Chapter 289: Fire

Zhou Yimin saw Laifang looking at him with pitiful eyes, so he used his chopsticks to pick up another abalone and gave it to her. “Third Aunt, it’s fine. There’s plenty more.”

After that, he gave one each to the brothers Laifu and Laicai. He didn’t mind at all, since there were still plenty of abalones stored in the shop space.

If he didn’t take the initiative, Third Aunt definitely wouldn’t let Laifang and the others take more themselves.

When Laifang saw another abalone in her bowl, she continued eating happily.

Though Zhou Xuqiang and Third Aunt also really wanted more, they restrained themselves and only had one each. Children might not know better, but adults couldn’t afford to act so thoughtlessly.

The rest of the abalones ended up in the stomachs of Zhou Yimin and his grandparents, but even so, Third Aunt’s family still had quite a bit of chicken. Just being able to eat meat was already a luxury.

After eating, the three siblings Laifu, Laifang, and Laicai leaned back in their chairs without any care for appearances, their bellies sticking out.

Third Aunt tidied up the dishes—something she always did.

Once she was done, she took her family home. It was getting late anyway.

Zhou Yimin didn’t want to rush back to the capital so late, so he stayed the night at Zhou Family Village.

Before seven in the morning, the village loudspeaker started blaring—the usual signal in the countryside for everyone to gather for work.

Zhou Yimin was jolted awake by the noise. If this were modern times, it would already count as disturbing the peace, and public security would probably come talk to them.

Since he was already awake, he decided to go check out how construction on the reservoir was coming along.

After a quick wash-up, he made his way to the construction site in the back hills. Thanks to recent clearing work, the road was open and the weeds had been dealt with, so the path was easy to walk. After ten or twenty minutes, he arrived.

The site was bustling with activity. Xu Xiangbei was directing the villagers like a general commanding a vast army.

“Brother Xu, you’re here early,” Zhou Yimin greeted enthusiastically.

When Xu Xiangbei saw it was Zhou Yimin, he responded, “Yimin, you’re back from your trip?”

There were no secrets in the countryside. Within half a day, the whole village would know everything. Xu Xiangbei had been coming often to supervise the construction, so it wasn’t surprising he knew.

“Yeah, I got back a couple of days ago,” Zhou Yimin replied.

He extended an invitation. “Brother Xu, I brought back some seafood from Jinmen. Come by my place later and try some.”

Xu Xiangbei swallowed at the mention of seafood and didn’t stand on ceremony. “Sure, I’ll come by after work.”

He had visited Zhou Family Village many times and was now familiar with everyone. The initial awkwardness was long gone, and if there was good food to be had, why not?

Zhou Yimin also lent a hand at the construction site.

Even though the team leader told him not to and encouraged him to rest—since he had already done so much for the village and they didn’t want to keep taking advantage of him—Zhou Yimin insisted. The team leader had no choice but to let him do as he pleased.

Time passed quietly, and before long, it was already eleven. The sun was blazing, and everyone working on site was soaked in sweat—their clothes never had a chance to dry.

Just then, Zhou Yimin shouted, “Look over there! Why is there smoke?”

Everyone turned to look in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, saw smoke rising.

The team leader stepped forward. “Everyone keep working. I’ll go check it out with Zhou Anxu.”

The location looked like the guard shack, but they still had to go over to see for sure.

The guard shack was just a makeshift “scissor-frame hut” built with a few bamboo poles and two woven bamboo mats, with a grain-threshing barrel flipped over to serve both as a seat and a bed at night. The shelter was low and cramped.

If someone tried to hide in there during the day to slack off, they’d find it incredibly stuffy. There was no insulation, and with how short it was, it was bound to be hot and miserable.

Zhou Yimin was curious and followed along. It was a good excuse to take a break too.

Soon, they reached the shack and found four kids roasting something over a fire.

The kids were so absorbed in what they were doing that they didn’t even notice the team leader and Zhou Yimin approaching.

Zhou Yimin recognized two of the children: Laifu and Laicai. The other two he didn’t recognize.

“Laifu! Laicai! What are you two doing here?”

His sudden voice startled the kids, and one of them accidentally kicked the fire.

Flames immediately spread to the nearby guard shack.

Seeing this, Zhou Yimin and the team leader rushed forward to put it out. If the fire spread, it could easily burn down the whole forested hill.

Back then, firefighting technology was basic—none of the modern gear we have today. They had no good way to control a large fire.

The four kids were so frightened they froze in place.

Zhou Anxu dashed forward and shoved the children out of the way, but he wasn’t so lucky—part of the shack collapsed on him.

The team leader and Zhou Yimin hurried over. Thankfully, the structure wasn’t heavy. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn’t have been able to lift it.

They moved Zhou Anxu to a safe spot and began putting out the fire. Cloth was precious back then, so they couldn’t bear to use their clothes to smother the flames. They had to clear away anything flammable nearby to keep the fire from spreading.

After more than half an hour of hard work, they finally got the blaze under control.

The four kids, knowing they were in big trouble, didn’t say a word and just stood there with their heads hung low.

Zhou Yimin, clearly angry, questioned them with a sharp tone. “Laifu, Laicai, why were you playing with fire?”

It was the first time he had ever been this angry. If Zhou Anxu hadn’t saved them, who knows what might’ve happened—he didn’t even want to imagine it.

The two brothers knew how serious it was and didn’t try to hide anything. They admitted honestly, “We caught a rat just now, and Daniu and the others said we should roast it and eat it.”

Laifu and Laicai weren’t desperate for meat anymore and didn’t really care for rat meat, but they couldn’t resist their friends’ persuasion, so they lit a fire to roast it.

Hearing this, the team leader and Zhou Anxu both sighed. They couldn’t really blame the kids. If it had been them at that age, they probably would’ve done the same. Without Zhou Yimin’s help, it was hard to imagine how hard life in the village would still be.

Zhou Yimin didn’t know what else to say.

“Go thank your Uncle Anxu right now. If it weren’t for him, you’d be in big trouble.”

The four children chorused, “Thank you, Uncle Anxu.”

One of the more timid ones immediately burst into tears. What had started as roasting a rat—nothing too serious—had turned into a huge incident. There was no way they’d avoid a beating when they got home.

(End of Chapter)