latelenovela Chapter 680 Arson
Chapter 680 Arson
As soon as she entered, Xia Yu came over and said, "Madam, we caught someone last night who wanted to come in and set the fire."
Du Mingxian raised her eyebrows slightly and followed Xia Yu to the backyard, where she saw a man with his hands and feet tied, lying on the ground, with something for starting fires next to him.
Looking at the three jars of kerosene, she was filled with rage. They really weren't afraid of causing deaths; there were still quite a few people staying in the restaurant.
"Have you been recruited?"
“They didn’t tell us the truth. They said someone gave him money to come and set fire to our backyard. Once the fire started, he could get the rest of the money.”
"Alright, then send him to the authorities, send him off in a grand procession through the city."
"Yes."
Xia Yu kicked the man twice, and he slowly woke up. When he saw Xia Yu, he trembled instinctively, seemingly terrified.
"Untie the rope and chase him away with the whip."
"Yes."
Xia Yu carried a jar of kerosene in one hand and a whip in the other, urging the man to leave. If he was slow, she would lash him with the whip, and blood would immediately seep from his clothes. A man in the shop, carrying two other jars, followed Xia Yu to the yamen.
Xia Yu urged people out, and people immediately gathered on the street to watch. Everyone pointed and whispered, and many people said that Xia Yu was heartless, but Xia Yu ignored them.
The man following behind Xia Yu was specially chosen by Du Mingxian. He hurriedly said from behind, "We are from Shiweilou. This man came over last night with kerosene and wanted to burn us to death."
“There are quite a few people in our restaurant. If he sets fire to it, at least several of them will die. If we hadn’t been sleeping soundly, we would be corpses by now.”
The people who had previously called Xia Yu ruthless immediately changed their tune upon hearing these words and deliberately set fire to the house. This was murder; no one wants their home to be burned down while they are sleeping.
The shouting grew louder and louder, and more and more people gathered around. Xia Yu was the one hitting the other.
The man was quick-witted. His hands and feet weren't tied up, and seeing the crowd, he thought of escaping. As the crowd grew larger, he grabbed an old woman, shoved her behind him, and tried to run away.
Xia Yu leaped lightly, flicked her whip, and immediately wrapped it around the man's neck, pulling him backward. She really wasn't afraid of him dying.
The man fell to the ground, in so much pain he couldn't straighten up.
Xia Yu took two steps forward and stomped on him. "Do you really think we're stupid? Did you think we'd run away if we weren't tied up? Don't you think we'd do this if we weren't confident?"
The man was in so much pain that he couldn't speak. He coughed up blood as soon as he opened his mouth, and then, barely able to breathe, he said, "I really don't know who's behind this. Please spare me."
"Do you know that you'll get justice when you go to the yamen? Stop playing the victim here. I won't let you get away with this. When you tried to burn us alive, did you even consider that we are living, breathing human beings?"
The man felt faint, but Xia Yu tightened her grip on his leg. "Even if you faint now, I'll still wake you up and take you there. If I were you, I'd better behave myself and hurry to the yamen. That's the place where you can save your life."
"If you keep dragging your feet like this, I might actually kill you here. Wouldn't that be a pointless death for you?"
"No, you can't treat human life so lightly. If you kill me, you'll have to pay with your life." The man was a little clearer-headed at this moment.
Xia Yu chuckled, her voice not at all restrained, "Do you really think we're someone to be bullied? Since my master dares to open a restaurant here, he must have the strength."
"You don't even think about it properly. Even someone as skilled as me has to obediently acknowledge my master. Do you think just anyone can disobey my master? You can't see the situation clearly."
The man seemed to understand. He grabbed Xia Yu's foot with one hand and tried to push her leg away, but Xia Yu's leg was like a stone and he couldn't move it at all.
"I know I was wrong. I'll leave peacefully, please let me go."
She was right about one thing: the government office was his only hope for survival. If he continued to linger on the streets, still thinking about escaping, he might really become a cold corpse the next moment.
After having this understanding.
As Xia Yu lifted her foot, the man, ignoring the pain in his body, quickly got up from the ground, hunched over, and stumbled forward at an extremely fast pace.
Xia Yu walked slowly. The faster the man went, the more trouble he caused. He lost his footing and fell to the ground. Xia Yu didn't rush to find him. She maintained her previous pace. As soon as she got close, she would whip him.
The man knew Xia Yu wasn't in a hurry, so he quickly got up and ran a few steps to create some distance before slowly walking forward, always maintaining a certain distance.
He received fewer lashes after that.
People around kept pointing and whispering, saying that Xia Yu was no good and that she was too ruthless.
An insider explained that after hearing the explanation, the other party still said Xia Yu was ruthless, and the sentence they said most often was...
"This woman is too ruthless. How will she ever get married?"
Finally, the man following behind couldn't stand it anymore. He turned around and looked at the old lady who had been nagging him the whole way, and retorted, "No matter what, she's not someone for you to marry. She's capable, and there are plenty of men who want to marry her."
"Auntie, you seem to sympathize so much with that arsonist who deliberately set the fire. You wouldn't happen to be in cahoots with him, would you? Or are you being paid by someone to stir up trouble in the crowd?"
"Everyone has compassion. How can someone like this deserve sympathy? You need to put yourselves in his shoes. Today he's burning us, but what if he's burning you instead?"
"If a fire suddenly breaks out in your house while you're sleeping, can you stand it? You might find out early enough to survive, but your house could be gone."
"They were discovered too late; they lost their lives and their families."
After the man said that, many people changed the subject. The old woman who had just been rebuked was probably embarrassed, so she turned around and left without staying.
And so they made their way to the government office.
Du Mingxian didn't go with them, but stayed in the restaurant watching the staff tidy up. They had even prepared extra dishes today.
It was still early, not time to open the door yet, when someone knocked. Du Mingxian didn't move, and someone went to open the door. A moment later, someone ran over and said...
"Boss, the owner of the restaurant across the street is here. He says he wants to have a chat with you."
Du Mingxian suspected that the person who deliberately set the fire last night was the one from across the street. Now that the other party had come knocking, she wasn't in a hurry. "Let them in."
"Yes."
When the other party came in and saw Du Mingxian sitting there calmly, he got angry. His business was ruined by these people.
Yesterday, very few people went to his restaurant for meals.