Chapter 5: Fire!

Even though Wu Dazhuang was still somewhat skeptical, at this point, he had no choice but to trust Jing Xi.

After finalizing their plan and splitting up, Wu Dazhuang watched Jing Xi walk ahead of him, still feeling like she had undergone a complete transformation.

He just couldn’t figure it out.

She used to be a quiet, obedient worker who wouldn’t even complain. Now, she was plotting to steal someone else’s money—

And she was doing it with him, of all people.

Dear heavens, what on earth was happening? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

Every time he met Jing Xi’s gaze, she seemed like a completely different person—there was no fear in her eyes, only a hint of coldness.

“Uh, I mean…”

Jing Xi turned around and frowned. Why was Wu Dazhuang so slow-witted? “What? Do you have another question?”

Wu Dazhuang scratched his head. “I’m just curious—why have you changed so much? You’re nothing like before. Did what happened that day mess with your head or something?”

Jing Xi stopped and looked at Wu Dazhuang with a half-smile.

She thought to herself, I still have a score to settle with you.

Just wait and see.

“Yeah, I was traumatized,” she said casually. “So I decided I don’t want to be a good person anymore. How about I stick with you from now on?”

Wu Dazhuang was even more confused after hearing that.

This girl really had been shaken up.

But for some reason, her words made him uneasy.

A faint sense of fear crept into his heart.

Yet, the person standing in front of him was just a thin, frail girl.

Jing Xi saw that he wasn’t responding and turned to leave.

Not long after, Wu Dazhuang realized he had lost sight of her.

That evening, just as the Zhang family finished dinner, Wu Dazhuang arrived.

Zhang Jianjun, seeing that it was him, hurriedly got up to open the door.

“Wait, Jianjun,” Wang Xiuhua stopped him.

She glanced back at Zhang Qiang, who was sitting and smoking. “Do you think he’s here to borrow money again? If he only wants thirty or fifty yuan, that’s one thing. But if he asks for five hundred again—even if we have it, who dares lend it to him? I heard from people on the east side of the village that he’s been going door to door asking for money, and when no one lent him any, he tried stealing from them at night!”

Zhang Qiang took a drag from his cigarette and said, “We’re not even lending him thirty or fifty yuan. That kid’s been bad since he was young—who knows what he wants the money for? If he gets involved in something illegal, it could drag us down too, and we’ll never see that money again.”

Zhang Jianjun stood quietly on the side, saying nothing. He knew exactly why Wu Dazhuang was borrowing money.

But he couldn’t tell his parents. His mother, with her big mouth, would spread the news to the entire village in no time.

And then…

“Mom, Dad, I still have to open the door, right? He’s been knocking for a while now.”

Zhang Qiang sighed. “Go ahead. See what he wants at this hour.”

Zhang Jianjun quickly ran to open the door.

The moment he stepped outside, he noticed smoke rising from the west and caught a faint, acrid smell in the air.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Wu Dazhuang looking anxious.

“Jianjun! Hurry up and check! I think your corn storage is on fire! I was having dinner at my uncle’s place when I smelled smoke, so I came to tell you right away! My uncle already went to check—hurry!”

Zhang Jianjun gasped and immediately rushed back inside to inform Zhang Qiang and Wang Xiuhua.

Within ten seconds, the entire family bolted out of the house, running toward the storage.

Wu Dazhuang followed closely behind, talking to Zhang Qiang and Wang Xiuhua about the situation while secretly scanning the area for Jing Xi.

But he saw nothing.

When they reached the storage, they found that the entrance was indeed on fire, but fortunately, the flames hadn’t spread inside.

It was only the pile of corn stalks stacked at the entrance that had caught fire.

The flames roared fiercely, and thick black smoke billowed into the night, illuminating the surrounding ground with a bright, eerie glow.

Wu Dazhuang’s uncle speculated that someone had probably tossed a cigarette butt near the stalks, accidentally setting them ablaze.

Zhang Qiang and Wang Xiuhua, still uneasy, opened the storage to inspect the interior.

After a thorough check, they confirmed that nothing inside had been burned and finally relaxed.

The corn stalks were only used as kindling for cooking, but now the large pile was almost completely gone. Meanwhile, many villagers, having smelled the smoke, had gathered around to see what was happening. Within minutes, a crowd had formed outside the small storage building.

Wu Dazhuang glanced in the direction of the Zhang family’s house.

My part is done. The rest is up to you now.

Jing Xi had been waiting outside the Zhang house all along—hiding in her space.

She only stepped out leisurely after confirming that the entire Zhang family had left.

They had rushed out in such a hurry that they hadn’t even locked the door, saving her the trouble of climbing over the wall.

She entered the house and went straight to Wang Xiuhua and Zhang Qiang’s room.

Seeing the large heated brick bed (kang), she was instantly reminded of how the original owner of this body had been assaulted there.

The thought filled her with anger.

She made a mental note to avenge the original owner.

The red cabinet on the kang was unlocked. She climbed onto the bed and opened the cabinet door—inside, it was filled with clothes.

After rummaging through them for a bit, she found a round tin candy box buried at the bottom.

Next to it was a small locked box. She had never seen that one before, but this time, she wasn’t planning to open it.

She smirked and picked up the round candy box.

“You’re the one.”

Opening the box, she found it stuffed full of money.

She took out all the cash, leaving behind about twenty or thirty ten-yuan bills.

After stuffing the rest of the money into her pocket, she placed the pre-cut paper she had prepared earlier at the bottom of the box, then put the remaining money back on top before returning the box to its original position.

She arranged the clothes neatly, tidied up the cabinet door, wiped away her footprints on the heated brick bed (kang), and then left the room.

Casually, she walked straight out through the main door.

No one saw her.

She didn’t go home immediately but instead went to watch the commotion.

By the time she arrived at the scene, the fire was almost out.

From a distance, she spotted Wu Dazhuang looking at her, his face full of questions, as if he were silently asking whether she had succeeded.

When Wu Dazhuang saw her appear but not even glance at him, he assumed she had gotten what she wanted, and half of his worries were put to rest.

Jing Xi struck up a conversation with two villagers. “I was cooking at home when I saw the sky light up with flames, so I rushed over. Luckily, the fire didn’t spread inside.”

A nearby auntie nodded in agreement. “Exactly! That was such a big fire—so terrifying! Who knows which bastard threw a cigarette butt? If the flames had reached the storage, what would they have done?!”

The very bastard who had started the fire pursed his lips.

“Hey, Aunt Liu, the Zhang family is so rich. Do they really care about a little corn? Even if it burned, it wouldn’t matter. Once they sell the land lease, would they really miss this bit of corn money?”

“True, true, they do have money! But even if you’re rich, you shouldn’t waste food! Do you know how many pigs this corn could feed?”

“Come on, let’s go home. The fire’s burned out, and there’s nothing else we can do here. Time to sleep!”

Jing Xi nodded. “Aunt Liu, I’ll walk with you. It’s dark, and I’m a little scared. We’re heading the same way anyway!”

Aunt Liu nodded. She quite liked this girl.

She was a hardworking and capable young woman.

When the Zhang family accused her of that terrible thing, Aunt Liu had never believed it was Jing Xi’s fault.

She was sure the Zhang family was just being scumbags.

And now, look at this child—she even came over to see if she could help put out the fire. Such a kind-hearted girl!

“Alright, let’s go, let’s go. By the way, Jing Xi, our family plans to buy a few piglets in the spring. We’ll need to build a pigsty. If you’re free, why don’t you come over and help cook for everyone?”

“Sure! Just call me when you need me,” Jing Xi replied.

Walking alongside Aunt Liu, they made their way home. Aunt Liu was quite the chatterbox, gossiping about everything and everyone along the way. By the time Jing Xi got home, her throat was dry just from listening to her.

The moment she shut her door, she entered her personal space.

She emptied out all the money she had taken—it totaled over 1,200 yuan.

She separated Wu Dazhuang’s 500 yuan.

The rest she stored inside her space.

After exiting, she had her dinner—a bowl of millet porridge cooked with spring water, some pickled vegetables, and a boiled egg.

Glancing at the time, she saw it was already close to ten o’clock. She left her house and headed to the meeting spot where she and Wu Dazhuang had agreed to split the money.

The mountain road was pitch dark, but she could see perfectly fine. She even picked up a stick along the way, just in case.

She had told Wu Dazhuang to arrive twenty minutes after she did.

Jing Xi wrapped the money in straw paper and placed it under a stone.

Then, in a flash, she disappeared into her space.

She had made a new discovery.

She found that as long as she stood in the corridor connecting her space to the real world, she could see everything happening outside—

But no one outside could see her.

Sure enough, not long after she entered her space, Wu Dazhuang showed up earlier than expected.

She watched as he lifted the stone, grabbed the money, and grinned lecherously.

“Thank the heavens! I, Wu Dazhuang, am truly lucky and blessed!”

He let out a few sleazy chuckles. Fortunately, he didn’t badmouth Jing Xi. After counting the money, he left immediately.

Jing Xi sneered coldly.

She waited until Wu Dazhuang had gone far before stepping out of her space and heading home.

Tomorrow was the day the Long family would come to collect the land lease fees.