Chapter 244 – It’s All Over
“Fire! The Yan estate is on fire! Quick, put out the fire!”
The cries of alarm and panic grew more intense. There was even the sound of someone striking a gong.
Yan Xiaosi had been sleeping soundly when she was awakened by these noises and sprang up with a start.
Ms. Zhong, her daughters, and Ms. Wang were all roused from sleep.
Throwing on outer clothes, they opened the courtyard gate and saw the sky above the Yan estate suffused with a fiery glow.
Villagers carrying water basins and buckets kept passing by the Tian family’s door, rushing toward the Yan estate.
Ms. Wang grabbed a passing villager and asked, “What’s going on?”
The villager was in a hurry to go fight the fire and replied anxiously, “The Yan family’s estate caught fire. Dazhuang’s mom, are you better? If you’re better, hurry and go help put out the fire, lest the night wind blow and spread the flames to other houses in the village.”
The Yan estate was located downwind. If the night wind blew from downwind to upwind, the households living upwind would be impacted.
Although Ms. Wang felt quite delighted at heart about the Yan estate catching fire, she couldn’t bear to see other villagers affected. Gritting her teeth, she turned and went to the kitchen to get water buckets and basins.
Yan Xiaosi and Ms. Zhong’s family followed into the kitchen. Seeing Ms. Wang pick up a water bucket, Yan Xiaosi reached out and took it from her.
“Auntie Tian, your injuries still haven’t healed. Just stay at home. We’ll go fight the fire.”
“What’s going on? How could the Yan estate suddenly catch fire?”
It seemed the cries of alarm from the Yan estate had reached the Tian family’s cornfield. Tian Dazhuang hurried back. Seeing their front door wide open, he strode in while asking about the situation.
Yan Xiaosi and Ms. Zhong’s family came out of the kitchen carrying wooden basins and water buckets, just in time to see him standing in the yard.
Ms. Wang glanced at her son, feeling extremely delighted in her heart. “The Yan family has done too many evil deeds. This is retribution. It’s not a big deal if the Yan estate burns down. The concern is it might implicate other families.”
Yan Xiaosi had two water buckets in her hands. Seeing Tian Dazhuang approach, she reached out and handed him one.
“Brother Dazhuang, let’s go fight the fire first.”
Tian Dazhuang was obviously startled. “Xiaosi, you’re going to help put out the fire at the Yan estate?”
Yan Xiaosi knew what he was thinking and calmly replied, “I’m not stupidly taking pity on the Yan family. I’m going to fight the fire because I’m afraid the flames will spread and implicate other villagers. There’s another reason. If I don’t go lend a hand in putting out the fire, the Yan family will probably dump the chamber pot of arson on my head.”
Tian Dazhuang thought this made sense. He frowned and gave Ms. Wang a few reminders before heading out with Yan Xiaosi’s family, making straight for the Yan estate.
By the time the five of them arrived at the Yan estate, quite a few villagers were already standing outside.
At this moment, the Yan family’s main house, side rooms, and outer rooms were all enveloped in raging flames and thick smoke. Bright firelight illuminated the sky above the Yan estate.
Waves of heat rolled forth. The smoke stung people’s eyes until they couldn’t open them and made breathing difficult.
Kindhearted villagers carried buckets, held basins, and wielded gourd ladles, continuously dousing the burning Yan estate with water.
Unfortunately, the flames were too fierce. It was like trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a cup of water. They simply couldn’t control the flames.
Fortunately, before the big fire spread, all the people from the Yan family had evacuated from the estate.
At this moment, a group of people stood outside the estate, watching the stately mansion being devoured bit by bit by the raging inferno. Their faces were all pale and they looked miserable.
The flames couldn’t be controlled and burned until daybreak before gradually dying out. The only fortunate thing was the wind last night wasn’t too strong, so the fire didn’t spread to households upwind. Other houses in the village were completely unscathed. However, it was a pity that the stately Yan estate had been reduced to a blackened mess, covered in debris and ruins, in this big fire.
When the fire went out at dawn, Old Master Yan felt a chill in his heart and his vision went black. “It’s over, it’s all over.”
The big fire had destroyed everything. Now the Yan family’s assets only consisted of some farmland and a small amount of silver stored in the bank.
During the fire, Old Madam Yan regained consciousness a few times, but would immediately faint after. Her body finally couldn’t hold out and she fell into a deep coma at dawn.
The other members of the Yan family all had faces covered in soot. Some stood there sobbing, some simply sat on the ground wailing loudly.
Ms. Li sat on the ground wailing for a while. Originally she had cried until she was exhausted, but who knows where she suddenly got the strength. She abruptly crawled up from the ground, walked up to Yan Xiaosi’s family and glared at Yan Xiaosi with vicious eyes.
“It must be you! You must be the one who set the fire out of hatred! You hate the Old Master for kicking your family out the door! You hate Wenfeng for going to seize your family’s three acres of land yesterday morning! You wanted to set a fire to kill all of us in the Yan family! You have such a vicious heart at such a young age!”
The corner of Yan Xiaosi’s mouth curled into a sneer. She coldly laughed at Ms. Li who was like a mad dog.
She knew there would be a scene like this.
Seeing Ms. Li point at Yan Xiaosi’s nose, Tian Dazhuang reached out and swatted her hand away, angrily saying, “Madam Yan, don’t wrongly accuse a good person. Last night when the Yan estate caught fire, Xiaosi’s family was sleeping at my house. They were awakened by the commotion from the Yan estate. Xiaosi put aside past grievances and ran over to help your Yan family put out the fire. She worked hard for most of the night, yet she’s become a villain. What kind of logic is this? Fellow villagers, please say a few words of reason.”
The villagers who rushed over last night to help fight the fire all had good intentions. Seeing Ms. Li slandering Yan Xiaosi, most of the villagers were displeased.
“Madam Yan, we know you dislike Yan Xiaosi, but you can’t slander people like this.”
“That’s right. If you slander people like this, who will dare come help in the future if something happens to the Yan family.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. We haven’t slept most of the night. Let’s go home to eat and sleep.”
Having worked for half the night, the villagers were all quite tired. After speaking a few words in defense of Yan Xiaosi, they left, yawning.
A moment later, in front of the ruins of the Yan estate, only Yan Xiaosi’s family, Tian Dazhuang, and the Yan family remained.
Old Master Yan caught his breath, leaning on his cane, his back hunched as he walked up to Yan Xiaosi.
“Now, are you satisfied?”
This accusing, blaming tone made Ms. Zhong very displeased.
Ms. Zhong shifted her feet, shielding Yan Xiaosi behind her, and opening her mouth in displeasure. “Old Master Yan, what do you mean by that? What does the Yan estate catching fire have to do with Xiaosi?”
Before learning the cause of Yan Bowen’s death, out of consideration for Yan Bowen, she had still respectfully called Old Master Yan “Father”. But now she directly addressed him as Old Master Yan, and her tone was no longer as meek and submissive as before.
Her transformation stunned all the members of the Yan family.
Old Master Yan looked at this daughter-in-law before him in disbelief. After a while, he reacted.
“You dare speak to me like this?!”
Yan Xiaosi circled around to the front of Ms. Zhong, blocking Old Master Yan’s erupting anger.
“Why wouldn’t my mother dare speak to you like this? Old Master Yan, don’t forget, my mother has already been kicked out the door by you. She’s no longer a daughter-in-law of the Yan family. As an outsider, she has no obligation to be respectful to you.”
“You…”
