Is it really necessary for siblings to fight like this?

That's really all gone!

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!!" His eyes were bloodshot as he plunged headfirst into the fire!

But the flames crackled and popped, and the heat was intense, making it impossible to even get within three steps.

They can't get in at all! "What's going on?"

"Our house was perfectly fine, how did it suddenly catch fire?"

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale, and his hands trembled.

Yan Bugui scratched his head: "We're wondering the same thing... Everyone's guessing, is it because your stove wasn't covered properly?"

"Ouch--!"

An older woman slapped her thigh, tears streaming down her face: "It's me! It's all my fault! I was baking buns this morning, and I left before the flame went out; I didn't even close the oven lid!"

Yan Bugui frowned: "But one stove shouldn't be enough to burn down the whole house, right?"

An old woman squatted on the ground, wailing, "Waaah—waaah—it was freezing that day! I moved the stove to the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) to dry the quilts, and as soon as the steamed bun caught fire, sparks jumped onto the mattress... and the fire suddenly leaped up... It's all my fault... I deserve to die..."

Early the next morning.

After Liu Dong washed his face and brushed his teeth, he stepped into the courtyard and saw Yi Zhonghai sitting blankly in front of his charred house frame, his eyes not even moving.

An elderly woman sat beside the ruins, sobbing uncontrollably.

The neighbors gathered in twos and threes, gently offering their advice.

"Hey, Master Yi? Is this... a fire?"

Liu Dong pretended to have just heard about it, his tone full of surprise.

Yi Zhonghai nodded mechanically, his throat dry.

Need a helping hand?

Liu Dong wiped the toothpaste foam from the corner of his mouth, looking sincere: "I'm so sorry, I was sleeping so soundly that I didn't hear a sound, and I didn't even know when I started to have a fever!"

"No need!" Yi Zhonghai forced a smile. "This is all your aunt's fault—she forgot to turn off the stove and burned everything in the house down, not a single piece of wood was left!"

"Waaah... I have no face to live anymore... All the money has been burned to ashes... Old Yi's bicycle is gone too..." The old woman cried and pounded her chest.

Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden clench in his chest.

That's right, he had already saved up enough money to buy the bicycle, and he even had the ticket under his pillow.

Ugh……

He let out a long sigh.

Which one is just a bicycle?

This fire is like burning him back to the pre-liberation era.

The money is gone, and the tickets are gone too;

The bedding, cabinets, pots and pans were all turned into black charcoal residue;

The most deadly thing is the cloth ration coupons—now a foot of cloth is more precious than meat!

What will I wrap myself in tonight if I don't have a blanket?

Shoes burned off, so you're walking barefoot?

The house is in even worse condition; half of the pillars have collapsed, and it will cost at least two hundred dollars to repair!

Liu Dong rinsed his mouth as he strolled over to Yi Zhonghai, spitting out the water in his mouth. "Master Yi, your situation is special. I suggest you hurry to the subdistrict office and talk to Director Zhang. In my opinion, the ticket issue should be resolved with a 80% success rate!"

Yi Zhonghai's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Uncle Yi, please just say what you need to say!"

Liu Dong draped a towel over his shoulder and straightened his back: "I can't afford to give you money or help you financially, but I can't skimp on your emotional support! You absolutely can't give up; we have to stand tall and rebuild our new home!"

"If you need any help, I'll be there anytime! And—if our tricycle hasn't been sent to the repair shop yet, I'll bring it over for you to use right away!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and went to the tap to get water to rinse his teeth.

The surrounding area immediately erupted in praise:

"Liu Dong is truly kind!"

"That's right! In this compound, they're the two most enthusiastic and reasonable people!"

"Tsk tsk tsk... Master Yi was criticizing him yesterday, but today he's offering him a ladder of support. What a magnanimous person!"

Hearing these words, Yi Zhonghai's temples throbbed, and he almost fainted.

I'm burning up with fever and you're here playing the role of Lei Feng?

What do you mean by "emotional support"...? What I lack isn't emotional support, it's food and blankets!

gas!

That's infuriating!

"Pfft—Pfft—"

Liu Dong rinsed his mouth with the last mouthful of water.

At this moment, Jia Dongxu slowly strolled out of the house, stretched, and his hair was still sticking up in the air.

"Dongxu?" Liu Dong stared at him. "You...are you alright?"

Jia Dongxu grinned: "I'm all better now! I ate too much last night, a good night's rest and I'll calm down!"

"Can't you hold out for a couple of days before going back to work? Why do you have to rush to the factory like that?"

"I've eaten." Jia Dongxu patted his stomach. "I'm full, time to get back to work!"

Liu Dong's face darkened: "Jia Dongxu! Search your conscience—your master got up in the middle of the night to rush to the hospital to save you, and now your own family is burning up like this, and you don't even bother to look at them?"

"Look at your master! He hasn't even had a sip of hot soup yet! And you've eaten your fill? Go get your master a bowl of porridge!"

"And where will he sleep tonight? With only half a wall left after the fire, you're expecting him to sleep on the floor in the open?"

Jia Dongxu's face flushed red to his ears.

The neighbors also turned their heads to look:

"That's right! Master Yi was late in turning off the stove because of him!"

"What kind of apprentice doesn't even provide a meal?"

"Why keep someone like that around for the New Year?"

"All that effort for nothing!"

Everyone chimed in with their own comments, while Jia Dongxu shrank back, unsure of what to do with his hands.

"Shut up, all of you!!!"

Jia Zhangshi burst through the courtyard gate with a bang, hands on her hips, and roared, "The Yi family's house burned down, what does that have to do with us?! We didn't start the fire! Let whoever wants to gossip do it, stop pretending to be a good person here!" You keep arguing, I'm leaving first!

Liu Dong slipped away as fast as he could, making a clean getaway.

I didn't care much about breakfast, so I just made a plate of fried rice with diced meat.

The three chatted as they ate their rice. Chen's mother frowned and asked, "Liu Dong, where did this meat come from? I didn't see you go out to buy meat. Besides, who dares to buy meat without ration coupons these days?"

"Hey!" Liu Dong chuckled. "Mom, a friend gave it to me. His factory is a meat processing plant, so getting meat isn't hard for him. He was craving our old liquor, so he traded meat for it."

"Oh..." Chen's mother nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

After finishing their meal, Liu Dong pushed his bicycle and took Chen Xueru to work.

Halfway there, Chen Xueru suddenly spoke up: "Brother Liu Dong, I have something to tell you."

"Go ahead and say it."

"Now everyone in the country lives on ration coupons, and you know what kind of people my brother and sister-in-law are. I reckon they'll definitely come over to freeload in three to five days, or at most a week."

Liu Dong laughed: "If they come, just give them some scraps and send them on their way."

"No way!" Chen Xueru shook her head. "You don't understand my brother. If you give him a bite today, he'll want a whole pot tomorrow! He's never suffered since he was a child. This time, I'm going to make him taste it."

"When he comes to borrow money or food, whatever he wants, don't say a word and don't be soft-hearted—see how I deal with him."

"Uh..." Liu Dong scratched his forehead, "Is it really necessary for siblings to fight like this?"

He also understood that Chen Xueru was trying to teach her brother a lesson.

Firstly, it was meant to teach Chen Zhongze a lesson, and secondly, it was time to vent our anger after holding it in for so long.

"So, should I just pretend to be stupid then?" Liu Dong asked.