Carpenter's Lady

Chapter 40

Wu Ling and Ding Erye stayed in the county all the time, and there were two or three letters, but the return date was never mentioned.On November [-]th, the jacket that Zhang Mu had made for Wu Ling had also finished sewing. Erniang Ding discussed with her to make a pair of padded shoes for their master again, but the family was not satisfied with the design and color. He frowned and said: "In the past, the two little ones could just make a pair casually, but now they are all walking outside, and they are too shabby, and outsiders have to look down on them."

Zhang Mu remembered that there were still a lot of rags left at home, so he said: "Mother, I bought a lot of rags before and haven't used them up yet. There are a few pieces of satin that are of good color. I'll go back and get them now!"

Ding Erniang responded, looked at the beauty and rolled her eyes, then smiled and said: "Have you finished eating the small fish at home? I will go to the vegetable market to buy some small fish later and go back to dry. There are not many left to dry here." It will find a way to eat it every day."

"Mom, you spoil it so much, it is becoming more and more lawless, and even dares to steal dried fish!" Zhang Mu felt a headache when he thought of the small dried fish that disappeared inexplicably at home.

"Meow meow!" When my mother-in-law didn't spoil me, I ate it haha~
Ding Erniang touched the beauty's belly, watching it happily pawing in her arms, her heart softened.I don't know if she didn't notice it before, or this cat is really smarter than other cats. She thought the cat would not be able to eat the dried fish hanging on the bamboo pole, but as the dried fish at home kept disappearing, this cat always It looked satisfied, so she paid attention to it, looked at its nest, and found a small dried fish!

Ding Erniang paid attention to it for a few days, but she didn't find out how the cat ate the dried fish, so she had to let it go, but the cat was also clever, and it followed her in and out every day. Turn it over, let you tickle it, she thinks it is much more caring than her own son and the old man. At this time, remembering that good cats like to eat dried fish, she suggested it when she liked it.

Zhang Mu glared at the beauty as a warning, she didn't want to make beauty's mouth tricky, she was afraid that one day she and Wu Ling would be in trouble, and the cat would starve to death!So for the dried fish it likes to eat, Zhang Mu has always controlled the quantity.It's just that the mother-in-law spoke, and it was because of her cat, so Zhang Mu couldn't disagree.

At night, Zhang Mu was woken up by the beauty's claws, so he had to half-open his eyes and helplessly lift the beauty into the bed.

"Meow! Meow!" the beauty called out uncharacteristically.

Zhang Mu was startled, she seemed to hear noises outside, she sat up with her clothes on, hugged the beauty and listened to her for a while, there seemed to be footsteps, shouting, and commotion, Zhang Mu immediately cheered up and put on his clothes.

"Amu, Amu, are you awake?" Ding Erniang hurriedly knocked on the door from outside.

"Mom, I'm up, and I'm here to open the door!" Zhang Mu fastened his button and walked towards the door.

As soon as the door opened, a gust of cold air rushed in.The beauty shook her body.

"Amu, there seems to be an accident outside, I'll come and have a look ahead with you!" Ding Erniang saw Zhang Mu's clothes neatly on her body, so she took her hand and went to the front shop.

The couple didn't know what was going on outside, and they didn't dare to open the door, so they stood in the shop and listened to the movement on the street, and vaguely heard: "Is anyone coming out...?"

"The Chen family and the Zhu family at the alley have come out,...the Wu family's...!"

"...Did the mayor send someone there?"

"..."

When Zhang Mu heard about the Chen family and the Zhu family at the alley, he secretly felt bad. They were not the two families at the alley! "Mom, maybe something happened in our alley!"

"Well, I reckon it's the same, Amu, it's just us and my wife at home, so we better not go out, the street is so chaotic, if something happens, there is no way to explain it." Ding Erniang said with a frown.

"Mom, I understand. The most important thing in the family is the beauty. I brought her here. It doesn't matter if the others are missing!"

After hearing this, Ding Erniang felt a little more relaxed. When Amu came over, she brought two changes of clothes and a cat. The young couple lived there for a few months, so they must have bought them. There are a lot of things, the money that Amu earned some time ago may still be there, she is afraid that this girl will not want to see it for a while.

Knowing about it in her heart, Ding Erniang took Zhang Mu back to the house and went to sleep. Ding Erniang didn't go to her main house, and the two of them left their minds and went to sleep in Wuling's hut without lighting the lights. , lying on the bed with all clothes on, didn't fall asleep for a long time, just tried to listen to the movement outside with his ears sideways.

There are unwritten rules on the streets. If something happens at night, the store will open later in the morning, because I am afraid that I will see something inappropriate when I open the door.Therefore, the shops that opened one after another in Limaochu on weekdays were pushed to Chenshi today.People from the village below who came to the town to buy things came in from the entrance of the town, and they saw that Baique Lane was covered with charcoal. Find a place to sit and chat in twos and threes.

Ding Erniang and Zhang Mu didn't sleep well at night, and when the sky was bright in the morning, they felt a little relieved, and they both fell asleep in a daze.

When they woke up and opened the door, Ding Erniang and Zhang Mu found out that Baique Lane was flooded last night, and it burned until midnight.The houses in the middle of the alley were the most severely burned. Father Lin walked slowly in order to grab the rice at home, and was hit in the leg by a falling beam.The Shi family's daughter-in-law was pregnant and was so frightened that she had a miscarriage on the spot.

Zhang Mu felt something strange in his heart, the Lin family lived on the left side of his house, and the Shi family was on the right side of her house, so wouldn't it be more serious in her house?
When Zhang Mu ran to the entrance of Baique Alley, he saw that the brand-new walls were a bit dilapidated after being smoky, so he suppressed his panic and walked quickly into the alley.

The gate has collapsed, the original two red doors, now it is difficult to find a little of the original color, the black carbon block sharply hurt Zhang Mu's eyes.The three tile-roofed houses have collapsed, and the girders are piled up in the ruins with burnt black beams. The bamboo basket Wu Ling prepared for her, the table under the east window, and the small dried fish she just dried for the beauty are all gone. , Even the sweet-scented osmanthus and plum blossoms planted by Wu Ling in the yard are gone.Zhang Mu leaned on Ding Erniang's shoulder, resisting the urge to cry.

"Amu, don't be sad, wait for the two of them to come back, and then build a bigger house!" Ding Erniang patted Zhang Mu's back while looking around the coke-like yard. Go to her place, and when Ah Ling comes back to see, I'm afraid it won't be such a lively person who can still be so sad and cry.

"Miss Wu, so you weren't at home yesterday, we all thought you didn't escape!"

Zhang Mu raised his head from Ding Erniang's shoulder and saw that it was Aunt Lin, and said hoarsely, "Aunt Lin, what's going on?"

"Hey! Who knows! In the middle of last night, the dog in the alley was barking desperately. My old man was woken up, and he could faintly see a fire outside, otherwise our family would have fallen asleep!" Aunt Lin Looking at the ruins in front of her, she wiped away her tears with her hand. Her son managed to save enough money to build four large tile-roofed houses in the town, but they just disappeared.

Zhang Mu saw that Aunt Lin was also tear-stained, so he didn't want to ask more questions. Aunt Lin came back to look for something useful, so he didn't pass by right away. Zhang Mu stepped on the stone, and every step he took, his heart ached. Ling was so careful when he arranged it at the beginning, thinking of his doting and flattering eyes, his heart throbbed. It would be so sad if he knew!

"Second aunt, brother and sister, you are really here!"

Ding Erniang raised her head, and saw her nephew Ding Da also rushing over.

"Oh, Ah Da, you came just in time, neither of us have any idea in mind! How did this happen so suddenly?" If Amu was at home last night, what would he do?

Ding Erniang looked at the ruins and felt terrified in her heart.

"Second Aunt, I inquired about it this morning and found something strange. People who saw it last night said that the fire came from A Ling's house, but since my younger siblings and A Ling are not at home, where did the fire come from?" Where is it?" Ding Da looked at the ruins, feeling a little heavy in his heart, something might have happened to Ershu and A Ling in the county, who in this town has the guts to set off such a big fire!Just looking at the helpless faces of his second aunt and younger siblings, he didn't dare to speak out his guess, otherwise he would just add to their worries for no reason.

Ding Erniang and Ding Erye have been doing business for many years, and they have gone through some troubles. Ding Da vomited a little, and she had doubts in her heart. She didn't break it right away, supported Zhang Mu, and persuaded: "Amu, Let's find out if there is anything else we can use, it's also your newly married house with A Ling, so it's good to keep it in mind!"

Zhang Mu also knew that it wasn't when he was crying hypocritically, so he hurriedly wiped away the tears, walked back and forth among the ruins, looked at the dark pile of wood and rubble, and didn't know where to start, the person who put the bed in the east room The position has also been flattened. Thinking of the wedding day, Wu Ling lifted her hijab with sparkling eyes, and her heart throbbed again and again. This is her and Wu Ling's home!

"Brothers and sisters, it's probably all burnt out, let's go back first!" Ding Da was worried, and felt that it would not be good for Zhang Mu to stay here for a long time.

For a moment, Zhang Mu didn't know where to start, so he nodded and walked towards the door. Everything in his house was burned, "No, there are still grinding tools!" Said: "The molds for making jujube cakes were all made in the blacksmith's shop, and they should still be there!" Then he walked to the waste pile in the kitchen.

Ding Da couldn't bear to watch her digging through the pile of rubble, so he also knelt down and searched for her.

Ding Erniang's eyes flashed, the kitchen of A Ling's house is not connected to the main house, there is a long distance between them, even if the wind is strong at night, such a long distance is not worth anything in the corner of the wall!How did this fire come here?
(End of this chapter)