Chapter 10: A Fire, Three Years in the Hole

Ma Hua followed behind He Yuzhu, carrying all sorts of vegetables with a look of flattery on his face.

He Yuzhu did not order people around for nothing; he was also carrying things full in his hands, while occasionally turning his head to explain the cooking methods for a few dishes to Ma Hua.

Before the two of them reached the Siheyuan, they saw people coming and going in the courtyard, the noise was deafening, and a thick plume of black smoke was drifting into the sky.

"Oh no!" He Yuzhu bent down, dropped the things in his hands onto the ground, and ran inside at full speed.

"Hey, Master, hey, wait for me!" Ma Hua quickly picked up the things from the ground, his arms and hands full of various vegetables and fruits, and then chased after him with a waddle; food was scarce these days, and if he left them where they were, who knew who might take them home.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered the courtyard, it turned out that the one on fire was indeed his own home, and the crowd was desperately splashing water from basins and buckets onto the wooden door that had already caught fire.

"Shazhu, you're back. You forgot to put out the stove before you left, didn't you?" The Third Elder's face was blackened by the smoke, and he hurried over, panting, while carrying a basin.

"Don't talk about that for now, you take a rest, I'll handle it." He Yuzhu couldn't spare the time for pleasantries; he snatched the water basin from the Third Elder's hands and joined the firefighting team.

At Qin Huairu's house, Bang Geng looked at the busy crowd through the window and gave a sinister laugh: "Serves you right! Let's see where you sleep tonight!"

It turned out that Bang Geng had harbored resentment and timed it to set fire to He Yuzhu's house.

"Brother! What's going on here?" He Yushui walked in with her fiancé, a local police officer, carrying things. Seeing the busy crowd, she quickly pulled He Yuzhu down.

"Save the fire first, we'll talk after the fire is out!" He Yuzhu couldn't care about anything else and quickly started taking water.

"Brother, you take a break, I'll do it." He Yushui's fiancé, Xiao Zhang, rolled up his sleeves and quickly snatched the water basin from He Yuzhu's hands.

Looking at the busy Xiao Zhang, He Yuzhu smiled at his sister: "Not bad, good eye, you know how to protect your own."

"That's right, don't you see whose sister I am." He Yushui, wearing her Down Jacket, preened a little, then quickly took her things back to her room; if such a good piece of clothing got a hole burned in it, it would break her heart.

Finally, with everyone in the courtyard busy helping out, the fire was extinguished, leaving only wisps of blue smoke continuously dissipating.

"Pfft."

The last bit of smoke was doused by Xiao Zhang, and only then did everyone relax and collapse onto the ground.

"Don't sit on the ground, it's too cold. How about this, thank you all today. Since my brother-in-law is here tonight, I'll cook and treat everyone." He Yuzhu stopped He Yushui, who was about to go inside to check the damage, and stood on the steps, shouting gratefully to everyone.

"That's right, you can't get out of this drink tonight." The Third Elder adjusted his glasses and led his children to find a clean spot to sit down; he was getting old and couldn't handle such strenuous activity.

"Alright, you can drink anytime, hurry up and check if there are any other losses." The First Elder didn't bother with the talk of eating.

"Exactly, Shazhu, how did you manage this? It's lucky everyone discovered it in time, otherwise the whole courtyard would have been buried along with your house." Xu Damao rubbed his waist with annoyance; he was so young, why didn't he have any children?

"What are you saying?" He Yushui put her hands on her hips, and just as the two were about to start bickering, He Yuzhu quickly stopped them.

"Don't worry about the food, I'll cook in a bit, there'll be plenty of chicken, duck, fish, and meat! Also, let me introduce everyone, this is Xiao Zhang, our local police officer, and my sister Yushui's fiancé. Come, Zhang, come over and meet everyone." He Yuzhu pulled Xiao Zhang to the steps and introduced him to everyone one by one.

Looking at it this way, there was no need to be on such bad terms with these people in the courtyard. Whether they were afraid the fire would spread to their homes or were genuinely helping, they had helped him put out the fire, and this favor had to be remembered!

At worst, he would just be strictly professional with them from now on. A fire had actually eased He Yuzhu's originally narrow and resentful mood.

After Xiao Zhang had met everyone in the courtyard one by one, He Yuzhu cleared his throat again.

"Everyone, you all know my brother-in-law is a police officer. Now, everyone come into the room and take a look."

As he spoke, He Yuzhu kicked down the half-burned door, dragged it into the courtyard, pointed inside, and said: "Everyone take a good look, but don't touch anything, and don't touch the charred remains either."

"What do you mean, Zhuzi?"

"Playing tricks, what's there to see?" Xu Damao followed the crowd around the room and said to He Yuzhu with annoyance.

He Yuzhu shook his head. This Xu Damao really did hate him; in his memory, it didn't seem like they had any deep-seated hatred.

"Everyone look, this pile of black charcoal next to the stove, you should be able to tell what it is, right?!" He Yuzhu walked into the room, pointed to the stove, and asked about the large pile of charred black charcoal next to it.

"It's a mattress, isn't it." Liu Yongfu scratched his head.

"Shazhu, if you put a mattress on the stove, of course it's going to catch fire." The Second Elder said with annoyance.

"Did you wet the bed last night and put it on there to dry today?" Xu Damao leaned in and said sarcastically.

"Haha!"

"Go to hell, Xu Damao, if you talk nonsense again, I'll beat you up." After threatening the cowardly Xu Damao with a laugh, He Yuzhu spoke again: "This was arson!"

"Right, I'll contact our Public Security Station immediately." Xiao Zhang squatted down to examine it carefully, then stood up and said to the crowd.

"Ah?! Shazhu, you can't just say things like that. Besides, I just got home and came straight here to put out the fire, you can't frame me." Xu Damao was startled. He was the only one in the whole courtyard who didn't get along with He Yuzhu; they wouldn't suspect him, would they?

"That can't be right, who would dare to commit arson."

"Exactly, Shazhu, did you see wrong?"

Qin Huairu was mixed in the crowd, happily calculating how much she could save on a meal since the whole family would be attending the banquet tonight. When she heard this, her heart skipped a beat, and then she quietly and unobtrusively backed away.

"When I left, the quilt was folded neatly on the bed, and the stove fire had gone out in the second half of the night. You tell me, could this bedding have run to the stove by itself and started a fire? I don't think so, right?" He Yuzhu sneered and explained.

Yushui stomped her feet in anger: "Who is this? So wicked, do they want to get everyone killed?"

"Exactly, their heart is black. Master, if it doesn't work out tonight, come sleep at my place." Ma Hua said with a look of worry.

Xu Damao breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't returned much earlier than He Yuzhu today, and it was already on fire when he arrived. Shazhu couldn't possibly lie through his teeth. Turning around, Xu Damao also angrily denounced the person who started the fire: "We must severely punish this guy. Trying to get everyone killed, send him to jail!"

"Right, must send him to jail. Once a big fire starts, no one's house will be left!" The Second Elder also looked stern.

Soon, the two comrades from the Public Security Station arrived. After asking questions and clarifying the ins and outs of the matter, they began to question everyone who had stayed behind for their alibis one by one.

Before long, the sweating and trembling Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were tricked into revealing themselves by the two.

"Where is your Jia Geng?"

Jia Zhangshi kept her head down, leaning against Qin Huairu, not daring to look at the crowd: "He, he's not here, school hasn't let out yet, Officer."

"That's not right, she's lying. Jia Geng didn't have class this afternoon!" The Liu family's third son suddenly spoke up. Immediately, Jia Zhangshi's body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.