Inside the warehouse, a slender figure was curled up in a corner.
The scorching heat had left Lin Wansu’s entire body burning hot, while the toxic smoke stung her eyes so badly that she could barely keep them open. She no longer had the strength to call for help.
Somewhere deep inside, she had an unmistakable feeling.
She was going to die.
She was going to die on the very night before the light of a new future was supposed to arrive.
But Lin Wansu wasn’t willing to accept it. She screamed desperately inside her heart, praying for a miracle to appear.
She was so close to finding out her college entrance examination score. Soon, she could apply to the university she had always dreamed of attending. There were still so many things she wanted to do, things she had never gotten the chance to experience.
Her life was supposed to be just beginning.
But now…
Then there was her younger sister.
Lin Wanning only had her left in this world. If she died here, how devastated would her sister be?
Lin Wansu’s consciousness grew increasingly hazy.
Through the fog clouding her mind, she seemed to hear the sound of someone smashing against the door outside.
Was it an illusion?
Another crash rang out, louder and clearer than before.
Lin Wansu struggled to look toward the entrance. Somehow, the iron door had opened. Through the thick smoke, she vaguely saw a young man carrying a fire extinguisher rushing inside.
‘Has someone… come to save me?’
…
Chen Xu kicked the iron door open, and thick smoke immediately surged toward him.
He choked and stumbled backward two steps, tears instantly streaming from his eyes.
Bending over as he coughed, Chen Xu pressed the wet towel firmly over his mouth and nose, narrowed his eyes, and peered inside.
The warehouse was a complete mess.
Basketball hoops, mats, old rackets, and broken wooden boards were scattered everywhere. Flames had already ignited in one corner, crawling upward along stacks of cardboard boxes with constant crackling sounds.
A wave of scorching heat swept across Chen Xu’s face, leaving his skin painfully stinging.
He raised the barely functional fire extinguisher and sprayed several bursts toward the flames near the entrance.
A cloud of white powder erupted from the nozzle, immediately suppressing a patch of fire.
However, flames were still burning deeper inside the warehouse.
Behind an equipment rack at the very back, a girl was curled up on the floor.
She wore a faded school uniform that looked as though it had been violently torn, leaving it ragged and damaged. Her hair was in complete disarray, and half her face had been darkened by smoke.
She seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, her head hanging weakly.
Chen Xu recognized her immediately.
Lin Wansu.
Lin Wanning’s only family member in the original novel.
She was also the catalyst whose death would eventually drive the future legend of the business world into complete darkness.
Chen Xu shouted, “Lin Wansu!”
The girl didn’t respond.
Flames suddenly surged from a cardboard box beside her, illuminating her deathly pale face.
Chen Xu’s heart tightened. Carrying the fire extinguisher, he rushed deeper into the warehouse.
The instant he stepped forward, the sole of his shoe landed on a loose wooden stick. His balance vanished, and he crashed heavily to the floor, his knee slamming hard against the ground.
The pain nearly made him curse at the top of his lungs.
Still, Chen Xu gritted his teeth and forced himself back onto his feet.
Above him, old wooden boards had already been charred black by the flames, and fragments were steadily falling from the ceiling.
Chen Xu frantically kicked aside everything blocking his path, spraying the fire extinguisher as he pushed farther inside.
Chen Xu shouted, “Lin Wansu, don’t fall asleep!”
His voice was muffled by the wet towel, making it sound hoarse and urgent.
The girl’s body moved slightly.
Seeing that tiny movement, Chen Xu finally felt the suffocating pressure in his chest ease a little.
‘As long as she’s alive.’
As long as she was still alive, there was still time.
Chen Xu rushed to the collapsed equipment rack and rammed his shoulder against the metal frame blocking Lin Wansu.
It didn’t budge.
He slammed his shoulder into it again, sending a sharp ache through his entire arm.
Chen Xu muttered, “You really know how to pick a place to hide…”
His mouth kept complaining, but his hands never stopped moving. He tossed the fire extinguisher aside, grabbed the edge of the metal frame, and dragged it backward.
Half a wooden board was wedged underneath it.
Chen Xu kicked the board away and pulled again with all his strength.
Clang!
The equipment rack shifted about half a meter, finally exposing Lin Wansu completely.
She was leaning against the corner of the wall. Her face was wet, though Chen Xu couldn’t tell whether it was from sweat or tears.
Her torn school uniform couldn’t conceal the large bruises covering her body. There were even several older injuries around her wrists.
The sight made Chen Xu’s chest feel unbearably heavy.
He crouched beside her and gently patted her shoulder.
Chen Xu urged, “Wake up. Can you hear me?”
Lin Wansu’s eyelashes trembled before she painfully forced her eyes open.
When she saw Chen Xu, confusion appeared in her eyes. However, it didn’t take long for recognition to surface.
Lin Wansu murmured, “Chen… Xu?”
Chen Xu hadn’t expected her to recognize him, and his movements briefly paused.
Then again, although the original Chen Xu had always kept a low profile in class, they were still classmates. There was nothing strange about Lin Wansu knowing him.
Chen Xu’s throat and lungs were already aching from the smoke.
He didn’t explain why he was here. This wasn’t the time for explanations.
He wrapped the wet coat around Lin Wansu and spoke quickly, “Forget who I am. We need to get out first.”
However, Lin Wansu suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
She barely had any strength left, yet her fingers clung to him desperately.
Lin Wansu whispered, “My sister…”
Chen Xu froze for a moment.
In the original novel, the bullies had lured Lin Wansu here by claiming that her younger sister was in danger.
Even after everything that had happened, the first person she asked about was still her sister.
Chen Xu reassured her, “She’s fine.”
He tucked Lin Wansu’s hand beneath the wet coat and carefully positioned the fabric to cover as much of her mouth and nose as possible.
Chen Xu continued, “And you’re going to be fine too.”
Lin Wansu seemed not to hear him clearly. Her voice remained broken and weak as she murmured, “Don’t tell… Wanning… She’ll worry…”
Those few words left an uncomfortable weight pressing against Chen Xu’s chest.
In the original novel, Lin Wanning would stand before the burned ruins the next day, clutching the charred ornament from her sister’s schoolbag. From that moment onward, she would become an entirely different person.
Yet even after being reduced to this state, Lin Wansu was still worried about making her sister anxious.
Chen Xu muttered, “You’re unbelievable.”
He reached down and lifted her into his arms.
Chen Xu had expected carrying another person to be difficult. Instead, when he picked Lin Wansu up, she felt frighteningly light, almost like a piece of soaked clothing.
His irritation deepened.
‘What kind of life did these sisters live before this?’
Holding Lin Wansu securely, Chen Xu turned toward the entrance.
He had barely taken two steps when a burned wooden board suddenly broke loose overhead.
Crash!
It slammed onto the floor directly in front of him, sending sparks scattering everywhere.
Half the path to the exit was blocked by flames.
Chen Xu stopped.
The fire near the entrance, which he had previously suppressed with the extinguisher, had already reignited.
Even worse, there was barely any dry powder left in the fire extinguisher.
The pressure gauge needle was already touching the red zone, and each burst produced less and less white powder.
Chen Xu looked down at Lin Wansu in his arms.
Her eyes had closed again, her brows tightly furrowed.
‘We can’t waste another second!’
The toxic smoke was becoming thicker. If they remained here any longer, even if the flames didn’t kill them, smoke inhalation would.
Chen Xu gritted his teeth, tightened his hold around Lin Wansu, and kicked aside the broken wooden board blocking their path.
Flames immediately climbed onto the leg of his pants.
Scorching pain raced up his calf.
Chen Xu cursed in pain and hurriedly slapped out the flames with the edge of the wet coat.
Chen Xu complained, “Seriously? It’s my first night after transmigrating, and I’ve already started on hell difficulty.”
Still cursing, he charged toward the exit.
Before he could rush outside, however, chaotic footsteps suddenly came from beyond the warehouse.
Several people ran up to the entrance and stopped outside.
Chen Xu initially thought the firefighters had arrived. Just as he was about to call for help, a woman’s low voice came from outside.
The woman asked, “Why is the door open? Did she already escape?”
Another voice trembled with panic, “Then… does that mean we won’t have to go to prison?”
Chen Xu abruptly stopped.
They weren’t firefighters.
They were the bullies.
Standing amid the smoke with Lin Wansu in his arms, Chen Xu’s expression gradually turned cold.
For the moment, he didn’t dare rush outside.
If those people decided there was no turning back and tried to kill Lin Wansu to silence her, then in his current condition, forget protecting Lin Wansu, even his own life could be in danger.