Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âThe law will punish him,â said Wang Yao.
He always tried to be nice and tolerant to people, which was his principal when interacting with others. However, it didnât mean he was the God of Mercy.
Some evil people should be punished, no matter if the crime was premeditated or impulsive.
However, Wang Yao didnât want to leave room for compromise. After all, he and Wang Jianye were from the same village, so Wang Yao listened to his parentâs advice.
Meanwhile, Wang Jianye, who was still in the hospital didnât know what to do next.
He had received a call from his relative saying that what he had done was considered an offense of arson. He could possibly be sentenced to jail for three to ten years. He would be put in prison. He was too scared to even be aware of the pain in his body. He immediately asked someone to find him a good lawyer.
The lawyer came to the hospital shortly. After getting an idea of what had happened, he looked serious.
âYou are in a delicate situation. It will depend on what the accuser wants. If it was an unintentional offense of arson, you would probably be sentenced to jail for around one year. If you deliberately set the fire, you will be put in prison for at least three years. Given the information you gave me, basically you set the fire deliberately,â said the lawyer.
Wang Jianyeâs face turned pale after listening to the explanation from the lawyer. He was really scared.
âPlease donât scare me!â said Wang Jianye.
âI didnât scare you. I just explained to you from a lawyerâs point of view. Of course, I will try my best to reduce your sentence. However, honestly, things are not positive,â said the lawyer.
Wang Jianye immediately called his relatives to ask for help. Of course, he was prepared to pay big money to the lawyer.
Before Wang Yao called the police, the Village Committee had reported the incident to the local government in town. They didnât dare hide incidents like this; it was a fire on a hill, after all.
Soon, the policemen went to the hospital to interview Wang Jianye who was still undergoing treatment. Because he was injured, he would be arrested later when he was fit enough to go to the police station.
Wang Yao had a guest at night, a tearing middle-aged woman who was Wang Jianyeâs wife.
Although she was very upset, she didnât plan to leave Wang Jianye. She was in shock after being told that her husband would probably be sentenced to jail for at least three years. She couldnât live without her husband. Her life would collapse. Her son was still studying in the university outside the village. She had to pay tuition fees for her son. So she took the advice from the lawyer and came to Wang Yaoâs house to beg for forgiveness.
âJianfeng, Xiuying, please! Jianye is such a dickhead! He shouldnât have set the fire. However, I think it was an impulsive action. Please convince Yao to forgive him! Xiaohe is still in college!â said Wang Jianyeâs wife.
Zhang Xiuying, Wang Jianfeng, and Wang Jiangangâs family all lived in the same village. They had known one another for a long time and often bumped into each other; so they became soft.
âWe will try to convince Yao. Take your things back,â said Zhang Xiuying.
âThank you so much!â Wang Jianyeâs wife left with gratitude.
âWell!â said Zhang Xiuying with a sigh.
After Wang Yao had come back from Nanshan hill in the evening, Zhang Xiuying stopped him and told him about the visit of Wang Jianyeâs wife.
âMom, I know what to do,â said Wang Yao.
Three years was neither too long or too short. However, spending three years in jail would definitely drag someone from heaven to hell. No one could afford such damage.
Should I render good for evil?
Wang Yao smiled, then he made a phone call. He no longer cared about the result of the verdict.
However, the incident created a stir in the small village. Almost everyone was walking about it.
Wang Jianli was not happy. He received a number of calls from the local government in town. The mayor and the secretary both called him to tell him that government officers from Lianshan County had asked about the incident.
It was just an attempt to set a fire, not much damage was done, so why do those people in the county care so much about it?
It reminded him of what he had seen in the county government office. Secretary Yang seemed to know Wang Yao well.
I hope Secretary Yang wonât ask about this.
So Secretary Yang arranged a meeting at the Village Committee and put official notices all over the village to reinforce the importance of fire prevention and safety. He also increased the frequency of patrol in the village.
âDad, Mom, I want to invite those who helped me put out the fire for dinner at home tomorrow,â said Wang Yao.
He brought this up when having dinner with his parents.
He should thank those people who helped him at such a critical time.
Wang Yao didnât want to bother his mother, but there was no proper restaurant in the village. The closest one was in a different village, located three miles from his village. It was not convenient to invite the villagers there for dinner.
âOkay,â said Zhang Xiuying. âYou should invite them for dinner.â
âIâll buy some food tomorrow,â said Wang Yao.
He went back to Nanshan hill in the evening. Then, he grabbed a chair and sat outside the cottage to watch the sky quietly. San Xian sat inside his dog house. His injury had not recovered yet.
Wang Yao was thinking of what had happened during the day. Fortunately, he was in the cottage when Wang Jianye tried to set the fire. If he and his family were not around, and the battle array he set up couldnât protect the herbal field, all the hard work he had done in the herbal field would be wasted.
Wang Yao thought a lot before going to sleep at night.
The next morning, he got up early as usual. He practiced Chinese boxing on the top of the hill with all his strength, and his movements were extremely fast. After he had finished practicing, he felt the internal Qi was running non-stop in his body. He was much calmer than yesterday.
Then, he went to the town to buy some food for the dinner in the evening. He bought beef, lamb, some vegetables and some other cooked food.
He had wine at home. All those boutique wines were brought by Tian Yuantu and He Qisheng.
âYou didnât need to buy so much food,â said Zhang Xiuying when Wang Yao drove home.
âI did buy a lot, but itâs not just for dinner tonight. We can leave some food for the next few days. I bought quite a few cooked foods too so you donât need to cook a lot,â said Wang Yao.
After lunch, he first visited those who helped him on Nanshan hill to invite them for dinner. In his village, it was courteous to visit people in person for a dinner invitation. Although most of the villages had mobile phones, Wang Yao wanted to show respect to those people by visiting them in person.
After he had visited all of them, he helped his mother with dinner in the afternoon.
âYou can go back to Nanshan hill. I can manage the cooking myself,â said Zhang Xiuying.
It was not the first time Wang Yao invited people to his home for dinner, and most of the dishes were cooked, so Zhang Xiuying thought she could manage. Wang Yao didnât leave home in a hurry. He continued to help his mother with chores, then carried two big bags of herbs back to Nanshan hill.
It took Wang Yao several times to transfer more than half of the herbs brought by Chen Boyuan to Nanshan hill. He sold all of the herbs to the system for bonus points. However, he didnât buy Everlasting grass and Lingshanji to brew Muscle Revitalizing powder. Instead, he bought the seeds for Everlasting grass and Lingshanji and planted them in his herbal field.
He couldnât continue to buy licorice roots from the system. He had to be able to self-supply them.
An unexpected guest came to Wang Yaoâs home when Zhang Xiuying was busy cooking in the afternoon.
âHello, Auntie.â It was Tong Wei.
âHello, Tong Wei, how come you are here?â Zhang Xiuying was surprised to see Tong Wei. âPlease come in and take a seat!â She stopped what she was doing and invited her future daughter-in-law into the house.
âPlease sit down,â said Zhang Xiuying as she was making Tong Wei a cup of tea.
âDid you tell Yao that you were coming here?â asked Zhang Xiuying.
âNo,â replied Tong Wei with a smile.
âIâll call him right now,â said Zhang Xiuying.
âDonât worry about it, Iâll find him on Nanshan hill,â said Tong Wei with a smile.
âAre you going to Nanshan by yourself?â asked Zhang Xiuying.
âYes, to give Yao a surprise,â said Tong Wei.
âOkay, will you stay for dinner?â asked Zhang Xiuying.
âSure,â said Tong Wei.
As she was walking towards Nanshan hill, she attracted a lot of attention from the villagers because she was such a pretty girl. The villagers hadnât seen anyone so pretty for ages.
âWow, sheâs so pretty!â exclaimed a villager.
âWho is she?â asked another villager.
âShe is Fenghuaâs daughter-in-law,â said a female villager.
âReally? When did Yao get married?â asked another villager.
Tong Wei continued to walk towards Nanshan hill with a smile. Before she reached Wang Yaoâs cottage, she heard a dog barking. Then she saw a person coming out of the cottage.
âTong Wei?!â said Wang Yao in surprise. âHow come you are here?â
âBecause I missed you,â Tong Wei half-joked.
Wang Yao was a bit surprised, but he also felt happy.
âWhat happened to that black area? Was it on fire?â Tong Wei pointed to the area which was on fire yesterday.
âYes, fortunately, the fire was put out in time,â said Wang Yao.
âI hope you are not hurt,â said Tong Wei anxiously.
âIâm fine. I was not on the hill at that time. The herbal field was fine, too. Please come in.â Wang Yao invited Tong Wei into the cottage.
San Xian ran towards Tong Wei and sniffed on her.
âHey, San Xian, I think you know her,â said Wang Yao.
Woof! After one night of recovery, San Xiao seemed to be much better. His eyes were much brighter.
âDa Xia has gone out. By the way, let me introduce a new friend to you,â said Wang Yao.
âNew friend?â asked Tong Wei in surprise.