Chapter 578: Suddenly the Power Went Out

"It's starting, it's starting, everyone be quiet…"

Everyone in the courtyard stared intently at the TV; as a flurry of snowflakes flickered, the next scene should have switched to a live broadcast.

Just as the transition was about to happen, a "Snap!" and the TV went dark.

After about ten seconds of silence, someone finally couldn't sit still.

"What's going on? Still no picture?"

"The power's out, the bulbs in the house are out too."

Everyone looked and indeed the whole courtyard fell into darkness; now nobody could stay seated.

"It was fine, why did the power cut?"

"Maybe the circuit breaker was pulled for load‑shedding, but it's not even summer."

"Hey, what's the deal, Wu Guiwen, go to the Street Office and get the power restored quickly, we've finally got this movie on air and everyone's waiting to watch."

"Yeah, Wu Guiwen, you should go to the Street Office and check…"

Wu Guiwen hesitated whether to go; the outage saved electricity costs, but everyone was clearly unwilling to watch a movie tonight.

While Wu Guiwen was dithering about going to the Street Office, Da Hu rushed over energetically.

"I went to Hu Tong, there's no outage there, the lights are on, it's just our courtyard that's without power."

"Hey, what's happening! Wu Guiwen, did you pull the main breaker? Pull it back quickly; at most each of us can chip in a dollar, that'll cover a month's electricity."

"Yeah, Wu Guiwen, we'll pay the electricity, don't be so stingy."

Wu Guiwen frowned: "Who pulled the breaker? I've been sitting here the whole time, you've all been watching, I've had no time to pull any breaker."

It seemed that way; Wu Guiwen really had stayed by the TV, and just as everyone wondered why the power cut, someone suddenly shouted.

"The Backyard is on fire…"

"Ouch, that's not good, hurry and put it out…"

From the initial complaints about the outage to the discovery of the fire in the Backyard, everyone rushed anxiously to extinguish it.

Some grabbed big brooms, others lifted water buckets…

"Everyone step back, step back, I'm carrying water."

"Can't use water to douse…"

The first people to reach the Backyard found that it wasn't a house on fire but the transformer on the wall was sparking, pop! crack! all over.

"It's an electrical fire, can't douse it with water…"

"Quick, go to the main transformer at the Hu Tong Entrance and pull the main circuit breaker."

A few people lifted long bamboo poles and, in a panic, ran to the Hu Tong Entrance; soon the whole Hu Tong fell into darkness.

After finally extinguishing the fire in the Backyard, everyone was exhausted.

Because the main breaker had been pulled, people from the entire Hu Tong came to Da Za Yuan to watch the spectacle.

Of course, there were plenty of complaints.

"Wu Guiwen, what's happening? Your courtyard lost power, you pulled the main breaker—what for? I'm washing dishes, how can I wash in this pitch‑black!"

"It's you, Wu Guiwen, the one in charge—why? Everyone else's courtyard is fine, only yours is on fire."

Listening to the complaints, Wu Guiwen felt almost wronged; the electrical fire had nothing to do with him.

Someone defended Wu Guiwen: "I just saw it; the fuse blew, probably because the wiring was overloaded, causing the circuit fire—what does that have to do with Wu Guiwen?"

"Overloaded wiring? It can't be the TV's fault."

"Probably not; when we watched before it never happened like today. I suspect some household used a high‑power appliance!"

Everyone thought that reasonable; nowadays the wiring uses aluminum cores and the fuses are lead, so if an appliance draws too much power it's easy to blow.

The Backyard has a small transformer that stabilizes voltage for the whole Da Za Yuan; due to age it's deteriorated, but to blow a fuse you need at least over a thousand watts.

Yet every household's bulbs only total a few hundred watts, far below what's needed to blow the fuse, so they've always been making do.

But today it suddenly blew, indicating the consumption definitely exceeded the limit.

But who can afford a high‑power appliance now?

Look at this house, look at that one—each is so poor they barely have a radio at best.

Finally they looked at Lu Beitang's family; only the old Lu family in this Da Za Yuan could be considered wealthy.

Old Mr. Lu and his wife both work, their son has a respectable job with deputy‑division‑level salary, and although the daughter's job at the Cooperative isn't prestigious, her pay is high—higher than ordinary workers.

Seeing the strange looks, Chen Xianglan immediately became displeased.

"What are you looking at my family for? I'm always frugal, you all know that."

True, Chen Xianglan is indeed thrifty; she never turns on lights unless necessary.

"Aren't you the biggest suspect? If anyone in our courtyard could afford a high‑power appliance, it would be your family."

"Exactly, now we can't watch the movie; you have to take responsibility!"

Chen Xianglan grew even more upset, rolled up her sleeves, and said she'd argue.

"What nonsense! We can't watch the movie, why blame my family? You think I don't want to watch!"

Seeing everyone still doubtful, Chen Xianglan waved her hand: "If my family had a high‑power appliance, may lightning strike me down today!"

Seeing Chen Xianglan make such a fierce oath, everyone could only choose to believe.

Inside, Lu Cheng was about to step out to explain, his hand on the door latch ready to pull, but when he heard his mother's last words, he slowly closed the door gap.

Just then, Big Aunt Wang at the door noticed him closing it and suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, I remember—it's the old Lu family; today Lu San'er put together an Electric Heating Blanket."

The moment the words fell, the room erupted.

"Electric Heating Blanket? That's a high‑power appliance!"

"Finally, we've found the culprit! Where's Lu San'er?"

"Anyone in the house!"

"Bring him out; you made everyone miss the TV. You little brat, from morning to night you only know how to cause trouble."

"Lu San'er, Lu San'er, come out—are you the one behind this?"

When they couldn't get a response, a few people began pounding on the door.

Lu Cheng still didn't dare to come out. Today the courtyard was filled with so many people, the entire Hu Tong was without power; if he stepped out, he'd become the focus of everyone's scorn and be beaten up.

"Nobody, nobody..." Lu Cheng called out twice from inside.

"What 'nobody'? If nobody, why are you squeaking? Get out right now."

"Ah, I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping, stop pounding, the door's about to fall apart."

Seeing everyone fuming, poised to burst in, Lu Cheng hurriedly stowed the Induction Cooker and concealed it under the bed.

Who knew the courtyard's transformer was so inadequate that plugging in an Induction Cooker would ruin it.

If it were a normal day, no one would make a fuss; at most they'd have the Street Office send someone to fix it, but tonight there was a rare movie broadcast.

In the end they couldn't watch the movie; everyone was seething with nowhere to vent, when the door was battered with a clang...

In the end, no one knew who shoved whom, and with a rumble, the entire door was knocked down.