilt. "Didn't you go to town to find Feng'er today? Why, didn't you see her?"

Sun Shi suddenly thrust the kerosene lamp in her hand in front of the two, and the suddenly bright firelight illuminated the guilt on Li Shoude's face completely.

"You knew it all along, didn't you!" Sun Shi's voice carried a hint of hysteria. "You knew long ago that Feng Yatou wasn't marrying over, but was sold to the Huang family! Those twenty taels of silver weren't betrothal gifts at all, but payment for selling her body! Why did you hide it from me! Why didn't you tell me early on!"

If she had known early on that this was a huge fire pit, she would never have let Feng Yatou jump into it!

"Can you blame me for this!" Li Shoude, seeing that the truth had been revealed, simply stopped hiding it. "This marriage was originally set for that girl Xiufen. Who told you mother and daughter to make your own decisions to substitute her? This is all the evil you brought upon yourselves!"

"Li Shoude, oh Li Shoude..." Sun Shi looked at Li Shoude with a coldness that had never been there before. "You have such a cruel heart. Li Xiufen is your own sister, and you sold her to the Huang family just for twenty taels of silver!?"

She wasn't sympathizing with Li Xiufen, but truly felt that Li Shoude had torn off that human skin, and deep down, he was actually so cold and heartless.

"Hmph, you have the nerve to say I'm cruel?!" Li Shoude said coldly. "The person originally prepared to marry into the Huang family wasn't the Third Sister-in-law's daughter! You clearly knew this. Under heaven, how could there be such a good thing? This was clearly a fire pit, and you were blinded by wealth and insisted on letting Feng Yatou marry over! Now you're blaming me instead?!"

He could even heartlessly sell the Third Sister-in-law's daughter, let alone Li Xiufen. Both were just little girls, what was there to be precious about?

He was the only scholar in the family, entrusted with high hopes. For his future, what did it matter if the women in the family sacrificed a little?

"Li Shoude!" Sun Shi seemed hurt by his words and raised the oil lamp in her hand, intending to smash it at him.

"Ah—" Yun Ying, hiding in Li Shoude's arms, screamed in fright.

Sun Shi, seeing this, felt her hatred deepen. Her wrist turned, and the kerosene lamp smashed squarely at Yun Ying: "Go to hell! You little bitch!"

"Sun Shi, you dare!" Li Shoude, how could he bear to see his beloved woman smashed, immediately lunged forward to push Sun Shi down.

The kerosene lamp fell, landing on the bedding, and it began to burn fiercely.

Li Shoude and Yun Ying hadn't been wearing clothes to begin with, completely naked, covered only by a cotton quilt.

In the blink of an eye, the entire cotton quilt caught fire, and Li Shoude was so scared he hurriedly threw the quilt away.

With this throw, the fire was led to other wooden furniture in the room.

In an instant, a raging fire began to burn.

"Fire! Fire!!"

The Li family members, who were waiting in the kitchen for Zhu Shi to cook and feed them, heard the screams from the East Room and came out one after another to look. Upon seeing the fire, their faces turned pale with fright.

"My son! My son!"

Li Family Old Man's eyes were filled with tears, and he hurriedly told Li Shoucai to go put out the fire.

"Father, our family doesn't have a well!" Li Shoucai was also startled, but he managed to remain calm. The water in the large vat in the kitchen had just been used up by Zhu Shi for cooking, and now there wasn't a single drop of water in the house.

"Hurry and find people! Find people to put out the fire!!"

Thus, the Li family members shouted at the top of their lungs to call the neighbors.

In the middle of the night, the villagers were all asleep, and being suddenly woken up, they were all somewhat dissatisfied.

But upon seeing the raging fire in the Li family's East Room, they were all startled and dared not delay. They all brought buckets to fetch water to put out the fire, and those who didn't have water at home also carried buckets to the Ancestral Hall to fetch water.

In the end, the Li family's fire was extinguished. The neighbors were all exhausted, covered in sweat, their clothes dirty, and their shoes lost, while the Li family members stood by the side, the most relaxed of all.

"I say, Lao Li, what is your family doing in the middle of the night? Are you not letting people sleep!?"

A villager said with dissatisfaction, putting down a wooden bucket and cursing.

"In the whole village, I haven't seen any family as fond of looking for trouble as your Li family. It's either suicide or burning down the house. Day after day, there's no peace! Your family doesn't live a good life, but we still have to live ours!"

"Exactly! Making such a scene in the middle of the night, I have to get up early tomorrow to work at the Jiang family. Your family making such a scene, how much of my sleep time have you delayed!"

Li Family Old Man's face turned red and white from the scolding, his lips trembling, unable to say a word.

"Sun Shi! Isn't this your doing!" Li Family Old Woman was also angry and could only aim her spearhead at Sun Shi, who was on the side.

At this moment, Sun Shi was covered in dust, her hair disheveled, her clothes full of dust, and in some places, the fire had burned several large holes. She was in a miserable state.

Of the three people in the East Room, Sun Shi was the most miserable.

When the fire started, Li Shoude, as a man, ran the fastest and wasn't burned, while Yun Ying was protected by Li Shoude with the bedding and didn't suffer any damage at all.

"It's her! Mother, I saw her take a kerosene lamp into the East Room." Zhu Shi immediately complained on the side.

"Good! It's you, this troublemaker again!" Li Family Old Woman went up and gave Sun Shi a kick. "How much do you want to harm my Lao Li family before you're satisfied! Ah! Where did my Li family treat you poorly? You eat my Li family's food, live in my Li family's house, and you actually dare to burn my Li family's house! I think your skin is itching!"

Li Family Old Woman beat and scolded Sun Shi in front of the villagers, not giving her any face at all.

Sun Shi endured it silently, not fighting back, not speaking. In those hollow, lifeless eyes, there seemed to be a sense of death.

Li Shoude, watching from the side, finally couldn't bear it. After all, Sun Shi had been his wife for several years, and had borne his children...

Thus, he stepped forward to stop her: "Mother, don't hit her anymore..." (End of chapter)