Chapter 112: Who Really Started the Fire?
Chapter 112: Who Really Started the Fire?
Jiang Xia leaned against the doorframe, panting and glaring at Pan Daidi.
Zhou Mu saw Pan Daidi coming out of the house and was about to say something when Zhou Zhou stepped forward with a snake-skin bag, lowering his head in confession, "Grandma, I'm sorry. I burned down the kitchen."
His older brother was trying to help her, but he didn't watch the fire while boiling water.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenguang immediately spoke up, "Grandma, it's not Zhou Zhou's fault. I was the one boiling water, and I accidentally burned down the kitchen."
Zhou Mu's attention was now fully on the two siblings. She looked at her eldest grandson and asked, "Who really started the fire?"
Zhou Zhou: "I did."
Zhou Wenguang: "It wasn't Zhou Zhou, it was me!"
Zhou Zhou's eyes reddened with anger. "I was the one tending the fire. You poured water into it because I didn't have enough strength."
"A real man takes responsibility for his actions. I started the fire."
...
Seeing the siblings vying to take the blame, Jiang Xia thought to herself, 'The Zhou children are truly well-raised.'
Zhou Chengxin felt that it couldn't have been Zhou Zhou. His little niece had always helped with fire-tending and had never made a mistake. How could she accidentally burn down the kitchen? It was more likely his son, who was always hasty and careless, even when it came to doing homework, he would run to the outhouse several times.
Moreover, as the older brother, he bore greater responsibility!
Picking up the broom in the corner, Zhou Chengxin said, "It's good that you admit it! You almost burned down the house with your carelessness. If something happened, it would have been disastrous. Don't you think you deserve a punishment?"
"I do." Zhou Wenguang stood there with his head lowered, awaiting his father's scolding.
The kitchen fire was primarily his fault.
When one makes a mistake, they should own up to it, and when punished, they should stand firm.
As the broom was about to strike Zhou Wenguang, Zhou Chenglei quickly grabbed it, "Hold on, let's find out the reason first."
Zhou Fu also hurried forward and pulled Zhou Chengxin away, "Why are you hitting him? When you were young and made mistakes, did I ever hit you and your brothers? Who hits without understanding the situation?"
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
Did his father feel no guilt saying this? When he was young, his father chased him and hit him, running through nine villages!
Zhou Chengxin: "..."
How could he remember that as the eldest brother, he was often hung from a tree and beaten? And it was usually because he hadn't taken good care of his younger siblings.
Moreover, he was beaten whether he admitted his mistake or not! When did they ever consider right and wrong? Just because he was the eldest brother, his siblings' mistakes were also his responsibility.
Not setting a good example as the older brother was a mistake in itself.
Why was his father now talking about right and wrong when it came to his son?
Great-Grandmother also spoke up, "Don't hit the children recklessly! Wenguang and Zhou Zhou wanted to boil some hot water for Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle and Auntie's return from the sea so they could have a hot bath. Their intentions were good. Not only that, they also wanted to cook a meal, but I stopped them, saying we would prepare it. I told them to come to our house to eat later. That's why they were boiling water."
"I share the responsibility for the fire. I forgot they were boiling water. I asked Wenguang to help me catch a chicken and sent Zhou Zhou and Ajie to the grocery store to buy salt. I forgot they were boiling water."
After listening to this, Zhou Chengxin felt even more guilt. Earlier that morning, he had gone to his father-in-law's house to help fix a leaky roof. Knowing his mother was also going out to sea, he had specifically asked Tea Caihua to remind Zhou Zhou to come home for lunch and to come over to help in the evening.
Now, with Great-Grandmother's explanation, it was clear that Tea Caihua hadn't come to help with cooking. The eldest son was probably called over by Tea Caihua to cook.
But since the eldest son had come, he should have done a good job. Burning down the kitchen was a grave mistake! The consequences could have been unimaginable.
Zhou Chengxin: "Great-Grandmother, don't take their side! How can you blame yourself? Wenguang is old enough to know better. Burning down the house while boiling water is a huge mistake! A terrible one! If you don't punish him, he won't learn his lesson!"
Great-Grandmother: "Adults can also be careless, let alone children. I share half the responsibility for the kitchen fire! Truly! If you want to punish someone, punish me!"
Zhou Chengxin: "..."
Many neighbors had gathered, and they all advised Zhou Chengxin to teach the children without resorting to violence.
Zhou Chenglei gave Zhou Chengxin a look, "Alright, I'll teach them a lesson."
Zhou Chengxin didn't move, mainly because the children at home were afraid of the fourth brother. If the children were truly at fault, the fourth brother would punish them even more severely.
Zhou Chenglei looked at the two siblings, "Speak up! How did the kitchen catch fire? Don't just admit to the mistake, I want to hear the truth, I want to know what happened."
As long as Zhou Chenglei kept a straight face, no one at home dared to disobey.
The two siblings tried their best to recall the situation at the time.
Truthfully, they didn't know how the kitchen caught fire, and they weren't in the kitchen at the time either.
Zhou Zhou said in a low voice, "I was boiling water with my big brother because I wasn't tall enough, and my strength wasn't enough. My big brother said I was in charge of the fire, and he poured the water into the big iron pot, so I was in charge of the fire."
Zhou Wenguang said, "It was like this at first, but later, didn't Zhou Zhou go to buy salt? I continued to boil the water, and later, Great-Grandmother called me to help catch the chicken. I saw that the remaining firewood in the fire pit could continue to heat up, so I went out, and then I don't know how the kitchen caught fire."
Great-Grandfather heard this and went into the kitchen to take a look.
Others followed him in as well.
Great-Grandmother also went along, "You see, this is really my fault. If I hadn't called Wenguang to catch the chicken, this wouldn't have happened..."
Pan Daidi was afraid she wouldn't be able to leave, so she quietly left while everyone went to the kitchen to find the cause of the fire.
Jiang Xia leaned against the gate of the courtyard, placing the snake-skin bag that Jiang Mu had just handed her, lifting her foot and stepping on the gate, looking at her with a calm and collected demeanor; she had the demeanor of a husband guarding the pass, and no one could get through.
Pan Daidi said, "..."
She looked at Jiang Xia and smiled, "Auntie, make some room, the fire is out. You've checked the house for a fire, and I'll go home for dinner."
Jiang Xia calmly retracted her foot and walked towards her, "Thank you, Auntie, for coming to check if our house caught fire. It was just that the fire was so big at the time, did it burn you? I'll take a look!"
Jiang Xia directly put her hands on her, one hand reaching into her pocket, and pulled out several sanitary napkins!
"Oh, what are you doing! What are you doing?!" Pan Daidi panicked and shouted, her hands desperately blocking, but she wasn't as fast as Jiang Xia!
Then everyone's attention was drawn to Jiang Xia's side.
Zhou Chenglei also came out.
Jiang Xia's hand reached into another pocket, pulling out several more sanitary napkins.
Then it was the two pockets of the clothes, and the same, several more sanitary napkins were pulled out.
Jiang Xia grabbed her and checked to see if she was burned, checking her all over, and in general, wherever she could hide something, she didn't let it go.
"Don't touch me! It's a robbery! Save me! Save me! Is there no justice left? I came to help put out the fire, and I have to be searched! Everyone, be careful, in a while, if something is missing from his house, you should suspect them!" Pan Daidi, taking advantage of the fire, started robbing and setting fires!
Jiang Xia flipped out a total of ten sanitary napkins!
Seeing that the cabinets in her room were all locked, and there was nothing to steal, not even sanitary napkins?
Jiang Xia held ten sanitary napkins and coldly smiled, "I don't know how many years you have to go to jail for burglary?"
(End of Chapter)
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