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“Xie Dazhu, you bastard, how come the fire didn’t burn you all to death,” Chai Shi said, glaring at Xie Dazhu and his family with a fierce expression.
She thought it would have been so much better if she could have taken all that grain to her family. Unfortunately, Xie Dazhu had secretly hidden it and hadn’t told her anything about it. She had wondered why he had only made so little money from selling the grain. Now she knew why.
Upon hearing Chai Shi’s words, Xie Dazhu walked over, grabbed her clothes, and slapped her twice. “You wait to rot in jail.”
“I won’t let you off,” unless he was a fool who would do such a thing out of love.
Chai Shi sneered, “You have no grounds to make me go to jail for anything. Do you think the jail belongs to your family?”
Xie Kang rolled his eyes and said irritably, “Chai Shi, what you did is already a crime. You burned down all of their belongings. Not only will you go to jail, but your parents will also have to compensate for the losses to Xie Dazhu. Given the state of your family, do you think they will forgive you?”
Chai Shi’s expression changed instantly. She looked at Xie Dazhu and said, “Are you going to treat me like this too?”
“Do you expect us to be grateful when you want us dead?” Xie Dazhu’s eyes showed no warmth as he spoke to Chai Shi.
“I gave birth to three children for you, and yet…”
“We only have a father, not a mother.”
Xie Dazhu’s two sons looked at Chai Shi with resentment.
Just earlier that day, their father had said that if they made money from selling vegetables this year, he would send them to school. But that night, Chai Shi had burned down all their belongings.
He had just heard Xie Kang say that she had poured tung oil on the house, intending to burn them alive inside.
“You wanted us dead, and now you want to use us to threaten my father? I’m telling you, forget about it,” Xie Chunni said resentfully.
“You three ungrateful brats, why didn’t you die in there back then?”
Chai Shi’s gaze frightened Xie Chunni, causing her to step back. Xie Dazhu stepped in front of Xie Chunni and took two steps forward, kicking Chai Shi in the chest in anger.
Xie Kui patted Xie Dazhu’s shoulder. “Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Xiao He and help your family buy more seeds. If you need anything, just ask us.”
“Thank you, Village Chief. Kang has already lent us the old house to live in and also lent me ten taels of silver, which will be enough for us until the New Year. It will be fine by then,” Xie Dazhu said, trying to force a smile.
He felt immensely grateful to everyone who had come to help today.
He thanked the villagers while holding his three children.
“Thank you all for today. When my house is rebuilt, I’ll invite everyone over for a meal.”
“Sure, go and put the children to bed. It’s already late at night.”
“Yes, in the future, life will get better as we work with Xiao He to grow vegetables and melons.”
They all knew Xie Dazhu’s character, and now that Chai Shi wouldn’t be living with them, they were willing to be around him.
Xie Dazhu nodded and went back with his three children, accompanied by Xie Kang.
When they arrived, the bed was already made, and as Xie Dazhu looked at the blankets, the big man couldn’t help but cry.
Seeing him like this, Xie Kang angrily said, “Why are you crying? A man shouldn’t cry over such matters. Once the money comes back this year, consider it the price to pay for cutting ties with Chai Shi.”
“You still have three children to take care of. You need to pull yourself together,” Xie Kang said to Xie Dazhu.
Xie Dazhu wiped his face. Xie Kang was right. He still had three children to take care of, and he couldn’t afford to be despondent.
“Kang, I understand. I will work hard,” Xie Dazhu said.
“Go to sleep. We have to go to the yamen tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
After Xie Kang left, Xie Chunni couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “Dad, why did she treat us like that?”
“We don’t need to think about her anymore. From now on, the four of us will live our lives. We need to earn money and repay Uncle Kang’s money. You need to remember that everyone who helped us today, and in the future, we should also help them when they need it, okay?”
“Dad, we understand.”
“Go to sleep.”
The next morning, when Xie Kui went to find Wang Jinhe, she learned about the fire that had occurred in the village the day before.
“What is Chai Shi up to?” Wang Jinhe frowned. She had gone too far. She had even wanted to burn her own husband and children.
“Who knows what she’s thinking? Xiao He, do you still need help over there? After Dazhu finishes planting the vegetables, can you give him something to do? Can you also sell him some more seeds?” Xie Kui asked.
“Of course, you can let him finish his work and then come to me. As for the seeds, I can give them to him on credit, and he can pay me back when he sells the vegetables and gets the money,” Wang Jinhe said. She wasn’t concerned about the money. She just wanted the villagers to understand that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and she didn’t want to spoil them.
For them to pay for the seeds was only fair.
“Okay, I’ll thank you on behalf of Dazhu,”
Qiu Yi quickly handed a packet of seeds to Xie Dazhu. After Xie Dazhu left, Qiu Yi frowned and said “Miss, this woman is too ruthless.”
“Dazhu only sent her back to her family to reflect on her mistakes. He didn’t even mention divorcing her, and yet she did something so insane,” Wang Jinhe said.
“And there’s something even more insane. She was afraid that the fire wouldn’t kill Xie Dazhu and his son, so she poured tung oil on the house. If they had found out earlier, the house wouldn’t have been completely burned down. But Xie Dazhu is a smart man. He knew what kind of person Chai Shi was, so he secretly dug a cellar and hid a lot of grain. Otherwise, he might have been even more devastated. The grain and the children are probably his only comfort,” Wang Jinhe said.
“If something happened to the children, he might have lost the will to live,” Qiu Yi said, covering her mouth in disbelief as she looked at Wang Jinhe.
“I don’t know, but she will face a lifetime of imprisonment,” Wang Jinhe said.
Chai Shi’s family, upon hearing that she had burned down Xie Dazhu’s house, immediately wanted to sever ties with her. However, it was too late. The county magistrate ordered them to compensate Xie Dazhu for his losses. With the county magistrate overseeing, even if Chai Shi’s family was unwilling, they still had to compensate Xie Dazhu with ten taels of silver.
In the end, they severed all ties with Chai Shi.
Chai Shi collapsed to the ground upon hearing that she would be imprisoned for life.
She turned to Xie Dazhu, crawling over to him. “Dazhu, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this time. Please tell the authorities to let me go. I promise to take good care of the children from now on.”
Xie Dazhu kicked Chai Shi away. “No need.”
“Dazhu…”
“I and the children will never forgive you. Rot in jail,” Xie Dazhu said, leaving with his three children. They still needed to buy some daily necessities and couldn’t rely entirely on Xie Kang’s family.
“Xie Kang, you ungrateful wretch. I gave birth to three children for you, and yet you treat me like this. You deserve to die a horrible death,” Chai Shi said.
Upon hearing Chai Shi’s words, Xie Dazhu turned to look at her. “You haven’t been struck by lightning, so how could I deserve to be struck by it?”