"Xiao Xiao, the water's here!"
When the old man saw Xiao Xiao standing at the doorway, he was startled. He assumed Xiao Xiao couldn't stand the choking air inside and had come out for a breath of fresh air.
He was carrying a bucket of water and strode briskly toward the house, ready to put out the fire.
"Grandpa Mu."
Xiao Xiao called out to the old man, who was about to charge into the room with quite a bit of force. "I've already put out the fire."
"The room just needs some time to air out."
"The fire's out?"
The old man froze.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao took the bucket from the old man and set it on the ground. "Sorry to make you come all this way for nothing."
He'd heard the old man panting heavily, and felt a little apologetic.
"You really are something, kid."
"What are you apologizing for?"
The old man let go of the bucket, his expression relaxing.
Then he raised a hand and waved it. "If it weren't for you, I might not have noticed until this room was already on fire."
The old man went to the doorway and looked inside. "Good thing there was a downpour yesterday."
Seeing that the situation in the room wasn't too serious, he let out a breath of relief and explained to Xiao Xiao.
"Some of this lumber is scrap left over from carving. It used to be stored in the courtyard, and it hadn't dried out yet."
"That kept the fire from spreading too far, at least for a while."
"Thank heaven for that."
"But—"
The old man furrowed his brows, looking puzzled. "How did it catch fire?"
Given his line of work, he'd always been very careful about fire