During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

It was already dark when I got back to the shop.

Ye Qingqing and Ye Dazhuang walked one after the other, neither of them speaking a word.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk, she just didn't know what to say for the moment.

The atmosphere is so dull!

Ye Qingqing felt a little resentful towards her father. Why did he have to bring up blind dates? It made her feel quite uncomfortable.

Forget it, let's sort out the things in front of us first.

Zhao Lao Er went back to the shop first and had already prepared hot tea and water. He also heated the kang (a traditional heated bed) in the backyard room.

Upon seeing them return, they hurriedly and warmly rose to serve them.

"Master, Brother Dazhuang, you're back! Hot tea, hot water, and the bedding are all ready. Why don't you tidy up and get some rest?"

Ye Qingqing shook her head. "No rush. Second brother, go and get some hot tea. I have something important to tell you in a bit."

"Qingqing, what's wrong?"

Ye Dazhuang frowned slightly. She had deliberately stayed in the shop and whispered with Miss Zhen in the side room for a long time. She already knew that Miss Zhen had something to say.

Ye Qingqing leaned over from the other end of the bench and whispered,

"Big Zhuang..."

The bench wasn't wide, and as soon as she came over, the two of them were shoulder to shoulder.

Ye Dazhuang's body stiffened involuntarily, and his back suddenly straightened.

Ye Qingqing, "..."

You could smell a faint scent of soap on him, mixed with the smell of the cold wind, plus the unique masculine pheromones. I must say, it was quite intoxicating.

Similarly, Ye Qingqing also took a bath with soap, and the two of them smelled almost exactly the same.

Clean, warm, refreshing... and filled with the allure of her body fragrance, it's truly intoxicating.

Ye Dazhuang sat stiffly, his fingers unconsciously twitching...

A surge of emotion welled up inside him, and he couldn't resist wanting to hug her!

Ye Qingqing deliberately moved to the side again before speaking seriously.

"Someone told me that someone's planning to set our shop on fire tonight!"

Ye Dazhuang's hand froze in mid-air, his throat bobbed, and his voice became slightly hoarse.

"What? Qingqing, you mean...?"

Ye Qingqing, unaware of his momentary turmoil, frowned and said...

"I was sure someone might set the shop on fire tonight, and we need to come up with a plan quickly."

Ye Dazhuang paused for a moment, then calmly withdrew his hand, clenched it into a fist, and placed it on his knee.

A wave of disappointment washed over him, but he forcefully suppressed it, a cold glint appearing in his deep eyes.

"Who? When? Do you know?"

Ye Qingqing shook her head.

"I don't know, but my informant told me that someone was stalking me on the street corner again today."

Our shop must have offended someone. They can't compete openly, so they resort to underhanded tactics!

"Brother Dazhuang, you and Zhao Lao Er need to be prepared to arrest people. I've also asked my aunt to help me with the yamen runners, and I've borrowed two assistants from her shop. They'll be here in a bit."

The disappointment on Ye Dazhuang's face hadn't completely faded, and his brows were already furrowed unconsciously.

"Um."

Ye Qingqing said casually,

"The informant said it's most likely arson. Come to think of it, they burned down our shop, causing me to lose money. Naturally, I'd have to slink away from town!"

Ye Dazhuang, however, was thinking of another problem, and his voice unconsciously lowered.

"You knew there was danger, yet you stayed!"

"If I don't stay, who will do this? Don't worry, Brother Dazhuang, I dare to stay because I'm prepared."

Ye Qingqing smiled faintly and said slowly, "I asked Aunt Zhen to clear out the yamen runners, and then we ambushed them on the second floor of the teahouse diagonally opposite."

We'll stay inside, blow out the lights, and close the shop. Once they think someone is asleep, they'll naturally make their move.

When the fire starts, we'll launch a pincer attack and catch him red-handed.

Ye Dazhuang's heart tightened for no reason. He slowly closed his eyes to force himself to calm down. When he opened them again, his eyes had an unusual look in them.

Ye Qingqing's lips curved slightly:

She walked back to the counter, pulled out a fire poker from underneath and placed it beside her, then rummaged through the shelves and found two buckets of water, one behind the inner door and the other under the outer counter.

"I had the back window nailed shut, leaving only a crack at the top. If they come, they'll have to come through the front door or climb over the wall," she said, fiddling with the window. "I've had Fu Shun and Lai Fu lie in ambush, and the constables are in position too. We're just waiting for the fish to bite."

Ye Dazhuang was silent for a moment, then said, "It's too risky."

"How can you fish without taking risks?" Ye Qingqing glanced at him. "Are you afraid something will happen to me?"

Ye Dazhuang didn't speak, but his eyes answered for him.

Ye Qingqing gave a soft "humph," her tone carrying an ambiguous undertone: "Don't worry, I'm tough as nails. But you—no matter what's going on outside, wait until I knock on the board before you go out, understand? Don't rush in too recklessly; if you get hurt, my dad will chase me away with a broom."

Ye Dazhuang's lips twitched slightly, and he nodded.

The two sat down again, one lamp, the two of them, three steps apart. This time, Ye Qingqing was eating sunflower seeds and casually talking about tomorrow's plans, while Ye Dazhuang occasionally responded, his voice more steady than before.

-

By midnight, the streets were completely silent.

The lights were still on in the shop, and even breathing could be heard coming from the inner room—it was Ye Qingqing deliberately putting on an act.

The front door was ajar, with the latch on top; it could be opened with a push.

In the back alley, two shadowy figures crept up to the back wall of the shop, found the back window nailed shut, cursed, and went around to the front door.

One of the peeked through the crack in the door. The lights were on inside, the shelves were piled with dried goods, and a figure could be vaguely seen behind the counter—it looked like someone was asleep.

The two exchanged a glance.

One of them pulled out a tinderbox from his pocket, while the other pulled out an oil paper package containing hemp fibers soaked in kerosene.

With a "snap," the tinderbox lit up with a flame.

The man was just about to bring the tinder closer—

Behind the soy sauce vats at the back alley of the shop, a dark figure darted out, pounced like a leopard, grabbed the man by the neck, and slammed him against the wall. The man dropped his tinderbox, the flame still burning, and another dark figure stomped it out.

"Don't make a sound!" Fu Shun said in a low voice, his grip so strong that the man rolled his eyes.

On the front side, another thief was about to stuff the oil paper package into the crack of the door when the window on the second floor of the teahouse was pushed open with a "whoosh," and two constables slid down the rope and blocked the entrance to the shop, one in front and one behind.

The thief turned around, took off running, but was knocked down by Laifu, who rushed out of the hay shed and swept his leg out of the shed.

Inside the shop, the lights suddenly switched on.

The door creaked open, and Ye Qingqing stood on the threshold, poking the ground with her fire poker, a strand of hair falling down, her face bearing a half-smile.

"Oh, people from the Futai?" She glanced down at the two thieves pinned to the ground. "Coming for a visit in the middle of the night?"

The two thieves struggled, but the constables tied them up with ropes and stuffed rags into their mouths.