CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: AN EXAMPLE MUST BE MADE

It’s already past the beginning of autumn now, and the weather is getting drier. It’s easiest to start a fire; just a little spark can burn down a whole house, which is intolerable.

It was because of this fact, and now that the Li family is cultivating this wasteland to grow things, making it known to everyone in the village. Aunt Liu doesn’t know what exactly they’re planting, but it must be something they can exchange for money, right?

How can such a good thing be allowed to let the Li family succeed?

She already hated Long Yue to death, and last time she got tricked by Li Qingmu, and now she’s fed up with the entire Li family, so she can’t bear to see them doing well.

Setting a fire, that’s a good method!

Thinking about the two acres of crops that the Li Family worked so hard on being ruined by her, Aunt Liu couldn’t be happier. That sense of thrill was enough to blow her mind, hahaha!

Feeling triumphant, she poured the oil even more vigorously. In no time, she had poured a small circle. Seeing it was about right, she lit the flint.

"Burn, burn, burn them all to ashes, hahaha!"

Aunt Liu watched the flames rise and immediately laughed out loud in triumph. The frustration she had endured from Long Yue and the Li family over the past month was instantly gone, and her heart was indescribably refreshed!

But she had only laughed three times when three angry voices came from behind her.

"There’s a fire, there’s a fire! Oh my god, our medicine field is on fire!"

"Look, that woman set the fire! She’s the one who did it, damn it, catch her!"

"Yes, catch her!"

Long Yue was the last to speak, but she was the quickest to act, immediately rushing forward and pinning Aunt Liu to the ground, tying her up.

"Put out the fire, quickly!"

Since they knew someone was going to start a fire, they all brought fire extinguishing tools; even thick quilts could put out a fire.

Li Qinghai swiftly threw an old quilt over it and stomped on it, shouting loudly as he stomped, "Help, somebody, put out the fire, come quickly, there’s an arsonist——"

"Oh dear, help us, our field is on fire, this wicked thing, coming to set fire to our field in the middle of the night, how can people live like this, boo hoo hoo..."

Mrs. Wang ran over, panting, and when she saw the flames, she was dumbfounded, then cried loudly, her wailing piercing through the night, waking up several households nearby.

The head of the household closest by stuck his head out. He initially wanted to curse for being woken up in the middle of the night but instinctively called out to wake up his wife when he saw the fire in the field, then put on his clothes to help extinguish the fire.

"Put out the fire, put out the fire!"

"Come quickly to put out the fire!"

One household after another was awakened, and a group of people went to put out the fire.

The fire wasn’t actually very big, but because the weather was too dry, it spread quickly, so in a short time, it burned a large area. It took a group of people a good half a day to finally put out the flames.

"Thank you, thank you! We’ll treat you all to a drink later!"

The Li family members thanked continuously and promised benefits, and then everyone saw Aunt Liu tied up like a zongzi.

"Boo hoo, it’s not me, you’ve got the wrong person!"

Aunt Liu still insisted it wasn’t her, keeping up the denial.

"It is you!" Li Qingyuan angrily pointed at her, "This woman is so wicked; she came to burn our field! Today she burns our house, tomorrow she could burn someone else’s; how can we accept that?"

The villagers initially didn’t think it was a big deal since it wasn’t their farmland that got burned, and they considered coming to help fight the fire good enough. But after Li Qingyuan’s words, they all became agitated.

Yeah, today it’s this family she burns, tomorrow it could be another; how can that be tolerated?

Among neighbors, who doesn’t have a little argument?

Because of some verbal disputes, does that mean they should destroy farmland?

In these times, everyone relies on farming for a living. This act is a method of complete destruction, and it will bring down heavenly retribution!

"It can’t just be brushed off like this!"

A villager said this, thinking his own fields might also be coveted in this way, his heart became fearful immediately.

Once there’s one occurrence, there’ll be a second; if it’s not severely punished, in the future, people will follow the example—a disaster that no one can ensure won’t fall upon them!

The Li family was simply lucky, happening to catch Aunt Liu coming to set the fire when they visited the latrine at night; if one slept soundly, they’d have no idea who did it!

"Call the government!"

"Yes, send her to the government, let them handle it!"

Burning farmland in the agricultural era is a terribly serious crime; once convicted, one might first get beaten and then spend a decade or more in prison, effectively ending their life.

So, when Aunt Liu’s son Pang Hu heard she might be taken to the government, he cried out in fear: "No, please, don’t take my mom to the government, she’ll die, wah wah wah..."

"This..."

Seeing Pang Hu crying so desperately, some villagers softened and went over to the Li family, saying, "I think just some punishment is fine, no need for the government...otherwise, wouldn’t Pang Hu be pitiful without a mother?"

"Yeah, exactly, this... People make mistakes, don’t they? Your farmland didn’t suffer much loss; I think how about this, just let the Liu family compensate the lost grains..."

"This Aunt Liu dared to do such a despicable thing; thankfully it was found out early. If it wasn’t, wouldn’t the Li family be done for? I think sending her to the government is right; just because someone has a child, do we have to cover up for them? The Li family also has children!"

"Isn’t that the case?"

"..."

For a moment, the villagers were split into two sides: one thought a slight punishment was enough, the other thought she should be sent to the government for legal handling.

Long Yue looked at Aunt Liu’s son Pang Hu, the little one was weeping pitifully, truly arousing sympathy, but she wouldn’t relent.

"We let your mom go, then who lets our farmland go? Such unvirtuous acts should be severely punished; if we set a precedent today, I’m afraid peace will be a thing of the past in our village!"

In one sentence, Long Yue set the tone for this issue: today you may want to let her go, but when such destructive acts happen often in the village in the future, don’t say nobody warned you!

People are selfish, enjoying being sanctimonious when it doesn’t affect their interests, but once it does, they’ll instantly transform into Demons!

After Long Yue finished, she courteously thanked the villagers, smiling as she said, "Many thanks for everyone’s help earlier. Once the plants mature, we’ll treat everyone to a meal. As for her... we’ll take her away now, and first thing in the morning, she will be sent to the government!"

It was already close to midnight, and with Long Yue’s words, the villagers felt it was improper to intervene further, so they all returned home. Seeing no one speaking up for his mom, Pang Hu cried anxiously, clinging to his dad’s leg, "Dad, please save Mom!"