When Du Yuwei was arranging the rooms, she originally planned for everyone to stay on the same floor so that they could be at the boss’s beck and call at any time. However, the regular rooms upstairs were full, and only the deluxe sea-view rooms were available. So she, caregiver Xiaowen, and a few bodyguards had to stay downstairs.
She was always a light sleeper and woke up in the middle of the night to noises outside. Out of curiosity, she put on her clothes and went out to ask what had happened. After learning that there was a fire upstairs, she immediately went to knock on the door of the bodyguard next door, hoping to wake him up so they could go up and check if the boss and the others were alright. However, after knocking for a while, there was no response from inside, so she had no choice but to go up herself.
Because of the fire, the entire building lost power and the elevators were out of service. Du Yuwei was in such a hurry that she didn’t even have time to change her shoes, so she had to climb up the emergency exit in disposable slippers, encountering many guests who were escaping from upstairs along the way.
Knowing that Shang Jingwu was unable to escape via the stairs due to his limited mobility, she became increasingly anxious. She didn’t even have time to care about her slippers that had fallen off, and climbed up the stairs barefoot, one floor at a time.
When Du Yuwei arrived at the floor where Shang Jingwu and He Yi were staying, she discovered that the fire had spread from the boss’s room. Her heart sank, and she hurriedly ran towards the door.
At the entrance to the corridor, there was a hotel staff member, a young woman. When she saw that she was going to the fire scene, she quickly stopped her and said that it was too dangerous there and told her to go downstairs quickly and wait for the firefighters to come and handle the situation.
”Has the person in that room come out?” Du Yuwei asked in English.
The staff member was clearly startled by the sudden fire and stammered that she didn’t know anything about it. Du Yuwei forcefully broke free from her obstruction, picked up a fire extinguisher from the hallway, and rushed inside. However, when she got to the door, she found that the room door could not be opened; it must have been locked from the inside.
Du Yuwei pounded on the door and shouted, “Boss! Xiao Yi! Are you in there?”
After waiting a moment without receiving a reply, she anxiously shouted to the staff member, “Do you have a spare room key?”
The other party shook her head helplessly, so Du Yuwei started banging on the door with a fire extinguisher. After a few tries without success, she angrily yelled at the stunned staff member, “Go and get a few men to come up and help rescue them! If anything happens to my boss and the others, your entire hotel will be held responsible!”
The staff member nodded and hurriedly went downstairs to call for help.
Du Yuwei called Ah Hu and the others again while continuing to bang on the door with a fire extinguisher, but no one answered the phone and the door remained unopened.
Thick smoke kept seeping out from the cracks in the door, and Du Yuwei coughed from the smoke, but she never gave up trying to save people, and kept smashing the lock with a fire extinguisher.
When the female staff member arrived with men, the door lock had already been loosened by her smashing. Several men together forced the door open, and Du Yuwei saw He Yi and Shang Jingwu lying not far from the door. She rushed in to check on them and found that they had both fallen into a coma. She quickly had them carried out and sent to the emergency room.
The staff who first discovered the fire called the police and an ambulance at the same time. When the group carried the unconscious Shang Jingwu and He Yi downstairs, the ambulance was already waiting below. Firefighters also arrived at the scene and began to extinguish the fire.
Du Yuwei watched as her boss and the others were put into the car, and followed them without even going back to get her documents.
He Yi was in good health, so his carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms weren’t too severe. The doctor said he should wake up soon after receiving oxygen and an IV drip. Shang Jingwu’s situation, however, was not so optimistic. He was immediately taken to the emergency room upon entering the hospital.
Du Yuwei went back to get her documents and wallet, and also kicked the door next door for a while. This time, someone finally opened the door for her. Ah Hu looked at the disheveled Du Yuwei with a dazed expression and asked, “Assistant Du? What happened? What’s wrong?”
Du Yuwei angrily pushed open the door and entered the room. Seeing that Ahui was still asleep, she demanded sharply, “What’s wrong with you all? The fire alarm outside has been going off for ages and you didn’t even hear it?”
”Is it on fire? Where are the young master and the others? Are they alright?” Ah Hu asked in surprise.
”He’s in the hospital being treated and hasn’t woken up yet. You need to wake everyone up quickly and thoroughly investigate the cause of this fire. I suspect it was arson,” Du Yuwei instructed.
Ah Hu was still a little dazed, but when he heard that Shang Jingwu was in trouble, he was immediately jolted awake. He responded and ran to wake Ah Hui up.
Du Yuwei was busy going to the hospital to complete the formalities. After arranging things, she turned to leave when Ah Hu suddenly stopped her and said, “Assistant Du, I feel that we have been drugged, otherwise Ah Hui would not still be unconscious.”
Du Yuwei glanced at Ahui, who was fast asleep, and frowned, saying, “If you can’t wake him up, take him to the hospital too. I’ve already called the police to investigate. Go to the scene and see if you can find any clues. Remember to contact the Shangs to send a few bodyguards over.”
Ah Hu responded and watched Du Yuwei leave in a hurry. He then went back and patted Ah Hui’s face hard, shouting in his ear, “Ah Hui, wake up!”
Ah Hui slowly opened his eyes and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Is it dawn yet?”
Ah Hu briefly recounted what had happened, then said, “Think carefully about what was wrong with our food yesterday. I’ll go upstairs and check on them. Oh, and go check on Xiao Wen and the others next door later.”
Ahui still felt a bit disoriented, so he hurriedly jumped out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and then went next door to call for help. However, he only found another bodyguard; Xiaowen was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Du Yuwei hurriedly returned to the hospital. After completing the formalities, she waited anxiously for Shang Jingwu to come out of the emergency room while simultaneously arranging the follow-up matters, keeping herself extremely busy.
When He Yi woke up, it was already noon. As soon as he opened his eyes, he sat up abruptly in bed and shouted anxiously, “Husband! Where’s my husband?”
Hearing the commotion, Du Yuwei quickly came over and said, “Don’t move yet. I’ll call the doctor to give you a check-up. The boss is in the next room.”
”How is my husband? Is he alright?” He Yi asked worriedly.
”He’s alright now, but he hasn’t woken up yet,” Du Yuwei said.
In fact, Shang Jingwu’s condition was still not good. He was in the emergency room for a long time before he was temporarily out of danger, but the doctor said that he might have sequelae or he might not wake up.
Du Yuwei didn’t tell He Yi the truth. She called the doctor to examine He Yi and, after confirming that there was nothing wrong, took him to the next ward to see Shang Jingwu.
Looking at the unconscious Shang Jingwu, He Yi asked curiously, “Why isn’t my husband awake yet? The sun’s already high in the sky.”
Du Yuwei comforted him, saying, “The boss will wake up. Just wait patiently a little longer.”
He Yi sat down by the hospital bed, carefully took Shang Jingwu’s hand, and murmured, “Then I’ll stay here with my husband.”
Du Yuwei tried to persuade him to go back and rest, but he refused. She bought him food, but he wouldn’t eat it. He just sat there with Shang Jingwu, not even blinking, as if he was afraid that Shang Jingwu would suddenly disappear.
Du Yuwei couldn’t bear to see him like this, so she quietly left and then called Ah Hu to inquire about the progress of the investigation.
After investigating the scene, local police initially concluded that the fire was deliberately set. White phosphorus combustion products were detected in the room, and several damaged water control devices were also found.
Based on the remains of the device, it can be inferred that the arsonist first soaked the white phosphorus in water, and after the water in the plastic container leaked out, the white phosphorus began to spontaneously combust, thus causing the fire.
In addition, Shang Jingwu’s blood test results showed that there were traces of sleeping pills in his blood. Ahui also sent the drinks they had consumed last night and any leftover food that he could collect for testing. The test results are not yet available.
After listening to Ah Hu’s report, Du Yuwei asked again, “Has Xiao Wen been found?”
”Not yet. Everything in his room is gone, and he was the one most likely to tamper with the young master’s room. He must have started the fire,” Ah Hu said bitterly.
Du Yuwei instructed, “Keep searching. We must find him no matter what, and then find out who ordered him.”