Chapter 20

Zhang Hongying kept thinking about how to investigate the matter, how to solve it. Watching too much television had inevitably made her overthink things.

What she didn’t expect was that the market management would take the simplest and most heavy-handed approach.

It turned out the person in charge was the market management office director, surnamed Li, named Li Liang. When Shen Jianzhen came to report the situation, Li Liang was still skeptical.

But better safe than sorry… When Li Liang went to check, he saw the iron plugged in and already glowing red. If no one had discovered it, by midnight there would definitely have been a fire.

Once appliances like that catch fire, they’re hard to put out. Especially at night—it’s even harder to notice.

Li Liang quickly unplugged it, and the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. That night, he didn’t even go home. He called the local patrol team, and a group of them stayed in the office all night.

At dawn the next day, they were already guarding the entrance.

The person who attempted to start the fire was a vendor named Xu Hongmei—a mother of a ten-year-old child. The attempted arson was really a moment of reckless anger. If the fire had actually happened, she might have felt a twisted sense of satisfaction.

There wasn’t much nightlife at the time; people went to bed early. But there were workers on the night shift—from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Luckily, the night had passed peacefully, and the small goods market didn’t burn. Xu Hongmei started to feel anxious, wondering what had gone wrong.

How could the entire night pass without incident? It couldn’t be that no one discovered it, could it?

So, at the crack of dawn, when it was still too dim to clearly see people from a distance, Xu Hongmei showed up at the market.

Li Liang saw someone sneaking around and immediately rushed over and grabbed her: “You set the fire and still dare to come back!”

Xu Hongmei was scared out of her wits: “I didn’t mean to!” — That’s how dumb she was. She gave herself away instantly.

As long as she admitted she set the fire, whether it was intentional or not didn’t really matter.

Li Liang didn’t intend to punish her too harshly—it was, after all, an attempt that failed. People didn’t have a strong legal consciousness back then.

He and the patrol team had people who knew Xu Hongmei and where she lived.

A group of them dragged Xu Hongmei back to her home. She cried and wailed the whole way, making her own scandal public. Everyone along the route came to know what foolish thing she had done: because she was jealous of someone else’s good business, she wanted to set the whole market on fire!

People were furious. When others have conflicts, the worst they do is argue. After a while, it blows over. Who sets a fire just out of jealousy?

Who would dare deal with someone like that in the future? What if you argue with her and she burns your house down?

When Xu Hongmei was dragged home, her husband had just returned from the fields.

The rice seedlings had taken root, but weeds had started growing again. He had gone to weed their contracted farmland, trampling the weeds into the mud to let them rot as fertilizer.

His pant legs were rolled up high, his calves still smeared with mud, and he carried a hoe over his shoulder.

Seeing Xu Hongmei surrounded by people, the honest man asked, “What’s going on?”

Li Liang explained the situation in just a few sentences.

The man looked at Li Liang, then at Xu Hongmei, seemingly unable to believe she would do such a thing.

Xu Hongmei looked at him tearfully: “Hey, say something! I didn’t mean it.”

He said nothing, just carried the hoe into the house and hung it on the wall. Then he asked Li Liang, “So… does she have to pay a fine or compensation?”

Li Liang looked around at their home—just an ordinary house. A newly built brick home, but probably due to lack of money, the walls weren’t even plastered. The red bricks were exposed.

Just then, a skinny little boy ran out and shouted, “Don’t bully my mama!”

“Who’s bullying your mama? Nobody! She nearly burned down the entire market by herself. If someone had bullied her, would she have set fire to the whole town?” Li Liang snapped.

The boy didn’t understand what he meant, he just hugged Li Liang’s arm and kept shouting, “Don’t bully my mama! Don’t bully my mama!” Clearly identifying Li Liang as the leader.

Li Liang turned to Xu Hongmei and said, “You’ve got such a thoughtful and sweet child. Do you realize what would’ve happened if that fire had gone through?

You’d go to jail. Your husband would have to pay compensation. Your son would become the child of a criminal. People would look down on him, avoid him!

You’re in business to make money, right? How can you do something like this?

‘Harmony brings wealth’—you must’ve heard that saying. When people get along, money follows. But when you’re full of jealousy and vengeance, even the God of Wealth would be scared off!”

Xu Hongmei was now truly frightened and didn’t dare say a word.

In a past life, there had been no Zhang Hongying and no Shen Jianzhen to prevent the disaster, and that fire did indeed happen. Even decades later, when people introduced her, they would add, “She’s the one who burned down the small goods market.”

Her son didn’t do well in school. He couldn’t join the army. He could only get low-end jobs. No one dared put him in important roles—just hard labor.

When people asked why, they’d say: “I’m afraid he’s like that. Xu Hongmei raised him. What if he does something stupid like set a fire? That’d be a disaster.”

Her whole family lived in shame for decades.

Getting out of prison was easy. Getting accepted by others wasn’t. And to pay compensation, the family spent many years repaying the debt.

The next morning, Zhang Hongying saw a notice posted on the market gate and felt relieved.

The notice was written politely: A certain vendor forgot to unplug an electric iron when leaving, nearly causing a fire. Fortunately, the market management discovered it in time, preventing major losses.

The stall was reclaimed by the market, the vendor given a warning, and their 500-yuan deposit confiscated as punishment.

Li Liang quietly gave that 500 yuan to Zhang Hongying—but made no public announcement.

It wasn’t just Zhang Hongying who feared retaliation from the petty Xu Hongmei—Li Liang did too.

If that 500 yuan caused her to come seeking revenge, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Li Liang said the money was a secret reward. Only then did Zhang Hongying accept it.

She wanted to split it with Shen Jianzhen, and Shen Jianzhen—who didn’t know how to be polite—happily bounced around when she got the money.

After bouncing for a bit, she stared at Zhang Hongying: “You really giving this to me?”

Zhang Hongying nodded: “Yes, I’m really giving it to you.”

“Two hundred and fifty yuan?! You’re just giving it to me?” Shen Jianzhen giggled. “That’s enough for my whole semester’s living expenses!”

“Yes, yes, two hundred and fifty,” Zhang Hongying replied, half-annoyed.

Too bad Shen Jianzhen didn’t even realize “two-fifty” was slang for “idiot.” She bashfully said, “But I didn’t even do much. You were the one who found the iron—I only went to tell management. And you’re still giving me half?”

Zhang Hongying got annoyed: “If you keep fussing, then forget it. Give it back!”

Shen Jianzhen immediately stuffed the money in her pocket: “No, no, I’ll take it!

With this 250 yuan, if I’m careful, it might last me the whole school year.

But Hongying, you’re really too good to me—thank you!”

Zhang Hongying warned her: “You’ve got to keep this a secret, understand?”

Shen Jianzhen nodded hard: “I know, I know! Don’t let your parents or mine know.”

“Exactly,” Zhang Hongying stressed again. “If we keep it secret, we can use the money ourselves. If they find out, they’ll definitely take it away.”

Shen Jianzhen nodded: “I know. I’ve always known.

When I was a kid and fought with my younger brother, he told me to get lost. I said it was my home too. He said no—it was his home.

Even the chairs in the house were his.

I cried and asked my dad if it was true. He said, girls are born to be married off. That’s just the way it is—we’re not boys.

So, I’ve always known I had to fight for things for myself.”

Zhang Hongying patted Shen Jianzhen’s head.

Turns out the seemingly carefree, indifferent Shen Jianzhen understood everything too.