CH 139

Some of the families living near the main road were woken up, but it took about fifteen minutes before people came over.

The people who came to put out the fire gathered outside Mo Yan’s storefront, complaining, “If this shack wasn’t in the way, we would have arrived by now, but it’s blocking the road, and we’ll have to make such a big detour.”

Despite the complaints, they went to put out the fire, but when they entered the yard, the house was already burning and the roof had collapsed. Thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, they managed not to keep the roof beams intact.

After the fire was extinguished, Liu Fengchun ran in painting. As soon as he came in, he first asked how Ms. Hua and Zhao’er were, and when Mo Yan said they weren’t at home today, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “It’s really fortunate they’re fine.”

Then, he complained, “I didn’t want her to build the storefront, but she insisted. If it wasn’t in the way, the house wouldn’t have burned down. Demolish the storefront!”

Amongst the firefighters were the governing official’s people. When he spoke, they agreed immediately, “That’s right, it has to be demolished!”

A few people left the courtyard and came to the back wall of the storefront. They easily smashed a big hole in the wall, and with another swing, the wall fell down.

Liu Fengchun watched and said, “Look, this wall is so thin a strong wind could knock it over! What happens if the house falls down and hurts people?”

He turned to Mo Yan and pretended to think of something, “Oh, Miss Mo, you are here too. I had forgotten you had rented this storefront in a bout of rashness. Was there anything you needed in the storefront? I’ll ask someone to take it out.”

She shook her head slightly, “I wasn’t intending on renting this place any longer.”

Liu Fengchun immediately smiled, “That’s right! You already rented the Shunlai Restaurant. It’s a great property, so why bother renting such a small storefront?”

The small storefront quickly turned into ruins. After that, the firefighters went home.

Looking at the mess in the yard, Lu Junming said, “They seemed to have known that godmother and Zhao’er weren’t here.”

“How do you know?”

“When I entered the yard, the door was open. Someone must’ve gone in to check, and made sure that no one was there when they started the fire.”

It seems like they only wanted this courtyard, and didn’t want to get involved with murder.

Early the next morning, the governing official’s sent craftsmen to demolish Mr. Cao’s clinic. Liu Fengchun said that since the courtyard behind it was on fire, the building might’ve been weakened so it had to be demolished and rebuilt.

It was the house that was on fire, not the courtyard. The clinic had basically been unaffected by the fire. However, the nearby pottery store was practically touching Ms. Hua’s house. After the fire, it should’ve been demolished, but the governing official didn’t even touch it.

They just wanted to use the fire to demolish the hospital.

Early in the morning, Ms. Hua came back from Chenzhong Village. Zhao’er did not come back with her, and stayed at Mr. Cao’s house.

As soon as she got off the main road, she saw someone working on the clinic’s roof. When she got closer, her storefront was in ruins, and her courtyard was a mess.

“What happened?” Ms. Hua asked in surprise.

Shopkeeper He from the nearby rations store came out and said, “Where have you been? Your house caught fire last night. The governing official said that it was because your storefront blocked the road, so we couldn’t put out the fire in time. Your house was burnt.”

“There was no one in my house, and the stove was off. How could there be a fire for no reason? Someone must have set it on fire!”

Shopkeeper He shook his head and said, “Your family is so poor, who would do that against you? Arson is a serious crime!”

Although Ms. Hua wasn’t very smart, she also felt that Liu Fengchun’s demolition of her shop was an excuse. No matter what, she had to get to the bottom of things.

She hurried to his office, where Liu Fengchun was, “Why did you tear it down?”

Liu Fengchun first pretended to comfort her, “Zhao’er’s mother, it doesn’t matter if your house is gone. I’ll ask everyone to help you rebuild it.”

Ms. Hua slapped the table and shouted angrily, “I’m talking about my storefront!”

Liu Fengchun stopped smiling “If it wasn’t for that dilapidated storefront blocking the road, why would your house have burnt down!”

“I don’t care, give me my shop back!”

Liu Fengchun sighed and said to Ms. Hua, “Sit down and listen to me slowly. Your courtyard is next to the main road. It’s a good location and much more valuable than that storefront.”

As soon as she heard that he had plans for her courtyard, Ms. Hua immediately refused, “Don’t try to make plans for my courtyard, I won’t sell it.”

Liu Fengchun continued cordially, “I’ll give you more than the market price. You can buy a new courtyard to live in, or I can buy it for you.”

“No, there’s absolutely no way.”

“Then I can build you a courtyard next to it, or a room within the property. Your choice.”

Ms. Hua suddenly remembered what Mo Yan said, “The courtyard is no longer mine anyways. I’ve already sold it to someone else.”

Liu Fengchun immediately stood up angrily and asked, “Who did you sell to?”

“Miss Mo Yan, who rented my storefront.”

“How could you have sold it to her? She’s from another village. Our ancestors have lived here for generations.”

“I had no choice. She’s no longer renting my storefront, and I don’t trust others. Zhao’er and I have to live! She promised to let me work in her workshop, so I can stay there in the future.”

“How much did you sell it for?”

“Fifty taels.”

“I’ll give you sixty taels, sell the yard to me.”

Ms. Hua gave him an embarrassed look, “But I have already given her the deed.”

Liu Fengchun’s face was livid, and he gritted his teeth and said, “So that was why she was there when the courtyard was on fire last night. It turned out that it was hers!”

Ms. Hua left and went to the workshop alone. She wanted to find out what happened last night, and also warn Mo Yan.

Liu Fengchun paced back and forth in his office. He has been thinking about the courtyard he wanted to buy, but now Mo Yan took it first. He wanted to go to her, but his reputation would be ruined if he begged a young girl.

If the courtyard couldn’t be bought, at least the space in front could be rented out to make money. Now it had been demolished, and the courtyard was sold. The losses were heavy.

There was no movement in Ms. Hua’s courtyard for a few days, and it was still a pile of ruins. Liu Fengchun was anxious when he saw it.

He had heard rumours recently. People in the town have been spreading rumours that Zhao’er’s father had appeared on the night the house caught fire. That night, someone saw lights flickering on the grave, which had gone to Ms. Hua’s house.

Liu Fengchun’s eyes lit up when he heard the rumour. Why not use it to frighten Mo Yan and make her relinquish the courtyard?

So Liu Fengchun added one last thing: Zhao’er’s father wouldn’t let them sell the courtyard, but Ms. Hua disobeyed him. That’s why he appeared and burned the house. Otherwise, how could the house catch on fire?

The rumour quickly spread to the surrounding villages by people who came to the market. Everyone knew that Ms. Hua’s courtyard could not be bought.

Post-translation notes: Sorry for the delayed post, I was recuperating after a tiring 3-day walk. Post schedule should be back to normal soon, although it’s not like I actually have one.