Chapter 266: A Fire Breaks Out

The captain, Gao Xiefang, returned from the fields and was immediately invited by the Luo family brothers. They formally explained Zhao Jianing’s situation, stating that the Luo family had returned her intact and would have no further involvement.

The Luo brothers, having delivered Zhao Jianing, handed her household registration and school records to her in front of the captain, saying, “Make sure to handle things well in the future.”

Afterward, they turned and left Zhao’s house, accompanying the captain to the brigade headquarters.

The Zhao family looked at the pile of goods that had been unloaded with various thoughts. Zhao Pulin said, “It’s good that you’re back. Let’s go inside.”

Zhao Jianing, with a cold expression, followed into the courtyard, where Zhao’s several sisters helped move things into the yard.

Zhao Jianing said to them, “Be careful with those things. If you break anything, you’ll have to pay for it.”

Zhao Xiaoxing, who was straightforward, replied, “If you’re worried about us breaking things, then move them yourself. We don’t owe you anything.”

After saying this, she and the other sisters went back into the house, leaving Zhao Jianing’s belongings lying outside the gate. Feeling wronged, Zhao Jianing’s eyes reddened.

Zhao Pulin, seeing no other option, said, “You go inside first. I’ll help you move things.”

The items were moved inside, but the Zhao family only had three rooms suitable for living. They had one room for themselves, one that used to belong to their son, and one for the daughters. Since their son had been taken away, the daughters had moved into his room.

So now there was no extra room for Zhao Jianing to live alone. Zhao Pulin had to say, “There’s no separate room available for you. You’ll have to share a room with Xiaoyun. Although her room is a bit small, she’s the only one staying there now.”

The room that used to house Zhao Xiaotao and Zhao Xiaomei now only had Zhao Xiaoyun, as Zhao Xiaotao was married and Zhao Xiaomei had moved back to Cui’s family village after the incident.

Zhao Jianing was very dissatisfied with the house but said nothing for the sake of future living arrangements. After moving in, the room was completely full with no space left.

When it was time to end work, the villagers gathered outside the Zhao family’s courtyard, eager to see what Zhao Jianing, the sixth daughter from the city, looked like. They had heard that she had brought a donkey cart full of goods.

Some people joked that Zhao Pulin had struck it rich and praised Luo Qiao’s biological parents for their benevolence, saying that the adults’ issues hadn’t affected the children, and that the couple was truly magnanimous.

Zhao Jianing, who was left alone in the house, was very upset and continued to throw things around. Her actions caused her sisters to dislike her intensely.

If it weren’t for her, the family wouldn’t be in their current predicament, and her mother wouldn’t have ended up in prison. The resentment from her sisters kept growing.

Throughout the noon and afternoon, the house was never quiet, as groups of women came in to see Zhao Jianing. At first, Zhao Jianing put on a facade, but eventually, she gave up pretending and ignored them with a cold expression.

Everyone envied the pile of goods in the house, but they had a poor opinion of Zhao Jianing, the newly returned sixth daughter, who they felt was far inferior to Luo Qiao. They believed in the saying that ^[1]“dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes” (龙生龙, 凤生凤) means that children inherit the qualities or characteristics of their parents. It suggests that if the … Continue reading”dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes.”

Despite the wealth, Zhao Jianing’s inherent stinginess was evident, and she was considered unrefined.

By the end of the afternoon, the whole village knew that the Zhao family’s daughter from the city was rude and looked down on the villagers.

Luo Qiao’s foster parents had brought back many good things, and it was said that Zhao Jianing had also brought back a lot of money, which benefited Zhao Pulin.

After a whole afternoon of brewing discontent, Zhao Jianing’s sisters gathered in her small room after dinner. Initially, they subtly asked if she had brought any gifts, but it soon escalated to them fighting over the items. Zhao Jianing couldn’t possibly stop them on her own.

Zhao Pulin, having gone to his elder brother Zhao Changlin’s house after dinner, didn’t expect someone to come running to tell him that the house was on fire and he needed to return quickly.

It turned out that while Zhao Jianing’s sisters were fighting over the items, the small room became overcrowded and a kerosene lamp on the table was knocked over. The lamp fell onto the packages, which contained bedding and clothes, and the lamp had just been refilled with oil.

The fire quickly spread, and by the time the villagers arrived to put it out, there was very little that could be salvaged. The items that were saved were ruined, but the villagers managed to prevent the fire from spreading to other rooms.

When Zhao Pulin returned, he saw a crowd in the courtyard and found that the room where his youngest daughter had stayed was charred black. His daughters, messy and standing foolishly, were in tears, with the sixth daughter, who had just returned from the city, crying uncontrollably.

Seeing Zhao Pulin return, Zhao Jianing stood up and shouted, “Are you satisfied now? You’re a bunch of robbers, shameless people who’ve never seen anything.

You didn’t just take it, you went so far as to fight over it. Well, now you don’t need to fight anymore, the fire has cleaned it up.”

She cried again after finishing her outburst.

The villagers pointed fingers at the Zhao family’s daughters, who hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. Each of them lowered their heads in silence.