klisemfg Chapter 101 Fire
Chapter 101 Fire
Lin Ziping figured he wouldn't be visiting Xinping Village for just a day or two, and it was impossible to rely on his own two legs for such a long time, so he arrived at the horse market early in the morning to choose a means of transportation.
In the horse market, there were vendors selling horses, cattle, and mules... After some selection, Lin Ziping finally chose a donkey. After some haggling, he spent twelve taels of silver. This trip to Xinping Village was considered an overseas business trip, but who knew that not only would there be no allowance, but he would also have to pay out of his own pocket? He couldn't help but sigh: the county government might be the biggest capitalist system of this era.
Although the donkey he bought looked rather dull, Lin Ziping recalled the famous scene of Wei Wuxian riding a donkey, and felt relieved. He gave the donkey a catchy name—Wuling Hongguang!
Lin Ziping loaded the bundle he had packed the night before onto the Wuling Hongguang van, bought some food and incense and candles, then took a detour to Dai Qin's grave to pay his respects before setting off for Pingding Village.
"Village head, village head..." Lin Ziping stood in front of the village head's house, knocking lightly on the door, but no one answered.
Is the village head not home?
"Young man." Just as he was about to leave, the old woman next door opened her door and called out to him.
Lin Ziping turned around and saw an old woman. He clasped his hands in a respectful greeting and asked, "Grandma, isn't the village head here?"
Lin Ziping was dressed casually, a stark contrast to his usual work attire, and the old woman didn't seem to recognize him.
After looking Lin Ziping up and down a few times, the old woman asked, "Who are you, and what business do you have with the village head?"
Lin Ziping answered evasively, "Old man, my name is Lin Ziping. The village head asked me to come see him today, but he's not here."
The old woman looked at Lin Ziping and said, "He might be at Hu Xinhua's house. Go and check there."
Hu Xinhua's house?! Lin Ziping's heart tightened. Had the secret room been discovered?
"Isn't Hu Xinhua's family the one that was all the rage a while ago? What happened to his family?" Lin Ziping asked, puzzled.
The old woman looked around and said with a cryptic expression, "His family was cursed by heaven. Their house burned down overnight, and it even affected Zhang Ershun's family next door."
"Mother, what are you doing?" A young man's voice came from the old woman's house.
The old woman slammed the door shut, ending her conversation with Lin Ziping.
Lin Ziping breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, the secret room hadn't been discovered. But a question arose in his mind: how could Dai Qin's house have been burned down?
Without further ado, Lin Ziping decided to go to Dai Qin's house to see for himself.
Before even getting close, one could see a charred area in the distance, with the original houses reduced to ruins.
Lin Ziping was shocked by the intensity of the fire. He thought to himself, "This house is made of mud walls. Although there is some straw inside, it shouldn't have burned like this."
"Young Master." The village head turned around and saw Lin Ziping leading a donkey approaching, and quickly greeted him.
Lin Ziping clasped his hands in greeting and asked, "Village head, what's going on?"
“Alas, after you left that day, this house suddenly caught fire that very night, and Zhang Ershun’s house was burned down as well. Fortunately, Xiaohu wasn’t home. Ershun and his wife were too scared to stay here, so they stayed at my house. Otherwise… I’m afraid they would have suffered the same fate as this house.” The village head looked worried.
Lin Ziping asked in confusion, "Logically speaking, didn't the village notice the fire when it first started? How could it have burned like this?"
"To tell you the truth, young sir, the fire started right away, billowing black smoke, and it was completely impossible to put out. Ershun tried to put it out with water, but not only did it not go out, it grew bigger and bigger." The village head looked around and leaned close to Lin Ziping and whispered, "Now everyone is saying that this is divine retribution brought about by Hu Xinhua's wife's murder."
The house burned like this overnight, it couldn't have been a simple fire, there might have been accelerants added.
The first thing that came to Lin Ziping's mind when he thought of something that could burn to this extent was gasoline, but gasoline probably hadn't been refined yet at this time.
"Young sir, I was planning to come and talk to you about this in a couple of days. Look at how badly this place has been burned, you..." The village head's hesitant voice interrupted Lin Ziping's thoughts.
Lin Ziping didn't answer. He found a wooden stake and tied the Wuling Hongguang to it. The ground was pitch black, a stark contrast to the surroundings. He observed it carefully, as if something flashed through his mind.
The village headman saw Lin Ziping staring at the ground without speaking, and said to himself, "When it started burning, no one dared to go in. After the fire went out, Ershun went in and there was nothing there. I don't know what this black thing is. I heard Ershun's wife say that it stuck to Ershun's clothes and shoes and couldn't be washed off."
Sticky? Lin Ziping squatted down, picked up the black mud from the ground, rubbed it and found that it was indeed sticky. He brought it close to his nose and sniffed it, and it had a strange smell.
This is oil!
I remember being kidnapped and only survived thanks to oil. Later, because the conditions of this era were not suitable for oil refining, I forgot about it. I never expected to see it here again after so many years.
Lin Ziping looked at the village head and asked, "Village head, is there anything black around here that looks like oil?"
The village head thought for a moment and then shook his head.
It seems that the fire at Dai Qin's house was not accidental, but deliberate!
Lin Ziping was filled with doubt. Why would someone make such a big fuss about burning down Dai Qin's house? Was it related to what he had taken out of the secret room?
Thinking of this, I dared not use gold in the first place, and now I dare not use it even more!
"Village head, now that the house is gone, do we still need to go to the county government to transfer the ownership and complete the formalities?"
"Does the young official want a house?" The village head asked, his eyes widening as he looked at Lin Ziping.
"I..." Lin Ziping suddenly realized that he was still a wage slave with a salary of only one or two taels of silver. He could use the money from his family to buy a "Wuling Hongguang" car, but it would be a bit suspicious to take out money to buy a house. Thinking of this, he hurriedly changed his words and said in a low voice: "I used the money I brought from home to buy that donkey. I don't have that much money now."
The village head looked at the "Wuling Hongguang" in the direction Lin Ziping pointed, a hint of disappointment flashing across his face, and then said, "In that case, I will report it to the county government. Let's leave the house fire as it is for now."
Lin Ziping nodded: "Village head, when I go back to the city, I'll ask around and see if anyone would like to come to Pingding Village."
Thinking that he still had to go to Xinping Village, Lin Ziping bid farewell to the village head and walked toward Xinping Village with a heavy heart.