Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Captain Zhou nodded and smiled, "Wu Meng, you understand what I mean."
I noticed Old Xia, who was walking ahead, suddenly pause for a moment before returning to normal. I couldn't tell if Old Xia had heard our conversation, nor could I imagine what he would feel if he had.
Regardless of his thoughts, Captain Zhou continued to speak.
It was the anniversary of Old Xia's father's passing. That night, the family returned to the old house to pay their respects. According to local customs, the family was expected to drink some white liquor. They gathered around a table with five pairs of chopsticks.
The extra pair was left for Old Xia's father.
Old Xia was thirty this year, and his daughter was three.
Old Xia's mother had prepared a feast early on, waiting for her son and grandchildren to arrive.
After a few sips of liquor, she became a bit talkative: "When your father and I got married, it wasn't because he could eat from the state; it was his simplicity and ambition that attracted me. You might remember that factory; there were so many people there, but how many actually worked?"
"I knew back then," Old Xia's mother continued. "Being with someone like him meant I would never regret it in this life. When the factory collapsed, how many people were cursing? But your father was different; he rolled up his sleeves and started over. Look at him now—he's doing well. When it comes to marriage, it's really about character, not family background."
Every year around this time, Old Xia's mother would reminisce about the past with a hint of bitterness mixed with sweetness.
As they talked and drank more white liquor, everyone began to feel drowsy.
Without even clearing the table, they all went to bed.
Little did they know that this sleep would be the most terrifying one Old Xia ever experienced. If given a chance to do it all over again, he would certainly choose not to return that night.
This incident occurred two years after Old Xia refused Old An's request for money.
From the moment Old Xia turned down Old An's demand for money, Old An gained his first enemy in life—Old Xia. Ironically, at thirty years old and having achieved nothing, Old An acted like a coward in front of others, not daring to make a sound. Yet in front of Old Xia, he seemed like a tyrant ready to stir up trouble.
Sometimes, being an honest and kind person does not necessarily bring good fortune.
Old Xia's introverted nature brought disaster upon him and his family.
While Old Xia was drinking and feasting at home, Old An listened intently from across the way. Old An was filled with hatred; he gritted his teeth in anger, wishing he could devour Old Xia's family whole.
They came from the same background, so why could Old Xia thrive in this City while he felt like a dragon stranded in shallow waters? They had the same level of education, so why could Old Xia soar high while he was like a tiger fallen into the plains? Today, Old An could no longer suppress the fury in his heart; he wanted revenge.
Standing downstairs, he saw that Old Xia's house had turned off its lights, and he couldn't help but chuckle in the darkness of the night.
This house had been allocated by the Meat Processing Plant; at that time, one only needed to pay a small amount to purchase it and make it their own. Thus, the only valuable asset for the Xia family was this house. For revenge, Old An was willing to risk everything.
The house was an old structure, with windows, door frames, and even beams made largely of wood. If it caught fire, it would burn down quickly. Both families lived on the first floor, and to prevent theft, there were bars outside the windows. Old An tugged at the railing; it was sturdy.
Back then, people were more practical; these railings were firmly embedded in red bricks. Without special tools, it would be difficult to remove them. Old An felt satisfied and returned to stand in front of Old Xia's door. The security door of the Xia family was tightly shut. Looking at the door, Old An gently shook the doorknob before heading back home.
When he emerged from his house, Old An had a bucket in hand. Inside was a liquid—an extremely flammable substance commonly referred to as liquid alcohol. Slowly, he opened the lid and poured some alcohol through the window.
The windows were wooden and had aged significantly, leaving various gaps. The alcohol seeped through quietly. Old An had thought this through; this was where the couple slept with their child. If he ignited this place, they would soon be engulfed by flames.
However, Old An suppressed his urge to set it ablaze and tucked away his fiery heart once more. To ensure success, he needed to take a second step. He planned to pour alcohol through the gap in the door and then use his sandbags to block off Old Xia's security door.
Old An's cleverness was fully utilized here.
If the couple did not perish in the fire, they would surely rush out with their child and elderly family members through the front door. The iron bars outside the window had narrow gaps that could only accommodate a hand; a person would not be able to escape through there. Thus, the front door became their only escape route, and what Old An needed to do now was seal off this escape route.
He poured liquid alcohol through the gap in the door and then placed his sandbags at the entrance. This might even endanger his own house, potentially turning it to ashes as well. But Old An didn’t care; as long as he could eliminate Old Xia's family, nothing else mattered to him.
Two matches were thrown, one into the crack of the door and the other onto the window.
Following the trail of alcohol, a fierce fire suddenly spread.
Old An watched the burning house and burst into loud laughter.
In less than two minutes, Old An heard the screams from inside the house. The night was pitch black, but the flames illuminated Old Xia's home as if it were broad daylight. Heart-wrenching cries echoed out; Old An recognized them as the cries of Old Xia's daughter. Soon after, another woman's voice joined in—the voice of Old Xia's wife. It sounded like the ghostly wails he had heard on television, terrifying in its intensity.
Yet, the more tragic the sounds became, the happier Old An felt.
Aren't you wealthy? Aren't you living happily? Didn't you refuse to give me any money? Well now, your whole family is about to die. What good will all your riches do you now? This is your fate; this is what happens to those who are rich yet unkind.
The house was engulfed in flames, with cries and screams piercing through the air.
But they had no way to escape; there was no way out through the windows, and the doorway was ablaze with fierce fire. Trapped like animals in a steamer, they were destined to be burned alive in a house from which there was no escape.
The screams and flames roused the other neighbors, who rushed to join in the firefighting efforts. They witnessed a horrifying sight: a man standing before the burning house, laughing uproariously, his laughter seemingly filled with immense joy as if he had encountered something that delighted him beyond measure.
What they did not know was that when alcohol met water, it caused the fire to spread even further. Their efforts only intensified the blaze, enlarging its scale.
Gradually, the screams from within subsided; it seemed that everyone inside had perished.
The crowd watched as the flames spread to Old An's house. They had never seen such a large fire; this was the biggest blaze they had ever encountered. Someone called for emergency services, but those present could tell it was already too late. No one dared to brave such intense flames to rescue anyone; at this moment, whoever tried to save someone would surely perish.
Just then, a sharp voice shouted out: "Grab my grandson and run! Go!"
Then came another round of horrifying screams.
The voice came from Old Xia's Mother.
Later, people learned that there was a raging fire at the entrance, making it impossible to rush out. But waiting would lead to certain death as well. At that moment, Old Xia's Mother displayed astonishing courage; she charged into the blazing flames. Enduring the immense pain from the searing heat, she managed to open both the wooden door and the security door, creating an escape route for her son and granddaughter.
Old Xia emerged, holding his daughter tightly.
People saw that Old Xia was engulfed in flames, like a human torch.
The crowd rushed forward to extinguish the fire on Old Xia.
"Save my daughter, save my daughter," Old Xia kept shouting those words as he lost consciousness.
Later, people described the family's tragic situation as "hell." When firefighters extinguished the flames, they recovered two charred bodies from the scene. These were the bodies of two women—one older and one younger. This was Old Xia's Mother and this was Old Xia's Wife.
They had become two charcoals, their forms unrecognizable.
The police reconstructed the circumstances of the fire. Old Xia's Wife was sleeping by the window, with their daughter in the middle and Old Xia on the outer side. When the fire broke out, Old Xia's Wife instantly became a human torch, and their daughter's body caught fire as well. Old Xia hurriedly tried to pat out the flames on his wife and daughter, hoping to extinguish them.
But it was futile; everything burned too quickly.
The fire erupted into a raging inferno in an instant; there was no saving Old Xia's Wife.
He wanted to escape with his daughter, but the flames at the door were even larger than those at the window.
Nearby residents rushed to help put out the fire, but they didn't understand the situation; the water they threw only made the flames grow fiercer. Just when it seemed they would all perish inside, Old Xia's Mother made an astonishing move.
Old Xia suffered severe burns and spent three nights fighting for his life in the hospital.
Old Xia's Daughter, however, succumbed to her injuries and passed away while Old Xia was in a coma.
Relatives of Old Xia came to help, and after exhausting all of his savings and selling their new house, Old Xia's life was finally saved.
But Old Xia became a different person; the children referred to him as a "monster."
Everything was lost—three generations of savings, a happy family—reduced to nothing in the wake of a merciless fire.
Unable to face it all, one night, he traveled from the farthest south to this northern city. He made his way to Tou Gou Zi Village, settling in this so-called Disabled Village.
He has lived here for over a decade now.
Suddenly, Old Xia stood up straight, still facing away from us.
His shoulders shook slightly, as if he were crying, yet no sound came forth.
When one's eyesight fails, the ears become more sensitive.
He had been listening all along.
Finally, he could no longer hold back.
He cried.
Comment 0 Comment Count