Everyone started discussing among themselves. Although such houses had been around for a long time, it was uncommon for them to collapse. Even if any collapses occured, it would only be confined to a storeroom or one or two side rooms. No one had ever encountered a situation like what happened with the Cao family, where half of the house had collapsed.

Other people might only have a collapsed storeroom, but the Cao family only had a storeroom left.

Just as everyone was discussing, the remaining rooms also collapsed. Now, not a single room was left intact.

What exactly did the Cao family do to cause this house to collapse?

“Director Cao, what exactly is going on?” Xia Zhe said as he looked at the surrounding ruins helplessly. “Even if you don’t want to return the house to me, you don’t have to do this.”

The neighbors understood what was going on once they heard what he said. Two days ago, they had already heard that Xia Zhe had used a 100-year-old wild ginseng to exchange for the Cao family’s side of the house. Everyone knew about this matter and had praised Xia Zhe for being a good kid who knew how to fulfill his grandmother’s wishes. The people who lived here were all old neighbors and everyone knew Old Madam Xia’s character.

Back then, Xia Zhe’s grandmother, Wu Min, often helped the people around her. The neighbors in the vicinity had all been indebted to her at one time or another. Everyone remembered her kindness, so they doted on Xia Zhe very much.

Everyone knew about the exchange done with the ginseng. Not only did they know about it, but they also knew that the Cao family had turned around and given the ginseng to the He family.

However, they did not expect the Cao family to go to such an extent. Not only did they take the ginseng and use it to protect their wealth and status for the rest of their lives, but they even forcefully took apart Xia Zhe’s house. This was an ancestral home and it would be difficult to restore it to its original condition.

The neighbors took out their flashlights to see which Cao family members were around. They realized that only the adults were there and the children were not with them. It was obvious that this was definitely not an accident. This was man-made!

These people were afraid that the children would get hurt in an accident and had sent them away in advance. The Cao family was really black-hearted.

Cao Da quickly waved his hands around and explained to everyone, “It’s not like that! It’s not what everyone thinks!”

“Then tell us how this house collapsed!” The neighbors demanded an answer.

Cao Da stammered and did not know how to explain. The Cao family’s eldest daughter-in-law stood up and explained to everyone, “It’s the heavy storm today that made the house collapse. What happened today was an accident and we were almost buried as well.”

“I haven’t been back to live in the front yard for more than 10 years. Tonight, the front yard didn’t collapse but the backyard did. Furthermore, it collapsed right after you refused to give me back the house,” Xia Zhe said to the Cao family.

On the Cao family’s side of the house, even if all the side rooms collapsed, the main room should not have been affected. Such an important part of the house would have been constructed with good materials and would not collapse so easily.

“The rain was just too heavy! We were almost smashed as well!” Cao Da said.

The Cao family really had no other reason to refute the accusation, and could only make everyone believe that they were also the victims so that everyone would be less suspicious of them.

Xia Zhe shook his head and did not say anything. They just stood there in a deadlock. Everyone just joined in and waited for the Cao family to explain themselves. However, the Cao family did not dare to speak up and confront Xia Zhe. They were worried that the more they said, the more mistakes they might make.

“The rain is getting heavier. Why don’t we clean up tomorrow? Let’s all go back today,” someone in the crowd shouted.

Xia Zhe turned around and left. He still had to go back and accompany Qiao Mei. The Cao family’s mess would have to wait until tomorrow. The only good thing was that he did not have to go through too much of a hassle to cause trouble for them.

The crowd gradually dispersed. The Cao family members looked sadly at the collapsed ruins. Old Master Cao crumpled to the ground and sat there in a daze. None of them had expected this outcome.

They did not plan to leave, so they did not move anything out of the house. Now, all the household appliances at home were ruined!

Old Master Cao did not care about the furniture. He was upset about the jade antiques that he had accumulated over his entire life. Those were all his treasures that stayed in good condition for most of his life. He did not expect them to be destroyed at this moment and was on the brink of tears.