Page 10

Gu Jiuque shot back, "Did I tell you to sneak into my house, drink, make trouble, and set it on fire?"

Bai Yuesheng was left speechless.

Gu Jiuque said nothing more. Carrying Bai Yuesheng in his arms, he quickly ran out of the ancestral residence.

The neighbors had all gathered at the entrance, craning their necks to peer inside. The moment they saw Gu Jiuque open the door from within, they surged forward.

"Your house caught fire?"

"How did it start? Where's it burning?"

"These are all old houses made of wood, stone, brick, and tile. How could you be so careless? The fire's gotten so big—what if it spreads to someone else's house?"

"Where is everyone else in your family? Why are you the only one coming out? Who are you carrying?"

"Did you call the police?"

As they spoke, a fire engine screeched to a stop at the mouth of the alley. Firefighters in uniform swiftly rushed over, pushing a mobile high-pressure water-mist fire suppression unit designed specifically for ancient buildings. Gu Jiuque laid the injured Bai Yuesheng down at the entrance, then led the firefighters back to the fire scene.

Another group of firefighters parked the engine outside the wall surrounding the burning courtyard. Before long, a silver stream of water shot into the night sky amid the flames, and a torrential downpour fell over the blazing Western Wing.

A few minutes later, the fire that had reduced the Gu Family Ancestral Residence to ashes in his previous life had only managed to destroy half of the Western Wing where Gu Jiuque lived before it was swiftly extinguished.

Looking at the broken walls and scattered roof tiles with wisps of smoke still rising from them, Gu Jiuque felt immensely relieved. This old residence, which had endured so much hardship, had finally escaped the fate of being burned to the ground.

When Gu Jiuque emerged with the firefighters, the neighbors were still gathered outside the Gu Residence, watching the commotion. A shrill scream tore through the night, drowning out all the chatter. "Shengsheng? Isn't that our Shengsheng? Didn't you go to the Gu family to play with Gu Jiuque? How did you get hurt so badly? Why is the Gu family's house on fire too? Shengsheng, are you okay? Why are you bleeding so much? You mustn't let anything happen to you! If anything happens to you, your father and I won't be able to go on living!"

A middle-aged couple squeezed out from behind the crowd. As they picked up Bai Yuesheng, who lay on the ground covered in scrapes, they lashed out at Gu Jiuque. "Gu Jiuque, what exactly did you do to our Shengsheng? My perfectly healthy son was hurt so badly in your house! If anything happens to him, we won't let your Gu family off!"

"You should be asking Bai Yuesheng that." Gu Jiuque looked at Bai Yuesheng. "What deep grudge do you have against the Gu family that you had to sneak into our house, drink, make trouble, and even set our home on fire?"

The Bai family couple's faces changed drastically at Gu Jiuque's words. "Gu Jiuque, you little bastard, don't you dare slander him! Our Shengsheng is such a good boy. He doesn't drink at all—how could he possibly get drunk, run into your house, and set it on fire?"

"Maybe you caused some mess in your own home and are trying to pin it on our Shengsheng! Don't think you can dump dirty water on him just because he's timid."

"Exactly! Your Gu family's house caught fire, so why are you blaming my son? Trespassing, drinking, making trouble, deliberate arson—you're really good at throwing accusations around. Who are you trying to scare?"

"Don't make alarmist claims here! No matter what, Shengsheng was hurt at your Gu family's home, so your family has to take responsibility! You need to compensate Shengsheng for his medical expenses, and you also need to pay for emotional distress!"

"Look at his face—it's all scraped up. Who knows if he'll be disfigured? My son is so handsome. If he's disfigured, his whole life will be ruined. Your Gu family must take responsibility!"

Taking advantage of the fact that Gu Jiuque was the only one home, the Bai family couple clung to their son and threw a tantrum, wailing and cursing. They had only one goal—make Gu Jiuque pay up and admit fault.

Seeing the Bai family couple bully him so shamelessly, the neighbors could no longer stand it. "That's enough, you two. Don't take advantage of the fact that there are no adults here to bully a child."

"Exactly. Bai Yuesheng was the one Gu Jiuque rescued from the fire. As his parents, instead of thanking him for saving your son's life, the first thing you do is try to extort him?"

"Watch your mouth! Who's extorting anyone? Our Shengsheng was perfectly fine before he got hurt like this in their home. Aren't we allowed to ask about it as his parents?"

"And how did my son get hurt? Their house caught fire, so why is my son covered in injuries while he's completely fine? And you have the nerve to say he rescued my son from the fire? Wasn't that what he was supposed to do? If anything had happened to my son in his house, I'd make his whole family pay with their lives!"

The Bai family couple's unreasonable tirade left the neighbors speechless.

Bai Yuesheng's father craned his neck and shouted, "In short! All I know is that our Shengsheng was injured at the Gu family's house, and they have to take responsibility!"

Gu Jiuque was eager to assess the fire damage and had no interest in arguing with the Bai family. Hearing that, he chuckled softly. "You're right. Even if Shengsheng trespassed, got drunk and caused trouble, deliberately set the fire, and caused my family such serious losses, he was still injured in my home. I can't just stand by and watch him suffer. So my family will certainly cover Shengsheng's medical expenses and emotional distress compensation."

The neighbors erupted in an uproar, all urging Gu Jiuque not to act rashly. "Wait until the adults in your family come back!"

Bai Yuesheng's father snorted smugly. "That's more like it. At least you've got some conscience, kid—"

Before he could finish, Gu Jiuque continued, "But the losses my family suffered can't simply be forgotten either. I've already called the police. I'm sure they'll be able to determine the cause of the fire. If it turns out Bai Yuesheng set it, then as Shengsheng's guardians, you'll take responsibility for him too, won't you?"

Bai Yuesheng's mother widened her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing much." Gu Jiuque smiled faintly. "You and Uncle only have Yuesheng as your child. You must love him dearly. You wouldn't want him to go to prison so young, would you?"

Hearing Gu Jiuque's threat, Bai Yuesheng could no longer remain calm. His face filled with terror as he curled up in his mother's arms and said in panic, "Mom, I don't want to go to prison."

With tears blurring his eyes, he looked at Gu Jiuque. "Believe me, I really didn't mean to burn your house down. We're so close—how could I deliberately burn your house down? I don't know why the Western Wing caught fire at all. I'm telling the truth. You have to believe me!"