Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 46
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Shangjing is the capitalThe fire burned from midnight until dawn, only extinguishing when the sun rose. The entire house was reduced to four bare earthen walls.
Xiao Nian and Xiao Dou were sent by Lu Yao to stay at Granny Zhao’s house across the way. With so many things in the yard, Lu Yao and Zhao Beichuan stayed behind, sitting on a mat and watching through the night.
“Crack!” A charred beam fell from the roof.
Lu Yao snapped out of his daze and forced himself to perk up. “Let’s check the house and see if anything useful can be salvaged. Let’s not waste anything.”
The house was gone, but life had to go on. Giving in to despair wasn’t an option.
The two stepped into the house, treading on the charred wood. The two large wooden chests on the kang in the east room had burned to charcoal. Thankfully, the coins and silver hidden in the kang’s base had survived—ancient coins made of iron and silver wouldn’t melt in a fire.
The cupboard in the kitchen had also been reduced to ashes, and the ceramic bowls and basins inside lay shattered all over the floor. The only items intact were the new iron pot they’d recently bought and the millstone crafted by Lu Guangsheng.
Lu Yao couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. “Good thing we bought the iron pot. Otherwise, we’d even have trouble cooking meals.”
Zhao Beichuan carried the pot outside, while Lu Yao carried out a heavy clay jar, feeling a bit more grounded.
When the house was first built, it only cost seven or eight strings of cash. Now, with over forty taels of silver on hand, rebuilding wouldn’t be an issue!
The kitchen at the back of the house was also gone. Lin Daman’s family had spent the night outside wrapped in quilts, freezing in the cold.
Lu Yao found the fire suspicious. The new and old houses were quite far apart, so even if the front caught fire, it shouldn’t have spread to the back. He couldn’t help but go to the origin of the fire to investigate.
A large pile of firewood had burned to ash, crunching underfoot.
Zhao Beichuan followed and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“This fire seems deliberate. I suspect someone set it on purpose,” Lu Yao said, poking at the ground with a stick. Suddenly, a shard of broken pottery caught his attention.
“Look at this!”
Zhao Beichuan bent down, sniffing the shard. “It seems like a jar that held oil.”
Lu Yao, enraged, threw the stick to the ground. “Let’s go report this to the authorities!”
There weren’t many people who bore grudges against their family—Song Changshun, Fang Lao San, or perhaps Gao Qinghe, whom Zhao Beichuan had speared in the leg. No matter who it was, they would have to pay for this!
Zhao Beichuan gritted his teeth in fury. That scoundrel! Their family had almost been burned alive. If he found out who did it, he wouldn’t let them off!
The two rushed toward the village. On the way, they saw a crowd heading to the Song household.
Lu Yao stopped an old man and asked, “Uncle, what’s going on?”
“Someone died at the Song house!”
“What?!” Lu Yao was startled and quickly let go.
Zhao Beichuan said, “You go back first. I’ll go check it out.”
Lu Yao nodded and returned to Granny Zhao’s house with the clay jar. The two children, exhausted from crying, were still asleep, their faces smeared with soot.
Granny Zhao said, “Where’s Beichuan?”
“He went to the village. The fire was set by someone. We’re planning to report it to the authorities!”
Granny Zhao sighed heavily. “We’re outsiders here. Even after living here for so many years, we’re still bullied. If this had been back in Zhao Village, who would dare…” The old woman choked up, unable to continue.
Lu Yao’s eyes reddened with anger. He couldn’t just let this go!
“We’ll have to trouble you for a few days again.”
“Don’t mention trouble. Xiao Nian and Xiao Dou grew up in my home—they’re like my own grandchildren. But what will you do now? The house is completely destroyed. Sigh…”
With the ground frozen in winter, building a new house would be tough. It was a real problem. Stroking Xiao Dou’s hair, Lu Yao pondered.
He suddenly remembered the suggestion made by Shopkeeper Xu—renting a shop in town to sell tofu.
This idea needed to be discussed with Zhao Beichuan when he returned. For now, the priority was finding the arsonist.
The Song family’s courtyard was crowded with people. The first to discover the bodies was Song Dezhang, who had come to visit early in the morning. He opened the door to find Old Lady Song lying on the ground. When he tried to help her up, she was already stiff!
Terrified, he fled, shouting, “Someone’s dead! Help!”
Neighbors rushed over, and some brave ones ventured inside. They came out pale-faced, exclaiming, “They’re all dead. It’s horrific.”
Inside, Song Ping lay on the kang, clutching his stomach. The old man foamed at the mouth, and Old Lady Song had crawled a distance before collapsing.
In the west room, Song Changshun lay similarly on the ground, his pants removed and bloodied, as if cut by scissors.
“It must have been Widow Song! He’s the one who did it!” someone shouted.
“Too cruel. Poisoning the whole family, even his own son!”
“Call the village head! With so many dead, the authorities must be notified!”
Soon, the village head arrived. The Song family’s relatives had already moved the bodies outside, covering them with sheets.
Seeing so many deaths, the village head was flustered and quickly sent someone to the town to summon officials.
“If you’re not involved, go home. Stop gawking!”
The crowd began to disperse. Zhao Beichuan seized the chance to approach the village head. “Uncle, someone set fire to my house last night.”
The village head’s headache grew. So many incidents during the New Year! “Was anyone hurt?”
“No, but the house was completely destroyed.”
“Let’s deal with the Song family’s case first. Don’t worry; I’ll report your case too.”
“Alright. I’ll wait for news.”
As they were speaking, a shout came from the distance, “We’ve found Widow Song! He’s been found!”
The village head ran over, seeing four or five men dragging a barefooted Widow Song toward them. In the freezing weather, he wore only a thin layer of clothing, his face blue with cold. He laughed madly, “Burn it all! Burn it all down!”
Zhao Beichuan stepped forward angrily. “Did you set fire to my house?!”
Widow Song seemed not to hear, continuing to laugh eerily, “They’re all dead! Haha, all burned to death!”
The village head waved for people to take him inside. If left out in the cold, he’d freeze to death.
Zhao Beichuan returned silently to Granny Zhao’s house. As soon as he entered, Lu Yao asked, “What happened? Who died in the Song family?”
“All of them. They were poisoned by Widow Song.”
“Oh my…”
“And the fire at our house, I suspect he set it.” Although Zhao Beichuan had no evidence, his intuition told him that this incident was definitely related to Widow Song.
If it was simply a grudge against their family, there was no need to ignite the old kitchen at the back. This person not only hated them but also hated Lin Damang. Other than Widow Song, Zhao Beichuan couldn’t think of anyone else.
Lu Yao was furious. “Where is Widow Song now?”
“He’s gone mad. The village head has already sent someone to report to the authorities. Officials should come to arrest him this afternoon.”
–
The government officials arrived in the afternoon. Widow Song, babbling incoherently, couldn’t provide any answers, so they could only take him away.
The village head visited the Zhao family, offering some consoling words. But his underlying message was clear: with the Song family wiped out, even if Widow Song had set the fire, there was no way to seek compensation.
Could they accept the Song family’s property as compensation? That house, where four people had just died? In the end, they could only swallow their bad luck.
After seeing the village head off, Lu Yao grabbed Zhao Beichuan and said, “I’ve been thinking—we might as well move to the town.”
“Move to the town?”
Lu Yao nodded. “Ever since we started earning money this year, the villagers have been incredibly envious. First, Gao Qinghe came to our house to steal grain. Then, Fang Laosan broke in to steal money. Now someone has burned down our house. Even if we rebuild it, who knows what trouble will come next? Moving to the town would be better. No one knows us there, and even if someone gets envious, their reach is limited.”
Lu Yao had other considerations too. Xiaonian and Xiaodou were growing up, and he wanted to see if they could start basic schooling. Regardless of how well they did, at least they could learn to read and write their names.
After some thought, Zhao Beichuan agreed. “What about our fields?”
“We’ll still farm them. With the mule cart, it’ll be convenient to go back and forth.”
“Alright, let’s do it!”
With that decided, they wasted no time. Zhao Beichuan went home to hitch the mule cart, while Lu Yao comforted the two children, asking them to stay obediently at Granny Zhao’s house.
The two of them drove the cart straight to the town. With their house burned down, they had nowhere to live, so they hoped to rent a shop and settle in the town for now.
The mule cart sped towards the town. It was New Year’s Day, and the streets were almost deserted.
The shops on both sides were closed, but Lu Yao remembered that Shopkeeper Xu had mentioned that there were affordable shops in the Lower Third Street area. “Let’s head over there and take a look.”
They drove the cart over and came across a liquor shop that was open.
Lu Yao quickly jumped off the cart and went inside to ask, “Boss, may I ask if there are any shops for rent nearby?”
The liquor shop owner, half-asleep, groggily climbed off his straw mat and responded after a long pause, “Try asking at the house on the corner of the street ahead. I heard they were renting out a shop at the end of the year.”
“Thank you, Boss.”
The owner waved dismissively and turned back to sleep, unbothered by the cold.
Lu Yao closed the door for him and walked out, saying, “Let’s go check the house on the corner.”
The corner wasn’t far, so Lu Yao walked over instead of riding. They soon arrived at the house in question.
The dark wooden door was tightly shut, adorned with a pair of peachwood charms. It wasn’t clear if anyone was home.
Lu Yao knocked on the door, and after a while, footsteps sounded from inside. “Who’s there?”
“Excuse me, are you renting out a shop?”
The door creaked open, revealing a thin elderly woman in a simple cotton jacket who sized them up.
“You want to rent a shop?”
Lu Yao nodded. “We’d like to know the price. If it’s reasonable, we’ll rent one.”
“Wait here.” The elderly woman went back inside and soon returned with a few keys. “What kind of business are you planning?”
Lu Yao replied, “We sell tofu.”
“Tofu?” The woman hadn’t heard of it before. She glanced at the mule cart nearby and added, “It’s fine to rent a shop to sell things, but no keeping livestock inside. If the house gets damaged, it won’t be rentable anymore.”
“Understood, understood.”
She quickly led them to the shop. The location wasn’t bad—right across from the Lower Third Street market. The storefront was about two zhang wide, with a faded signboard hanging above that read “Tea House.”
Most of the people coming to the Lower Third Street market were poor, often bringing their own water. Spending a few coins on tea wasn’t an option for them. No wonder the tea house failed.
The elderly woman unlocked the door, and a musty smell wafted out.
The interior was empty, the previous contents removed. The space was about twenty to thirty square meters—plenty for selling tofu.
“The rent for this shop is eighteen taels of silver per year, with an additional two taels as a deposit. The deposit will be returned when you vacate the premises.”
The price was about what Shopkeeper Xu had mentioned, but Lu Yao thought it was steep. Spending half their savings on rent made him hesitant.
“Could you lower the price a bit?”
“No can do. This shop’s location is prime. On market days, the crowd’s so dense you can barely move. If you don’t rent it, someone else will snatch it up soon.”
Seeing Lu Yao hesitate, Zhao Beichuan said, “Let’s rent it for a year first. By the way, is there anywhere nearby renting out houses? We’d like to rent a small courtyard as well.”
The elderly woman replied, “It just so happens I have an old courtyard. If you rent both, I can give you a discount.”
Lu Yao’s eyes lit up. “Can we take a look?”
The woman locked the shop and led them into a nearby alley. After a short walk, they arrived at the old courtyard.
The house was indeed old—its doors and windows were broken, and part of the roof had caved in.
The woman coughed and said, “This was where my mother-in-law used to live. No one’s lived here for years. If you rent it, you’ll need to clean it up yourselves. Two taels of silver per year.”
Though the house was old, its sturdy green brick construction made it reliable. The courtyard was spacious enough to park the mule cart conveniently.
There was also a small side room, which could be used for storing grain and tools after repairs. Most importantly, the courtyard was very close to the shop, making it convenient for transporting tofu.
Lu Yao noticed a well in the courtyard and asked, “Is this well still usable?”
“It is, but you’ll need to clean it out. It’s full of dead leaves and debris.”
“What do you think?” Lu Yao nudged Zhao Beichuan with his elbow.
Zhao Beichuan nodded. He liked the courtyard too. Its high walls, also built of green brick, would make it quiet and secure when the doors were closed.
Lu Yao made the decision. “Ma’am, we’ll rent both the shop and the house for a year.”
“Alright, let’s draw up a contract so everything’s clear.”
The woman led them to another alley. Lu Yao felt the path looked familiar, as though the original owner of his body had been here before.
After a short walk, the woman knocked on a shabby wooden door. “Dengke, are you home? Help your third aunt draft a contract.”
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What about Lin Daman? 🥹 Will they take him to live there too?