"Sis, you're amazing!"
"After today, Auntie Feng definitely won't dare run her mouth about you again. If anyone else dares to talk nonsense, we'll just march right over to their door and make their lives miserable until they can't even have a moment's peace!"
Xia Yuan was incredibly excited, his eyes sparkling with pure admiration as he looked at Xia Xian. He loved this kind of "crushing the enemy" energy; watching his father and two older brothers act so spineless just made his blood boil.
"Exactly. No one will get to bully your sister so easily from now on. But you have to be smart about revenge—you need courage, but you also need strategy, right? If you had just rushed over and started a physical fight with Auntie Feng today, would we have achieved this result?" Xia Xian took the opportunity to guide her younger brother, using a gentle, step-by-step approach.
"Right! You're absolutely right, Sis! You can't solve every problem just by fighting!" Xia Yuan nodded vigorously, engraving the four words "crying and complaining" into his heart—a decision that would eventually lead him further and further down the path of being a manipulative "green tea" character.
Xia Xian, unaware that her attempt to straighten her brother out was actually steering him in a completely different direction, headed toward the Chu family's place with him. They stopped nearby.
"I’m going to get Director Mei to come and have a word with them. You stay here. If you see anyone from the Chu family come out, just ignore them, but if they are returning from outside, you hold them up. I'm afraid if they see Director Mei coming, they'll hide inside and refuse to open the door," Xia Xian instructed, handing an important task to her brother.
"How do I hold them up?" Xia Yuan asked, his eyes shining as he waited for his sister's expert advice.
"Do whatever you think will keep them delayed. Use your ingenuity, but remember: absolutely no physical violence! Don’t give them any chance to take the moral high ground and blame you, and definitely don’t give them an excuse to make you pay for damages!"
After dispensing this bit of wisdom, Xia Xian hurried off. In reality, none of this was truly necessary; she just couldn't get rid of Xia Yuan, so she gave him a task to keep him occupied.
Xia Yuan, convinced that he was shouldering his sister’s fate, clenched his fists and hid nearby with a grave expression. He kept his dark eyes locked on the Chu house, determined to spot Old Woman Chu the moment she appeared.
However, Xia Xian didn't actually go to find Director Mei right away. Instead, she walked to a spot where Xia Yuan couldn't see her and circled back from the other side. Having lived in this area for decades, she knew the place better than anyone. She had every small alley memorized and knew exactly how to avoid being seen.
She carefully approached the back wall of the Chu house and peeked through a gap in the window to see Chu Sheng still sleeping.
There was some movement in the kitchen—likely Old Woman Chu cooking breakfast. She had a habit: she would light the fire, put the rice in the pot, and then go outside to defecate. Because she was chronically constipated, she would be gone for a long time. Often, by the time she returned, the porridge would have boiled dry; there was so little rice to begin with that they usually just relied on the thin rice water to fill their stomachs. Worse, she would return and serve the food without washing her hands, dipping her fingers directly into the soup. It was disgusting.
In her past life, Xia Xian had been the one forced to do all the housework, including cooking breakfast. Seeing this, she realized she didn't even need the old woman to cook anymore.
Thinking back on her past life, Xia Xian couldn't help but shake her head at how foolish she had been. But this presented an opportunity. The old woman did this so often that she had nearly burned the house down multiple times before. If she just happened to "add a little fuel to the fire," it would seem perfectly natural, wouldn't it? No one would ever know.
Xia Xian had already conceived this plan last night. Since the mother and son dared to slander her, she dared to ruin them, to leave them with nothing.
On the other side, Xia Yuan was focused on the Chu family's front gate. Before long, he saw Old Woman Chu come out, wiggling her backside as she hurried away. He let out a heavy, cold snort. He wanted to chase her down and beat her, but hindered by his sister’s instructions, he had to suppress the urge and stay put.
But he waited and waited, and neither the old woman nor his sister returned. Who did his sister say she was going to get again? Xia Yuan couldn't quite remember. He tapped his head in annoyance, hesitating whether to keep waiting or go find his sister.
Suddenly, he noticed a wisp of black smoke rising from the Chu house.
"Huh?"
He couldn't help but widen his eyes, leaning forward to get a better look. The black smoke grew thicker, and soon he saw golden-red flames licking at the air. *Oh my god! It's on fire!*
He jumped up, ready to run and call for help, but then he remembered this was the home of the evil mother-in-law who had bullied his sister. He immediately felt a surge of excitement, covered his mouth to stifle a laugh, and ducked back into hiding. He watched the fire grow larger with a sense of satisfaction. *Serves them right!*
*I hope the whole house burns down!* He even wished he could throw more fuel on the flames.
At this time of day, most people were either at work or busy in their own homes; no one was wandering around. Consequently, the first person to realize his own house was on fire was Chu Sheng himself. Choked awake by the thick smoke and realizing the danger, he leaped off his bed.
"Mom!" he shouted, running out. "Mom! There's a fire!"
He didn't care about anything else and ran outside first, not even taking the time to put on his shoes. He stood at the entrance, screaming for help at the top of his lungs. "Fire! Someone help, there's a fire!"
"What?" Hearing the commotion, neighbors ran out and finally saw the billowing smoke and the growing inferno.
The fire was still confined to the kitchen roof and hadn't spread to the bedrooms yet. If they acted now, they might be able to save at least one room. The neighbors hurried over, scolding Chu Sheng as they did so.
"It must be your mother again, leaving the stove unattended! Your house is on fire and you don't even try to put it out, just standing here shouting for others! Move your feet! Don't let the wind blow the fire to our houses and set ours alight, too!"
"Exactly!"
Grumbling with dissatisfaction, they dashed back to fetch water.
"My mom didn't do it on purpose!" Chu Sheng, not daring to talk back, swallowed his grievances. He needed their help to put out the fire. Fearing he might be burned, he didn't dare enter his own courtyard to fetch water from the vat, opting instead to fetch it from the neighbors'. He deliberately dawdled, waiting for the neighbors to go in first; only after seeing it was safe did he follow with a bucket.
The group scrambled to fight the fire, but they couldn't keep up with the spread. Soon, the flames licked their way to the bedroom.
It was at this moment that Xia Xian arrived with Director Mei. Seeing the towering flames from afar, she asked with a puzzled tone, "How did a fire start so suddenly?"
"Isn't that something? Could this be what they call 'evil reaping its own reward'?" Director Mei was blunt and never afraid to speak her mind.
Earlier, when Xia Xian had come to her, saying that the mother and son had been spreading rumors about her stealing money and asking for a witness to help clear her name, Director Mei had been eager to help. Stumbling upon this scene, she couldn't help but offer her sharp assessment.
Xia Xian almost laughed out loud, digging her nails into her palms to maintain her composure. She furrowed her brows and said with a look of worry, "If the house burns down, where will they live? They don't have the money to rebuild. It's such a shame. I should go help put it out."
"Oh, you, you're just too kind-hearted, little one. Your husband is already dead, so don't worry about where they live, as long as it's not in your house. Don't go near that fire—if they end up blaming you for something, it’ll be a disaster. Stay here, I'll go help."
Director Mei, having never met someone as kind and gentle as Xia Xian, patted her arm and told her to set her mind at ease and stop worrying about things that weren't her concern. She then joined the ranks of those fighting the fire.
As for the mother Chu Sheng was looking for, Old Woman Chu had just emerged from the outhouse at a leisurely pace, her legs stiff from squatting, when she heard that someone's house was on fire. She was delighted. She trotted over, her wrinkled face blooming into a smile.
"Who? Which poor soul is having such bad luck? Let me go see!"
The two people she approached sized her up and said in unison, "Your house!"
Old Woman Chu's face went pale in an instant.