While they were sleeping soundly, a sudden fire broke out in a remote prison. The intense blaze engulfed the prison in darkness, and luckily, it started at midnight.
At that hour, many prisoners were still awake, so when someone screamed "fire," the guards promptly opened the prison gates.
This prison only held ordinary criminals with longer sentences but not vile villains, so the security level wasn’t strict. Additionally, located in a remote area bordered by a primeval forest, many prisoners, being rational, dared not escape using the fire as cover.
Having some sense, they would not attempt to escape in such desolate mountains without anyone to receive them!
Not to say anything, the longest sentence among the prisoners here was just seven years. Oh, but that’s incorrect, a new prisoner who arrived a few days ago was sentenced to fourteen years... and she was an old woman.
At that time, the prison mostly comprised of stone and wood structures, very ancient, and since it didn’t hold very dangerous criminals, the security level wasn’t strict. After the fire, the warden checked the deceased prisoners, the surviving prisoners, the guards, and so on, only to discover that three prisoners were missing!
This startled the warden tremendously as while death might pass, escaping from prison was a serious matter! And if it was a premeditated escape, that would be even more outrageous.
The fire not only caused injuries, but several innocent people also died in it!
Moreover, these prisoners were merely involved in minor offenses, nowhere near committing major crimes!
First Company had been busy for three days in the county town, almost finishing setting up their new home.
Now, Zhang Shan Ni, caressing her belly, walked on the small streets of the county town with her little aunt, familiarizing themselves with the neighborhood map.
Xie Jingzi’s school was already settled; it was the Number One Middle School. She also took a test paper on the spot and was promptly assigned to a class.
As the school term had already started, Xie Jingzi didn’t have any learning materials here, so she would start school on Monday.
They were out to buy school supplies and also to look for a nearby kindergarten.
According to Zhang Shan Ni’s wishes, it was better for the children to attend school. It would ease the burden on the elders, and the children would have peers to play with and progress together, which constitutes a normal childhood.
Originally, Xie Tiesheng thought that since San’er had just bought a house, they should tighten their belts. The elders being thrifty were reluctant to send the children to school, but Zhang Shan Ni insisted, and eventually, the elders yielded.
Just like Zhang Shan Ni said, their house was not in a very remote location; the first floor was directly accessible and with a total area of 130 square meters, it could be divided into two or three separate sections. Renting out two units and keeping one small section for themselves for the elders to sell stewed meat would certainly bring in income!
As Xiaoqi and Xiao Si said, there was only one stewed meat place nearby, and it was not tasty at all. Xiaoqi said it was barely edible, indicating how bad it tasted - children never usually complain about meat not being tasty!
It was Zhang Shan Ni’s excellent cooking skills that had spoiled the taste buds of these children.
Xie Tiesheng thought, if the children went to school, the elders could spare time for stewing meat. It was just stewing meat; no heavy labor was required, making the work quite manageable. Although the elders were considered old in Zhang Shan Ni’s eyes, in those times, people of their age were still expected to work in the fields.
Compared to that, just washing and cutting in the kitchen wasn’t really tiring.
Zhou Xiuhua was moved by this thought, her face immediately showing agreement.
Her health had improved somewhat, but after a severe illness, her physical condition wasn’t as good as before. If she were to return to her old home, she wouldn’t be able to carry heavy loads or handle burdens, so starting a small business here as San’er’s wife suggested might ensure the family’s sustenance.
Most importantly, the stewed meat was actually delicious; if it couldn’t be sold, it could still be consumed by the family, ensuring no loss.
The house was their own; if they didn’t take this risk, what good prospects could they possibly have?
The couple murmured in their house for two days and a night before finally deciding: Let’s do it!
So, when Zhang Shan Ni and Xie Jingzi went to find a kindergarten this time, the elders didn’t object anymore but instead started planning where to set up the kitchen stove in their own yard.
In the eyes of the elders, firewood was the proper cooking resource, and only meals cooked with firewood had the authentic aroma of firewood.
Zhang Shan Ni didn’t oppose this; after all, given the environmental situation at that time and the staircase on the first floor that could store firewood, they just needed to pick a well-ventilated spot and build a stove.
In the yard of slightly over sixty square meters, setting up a small kitchen of about ten square meters was feasible. With the leftover space, the elders intended to cultivate a small vegetable garden and move the existing flowers and fruits to the periphery. Thus, although the plants would be denser, it was practical.
Zhang Shan Ni let her in-laws play with their own ideas entirely, anything they wanted was fine as long as it didn’t interfere with outsiders and neighbors didn’t complain.
To modify the layout of the first floor, the elders explicitly asked Zhang Shan Ni not to move in because, according to folklore back in their hometown, it was inauspicious for a pregnant woman to see her own house being excavated.
When Zhang Shan Ni heard this belief, she was completely baffled. In the end, it was Xie Jingchen who summoned a few soldiers after their shift to voluntarily labor for half a day at their new house, helping to divide the storefront on the first floor according to Zhang Shan Ni’s ideas.
The area of one hundred thirty square meters, connecting the staircase on the first floor and one side of the backyard, was intended for their own use. Since they mainly sold food and snacks as cooked food, the space required for the storefront wasn’t large; an opening of about two meters, roughly equal to less than thirty square meters of space, was sufficient.
The adjacent two units, each about forty-eight square meters, were quite regular; the front could be used for business, and the back could be partitioned into living quarters.
Zhang Shan Ni sealed the rear entrance to the backyard from those units. Except for the windowsill where clothing could be hung to dry, only the main entrance could be used for access.
Unlike their own unit##############################################################