After eight o'clock, nothing happened, and the usual scene of each morning unfolded before her. By nine o'clock, there was still no abnormality, whether it was the conversation between the waitresses, the sound of cleaning, the footsteps of speeding through the corridor, it was as usual. If anything, she finds these everyday sounds new.

Nine fifty a.m. Cheng Mingxiang was pushing an electric vacuum cleaner to clean the guest room, and the phone rang in the room. Despite the noisy noise of the vacuum cleaner, she had a gut feeling that someone was getting up and walking towards her.

"Cheng Mingxiang, there is a person named Guo Song looking for you, it's an outside phone."

Guo Song is the surname used by Guan's sister-in-law when she called.

"You are Miss Cheng Mingxiang, that is, Zhao Kuan's wife, right?" The man on the phone asked.

"Yes."

"There was a fire in your house last night, the situation is very serious, please come back immediately."

"Okay, I'll rush back right away."

After hanging up the phone, she realized that she had forgotten to ask who the other party was and how serious the situation was. Maybe it was because the other party said as expected, so she naturally forgot to ask.

When she got out of the taxi, she realized that the situation near her home had completely changed. The narrow alleys were full of standing water, surrounded by onlookers, and the smell of burning came to the nostrils, leaving traces of blockades at the scene, and broken ropes falling into puddles. It may be that when the fire broke out last night, the police pulled up a cordon to prevent onlookers from breaking in. A long, wet fire hose stretched on the ground, and a red fire truck was parked nearby, and onlookers also gathered nearby.

Cheng Mingxiang walked with her head down, and no one found out that she was the victim of this fire. She walked in front of the second blockade line, and the familiar residential area had two completely destroyed houses, one of which had become half-destroyed, and the scorched beams and pillars were still emitting a faint black smoke, which was extremely stinking, and every time she breathed, she would inhale the thick smell of smoke.

Cheng Mingxiang's home was completely destroyed, belongings were scattered everywhere, and there was standing water under his feet. As far as the eye can see, the sky suddenly widens, forming a new vision. At the scene of the devastated fire, four or five men armed with pickaxes sometimes assembled, sometimes looking under the rubble, occasionally talking, and the firefighters could be seen in between.

The other completely destroyed house was the home of Cheng Mingxiang's neighbor, and the half-destroyed one was the family that set up a stall in front of the station at night to sell oden. The half-ruined room was home to several young men. The owner may have been thanking them for the relief when the oden lady was busy in and out with a white apron, a tray with twelve or thirteen teacups in one hand and a teapot in the other.

Cheng Mingxiang didn't say hello to others, and everyone didn't have time to take care of her, so they were busy cleaning up the mess. Cheng Mingxiang didn't see the body, maybe it was crushed under the rubble with white smoke rising up, or maybe it was at the place where the four or five people were exploring. People who came to the disaster came to bring into the houses the furniture that nearby residents had urgently moved. Many people walked in the mud and watched the aftermath. Someone patted Cheng Mingxiang on the back, Cheng Mingxiang looked back, it was the owner of the wine shop on the street corner, he had a long face, and his eyes were usually dull, but today he was particularly sharp.

"Come over here." He whispered to Cheng Mingxiang.

She followed him, the socks on her feet blackened by the sewage.

"Sister-in-law Guan," the innkeeper whispered, walking side by side with her, "she's too late, if she had spoken earlier, she would have been able to contact you soon." ”

She didn't know the true meaning of these words, could it be that Sister-in-law Guan found out about the fire?

"It's been so serious that I don't even know where you are. Sister-in-law Guan is not bright-minded, and her words are not clear. It was not easy for me to find out that you work at the 'Fang Xian Hotel', so I just called you to inform you to rush back. It's also the first time I've known that Sister-in-law Guan called you with Guo Song's name. ”

After this explanation, Cheng Mingxiang finally understood that Sister-in-law Guan was reluctant to tell her whereabouts. Sister-in-law Guan did not tell Cheng Mingxiang about working in the "Fangxian Hotel", and dutifully guarded this secret. The owner of the liquor store blamed the mentally handicapped sister-in-law for the delay in notification.

"You must be shocked."

"Huh?"

"There's something I have to tell you." He said consciously in a mournful tone.

"Madam, you have to hold on...... Your husband passed away because of the fire. ”

Cheng Mingxiang suddenly seemed to be on fire all over her body, and she trembled with fright.

"When I knew that there was a fire in your house, the tongue of fire had already burst out, and there was no way to save your husband. In addition, he had difficulty moving, and finally ......"

"Ah......" Cheng Mingxiang nodded weakly, trembling all over.

"Do you hear me clearly? Ma'am, please cheer up. The fire started right in your house. ”

“……”

"Just now, the police of the police station and the fire unit have done an investigation, and the situation is consistent with Guan's sister-in-law's statement...... It's all to blame on the coal stove, I heard that Sister-in-law Guan added briquettes to the coal stove before leaving, I don't know if it's because the stove fire burned the furniture, or the coal stove was put next to the door to burn. In short, the biggest cause of fire is the fire caused by the fire. Sister-in-law Guan didn't pay special attention to fire prevention because of her bad head. ”

"My sir...... Where is my husband? ”

The staggered emotions of peace of mind and excitement surged into Cheng Mingxiang's heart at the same time.

"At the police station."

"The police station?" Cheng Mingxiang was surprised.

"Because I couldn't find a morgue for a while, I put it in the police station for the time being. We'll go over now. ”

The owner of the liquor shop was particularly enthusiastic, and he led Cheng Mingxiang to a man standing in the ruins with his hands folded.

"Thank you."

The man was about forty years old, with a Chinese face, a large flat head, and an angular face. He whispered a few words to the owner of the wine shop, as if mentioning Cheng Mingxiang. Cheng Mingxiang had a gut feeling that the man should be a policeman.

The man raised his face and greeted Cheng Mingxiang: "You are your wife, your husband has unfortunately passed away." His tone was not particularly regretful, "I heard that you have been working elsewhere?" The man who looked like a police officer asked.

"Yes."

"You must be freaking out when you're not home...... According to the survey, the fire started at your house, and did you keep a fire in your house all night? ”

"Yes, because my husband has been sick in bed, and there is no way to keep out the cold with a brazier alone, so before my sister-in-law leaves, she will add briquettes to the coal stove."

"Really? It seems that the fire was caused by the fire of the coal stove. ”

“……”

"Later, I might have some questions for you."

Cheng Mingxiang nodded at him and left. The words of the policeman-like man made her nervous. The so-called "I may ask you some questions later" should not be suspected of her arson, right? If the police thought the unidentified fire was suspicious, it was impossible for the owner of the liquor store who had enthusiastically informed her not to notice it, and she would have been taken to the police station immediately. Cheng Mingxiang thought that she must not mess with herself, and at the moment, even if she looked a little hasty, she might be suspected by the police, and she had to behave calmly and naturally.

"The person who found the fire," the owner of the liquor store walked up to Cheng Mingxiang and said, "it's the old insurance salesman next door to you." This old man had a strange problem, when he got up in the middle of the night, he liked to go to the side of the road to relieve himself. At half past one in the morning, when he came out to relieve himself, he found a fire under the roof of your house, and he was so frightened that he came to knock on my door, so I quickly called 119......"

Cheng Mingxiang knew that it was past one o'clock in the morning, that is, not long after she poured gasoline.

The old man said that if he hadn't discovered it earlier, the Eight Achievements would have caused a catastrophe. He also said that if the fire truck was five minutes late, the area might have burned out. After all, it was a crowded residential area nearby, and fortunately the fire engine arrived in time......"

The owner of the wine shop whispered in Cheng Mingxiang's ear again: "The neighbors didn't notice it in advance before the fire." The old insurance salesman said that he was so tired during the day that he slept very deeply at night; The one who sells oden has to do business until dawn, so he left the child at home...... Your husband is so pitiful, even if he finds that there is a fire in his house, he will not be able to escape with his sick body in tow, and I think he must have suffered a lot of torture before he died. ”

Cheng Mingxiang couldn't help but lower her head.