During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Dafu, a native of Shouyang County, Shanxi Province, ran a small shop in Yangquan, doing some small business to support his family, and rarely returned to his hometown.

The east side of his shop was next to a merchant selling sweet dates, and the owner was an old man surnamed Hu. The two shops were not only next to each other, but also the two were from the same hometown, so their relationship has always been very close.

This year Qingming Festival, Zhang Dafu wanted to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors, so he asked Old Man Hu if he wanted to go back together?

Hu Lao Han said that he was not in good health recently, so he would go back in a while and ask Zhang Dafu to send a message to his family.

It turned out that Hu Laohan's son was going to get married in a month, so he asked Zhang Dafu to bring a message to the family: I will go back in half a month, and the gifts for my son's wedding have been bought.

Zhang Dafu first said "congratulation" to him, and then asked, "Although we are from the same hometown, I don't know which village your family is in."

Old Hu said, "My home is 15 miles south of your village. There is a big locust tree at the entrance of the village."

Zhang Dafu nodded again and again: "I know that big locust tree, it is said that it has a history of hundreds of years, and none of the five people can hold it. Then where is your home on this big locust tree?"

Old Hu said, "My family lives in this big locust tree."

Zhang Dafu smiled and said, "Brother Hu, don't tease me."

Old Hu smiled and replied, "I didn't lie to you, just go. When you get to the big locust tree, you can pat the trunk with your hand three times, and then say, 'Is Auntie Hu home?' Someone will come out to greet you then."

Zhang Dafu nodded and said, "Your family really knows how to find a place to live."

After the Qingming Festival, Zhang Dafu went to Hujiazhuang. At the entrance of Hujiazhuang, he really saw the big locust tree that was as thick as a few people.

He followed Old Man Hu's instructions, tapped the tree trunk three times with his hand, and then shouted loudly, "Is Sister Hu at home?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the thick tree trunk suddenly opened a door, and an old woman came out and led him in.

After entering, Zhang Dafu saw that there was a small house inside. The yard was clean and tidy. To his surprise, there was a cage under the eaves on the left side of the yard.

The old woman took him to the main house, where he met Hu Laohan's wife, and he told her what Hu Laohan wanted to bring.

Mrs. Hu thanked him and asked him to stay here for dinner. Zhang Dafu still had something to do, so she got up and said goodbye.

As soon as they got home, a distant cousin of Zhang Dafu ran to his house and said, "Little brother, go and see Xiaodie, she has a strange disease, and your big brother is not at home. I don't know what to do as a woman!"

Xiao Die was Zhang Dafu's cousin. She had met him a few times when she was young.

Zhang Dafu comforted her while rushing to her house. When he arrived at his cousin's house, he saw a unconscious woman lying on the bed. It was Xiao Die.

He said to his cousin, "Sister-in-law, don't be sad, I'll go out and promise to cure my niece's illness!" Then he hurried to Hu Jiazhuang.

According to the previous procedure, Zhang Dafu met Old Man Hu's wife.

Seeing that he was back again, Auntie Hu hurriedly asked, "Little brother, do you have anything else to do?"

Zhang Dafu pointed to the girl in the cage and said, "Sister Hu, this girl is my cousin and niece. I didn't recognize her just now, but I didn't know until I got home, so please raise your hand and let her go."

Auntie Hu listened and thought for a long time before she said, "This girl was going to marry my son, and it took him several years to find a satisfactory one." Since she is your cousin and niece, and for the sake of your help with my family's message, I will let her go.

Zhang Dafu hurriedly thanked him. Sister Hu opened the cage, and the girl inside turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted out of the cage and disappeared.

When he came to his cousin's house again, he found that his cousin had woken up and asked her if she knew anything, as if it was a dream. Zhang Dafu breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, Zhang Dafu said goodbye to his wife and rushed to Shouyang County. But just halfway through the journey, he was caught by his eldest brother on a fast horse. The eldest brother gasped and said, "Come back with me, your niece has the same disease as Xiaodie!"

Zhang Dafu rushed to Mrs. Hu's house overnight, explained the reason, and asked Mrs. Hu to release her niece.

But this time, Mrs. Hu did not agree to let her go. She said, "If I miss this, my son will not be able to get married for ten years! Besides, I have already given you a face once, and this time I can't say anything!"

This time, Zhang Dafu was also anxious. It was his own niece who was locked in the cage!

Seeing that Sister Hu did not agree to let her go, he wanted to open the cage himself.

Unexpectedly, Auntie Hu was angry. She pointed at him with her hand, and Zhang Dafu fell out of that tall locust tree and broke one leg!

Zhang Dafu stood up with a limp, and when he knocked on the big locust tree again, no one came out to pay attention to him.

He could only walk home angry. Due to a broken leg, Zhang Dafu endured severe pain until midnight to get home.

Back home, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so he called his eldest brother and found a few young and strong young men. He told everyone the truth, and then let each of these people carry a bundle of dry firewood and lead them to Hu Family Village.

A few people came to the big locust tree with dry firewood and piled dry firewood around the tree. Zhang Dafu personally lit the fire and gritted his teeth and said, "This is all your fault!"

After a while, the fire broke out, and the tree trunk was burned with "crackling" sounds. Then there were bursts of miserable shouts from the tree, as well as the cries of various foxes.

The fire burned through the middle of the night, and when it was almost dawn, the shouting stopped, and the big locust tree burned into a pile of ashes.

Upon returning home, Zhang Dafu realized that his niece had not been saved and that she had passed away.

After his niece's funeral, Zhang Dafu went out. He planned to seek justice from Old Hu.

A few days later, Zhang Dafu arrived at his shop, but the shop of the old man Hu next door had been closed. He asked a few people, but they didn't know where the old man Hu had gone.

When he was looking for Old Man Hu all over the city, the clerk in the store told him that there was a letter for him in the store.

Zhang Dafu opened the envelope and saw that the letter was written by Hu Lao.

In the letter, the old man Hu said: I already know what happened a few days ago. Although you set my family on fire, my wife was at fault first, and I can't entirely blame you.

The letter also said: "Although our family is a fox, when I left home, I repeatedly told my wife to get along well with others, but she still did something she shouldn't have done, and this kind of thing is self-inflicted.

Of course, he also blamed Zhang Dafu for not being impulsive and harming his niece.

The letter also said: " If I donot hate you, that's false, but when will injustice be avenged?" This matter will end here, and I will not trouble you. I will leave my shop for your brother as compensation!

At the same time, Hu Laohan advised Zhang Dafu: Do not act impulsively in the future, think thrice before acting, otherwise some mistakes are irreparable.

After reading the letter, Zhang Dafu fell into deep thought: Was his approach really wrong? If he hadn't done that in the first place, would there have been any other good way?