Novel

Chapter 2: Six Days Before the Fire

Chen Yiran confirms the archive trail in the workshop, then endures a public attempt by Auntie Luo and Song Zhenhao to shame him out of the evidence. He cross-checks the torn pages against the storefront books, identifies the missing ledger as tied to the old foreman’s death, and forces the household to see that the clean sale record does not match the archive fragments. With hostile witnesses present, he speaks the names in the paper trail aloud, triggering the first public reversal before Old Master Song orders the archive corridor sealed. The chapter ends with Chen cut off from the house and realizing the missing ledger is being guarded because it could expose a fatal betrayal the official story cannot survive.