Ye Tianxin woke up and smelled the acrid smoke in the house.
The first thing she did was to run to her grandmother’s room. She helped the caregiver to move her grandmother from her room to the yard.
The courtyard was built with wood, and it was old. Thus, the fire spread very quickly.
The residents of the town were all deeply asleep at this time.
Guan Chenxi had no choice but to yell, “There’s fire!”
“There’s fire!”
The fire lit up the quiet little town.
When they heard that there was fire, the neighbors moved quickly and informed the others who were still unaware.
Ye Tianxin squatted next to her grandmother and asked softly, “Grandmother, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Tianxin.”
Grandmother had never thought that her home would burn down.
The houses were so close together that if there was a fire, the entire town would completely be destroyed in no time.
By this time, all the neighbors had been woken up. They picked up pots and buckets to put out the fire.
Ye Tianxin suddenly recalled the diary, photograph, and military medal in her room.
No!
Those were the last things that her dad and mom had left her.
She could not let these items turned to ashes!
“Tianxin, where are you going?” Grandmother shouted. “Come back here!”
Grandmother saw Ye Tianxin running to the burning house. She was frightened and panicking.
She had already lost her parents, her in-laws, her husband, and her daughter. She did not want anything untoward to happen to her granddaughter.
Guan Chenxi saw Ye Tianxin running towards the fire and had no choice but to follow her.
Ye Tianxin saw that the diary had caught fire and her eyes welled up with tears. She stretched out her hand and tried to put out the flames on the diary.
Guan Chenxi dragged Ye Tianxin out forcefully.
“Ye Tianxin, are you mad? Do you know how dangerous this is? What things are more important than your life?”
Ye Tianxin looked at the burning diary. She didn’t respond to Guan Chenxi and continued to sob.
Why?
Why were the heavens so cruel?
She had not even finished reading the diary.
If she had known, she would have stayed all night reading the diary.
Ye Tianxin could not care less about the burns on her hand. The first thing she did was to check on the diary.
Fortunately, the diary was very thick and only a small portion was burned. However, her dad’s face in the photograph was blemished because of the smoke.
The medal was still there.
The fire illuminated Ye Tianxin’s face, emphasizing the sadness in her expression.
Guan Chenxi saw that Ye Tianxin’s hand was burned. She took a bucket of water and placed Ye Tianxin’s hand into the bucket. Fortunately, Guan Chenxi took care of the injury promptly so Ye Tianxin’s burn was not severe.
With the help of all the neighbors, the fire was quickly put out.
The houses on either side of the courtyard were not affected by the fire. However, Ye Tianxin and Grandmother’s courtyard was badly damaged. They could no longer stay there.
“Uncles, Aunties, thank you all for helping us put out the fire…”
The woman next door patted Ye Tianxin’s shoulder and said, “You all can’t stay in this house anymore. What do you plan to do?”
Ye Tianxin looked at the house and thought that it was just as well that the house was burned down. At most, they could just rebuild it.
“Auntie, could you let my grandmother stay with you for the night?”
The neighbor was very kind and agreed. They have been neighbors for many years, and this was just a small favor. She would definitely help out.
The caregiver brought Grandmother to rest at the neighbor’s house. Meanwhile, Guan Chenxi brought Ye Tianxin to where the fire started.