Chapter 107 – Set Aflame

"No, I’m not asleep. Come in."

As Zhou Qing spoke, she picked up a dry towel to dry her hair.

This house wasn’t just fully furnished, the towels for drying hair, face, and even feet were so complete it was almost overwhelming.

Zhou Yao stepped inside after warming up a bit by the fire in the outer room.

"Big Sis, do you know how to use all those jars and bottles Uncle Zhong brought?"

When Uncle Zhong brought over that big box of cosmetics, each item came in three sets. She, Zhou Qing, and Zhao shi had split them right then and there.

But dividing them was one thing, figuring out how to use them was another headache entirely.

"I just tried to use some, but every jar I opened smelled so fragrant… I don’t even know how to apply them!"

As Zhou Yao spoke, Zhou Qing sat in front of the bronze mirror and opened the cosmetics.

At once—

She thought back to those novels she’d read before transmigrating. In them, the heroine would put on skincare products and instantly transform from a nobody into a fair-skinned beauty with long legs.

Was she a fake heroine?

Why couldn’t she even figure out how to use basic skincare?

The powder types she understood, those were clearly like modern foundation.

But what about the creams?

Seven or eight jars of cream in off-white and light pink shades, how was she supposed to know which one was for her face?

Or…

Were they all for the face?

Maybe Uncle Zhong, being a man, didn’t know either and just bought one of everything?

Typical rich person behavior.

After thinking it over, Zhou Qing cautiously picked a pale pink jar that smelled faintly of winter plum.

"I’m not too sure either. Let’s try this one for now. In a few days, when we’re free, we’ll go take a look at the cosmetics shop."

The two sisters chatted for a while and then turned in for the night.

Meanwhile, at the Ink Pavilion—

Uncle Zhong sat in a rattan chair, holding a cup of tea. In front of him stood a young man, plainly dressed but with sharp eyes.

"Zhou Yuan sent people to Qingyang Village. They originally intended to sneak into the courtyard at night and strike directly.

But with the Cheng family blocking the entrance, they couldn’t act. So they poured kerosene on the house and set it on fire instead.

There were too many people around at the time. We couldn’t intervene.

The Cheng family thought one of their own carelessly let a spark from a dry tobacco pipe set the place ablaze. They were terrified and tried to put the fire out.

But the kerosene burned too fiercely. No one could get inside, so they could only throw water from the outside and hope for the best."

Uncle Zhong: "They burned it?"

That ruthless?

Well… that meant Zhou Qing’s group had no reason to ever return to Qingyang Village now.

"So, did the Cheng family think Zhou Qing and the others died in the fire?"

The young man shook his head.

"Zhou Yuan’s people left when the flames were at their peak. By the time the villagers rushed in after the fire was out, they didn’t find any charred bodies in the ashes. So they assumed the people inside escaped during the chaos."

The moment the fire broke out, someone had alerted the village elder.

Almost the entire village came out to help put it out.

The scene was total chaos.

And the Cheng family was so focused on marrying Zhou Qing off, it made sense that the family might’ve slipped away in the confusion.

Uncle Zhong nodded. "Where did Zhou Yuan’s people go afterward?"

"They headed toward Pingzhou."

Hearing "Pingzhou," Uncle Zhong’s face changed instantly. "Pingzhou?"

He remembered, just before he left the capital, Shen Li had been secretly sent by the emperor to Pingzhou on a mission.

"Were they followed?"

The young man nodded. "Yes."

Uncle Zhong began to pace nervously.

Please let nothing happen in Pingzhou…

Early next morning

Before dawn, Zhou Ping was already up. He washed with cold water and headed straight for the martial arts hall in the back.

Horse stance, morning run, boxing drills, archery.

Before, he’d practiced based on what Shen Li had taught him.

Now, with Li Yi and Li Er giving guidance and proper equipment in the martial arts hall, Zhou Ping trained with even more enthusiasm.

Zhou Huailin swept the courtyard. Zhao shi cooked. Meanwhile, Zhou Yao discovered something amazing in the back row of rooms.

An entire row of rear rooms had been opened into one big space.

It was lined with neat bookshelves.

Books of all kinds filled the shelves.

Just the storybooks alone filled two full shelves!

"My god, this is paradise!"

She quickly picked out ten she liked and ran back to her room, beaming.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qing was fuming early in the morning.

"Didn’t you say you’d work twice as hard once we got to the county?"

She glared at Zhou Huaishan, itching to smack him with her shoe.

At the start of the mao hour (5–7 a.m.), he’d dragged his feet washing up and eating breakfast. A task that could’ve taken ten minutes took him half an hour before he even sat at his desk.

And then?

Instead of starting to study—

In the next half-hour, he went to the toilet five times!

Each time took five minutes!

Out of sixty minutes, twenty-five were spent in the bathroom.

The remaining thirty-five? He spent fussing about the pen being too thick, the light being too dim, or the breakfast noodles being too salty, needing water, then needing to pee again after drinking.

Zhou Qing was steaming.

"Are you going to study or not?!"

At the end of her patience, she slammed the table and yelled.

Zhou Huaishan looked at her innocently. "But I am studying. I mean, people have natural needs. You wouldn’t want me to hold it in and burst just for the sake of studying, right?"

Zhou Qing: "How does making me furious help you in any way?!"

Seeing she was about to explode, Zhou Huaishan quickly added, "Okay, okay, I’ll study properly. No need to get so worked up, young people shouldn’t be so hot-tempered."

Like he was making some great personal sacrifice.

Zhou Qing: "Study!!"

He finally focused. Zhou Qing slumped in her chair, feeling like she’d just survived a disaster.

It was the dead of winter, and she felt like she needed a popsicle to recover.

Since their food supplies hadn’t yet been delivered, Zhao shi had bought a few essentials from town for the time being.

Around lunchtime, the whole family was gathered happily at the table when Uncle Zhong arrived.

He brought over food supplies and told a condensed version of last night’s incident.

"What?!" Zhou Huailin shot to his feet in anger.

Zhou Huaishan raised a brow. "Oh boy. A family that wasn’t rich to begin with just got hit even harder."

Then he looked at Zhou Qing, shaking his head.

"Didn’t I say? Life is short. Gotta enjoy it while we can. If we hadn’t moved out, we’d all be dead now!"

Zhou Qing: ...

Zhou Huailin: ...

Everyone else: ...

Zhou Ping said, "The only person who could’ve set that fire is Zhou Huaihai. No one else is that evil."

Uncle Zhong didn’t deny it.

He hadn’t mentioned Zhou Yuan because he knew Zhou Qing would assume it was Zhou Huaihai.

Zhou Huailin’s face darkened. His lips trembled. "He actually tried to burn us alive!"

Zhou Huaishan scoffed. "He tried to get you imprisoned at Qingquan Temple. Now that he’s out of jail, trying to kill us isn’t surprising."

No one had the appetite to keep eating after that.

Fired up, Zhou Ping went straight to hit the books.

Zhou Huailin left his meal and went to report to the authorities.

Since their food had been burned, Uncle Zhong had bought the supplies himself. Zhou Qing insisted on paying him back.

They couldn’t live in someone else’s home and eat for free.

Besides, Shen Li had lost his house in Qingyang Village because of them.

Uncle Zhong declined a little but eventually accepted the money.

All the New Year’s goods they’d prepared were gone. After lunch, Zhou Huailin went to buy more.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qing wrote a letter to the clan leader and had Li Yi deliver it.