his dragon [farming]

When Qiu He rushed to the door, he only had time to put on one sleeve of the padded jacket. After seeing the situation outside, he froze with the other hand that was put on the padded jacket, and was stunned.

To the southeast of the town, the shocking flames engulfed the soaring smoke, illuminating the dark winter night.The dry branches were burning, making a huge crackling sound, mixed with a faint cry, which was particularly sad in the cold night.

While putting on his clothes, Qiu He ran towards the fire, and Shen Dasheng followed behind, barking and galloping all the way.When it was about to go downhill, one person and one dog stopped.

The raging fire ignited the whole tall hackberry tree and burned it into an amazing torch.The fire was drawn by the wind and swept towards the direction of the town, and it was involved all the way, and it had already burned into a sea of ​​flames.

Qiu He took a few steps back, turned around and ran back, pulled out a bucket from the kitchen, scooped up a bucket full of water, and ran out with it.When he ran to the fire, he bumped into Shen Baocheng. The old man took the bucket, carried it forward, and shouted back to him, "Stay away!"

The fire was so intense that it was already burning people four or five meters away, but Shen Baocheng limped all the way to the fire before pouring a bucket of water over it.The water touched the fire, and with a sizzling sound, it immediately turned into a ball of white steam.When the old man turned back, Qiu He asked loudly, "Why did it start burning?"

Shen Baocheng didn't answer, he walked around the forest of fire with a bucket and walked down the slope, shouting loudly: "Look at the nod, be careful of the branches falling!"

Qiu He followed behind persistently, and then shouted loudly: "Grandpa, what should we do now?"

Shen Baocheng threw the bucket to him, and shouted back: "Help put out the fire, don't get too close!" After speaking, he quickly ran towards the river.

On the side next to the river, many people had already gathered, and the crowd spontaneously formed two long dragons, carrying water from the river to put out the fire.The rest of the people who did not line up also joined the fire fighting team with washbasins and buckets.The light of the fire illuminated the busy crowd, and everyone's faces were very serious.

Qiu He carried the bucket and ran down the slope. He fetched a heavy bucket of water from the river, and ran up the mountain splashingly carrying it.Amidst the noise of people barking and barking, Shi Laoliu and Shen Baocheng gave loud orders, and many young and strong men followed them. It turned out that they had prepared knives and saws and planned to cut from the burning forest. Take out a separate belt.

Qiuhe followed everyone, running downhill to fetch water from the river over and over again. He had never exerted so much force in his life. His arms and legs were trembling, but he didn't feel tired at all. A fishy smell.

As soon as a group of people left, there were fewer people taking water to put out the fire. The weather was dry in winter, and the fire seemed to be getting bigger. The wind was blowing and burning towards the town, and it seemed that it was getting closer to a house on the edge of the town. .

Among the crowd, a mother-in-law on crutches couldn't help crying, "God, what crime did I do, the house burned down, how can people live..."

No one comforted her, and no one had the time.The cries of the old man seemed very sad and helpless in the cold night.

There was a lot of water sprinkled on the slope leading into the river, and it was already drenched. Qiu He was carrying a bucket full of water. When he was looking at the mother-in-law, he accidentally slipped and fell down with the bucket. Roll like a mud monkey.

Shen Dasheng has been running up and down next to Qiuhe, and now he is busy nagging his brother's sleeve, trying to drag him up.Qiuhe struggled, but fell into a shallow pit and couldn't get up for a while.At this time, a hand suddenly stretched out beside him, helping the Great Sage to pull him up.

Qiuhe climbed up, and before he had time to thank him, the man turned around and hurried down the slope. After taking two steps, he stopped suddenly, stretched out his hand, and asked himself suspiciously, "Is it raining?"

As soon as the words fell, a drop of rain fell heavily on Qiuhe's head.

In a blink of an eye, raindrops fell on the head and face, bringing the cold and damp breath of winter.The crowd, who were drenched in the rain, cheered up. Someone knocked on the empty washbasin and shouted wildly as they ran towards the river: "God is here to help, everyone work hard!".The crowd, who were still downcast just now, was aroused by the rain and full of fighting spirit.

It rained for more than an hour, and it didn't stop until the sky turned pale in the east. The sudden fire was almost extinguished by the rain. The embers were all stomped on.Finally, when the firefighters were sitting and resting on the slope, Shen Baocheng and Shi Laoliu led their people into the still steaming woods and checked them carefully.

The sky was bright, seeing that the town was safe, and everyone felt relieved, so they felt extremely tired.Looking at each other again, they saw that each other's face and body were all black with smoke, so they started joking with each other.

Qiuhe sat on the slope for a long time before she calmed down, and wiped her face with the back of her hand, and it was black with her hands.Looking at his hands in a daze, a towel was thrown from the side and placed on his head.He tore off the towel, and saw the flower girl sitting next to her with her hair unkempt, looking at him with a smile, and said, "You decent kid, your face is covered in mud like a mud cat, wipe off the dust!"

Qiu He smiled, took a towel and rubbed it hard along his head and face, after wiping, he saw that the towel was too black to use, so he hurriedly said, "Ma'am, I'll go to the river and rub the towel."

He really wanted to get up, but his legs were weak and he couldn't stand up no matter what.Hua Niangniang grabbed the towel and said, "I want you to worry? Rest!"

After speaking, she took a towel and went to the river. A young man in his early twenties sitting next to her was also covered in dirty clothes. He turned to look at Qiuhe, smiled and said, "Your dog is quite human."

"Well," Qiu He nodded, recognizing that this young man was the one who gave her a hand, and quickly thanked him.The guy said, "You are Shen Qiuhe? My name is Shi Kai." He pointed to Empress Hua who was walking downhill, "That's my mother."

Qiu He hurriedly said: "It turned out to be Brother Shi Kai. I used to hear about you from Hua Niangniang. When did you come back to town?"

"I just came back the day before yesterday, and I caught fire." Shi Kai rubbed his messy hair and said, "Thank you very much! In the past two days, I have heard my mother praise you, saying that you are capable, helping her sell things and making money. A lot of money! I don’t know how happy that money basket in our family is!”

Qiu He laughed, and the two chatted for a while, Shi Kai stood up, pulled Qiu He up, and said, "The ground is too wet, go back quickly, take a shower and have a meal, and catch up on sleep. Almost exhausted."

The two climbed up the hillside together, separated at the intersection, and went home separately.When Qiu He walked home, he saw that the hackberry tree with its dense branches was burned black, and its bare trunk pointed straight to the sky.On the slope towards the town, the trees used to be lush, but now they are scorched black.

How did the fire start?Is it a wildfire, or man-made arson?If someone set the fire, who did it?Why?Will it be someone from the town?

Could the crowd who were busy fighting the fire just now be one of them?

The hot sweat on his body was already cold, and his underwear was icy cold against his back. However, this was nothing compared to the chill that pierced into his heart. It was so cold that he shivered like falling into an ice cellar.

After Qiuhe went home and took a bath, and cooked the porridge, Shen Baocheng hadn't returned yet.He thought that Shen Baocheng must have a lot of things to do, so he ate breakfast first.While eating, he thought of Bai Chuan again, so he went to his house to have a look, but there was no one in the house, and Qiu He thought that he didn't see him when he was fighting the fire, so he couldn't help being very surprised.

It wasn't until almost noon that Shen Baocheng came back from the town. He said that Lao Wang from the police station also brought people to understand the situation. He accompanied him around and asked many people in the town, but no one Know how the fire started.

As Shen Baocheng spoke, his face became serious.Qiu He comforted: "Fortunately, nothing happened this time. Have there been fires on the mountain before? Are you fighting fires like this?"

Shen Baocheng was silent for a moment, and then said: "The climate here is warm and humid, and there are plenty of water sources. As long as you look at the mountains and be careful, nothing major will happen. That is, there was a scary mountain fire four or fifty years ago, and it has calmed down all these years. But this time... the fire started on the slope next to the hackberry tree first, don't you think it's strange?"

Qiu He was stunned, "You mean..."

Shen Baocheng sighed, and said, "I'm afraid someone set the fire on purpose, but why did this person set it on fire? Why did he pick this place to set it on fire?"

Both father and son were silent, and after a while Qiuhe said: "Is it aimed at us and Bai Chuan on purpose? The location of the fire is very close to our house. Fortunately, there is an east wind. If it is a west wind, it will definitely blow the fire to us." Come this way. If that's the case, will the townspeople still come to help put out the fire?"

Shen Baocheng didn't speak, and after a while he said: "Don't think too much, help is definitely necessary. Besides, Lao Wang has investigated this matter in the town and has no clue. We can't just guess about this matter."

Qiuhe thought to himself, just rely on the two policemen to check it out, and they can get some clues.But this is not the most worrying thing, the key is, those people didn't burn them this time, will they plan the next time?

Shen Baocheng seemed to see his worry, shook his head and said: "This time there is such a big commotion. If it wasn't for the rain, it would definitely burn the town. Even if someone set the fire, that person must be scared. Who would dare to come again?" one time?"

The father and son sat silently facing each other, their hearts were in turmoil.After a while, Shen Baocheng stood up and said, "I'm going to cook, by the way, Bai Chuan hasn't come back yet?"

Qiu He shook his head, the old man looked at the neighbor, didn't say anything, just picked up the vegetable basket and went to the ground.

At night, Bai Chuan still didn't come back.Ordinarily, he would know about such a big thing and should show up no matter what, but a lock was hung in the small courtyard next door from morning till night.Qiu He began to feel that this matter was very strange, so he couldn't help worrying, and stayed until midnight, deciding that if he didn't return in the morning, he would go to the mountain to find him.

Early the next morning, Shen Baocheng went to the town again, and when he came back, he told Qiu He a big news.In just one night, three people in the town had accidents one after another. First, a young man fell on the bluestone board and broke his leg when he got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night; The other is even more weird, saying that he woke up from a dream in the middle of the night and found himself lying on the beam of the house. In this shock, he fell and fell half dead.Shi Laoliu was busy driving them to the hospital until midnight.

Qiu He was dumbfounded when he heard this anecdote, and he and Shen Baocheng looked at each other, both of them thought of Bai Chuan.After a while, Qiu He asked, "What did the townspeople say about this?"

"It's not that you are suspicious there!" Shen Baocheng said, then looked at the small courtyard next door, and asked, "Haven't you returned yet?"

Qiu He nodded, remained silent for a moment, and said, "I'll go to the mountain to have a look in a while."

Shen Baocheng thought about it and agreed.After the two of them had breakfast, Qiu He went out and took his brother Shen Dasheng up the mountain along the trail, one person and one dog.

The weather in winter is gloomy, and the forest is covered with wet and cold white mist.Qiuhe took the dog all the way over the mountains and ridges, and when they reached the foot of Dongshan Mountain through the forest, they saw a person sitting under a tree at the foot of the mountain from a distance, as if waiting for them.Taking a closer look, it was Bai Chuan who had been missing for two days.