PCJ – Chapter 171 Fire

Fire! Such a big fire!

Zhang Jiaohua saw a person entirely engulfed in flames rush out of a building. Zhang Jiaohua tried to see the person’s face clearly, but it was obscured by the flames, making it impossible to discern.

“Ah!” Zhang Jiaohua exclaimed again; the scene was simply too terrifying.

“What happened?” Luo Changjun asked.

Zhang Jiaohua was jolted awake by Luo Changjun’s question. Looking again, the fried dough stall was completely fine. Seeing such a scene twice in a row, Zhang Jiaohua found it strangely unsettling.

“I, I saw the fried dough stall on fire again, and someone was completely on fire,” Zhang Jiaohua said with lingering fear.

“You saw it again?” Luo Changjun immediately noticed the word “again” in Zhang Jiaohua’s statement.

“I saw it once when we first arrived,” Zhang Jiaohua’s face looked somewhat pale.

“Don’t be paranoid, it’s probably just your imagination,” Luo Changjun dismissed it lightly.

“Uncle Luo, you should carry the protective talisman I gave you. And give one to Grandpa Luo too,” Zhang Jiaohua suddenly said.

Luo Changjun smiled and started the car, “Alright, don’t worry. I’ll make sure Grandpa Luo wears one too.”

Luo Changjun found Zhang Jiaohua amusing but also thought the child was sincere. Though he didn’t believe in the protective power of the talisman, he kept it carefully. He couldn’t let down a child’s good intentions.

Upon reaching Meizi Village, the sound of the car immediately drew the local children. Dumb was at the front. Seeing Zhang Jiaohua get out of the car, he was envious, “Jiaohua, you’re amazing. Even Zhang Dechun hasn’t ridden in a car, and you’ve already done it twice.”

Luo Changjun couldn’t help but laugh at Dumb’s words.

“Uncle Zhang, Jiaohua, I’ve brought you here safely. My task is complete, so I’ll head back now,” Luo Changjun said as he unloaded the bicycle from the car.

“Alright. Be careful on the road.”

As the car was about to start, Zhang Jiaohua shouted to Luo Changjun, “Uncle Luo, make sure to wear the talisman. And remember to give one to Grandpa Luo.”

Luo Changjun waved to Zhang Jiaohua and sped away from Meizi Village.

Zhang Manyin was very grateful, standing by the roadside watching Luo Changjun turn and disappear before heading home.

“Jiaohua! Is this bicycle yours?” Dumb asked in surprise.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded, “Yes, someone gave it to me.”

“City people are really rich. A bicycle costs more than two hundred yuan!” Dumb said, his eyes shining.

“Hey, Dumb, help me push the bicycle to my house,” Zhang Jiaohua said with a smile.

Dumb eagerly helped Zhang Jiaohua push the bicycle to his house.

“Jiaohua, leave the seeds with Grandpa, I’ll help you plant them,” Zhang Manyin, an experienced farmer, offered. He knew that Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t manage it alone.

However, Zhang Jiaohua felt that if he relied too much on his grandfather, who would be credited with the small plot of land they were planting? So he promptly refused, “No need, I can do it myself.”

“What? How do you know how to plant seeds?” Zhang Manyin was taken aback.

“I really can. There’s an instruction manual on the seed bag,” Zhang Jiaohua pointed to the writing on the seed bag.

“Don’t be reckless. If you delay the sprouting, you’ll waste the seeds and miss the early rice planting season,” Zhang Manyin was worried about Zhang Jiaohua’s inexperience.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Zhang Jiaohua dismissed his concerns. He was thinking about how to plant beans, not rice. Just dig a hole, put the seed in, and cover it with soil, right?

If Zhang Manyin knew what Zhang Jiaohua was thinking, he’d probably be extremely anxious.

“Alright, take the seeds home and store them properly. It’s best to hang them on a beam,” Zhang Manyin couldn’t help but remind him.

“I know, I know,” Zhang Jiaohua nodded repeatedly, but he was thinking about planting the seeds that very night. With the help of Jinhu and the others, it would be done quickly.

Zhang Manyin was still worried and turned back after a short distance to say, “Jiaohua, if you don’t know how to sprout the seeds, come get me. Don’t mess around.”

“Got it!” Zhang Jiaohua frowned, thinking his grandfather was too nagging.

After dropping off Zhang Manyin and Zhang Jiaohua at Meizi Village, Luo Changjun drove while thinking about the fried dough stall. Seeing it on fire twice in a row was peculiar, and Zhang Jiaohua’s insistence on wearing the talisman hinted at something. Luo Changjun had similar concerns about Old Xiao’s fried dough stall. Zhang Jiaohua’s repeated reminders made him uneasy, so he turned his car towards the old house instead of heading home.

From a distance, he saw smoke rising from the street where the old house was. Luo Changjun’s heart sank, “This is bad!”

As he got closer, the car couldn’t go any further because the street was crowded with people.

“Fire! It’s on fire!”

“Whose house is burning?”

“It’s Old Xiao’s fried dough stall. I’ve always worried about it catching fire.”

“This is trouble. That area is all wooden houses. The old houses should have been demolished long ago. Now with a fire, who knows how much will be lost.”

…

Jumping out of the car, Luo Changjun heard the crowd’s discussions. Regret filled him; if only he’d heeded Zhang Jiaohua’s warning earlier, things might have been different.

Luo Changjun ran towards the old house, anxious about his father’s safety and whether he’d been burned.

The crowd wasn’t just there to watch; many were helping to fight the fire. They formed two lines, passing buckets and basins of water to the fire scene. New or old, they came from all over, but in times like this, saving the house took priority. Without formal organization, the rescuers created two long lines to pass full buckets forward and empty ones back, continuously dousing the flames.

Luo Changjun was frantic, knowing his house was next to Old Xiao’s fried dough stall. He urgently needed to know if his father, Luo Yongming, was safe.