Miao Chu

Chapter 320 Moving In
Night had fallen, and in a courtyard further out from the main street, several people were carrying buckets of things out the door.

The bucket was quite large. At this time, one jin (a unit of weight) was sixteen liang (another unit of weight), so the bucket weighed about thirty or forty jin. It was fine to carry it for a while, but after carrying it for a long time, everyone found it a bit strenuous.

As they were moving the items, someone couldn't help but ask, "Are we just going to move them like this? Why don't we use a trailer instead?"

“Yes! It’s almost two streets away, how can we move there!” someone immediately replied. “I knew we chose the wrong place, it’s too far! Going back and forth like this will make our legs ache!”

"Come on! Houses are hard to find! Getting this one is already quite an achievement!"

"No, let's not use a tow truck, shall we? Tow trucks are noisy and attract a lot of attention. Even though it's the middle of the night, what if some clueless person on the road sees us?"

"Even if it works in the middle of the night, where are you going to find a tow truck?"

If the tow truck doesn't work, someone else asks, "Don't you have a carrying pole? Are we just going to carry it by hand? I saw that peddler bring it in with a carrying pole!"

"Carrying poles? You know they belong to peddlers, we don't have any! Now that things have come to this, it's too late to look for them, let's carry them ourselves!"

Hearing the group chattering away, the leader who had just come out couldn't help but frown and said, "What's all the fuss about! It's just a few jars, just take turns carrying them—it won't kill you with the weight!"

Seeing their leader say this, the henchmen below had no choice but to agree verbally, but they couldn't help exchanging glances.

As soon as they turned around, taking advantage of the fact that the leader was not around, the group couldn't help but complain to each other in private.

"It wasn't him who moved it!"

"If you're so capable, move it yourself, then don't keep saying you're too heavy to move!"

"Damn it, he gets the most money all day long, but he doesn't do any work. He just assigns everything to us—he's all talk and no action!"

Just then, the leader came out again and asked, "Who has the incense? Did they take it? Did they take the tinderbox?"

"Here you go! Don't worry, boss, the incense is with me!" The one who had complained the most earlier immediately stepped forward with a smile and pulled out a long cloth bag from his pocket.

Another person chimed in, "Boss, I'll keep the tinderbox—I'll keep it safe!"

As he spoke, he brought out two tinderboxes.

Seeing the bustling activity here, Master Xu, who was standing around confirming the location of people, couldn't sit still any longer.

"What...what are you doing?"

He looked at it for a while. Although the bucket had a lid, it wobbled when it was carried around, and it would always spill out. So someone opened the lid to look inside. In that short time, they saw that the liquid inside was neither water nor oil.

Seeing the barrels of oil piled up, Master Xu grew increasingly panicked and asked, "Didn't you say you were just sneaking in to add some laxatives or something? Why are you using a tinderbox and incense? Are you planning to set it on fire?"

That's a ridiculous question.

Someone patiently replied to him, saying, "Why do you care so much? It has nothing to do with you! You only said a few words about what Song's place looks like—besides you, plenty of people have been inside and know what it looks like. If something really happens, who will know it was you who said it?"

Upon hearing this, Master Xu was even more startled.

Because he was fired by Song Ji and caused such a scene, he not only lost his stable job but also ruined his reputation. People often pointed at him and gossiped about him, and for a while, he couldn't even lift his head.

This man was a bully who preyed on the weak. After being beaten and threatened by a group of old women and a butcher, he dared not go out and cause trouble again. He could only talk nonsense to people when soliciting customers.

Because he couldn't gain any real influence, he had been holding back his anger for a long time. So when someone came to him earlier and said they wanted to deal with Song Ji, he immediately agreed. Whenever they discussed things or asked questions, he was almost always very open and honest, and even came up with several ideas to make Song Ji look bad.

But in Master Xu's view, these actions were nothing more than a matter of repaying debts and venting his anger.

Although he was of questionable character and acted improperly, and had taken advantage of others, cheated customers, and embezzled other people's money, he had never dared to break the law.

You should know that arson at this time is a crime that is neither pardonable nor forgivable. Once the incident comes to light, if you are implicated, your children's marriages, your parents' wives and relatives will all be affected.

"I...I have things to do at home. It's so late, and I...I won't get involved in going to that Suanzao Lane or anything like that, okay?"

Master Xu suddenly had second thoughts.

The man on the left, who had just been chatting and laughing with him, immediately turned hostile, glared at him, and said, "You're the only one in our group who's been to Song's backyard. If you don't get involved, who's going to lead the way?"

“I’ve told you so many times these past few days! That house is only so big! Aren’t you all familiar with it by now?” He said with a bitter face. “I really have something going on at home—I almost forgot, my little granddaughter is turning five today, and I promised to bring her some candy figurines. I’ve been so busy lately that I completely forgot. I should definitely go back to visit her…”

Before he could finish speaking, the man on the right slammed his hand on the table and sneered, "What's with all the nonsense! Do you think this is a brothel, where you can come and go as you please?"

He added, "Hey, you surnamed Xu, behave yourself and hope for the best. Otherwise, if things don't go well and we get arrested by the authorities, do you think you can escape?"

This man had just been calling him Brother Xu, but in the blink of an eye, he changed his address to Xu. Master Xu's face turned red. He stammered "you, you" for a long time, wanting to curse, but seeing that the other man was burly and had a fierce look on his face, he was afraid of angering him and getting a punch down—this was a real arsonist who dared to commit arson!

The scene froze for a moment, until finally someone played the good cop, advising, "Hey! Brother Xu, why make such a scene? It's not like we're really killing anyone, just setting a fire and burning down a house. There's a well in her restaurant, and you can see it, plus there are bodyguards on night watch. Once the fire gets big, someone will get up, fetch some water, and put it out!"

He added, "We're not asking you to set the fire yourself, just to point the way. Besides, once the fire starts, we'll run. In the dark, who will know who started it? You won't get a thing on you! If you keep dawdling like this, it'll only make things worse!"

Then someone else chimed in to offer advice.

"Don't worry, no one will die!"

"You're just standing there and watching from a distance. You're not the one who starts the fire or carries the buckets. Even if you get caught, it's none of your business!"

Several people fought back and forth, with some trying to persuade others while others took out knives, axes, and whetstones from the corner and began sharpening their axes in front of the onlookers.

The large axe, gleaming from being sharpened, could be used to break a piece of wood in two with almost no effort.

Looking at the man sharpening his axe, and then at his left and right—everyone was staring at him—Master Xu unconsciously touched his head and neck.

—Can my head and neck be harder than wood?
Despite his fear, he immediately shut his mouth and dared not say another word.

After everything was packed and ready, the group sent two people to keep watch, one in front and one behind, before heading out.

Upon seeing that Suanzao Lane was ahead, the leader immediately called Master Xu over to confirm Song Ji's usual rest and wake-up times, and then confirmed the layout behind.

Even though he had already said it many times, looking at the group of burly men in front of him, with knives, axes, clubs, incense sticks, and tinderboxes, he didn't dare to utter a single word of criticism and immediately began to explain in detail once again.

"...There's a storage room on the left side of the front hall, where dried goods, ingredients, and various odds and ends are kept. There's also a wooden bed and two wooden cabinets—all of which are easily flammable..."

"That room on the outside in the backyard is also a storage room..."

As they were talking, the leader interrupted him and asked, "After all this talk, why haven't you mentioned where the firewood is stored? Is it under the eaves? Or is it piled up outside?"

Master Xu hesitated for a moment, knowing he couldn't hide it any longer, and then said, "There's a room against the outer wall in the backyard. That room is used to store firewood. They originally wanted to pile the firewood in the yard, but that man surnamed Song wouldn't allow it, so they put it all inside..."

"Have you been inside? How big is that room?"

Master Xu compared sizes.

As they spoke, the group finally arrived at the entrance of Suanzao Alley.

The leader pointed to a few people, gave them some instructions, and then had someone carry two buckets of oil through Suanzao Lane towards the main gate. He himself led another group of seven or eight people, along with Master Xu, through the alley to the back.

It was only a little past midnight.

In the past, when he acted at night, he would usually do so around the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) – before dawn, when people were sound asleep and unlikely to notice any movement outside. But this time, he heard from Master Xu that the people running the Song family's breakfast business would all get up around the end of the hour of Chou, and because he was afraid of acting too late and running into people who were already awake, he specifically chose this time.

Following the back alley, the group quickly arrived at their destination.

The lookout approached, yawned, and said, "They're all asleep inside—I've been squatting here for half a day and haven't heard a sound—all I've heard are mosquitoes buzzing, and I've been bitten by them! It's hard to even swat them!"

Although the lack of movement was expected, the others breathed a sigh of relief. Only Master Xu was caught in the middle, unable to run away even if he wanted to. His heart was pounding, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He was extremely nervous.

Having scouted the location many times over the past two days, they were already familiar with it. Before long, two or three people had formed a human wall and sent two people up the wall.

The two sat on top of the courtyard wall and observed carefully for a while.

The lookout was right; the courtyard was quiet and there wasn't a sound.

There was no moon that night, the sky was dark and there were only a few stars. With just that little starlight, it was impossible to see the scene in the courtyard. You could only see a dark shadow inside.

Upon seeing the courtyard, the two people perched on the wall were immediately taken aback.

"Why is there nothing here?"

"Is it too dark to see anything?"

As the two were talking, they noticed that the ropes outside had started to be pulled, and they were both annoyed.

"We haven't even gone in to keep watch yet!"

"That oil drum is so heavy! The two of us alone probably won't be able to pull it!"

They weren't in a hurry to pull the buckets up. Instead, they brought a few more people up, and together they laboriously placed the oil buckets on the courtyard wall, slowly lowering them into the yard.

Master Xu, who was originally hiding to the side, was now forced to climb onto the wall under the pretext of being "most familiar with" the area.

Two people quietly climbed down the wall and entered the courtyard. They tiptoed to the well, only to find that the well was covered and locked, and they couldn't move it in time.

The two tried to reach the main kitchen, but when they arrived, the doors and windows were locked and wouldn't budge no matter how hard they pushed.

"We'll have to call Ah Shun to unlock it!" one of them whispered.

The other man nodded.

The two returned to the wall and said there was a lock inside, asking that someone who knew how to pick the lock be let in.

While waiting for others, they couldn't get into the main kitchen, couldn't open the well cover, and didn't have time to consider anything else, so they naturally headed towards the storage room where firewood was kept.

The first person pushed his hand – there was no lock!

The door obediently opened a crack.

One person carried incense, and the other had a tinderbox. The two men stood back to back, lit the incense with the tinderbox, and the incense sticks were slowly burned through the crack in the door.

While blowing on the tinderbox, one of them accidentally inhaled a breath, and soon he was feeling a bit dizzy.

After waiting for a while and seeing no sound from inside, the two opened the door, let the room air out for a bit, and then entered the house one after the other.

Once inside, he didn't come out for a very long time.

Several people on the wall had been waiting for half a day and had already moved several barrels of oil into the yard. Just as they were wondering about this, they pushed someone and asked them to go and see what was going on inside.

Before the man even set off, everyone heard someone whisper, "There's money hidden in the woodshed, we're picking it up inside—come on, a few of you!"

Hearing that there was money involved, four people were originally on top of the wall and two were below – previously no one wanted to come down – but now they all rushed down as if their backsides were on fire, clinging to the ropes and sliding down.

Especially Master Xu, who had previously refused to climb the wall, and once on the wall, refused to enter the courtyard, saying he was afraid of falling to his death and that he was afraid of back pain and being unable to move at all. But when he heard that there was money hidden inside, he frantically grabbed the rope, no longer afraid of dying or hurting his back, and quickly got down to the ground.

Upon arriving at the woodshed, everyone anxiously whispered questions to each other.

"Did they hide copper? How much?"

"Why would you hide money in the woodshed! What's wrong with your brain?!"

The door, which had been slightly ajar, quietly opened wider—"Several baskets—hurry up and move them!"

Through the half-open door of the woodshed, one could see a stalk of firewood burning inside—beside it were several large baskets, all covered with cloth. At this moment, one of the cloths was lifted, revealing strings of copper coins inside.

The strings of coins were piled up like mountains, their coppery hue so alluring that, in the eyes of this group of people, there was truly nothing more beautiful in the world.

"Oh my god!"

"God!"

"We've struck it rich! This is worth at least several hundred strings of cash!"

"If I had known this would happen, I would have brought several large satchels!"

"This Song's shop! It doesn't look that big, how come it costs so much money—didn't we already pay back over a thousand strings of cash a couple of days ago?!"

The group mumbled incoherently, their eyes fixed on the money in the basket, and they practically pounced on it.

Outside the walled courtyard, there were two other lookouts. The one in the lead was eager to get rich.
To make a quick buck while doing something like this is perfectly normal—as the saying goes, "A horse won't get fat without night grass!"
The leader, in particular, was so anxious that his forehead was twitching. He hurriedly instructed, "Keep an eye on things. If there's any movement, report it immediately!"

As he spoke, he quickly climbed up the wall—who knew if they might have secretly kept something good while he was away!
He had just rolled into the courtyard and was practically flying into the woodshed when he saw several baskets inside. He noticed everyone around the baskets had taken off their belts and were wrapping money around their waists. Suddenly enraged, he lowered his voice and shouted, "Move them out first! Carry them out first, then we'll split it all together!"

He was about to step forward when he said that.

I had only taken a couple of steps when I heard a soft "bang" behind me.

The others were so focused on the money strings that they didn't notice anything amiss. The leader, who was closest to them, sensed something was wrong. He turned around and saw that the woodshed door, which had been half-open, had suddenly closed.

Not only that, he also heard a very clear "click" as the lock clicked shut.

The man reacted quickly, turning around to try and ram the door.

My shoulder slammed into the door with a loud "bang".

The others in the woodshed finally realized something was wrong and turned around one by one. Before they could react, they saw a bright light outside, with countless torches and candles lit, and the sound of gongs blaring "clang clang clang clang" and "bang bang bang bang," sharp and explosive, almost reaching the sky.

Along with the sound of the gong, shouts and cheers could be heard from many people in and around the courtyard, near and far.

"Thief!!"

"Thieves have broken into the house and set it on fire!!"

"Stop thief! Stop thief!!"

(End of this chapter)