Trouble had struck.
The voice on the phone kept going. Daring not to let down her guard for even a second, Ni Zijing sprinted to the underground garage at top speed.
Throwing open the car door and slamming her foot on the gas, Ji Qinglin scrambled in alongside her, her expression taut.
“What is it, rushing like this? Did something happen?”
The engine roared as the car shot forward. Ni Zijing’s expression was so solemn that it caused even Ji Qinglin to unconsciously hold her breath.
Ni Zijing tapped the speakerphone button, and it took only moments for Ji Qinglin to realize the gravity of the situation.
The audio of Qiao Qiao and Ling Yang’s conversation streamed clearly from the phone.
Catching on, Ji Qinglin gritted her teeth: “Damn it! Ling Yang, that bastard!”
“Call someone immediately to intercept the media,” Ni Zijing said, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. “Use my backup phone to call my brother! Not a single related whisper is allowed to leak out!”
Nodding grimly, Ji Qinglin carried out the orders. Ni Zijing drove at breakneck speed, running red lights all the way as she flew forward. Just then, a massive explosion suddenly detonated from the other end of the line.
They were still about five or six minutes away from the destination.
Ni Zijing’s heart skipped a beat as the line filled entirely with chaotic noise mixed with static.
“Qiao Qiao?”
“Qiao Qiao? Answer me!”
“Beep, beep.” The call was disconnected, plunging into absolute silence.
Looking in disbelief at the message someone had just sent her phone, Ji Qinglin parted her lips: “Boss, we couldn’t stop the media. The second floor of Zhuose just caught fire and exploded. Qiao Qiao, she…”
“Damn it, who set the fire!” Dragged outward by his subordinates, Ling Yang found the entire bar in absolute chaos as everyone squeezed toward the exits.
When a tongue of scarlet fire leaped out from the second floor, Ling Yang loosened his grip on Qiao Qiao, and the next moment, thick black smoke billowed up to the third floor.
“Young Master, there’s no time to worry about this, let’s go! What about these two?”
Glancing back at Qiao Qiao, who had been hurled to the ground by the shockwave of the earlier blast, and Qiao Yi lying on the sofa, Ling Yang sneered: “Just leave them here.”
Hesitating, the subordinate muttered, “Young Master, this… people might die.”
“What? You want to stay here too?”
“No, I wouldn’t dare.”
The fire was concentrated on the second floor, with everyone on the first floor surging outward, leaving the third floor blanketed in smoke.
Surrounded by a sea of people, Ni Zijing slammed on the brakes, pulling her car to a screeching halt by the roadside opposite Zhuose. Shoving the door open, she rummaged through the trunk to grab a small oxygen canister Ni Qing had left behind during a mountaineering trip, then charged across the street in a single stride.
Ji Qinglin followed closely behind.
Even the fire trucks had yet to arrive. Ni Zijing forcefully shoved her way through the gathered crowd, moving in the exact opposite direction of the fleeing masses.
The bar manager stood outside covered in soot. Seeing someone rushing in so recklessly, he hurried forward: “You can’t go in!”
Having no time to entertain him, Ni Zijing didn’t even spare him a glance.
“Everyone from inside the bar has already come out. We have to wait here for the firefighters to arrive and control the scene!” In his anxiety, the manager grabbed Ni Zijing’s arm and yanked her backward with force.
“Get lost!” Pulled to a halt, Ni Zijing raised her chin, lowering her voice without casting him a single proper look.
Refusing to let go, the manager barked: “I told you everyone is already out! What do you think you’re doing going in there? You are not allowed to go!”
“Let go!”
At that moment, another tremendous explosion erupted from the second floor, sending scarlet flames shooting straight down to the first floor and sealing off the only entrance. Thick smoke billowed upward like a vast black cloth. Heart trembling, Ni Zijing put all her strength into a sudden shove. The manager, a sturdy man of one hundred and seventy centimeters weighing well over a hundred pounds, was directly flung aside, landing facedown in the dirt.
“We can only go through the back door, up the basement garage stairs,” Ji Qinglin’s voice rang in her ear. “Hurry!”
When the manager scrambled back up to look for them, the area was a chaotic mass of screaming crowds, and the two of them were long gone.
Knowing Ling Yang’s operational style, Ni Zijing relied on intuition to lead Ji Qinglin up to the third floor. Dust and smoke choked the stairwell, indicating that the force of the blast had been considerable.
The third floor was free of fire, but choked entirely with thick smoke.
Covering her nose and mouth, she smashed open the locked fire exit door on the third floor. The ground was littered with shattered wine glasses and broken bottles, tables and chairs overturned, the scene looked thoroughly grim.
Twisting her phone to keep dialing Qiao Qiao’s number, Ni Zijing found the line still failing to connect.
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, where on earth are you?” Frowning, she called out a few times, resolving to give Qiao Qiao a fierce scolding once they got out. She knew how to call for help, yet she hadn’t summoned her right from the start! Taking another step forward, her foot struck something hard. Looking down, she saw a phone coated in a layer of ash, smashed into two halves on the floor alongside the back panel. No wonder the call could no longer get through.
Squatting down to pick up the broken phone, her peripheral vision caught a slender figure huddled in the corner to the right, arms dangling off the edge of a sofa. To the left, someone lay stretched out on the couch. Heart swelling with a surge of relief, Ni Zijing bolted across in a few strides, completely forgetting her earlier intention to scold Qiao Qiao as she directly pulled Qiao Qiao out.
Ji Qinglin naturally moved to rescue Qiao Qiao Yi, discovering that half of the young man’s face was covered by a damp towel shielding his nose and mouth, leaving him completely uninjured. His eyes were actually open, and the moment she spotted her, they began blinking frantically while repeatedly darting toward Qiao Qiao’s direction.
“Damn it, this kid was drugged; his mind is conscious but his body can’t move. Ling Yang, that son of a bitch, truly deserves to die,” Ji Qinglin muttered as she hoisted Qiao Qiao Yi up, piecing together what must have happened when the explosion occurred:
Right after the blast, Qiao Qiao must have rushed to Qiao Qiao Yi’s side instantly, soaking a towel with water to place over his face and gifting him what might have been his only chance at survival.
Meanwhile, she herself had succumbed to smoke inhalation and passed out while trying to drag herself toward the corner.
Having already scooped Qiao Qiao up horizontally, Ni Zijing turned her head toward Ji Qinglin to signal the exit direction. Getting these two people out safely came first.
Reaching the underground garage, Ji Qinglin prepared to take Qiao Qiao Yi outside and drive a car in to pick them up. Ni Zijing hurriedly set down the unconscious Qiao Qiao, calling out to her urgently: “Qiao Qiao, can you hear me?”
Qiao Qiao’s consciousness was a blurry haze, feeling as though her entire body had been submerged deep underwater. Vaguely, she heard someone calling her name, yet she couldn’t manage to force her heavy eyelids open.
Sitting directly on the cold ground, Ni Zijing cradled Qiao Qiao’s head, exposing her face to find it smudged with soot across her usual pure, fair, palm-sized features, with traces of smoke clinging to all her exposed skin. Lacking the strength to support herself, her head wobbled limply from side to side. A sharp pang pierced Ni Zijing’s heart as she brought the oxygen canister to Qiao Qiao’s nose: “Qiao Qiao, breathe.”
As Qiao Qiao’s head listed sideways and Ni Zijing pressed down on the valve, the young woman began gasping violently, accompanied by fits of coughing.
Overwhelmed with anxiety, Ni Zijing pulled Qiao Qiao tightly into her arms, patting her back to help her catch her breath while pleading, “Qiao Qiao, open your eyes and look at me, won’t you? Qiao Qiao, did you hear me?”
Qiao Qiao’s eyelids and eyelashes fluttered briefly, but her eyes remained shut.
Reaching out to check Qiao Qiao’s chest, Ni Zijing discovered with a jolt that the girl’s heartbeat had suddenly stopped.
With a violent tightening in her chest, she laid Qiao Qiao flat on the floor, loosened her coat to reveal the knit top hugging her figure, and dropped straight to her knees, interlacing her hands over Qiao Qiao’s chest to perform continuous chest compressions. Her dark eyes as dense as ink, she pinched Qiao Qiao’s delicate nose, leaned down, and sealed her lips against Qiao Qiao’s to deliver rescue breaths. Seconds ticked away as Ni Zijing cast all hesitation aside, finally seeing Qiao Qiao’s brow smooth out as she resumed breathing on her own.
Placing the oxygen mask over Qiao Qiao’s nose and pressing twice, Ni Zijing finally coaxed her back from the brink.
When Qiao Qiao opened her eyes, seeing Ni Zijing’s face materialize in her vision felt utterly surreal. The woman before her had disheveled long hair. It was the first time she had ever seen her look this disheveled. Her eyes were filled entirely with worry and panic, and sweat streamed down her forehead in heavy droplets. Meeting that gaze unlocked a surging wave of bittersweet soreness deep within Qiao Qiao’s heart, filling her chest to the brim with a choking sense of being profoundly cherished and protected, a feeling she had never experienced before. Her nose stung, and her eye rims reddened.
Following her brain’s instinctual reaction, she flung herself straight into Ni Zijing’s arms, her voice raspy: “Ni Zijing.”
Only then did Ni Zijing let out a long, ragged exhale, gathering Qiao Qiao into her arms as a torrent of scolding tumbled out: “Do you have any idea how serious this could have been if I hadn’t found you? Since when did you have a problem and not call me sooner! You…”
Curving her eyes and sniffing softly, Qiao Qiao felt not a shred of annoyance. Lifting her gaze to meet Ni Zijing’s dark, brilliant pupils, she murmured: “See? I knew you’d find me and come save me.”
Instantly, Ni Zijing was left completely speechless. As long as she’s safe, that’s all that matters, she thought.
Once she settled her into the car that had pulled up right on cue, instructing Ji Qinglin to drive to the hospital at maximum speed, Ni Zijing pulled Qiao Qiao’s head to rest against her shoulder. The moment she sat down, a wave of total exhaustion washed over her, yet she kept her arms firmly wrapped around Qiao Qiao to serve as her support.
One of her hands rested against Qiao Qiao’s back, unconsciously patting it in a rhythmic motion to soothe her.
“President Ni, President Ni. Ni Zijing,” Qiao Qiao suddenly murmured, lifting her head from Ni Zijing’s embrace. Her amber eyes were clear and bright, and even in such a disheveled state, she remained breathtakingly stunning as the lights outside flashed past in a blur.
“What is it? Are you uncomfortable?” Shifting slightly in alarm, Ni Zijing prepared to loosen her grip, fearing that holding her might be causing discomfort.
Sensing the slight tremor in the arms embracing her, which finally betrayed the lingering terror hiding beneath that calm exterior throughout the entire ordeal, Qiao Qiao suddenly curved her lips into a smile. Climbing up to lean against Ni Zijing’s shoulder, she brought her mouth right to the other’s ear and spoke slowly, enunciating every single word in a whisper meant only for the two of them:
“That marriage you mentioned. Does it still count?”
As if unable to believe what she was hearing, Ni Zijing froze, forgetting even to blink as she unconsciously held her breath.
Her gaze drifted downward from Qiao Qiao’s eyes to rest upon those soft lips she had just kissed moments ago.
The person she loved was saying: “Why don’t we give it a try?”