3 – He Needs to Take Responsibility for Me
Because of her health, Jiang Wanning couldn’t muster interest in anything. If she weren’t waiting for that man surnamed Fu, she would have left long ago.
Jiang Wanning leaned against the fire truck, head lowered, her long hair falling down to cover half her face. To anyone watching, she looked listless.
In fact, she was deep in thought.
She had carefully replayed everything that happened two days ago, and the more she thought about it, the more something felt off. For instance, why had the person who contacted her told her to go to that abandoned factory—right in the direction of that old bridge underpass?
Also, her car hadn’t actually fallen into a pond; it had gotten stuck in a sunken, muddy stretch of road. Even with the surrounding area half-flooded by rain, no matter how weak she’d felt at the time, she shouldn’t have been completely unable to push the car door open.
Unless something outside the door was pressing against it, blocking it from opening. But at the time, there had been no one around.
That was only Jiang Wanning’s guess, though.
She had no idea what had actually happened.
Her only option was to find the firefighter who saved her and ask him what exactly the situation had been at the time.
“Miss? Miss?”
Her train of thought broken, Jiang Wanning looked up, her gaze momentarily dazed. A person was standing in front of her—a firefighter—with something on his face, some kind of grime.
Black ash, probably.
Li Hang had just finished his task, and when he came over, he’d spotted a woman leaning against the fire truck from a distance. She was tall and slender, with flowing long hair, wearing a gray tracksuit—long legs, slim waist. An ordinary outfit, but on this woman it gave off an elegant air that was especially striking.
When he got close enough to see Jiang Wanning’s face, Li Hang was even more stunned. She was truly beautiful—her skin so fair it seemed to glow, like the flesh of a peeled lychee. She could have passed for a celebrity.
The only thing was, her eyes looked a bit cold.
Li Hang had called out twice before Jiang Wanning reacted. When she looked up, he said in a reasonably gentle tone, “Miss, sorry, could you step aside for a moment? If you’re tired, you can go sit on the bench up front and rest for a bit.”
Jiang Wanning stared at Li Hang, then glanced up at the building. She could see nothing from the windows upstairs, and the crowd below had dispersed at some point without her noticing.
She gave a faint smile. “Can’t I just lean against the fire truck for a bit? My leg hurts, that’s all. I’m not interfering with official business, am I? Besides, I’m waiting for someone.”
Li Hang found himself unable to look away from the smile at the corner of Jiang Wanning’s mouth. When this woman wasn’t smiling, she was aloof and distant.
But when she did smile—she was genuinely gorgeous.
“Who are you waiting for?” Li Hang asked, puzzled.
Jiang Wanning had just been wondering how to ask about that man when, by chance, she spotted him. He was standing on the open ground below the building, in his firefighter uniform, saying something to the person beside him, his expression stern and cold.
He almost looked like he was reprimanding someone.
Jiang Wanning’s eyes narrowed. Lazily crossing her arms, she stretched out a hand and pointed in Fu Yan’s direction, saying to Li Hang, “That’s him. I’m waiting for that man—the long-legged, tall one. I have business with him.”
Li Hang was taken aback. “You know our Captain Fu?”
“Vice Captain?” Jiang Wanning said.
Li Hang instinctively assumed she’d misheard and corrected her. “He’s not the vice captain. His surname is Fu. May I ask what business you have with him? We’re about to wrap up and head back.”
Two hours ago, they had just finished putting out a fire, and on the way back, they received a call from the command center—the fastest truck turned around and headed to the hospital.
Li Hang felt like he was dying of thirst.
For hours, he hadn’t had a single sip of water.
“My name is Jiang Wanning.”
“Li Hang.”
Jiang Wanning lowered her arm. There was no disdain in her eyes for these people who braved wind and rain—she genuinely admired these lovable heroes who ran toward danger in service of the people.
She continued her introduction, “Wan as in dinner, ning as in lemon. Your captain Fu—what’s his full name?”
“Fu Yan.”
“Which Yan?”
“Stone radical on the left, ‘see’ on the right.”
Fu Yan. Even his name sounded nice.
Seeing that Li Hang was about to leave, Jiang Wanning hurriedly asked another question, “Wait, one more question. I want to know—does your Captain Fu have a girlfriend? Is he single?”
That question stunned Li Hang.
He blurted out, “No, he’s single.”
Then he blinked. “Miss Jiang, have you taken a fancy to Captain Fu? Are you trying to pursue him?”
“Yes, I am.”
Jiang Wanning admitted it openly and candidly. She glanced in Fu Yan’s direction, but the man was no longer where he had been—no one knew where he’d gone.
She withdrew her gaze, brushed back her long hair that the wind had tousled, and said, “He kissed me. I’m not the casual type. So, he needs to take responsibility for me.”
That was a lot of information to process.
Li Hang was shocked and couldn’t help saying, “Captain Fu kissed you? And he means to… not own up to it?”
Jiang Wanning’s words had been deliberately ambiguous. Seeing that Li Hang had misunderstood, she was about to explain when her gaze casually swept over and she saw Fu Yan walking toward them.
She swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and changed her tune, “Isn’t that exactly it? Your Captain Fu kissed me and ran off, refusing to take responsibility. Otherwise, why would I have chased him all the way to the hospital?”
Fu Yan heard every word Jiang Wanning said.
It was only as he got closer that he recognized her.
Two nights ago, while he was handling flood-control and rescue work, some unexpected problems arose, and with the torrential rain, he ended up alone at an abandoned factory.
Once the rain stopped, he would return to the station.
When the rain let up a little, he set out and unexpectedly came across a red Land Rover stuck in a collapsed, muddy stretch of road. As he approached to check on it, he found someone inside.
A woman, nearly unconscious.
“So it was you?”
Fu Yan walked over step by step, took a bottle of mineral water from someone else, handed one to Li Hang, then twisted open another, tilted his head back, and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls.
While Fu Yan drank, Jiang Wanning stared at him, noticing his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with each swallow.
So handsome.
So manly, brimming with masculine charm!
Even drinking water, this man was extraordinarily sexy.
Sensing Jiang Wanning’s gaze, Fu Yan didn’t think much of it. He ignored what he’d just overheard and only asked, “Are you feeling better? If so, go home. If you still feel weak, stay in the hospital. Don’t go wandering around.”
Meaning: you’re in the way.
Blocking the truck.
Jiang Wanning sneered inwardly, her face betraying nothing. She took a step toward Fu Yan. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, revealing the graceful, pale line of her neck. She stared into Fu Yan’s eyes, the corner of her lips curling up.
“Captain Fu, kicking me out already?”
“That’s not right of you. Don’t you know that when you kiss a girl, you have to take responsibility for her?”
“Mm, Captain Fu?”
The girl was beautiful, and her voice was alluring, but unfortunately Fu Yan’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He showed not the slightest trace of guilt as he explained earnestly, “Miss, you’ve misunderstood something. A kiss and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation are two different things. I wasn’t taking advantage of you—I was saving your life.”
Jiang Wanning raised an eyebrow and retorted, “Didn’t your mouth touch mine? If so, then you kissed me. Captain Fu, I’m a girl, and I have thin skin. Don’t think you can kiss me and run off without owning up to it.”