A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Little Flower often brings back things, from ordinary mice, insects, and frogs to unusual snakes, bats, and so on.

The whole family is used to it now.

However, this time it did not appear to be a living thing, but rather a rolled-up object.

An Qinghe chuckled and held a small dried fish in front of Xiao Hua's nose. "Come on, let's trade. Let me see what you're holding."

The dried fish worked! With just a shake, Xiaohua let go.

An Qing caught the falling object with one hand, and at the same time tossed the dried fish near Xiao Hua's mouth.

The calico cat leaped from the stone's hand, caught the dried fish in its mouth, and then nimbly landed and ran away.

A few humans remained, examining the things the cat had brought back under the light.

The wooden tube is about the thickness of a regular clothesline and as long as an index finger.

An Qing shook it and said in a low voice, "There's something inside."

He Jinglan urged, "Quickly open it and see, could someone be using this to send a message?"

Gu Xixi suddenly remembered the gyrfalcon that Mu Nanzhao had once sent to deliver a message.

At that time, the gyrfalcon had a wooden tube tied to its leg, which was hollow inside and contained a secret letter.

Could it be that he sent a message to let us know he's safe?

A strange sense of anticipation rose in Gu Xixi's heart, and she looked up.

An Qinghe had already opened the stopper at one end of the wooden tube, and a smell wafted out.

He Jinglan pinched her nose. "What is this? It smells awful!"

An Qinghe looked down and said, "There's no letter inside; it's filled with liquid."

“I smell it, I recognize it.” Stone leaned closer, looked at it, and confirmed, “Kerosene, this is kerosene!”

Everyone was startled.

They had heard of kerosene, but this was the first time they had ever seen it in person.

Ordinary people often use crude, unrefined soybean oil for lighting lamps.

The "fire oil" that the Daye people referred to was petroleum.

Because there were no means of oil exploration at that time, the only way to obtain oil was to rely on the chance of encountering oil seeping out from underground during mining, which was entirely based on luck, resulting in very low yields.

This item was under the control of the imperial court and was rarely sold to the public; it was even classified as military supplies.

Previously, the Northwest Army used oil to create fireballs from rockets and catapults.

Some pharmacopoeias and medical books also list kerosene as a medicinal material.

Aunt Zhang asked Stone, "How did you know this was kerosene?"

Shi Tou said, "In the past, my family disposed of a batch of old trees and sold them to charcoal-making workshops."

“My dad saw it when he took me to deliver goods.”

"Their charcoal stoves use kerosene, and I even asked them what it was that smelled so bad."

He Jinglan nodded, "This scent is unique; once you've smelled it, you won't forget it."

Gu Xixi saw that Aunt Zhang had prepared cat food and picked up the bowl to give to Shi Tou.

"Little Flower is hungry, go and feed her."

"After it finishes eating, go and help your doctor grandfather over so we can eat."

Stone happily agreed and ran out with the bowl in his hand.

Silence fell over the kitchen, the flickering oil lamp casting shadows on the walls.

Aunt Zhang's expression hadn't been good since earlier; given her age, she naturally had some experience.

She frowned and muttered, "Who threw such a dangerous thing away like that?"

"If Xiaohua found it, could it have been dropped near our house?"

Gu Xixi also remained calm and thoughtful.

He Jinglan sensed something was amiss and looked at Gu Xixi with questioning eyes.

Gu Xixi said, "It is said that this stuff is flammable. If you pour it on, the fire will spread in the blink of an eye. The worst part is that it is not easy to put out."

Everyone's expression turned serious.

An Qinghe stared coldly at a certain spot.

"If it was thrown on purpose, is this beast, worse than a hyena, trying to commit arson and murder?!"

He was always smiling; I had never seen him truly angry.

Aunt Zhang was startled and instinctively asked, "Who wants to harm us?"

"Could it be that Master Gu?"

Aunt Zhang thought about it more and more and it seemed very likely. "Now only their family hasn't bought fertilizer. We already had a feud before, and their youngest son was sentenced to exile. I don't know when he'll be released. It must be their family!"

An Qinghe grabbed the container of kerosene, "I'm going to find him right now!"

"Stop," Gu Xixi said in a deep voice. "It wasn't their family who did it."

Aunt Zhang and An Qing looked puzzled.

He Jinglan explained from the side, "Oil is scarce, expensive, and controlled by the imperial court. The Gu family has no connections, and they are unwilling to spend the money. They just want to get revenge on Gu Xixi."

On second thought, that's indeed the case.

If Grandpa Gu's family had this ability, they would have instigated the local Gu family to attack Gu Xixi long ago. Why would they have ended up in such a sorry state, being expelled from the family genealogy and still being despised by the villagers?

An Qinghe said solemnly, "I'll go out and see if there's anything else."

He lit a lamp and looked around the courtyard, not missing a single corner or crevice.

No second canister of kerosene was found.

He Jinglan and Gu Xixi exchanged a glance, and they both had the same guess in their hearts.

The kerosene that Xiaohua found was just a warning.

Gu Xixi smiled and said, "I'm relieved that we didn't find it. Who would have thrown such a small amount after setting the fire?"

"It seems we've all been overthinking things. Xiao Hua sometimes wanders far away; she might have picked up some kerosene that someone else dropped by the roadside today."

He Jinglan quickly chimed in, "That's right, who would throw away such expensive kerosene? It must have been dropped by accident."

Aunt Zhang relaxed. "That's possible. Let's not think about it anymore and eat."

An Qinghe looked at Gu Xixi with suspicion. Was it really that simple?

After the meal, Gu Xixi gave the tube of kerosene to the old doctor.

It's a medicinal herb, after all; let's not waste it.

The next morning, Gu Xixi hitched up the mule cart and packed her belongings.

He Jinglan also stood beside her, holding her own bundle in her arms.

Aunt Zhang asked in surprise, "Didn't we say we weren't going out recently?"

Gu Xixi said with a smile, "My newly bought farm can't just sit idle."

"I want to plant some things first, so I'm going to stay there for three to five days."

Aunt Zhang never hindered Gu Xixi from doing important things. She heard that there were two small houses in the estate, with simple furniture and wooden beds.

She then brought out two quilts to load into the car, saying, "These two quilts were part of your mother's dowry last year. I washed them once and have been taking them out to air them every year since. They're perfect for the farm, so we can use them occasionally."

Gu Xixi did not refuse, "Thank you, Auntie."

As they were leaving, An Qinghe ran out to see them off.

Gu Xixi said seriously, "I'm going to my own territory, why are you taking me there?"

"On the contrary, if you're not in a hurry to go back to Yunling, we'll need your help here in the village."

He Jinglan added, "That's right, it's the first time the villagers are using your fertilizer and pesticides, so you have to keep a close eye on them, right?"

"Any problems can be solved anytime. Don't ruin the reputation of our workshop. We're counting on you to run it well and make money for the three of us in the future!"

An Qinghe then gave up, saying, "Then be careful on your journey."

He felt uneasy after seeing the kerosene last night.