Burned to ashes in an instant

  At this time, Zhen Ming was sitting in a small private room at the Hong Xing Inn with Zhu Zi, drinking flower wine and listening to a young and beautiful girl playing a melodious tune.

  Zhùzi huái lǐ yōng zhe liǎng gè nián qīng gū niáng, zài tāmen de yǐn qín quàn shuō xià, yī bēi yòu yī bēi dì hē zhe, zuì tài bì lù.

  His opposite sat was exactly Zhen Mingsu, who had been carrying a pillar around to eat and drink with public funds in the past few days. He was drinking soy milk from his bowl and watching the beautiful dancing girls singing and dancing in the room with great interest.

  "Zhen brothers, I say you don't understand humor at all. When others come to Hongyuan Pavilion, they call beautiful girls to accompany them, drink good wine, or at least drink some water wine. But you, you don't drink wine, and instead start drinking that old lady's soy milk! Drinking soy milk is one thing, but not calling any of the many beautiful girls over, yet letting an ugly old woman sit with you... I really don't understand what you're living for in this life..."

  "Drink your wine!" Zhen Ming cursed with a bitter smile.

  Zhuzi drank the wine that had been sucked from the mouths of two girls, and was already 80% drunk. He spoke more and more, saying in a drunken tone: "But I, Zhuzi, have come to understand your character today. You're great! Generous! Not petty! A man who can achieve great things! Although you've been playing me around in circles these past few days, I, Zhuzi, am a magnanimous person and won't hold it against you. From now on, you are my brother! Whatever happens to you is my business, and if there's anything that requires the help of a brother like me, I will absolutely not... not... hiccups..."

  Zhuzi finished speaking and fell asleep with a thud on the table, snoring loudly.

  Zhen Ming said with a bitter smile, turning to an old prostitute with lingering charm beside him: "Qin Jie, my friend speaks directly, don't mind him, his heart is not bad, tonight please take care of him."

  "You can really talk, sir. What's there to be angry about? I'm not unaware of my own status. You're letting me sit with you, others don't know how thrilled I am. It's been decades since anyone asked me to sit with them, and you're the first one... Hehehe..."

  "Qin sister really loves to joke, a beautiful woman just over thirty, where did these decades come from..."

  "Oh my, sir, your words have truly reached the bottom of my heart. If not, I'll accompany you tonight and won't charge you any silver. Although I'm a bit older, my skills are not something those young and tender girls can compare to..."

  The procuress gave Zhen a sly glance, her eyes as soft as silk, and began to gently stroke his chest with her hand, slowly moving downwards.

  Zhen Ming was so gloomy that he almost shouted "Defeat the fire, old soup is really deadly". He hastily grabbed her hand and smiled awkwardly: "It's not very convenient today, let's do it another day. I still have to go somewhere else later."

  What a wanton woman, having known no less than hundreds of men, if not thousands. Upon seeing Zhen's bitter expression, she immediately covered her mouth and burst out laughing, becoming even more flirtatious: "Sir, you really resemble one of my old flames."

  Zhen's face revealed a hint of embarrassment, and he quickly changed the subject: "My friend is staying here tonight, Qin sister, please take good care of him. This ten taels of silver will cover his expenses for tonight. If there's any left over, you can keep it yourself. I have something to attend to, so I'll leave first, no need to see me off."

  Zhen Ming finished speaking with a bitter tone, stood up and hastily left the room.

  The procuress smiled and saw him off, escorting him to the gate. Her smile suddenly disappeared like a conjuring trick, replaced by an expression of disdainful mockery. She muttered to herself: "A young whippersnapper like you dares to try to deceive me? In my youth as a courtesan, I don't know how many young men like you fell into my trap..."

  ……

  Zhen Ming had just walked out of the Hong Xing Bi Yuan's gate when a horse carriage immediately came up to greet him.

  "Sir, it's you, isn't it? Few people come out at this hour, and yet you're not even accompanied by a young lady."

  He looked up to see that it was the cart driver he had hired last time when looking for Zhang's whereabouts, smiled and greeted him, got on the cart, told him the approximate location of Sun Langzhong's Cao Lu, and the cart driver drove away without saying a word.

  "It's so late, where are you going? There aren't any households around there."

  "I went to visit a few friends, it's been several days since I last went, and today I finally had some free time." Zhen Ming said with a bitter smile.

  "There must be someone you care about there?"

  Zhen Ming sighed and said, "Can this also be seen?"

  The driver smiled and said, "People who take a carriage are generally divided into several types. One type is when something has happened at home, they're worried and distracted, and don't respond to questions. Another type is when they have urgent business to attend to, their tone is anxious, and before I even ask where they're going, they've already given me the address. And then there's a type like you, sir, with an unconscious smile on your face, a bit nervous but also excited, probably on your way to see your sweetheart."

  Listening to the car husband's analysis, Zhen Ming couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Others drive cars and you also drive them out, Uncle, you've actually driven out a profound theory!"

  That car husband was obviously a talkative person, and he said with a smile: "If you've been driving for as long as I have, you've seen tens of thousands of people, and even if you don't pay attention, after a long time, you can tell what kind of person someone is at a glance. Whether they're good or bad to talk to, whether their heart is good or evil, what their personality is like, what's on their mind, one look and you'll know."

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and asked: "Then what mood do you think I'm in now?"

  "In high spirits, with a generous reward."

  Zhen Ming was bitterly amused and didn't expect this cart driver to be a clever person.

  However, it really made the car husband say that he was right, his brain at this time was all about Zhang Shi, her soy milk, her smile, her sleeping posture on his belly, and the scene of carrying her back to Sun Langzhong's grass hut. In the past few days, even in his dreams, he was with her, carrying her, walking a mountain road that never ended, teasing her to talk, in his dreams, she laughed so charmingly, but as always, there would be an apricot in the chaos.

  When the carriage stopped beside the thatched cottage of Sun Langzhong, the smile on his face froze.

  Before me was a scene of utter desolation, the thatched hut had vanished, leaving only the charred remains of broken walls and blackened ruins, with some places still smoldering with sparks and white smoke.

  Zhen Ming's face revealed an extreme fear, and he rushed into the courtyard wall, rushing to the original apricot room, desperately scratching the ash, shouting: "How can this be, how can this be..."

  The car owner also got out of the car and looked at Zhenming, who was frantically digging through the ashes in the room. He wanted to persuade him that there were still sparks left in his heart, but seeing how crazy he was, the words reached his lips but didn't come out. He sighed, turned around, took tools from the car, and helped him search together.

  He was about to use the iron shovel to remove the ash, but Zhen Ming sucked it away and shouted loudly: "Don't use a hoe! Do you want to hurt them?"

  The carman looked at him with a sympathetic face.

  Zhen Ming's bitter expression slightly calmed down, and he apologized: "Sorry, my head is a bit muddled now, I didn't mean anything else. Can you help me look for it in another room..."

  The cart driver comforted him, saying: "Sir, I understand your feelings. This big fire has been burning for a long time. To say something you may not want to hear, if the person you know is in this house... perhaps they're already..."

  "I know, I know..." Zhen Ming bitterly muttered to herself as she turned around and continued searching in Xing Er's room.

  Half an hour later.

  Zhen Ming had searched every nook and cranny of the house, but still hadn't found a single corpse. Despite his badly scalded hands, he was still excitedly jumping up and down, shouting at the top of his lungs: "It's not in the house! None of them are in the house!"

  The cart driver saw that he was covered in black soot and had a comical expression, and comforted him by saying: "Young fellow, I think you shouldn't worry too much either. Maybe when the fire started they weren't even in the house."

  Zhen Ming's bitter fate gradually calmed down, although he didn't know whether they were dead or alive, but it was a hundred times better than seeing them burn to death here. He thanked the cart driver and sat down on the stone threshold of the ruins, lost in thought.

  The driver saw him deep in thought and didn't disturb him, standing quietly by his side.

  After about half a time, Zhen Ming finally stood up and regained his composure. "Uncle, let's head back to the city."