Qu Yangbo offered Ren Yi a few more words of comfort before preparing to leave. He still had a mountain of things to deal with.
Ren Yi walked him to the door and said somewhat sheepishly, “Brother, I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.”
“Don’t give me that crap.” Qu Yangbo punched him lightly in the chest. “We’re brothers. We stand together through thick and thin, sharing both blessings and hardships.”
Ren Yi squeezed his shoulder. He felt too embarrassed to thank him, yet equally unable to apologize, and both emotions tangled together in his heart. He knew that this time, he hadn’t just gotten himself into trouble; he might also affect Qu Yangbo’s career prospects. Qu Yangbo was different from him. Ren Yi could happily remain in the same position for the rest of his life. After all, he hated desk work and meetings. But Qu Yangbo had clear goals and a definite direction. Being an instructor at a fire station was destined to be just one stepping stone in his political career. He still had a long way to climb.
After Qu Yangbo left, Ren Yi returned inside. Gong Yingxian was standing by the window with his back to him, talking on the phone.
Ren Yi quietly watched Gong Yingxian’s tall figure and broad shoulders. The man’s physical strength seemed almost tangible, like a wall, a tree, or a mountain capable of withstanding a raging storm. He walked over slowly, wrapped his arms gently around Gong Yingxian’s waist from behind, and pressed his face against his back, letting himself lean on Gong Yingxian for support.
He had always believed he could shield himself, his family, his fellow firefighters, and even complete strangers from wind and rain. But when the storm came crashing down, he, too, wanted somewhere to take shelter.
Gong Yingxian’s body stiffened for a moment before relaxing completely. He took Ren Yi’s wrist in one hand and gently rubbed the small, prominent bone with his thumb.
Ren Yi closed his eyes. He made no effort to listen to what Gong Yingxian was saying. The man’s melodious voice, rising and falling intermittently, felt like a gentle lullaby, soothing the agitation in his heart.
A long while later, Gong Yingxian finished his call and turned around. He lowered his head and rested his forehead against Ren Yi’s.
“I’ve never seen you this dejected before,” he whispered.
Ren Yi smiled. “I’m pretty thick-skinned. Let me be miserable for one day, and I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Looking into Ren Yi’s eyes, Gong Yingxian felt both heartache and anger. His heart ached over all the injustice Ren Yi had suffered, and he was furious with himself for failing to protect the person he loved. He tightened his arms around Ren Yi’s waist.
“You’re allowed to feel down, to be sad, to complain. You don’t have to bottle everything up.”
“I’d rather spend that time on things that make me happy.” Ren Yi gave Gong Yingxian a light peck and smiled. “Like you.”
Gong Yingxian’s heart pounded several times, hard.
Ren Yi carefully traced Gong Yingxian’s perfect, handsome features with his eyes. A flame suddenly flared in his heart. Whether it was the fire of anger, passion, or desire, he wanted to let it burn freely.
He took Gong Yingxian’s lower lip between his own and whispered, “Stay.”
Gong Yingxian answered by kissing him back fiercely.
They tore at each other’s clothes with barely contained impatience. Anything that stood between them and greater intimacy was an intolerable obstacle.
Gong Yingxian pushed Ren Yi down onto the bed. While hungrily kissing his soft lips, he slipped his hands beneath Ren Yi’s tank top and into his pants, caressing him without restraint.
Ren Yi tore open Gong Yingxian’s shirt. His warm palms roamed over Gong Yingxian’s powerful chest and firm waist before slipping beneath his waistband and taking hold of his half-hard erection, feeling it grow in his hand.
“You get hard so quickly.” Ren Yi licked Gong Yingxian’s lower lip, his eyes clouded with desire. “Do you really want to do this?”
Gong Yingxian gave a low “Mm” and bent his head to kiss and lick Ren Yi’s jaw, Adam’s apple, and chest.
Ren Yi reached behind himself and rummaged through the bedside table until he found the lubricant. Breathing heavily, he urged, “Then do it.”
Gong Yingxian used his knee to part Ren Yi’s legs, then caught one of his slender ankles and lifted it over his shoulder. He pulled the cap off the lubricant and pressed the nozzle directly against Ren Yi’s tightly closed entrance, squeezing firmly.
Most of the cool gel ran down between Ren Yi’s buttocks, but some entered his body. The sudden intrusion and cold temperature made Ren Yi twist uncomfortably.
Gong Yingxian’s eyes blazed. He bent down and kissed Ren Yi fiercely while slipping his long fingers inside him, working them around to stretch and prepare him.
The long-missed, erotic sense of being teased and handled stirred Ren Yi’s senses, sending his desire soaring.
They kissed as though they could never get enough of each other. Even when they struggled to breathe, neither wanted to pull away, as if they were trying to draw every last breath from the other until there was no distinction between them.
Ren Yi wrapped one long leg around Gong Yingxian’s waist and rasped, “Put it in. Now.”
Gong Yingxian’s eyes were already bloodshot from holding back. He steadied Ren Yi by the waist and positioned himself at his slightly opened entrance. With a thrust of his hips, he pushed the broad head inside, only for it to be gripped tightly by the narrow passage, unable to advance any farther.
Ren Yi cried out in surprise. His long neck arched backward, his prominent Adam’s apple rising like a rolling mountain ridge. He was so devastatingly sexy that it made Gong Yingxian’s blood race.
Gong Yingxian could barely control the masculine instinct driving him to possess this man completely. Unable to wait for Ren Yi’s tight inner muscles to relax fully, he thrust forward hard, forcing himself all the way in.
His cock was long, thick, hard, and hot. The moment it entered, its astonishing size filled Ren Yi completely.
Ren Yi cried out in pain, yet at the same time experienced an indescribable pleasure. Much of it was psychological; the physical discomfort itself seemed to transform into a rush of overwhelming sensation. Blood surged downward through his body, and simply having Gong Yingxian inside him was enough to make him hard.
Holding Ren Yi by the waist, Gong Yingxian began moving slowly but powerfully.
Ren Yi couldn’t suppress his moans. He immediately bit his lip, the last remnants of his reason reminding him where they were. But his instinctive pursuit of pleasure made him move in rhythm with Gong Yingxian, stroking himself as they made love.
Gong Yingxian sped up, his thrusts growing harder. Suddenly, he drove into Ren Yi several times with fierce force, leaving him weak all over. Ren Yi’s legs fell open without resistance, like the gates of a defeated army, while his sensitive inner muscles contracted intensely around Gong Yingxian.
Gong Yingxian felt himself being gripped tightly by the moist, constricting entrance. Every movement brought them both waves of frenzied pleasure. When he pushed past the layers of tight muscle and reached deep inside, he could clearly feel Ren Yi trembling. Whenever he withdrew, those muscles contracted fiercely as if trying to hold him there.
“Ah… ah… Yingxian… Yingxian…” Ren Yi called his name helplessly.
Gong Yingxian thrust relentlessly into the place that drove Ren Yi wild with pleasure, his hips striking Ren Yi’s buttocks again and again. The sharp, rhythmic sounds echoed throughout the room, enough to make anyone blush just from hearing them.
“Mm… ah… Yingxian…” Ren Yi stroked Gong Yingxian’s face. “Fuck me… harder… harder…”
“Harder, yes! Right there… that feels so good! Ah, Yingxian—”
“Fuck me. Fuck me hard… yes… mm, ah… I love it. I love it most when you fuck me…”
Ren Yi gave himself over completely to his desires, both emotional and physical. Only by joining with this man without reservation could he find the comfort he desperately needed. Only then could he forget every trouble in the world and rediscover the meaning of being alive through wave after wave of pleasure.
Gong Yingxian was driven nearly out of his mind, the veins standing out on his body and an almost feral light burning in his eyes. Perhaps the more restrained and desireless a person seemed in ordinary life, the harder it was for him to pull himself free once he surrendered to lust.
Gong Yingxian suddenly withdrew and lay down on the bed with Ren Yi in his arms. He lifted one of Ren Yi’s legs and entered him from behind at an angle, while one hand took hold of Ren Yi’s erection and stroked it. At the same time, he showered kisses over Ren Yi’s neck and shoulders.
Suppressed moans kept escaping Ren Yi’s throat. He wanted to cry out loudly because every thrust from Gong Yingxian brought him an intensely overwhelming sensation. He had to bite his own wrist to keep himself quiet.
Gong Yingxian gripped his chin and turned his face around, silencing him with a kiss. He kissed him roughly while continuing to move inside him, doing everything he had ever wanted to do with this man.
Ren Yi’s lips, his body, and his most intimate parts were all claimed and controlled by Gong Yingxian without reservation. At that moment, Ren Yi was like a kite held in Gong Yingxian’s hand, rising and falling with the rhythm he dictated, sometimes floating in ecstasy, sometimes plunging into dizzying depths. Gong Yingxian’s simultaneous assault from both directions nearly drove him mad, making him cry out in ways he had never imagined himself capable of.
“Ren Yi. Ren Yi.” Gong Yingxian, who rarely spoke during sex, could no longer stop himself from murmuring the name of the man who had ensnared him.
“Mm… ah… Yingxian… yes, say my name…” Ren Yi kissed him wildly.
They continued in that position for more than a hundred thrusts, yet Gong Yingxian showed no sign of climaxing. He also refused to let Ren Yi finish. Ren Yi, however, was reaching his limit. Each wave of pleasure was more intense than the last, and his reason was almost completely consumed. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes, and his lower body was soaked. He called Gong Yingxian’s name incoherently, uttering contradictory pleas.
“Yingxian… ah, no… don’t… there… yes, right there… ah… you feel so good inside me. You’re the only one who’s ever touched me like this, the only one who’s ever made me feel this good… ah, no… too fast… too fast, ahhh, no—!”
Gong Yingxian lifted Ren Yi off the bed and positioned him on his hands and knees, his hips raised high toward Gong Yingxian. Between his wet buttocks, the reddened entrance, unable to close after so much stimulation, seemed to open and close as if inviting him in.
Gong Yingxian spread Ren Yi’s buttocks apart. With a powerful thrust of his hips, he entered him deeply.
“Ahhh—!” Ren Yi buried his face in the bedding and bit down. Tears streamed from his eyes as he climaxed, his release shooting out.
The sensitivity that came with climaxing multiplied the sensations, but Gong Yingxian continued thrusting tirelessly. Overwhelmed by pleasure he could barely endure, Ren Yi begged through his tears as he came.
“No… no more… Yingxian… ah, no… I can’t… ahhhhh—!”
Gong Yingxian barely heard him. He was already lost in the overwhelming stimulation, unable to pull himself free. Again and again, he entered Ren Yi’s body, felt him tremble, and drew another rush of wild pleasure from their union. The satisfaction of feeling as though he possessed the entire world could turn even a saint into a greedy beast, tirelessly driving his beloved to the heights of ecstasy.
If paradise existed in this world, perhaps it was nothing more than losing oneself completely in the arms of the person one loved.
They spent a night without restraint, releasing the complex emotions they had nowhere else to put and seeking whatever warmth and comfort they could find in each other’s embrace.
Gong Yingxian had to leave in the middle of the night to return to the district bureau and work overtime.
Ren Yi was so exhausted he could barely lift his hands, yet he still caught hold of Gong Yingxian’s clothes to stop him from putting them on. Lazily, he said, “You’re leaving in the middle of the night. It makes us look so shady, like we’re doing something we shouldn’t.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Gong Yingxian chided him lightly, smiling.
“Then you finish what you came for and immediately run off. Doesn’t that make you seem heartless and ungrateful?”
Ren Yi loved teasing him. Seeing Gong Yingxian look embarrassed or annoyed always filled him with a sweet happiness that helped him forget all his troubles.
Gong Yingxian paused, looking conflicted. “But Tan has made a new discovery. I need to go and take a look.”
“You’re not allowed to mention other men in front of me.” Ren Yi tugged at the hem of Gong Yingxian’s shirt. “Stay and lie down with me for another five minutes, okay?”
How could Gong Yingxian refuse?
Ren Yi wrapped his arms and legs around him and whispered in his ear, “I wish time could stop right here.”
“Mm.” Gong Yingxian closed his eyes and savored the moment. He couldn’t agree more.
“Sometimes, being alive is just so damn exhausting. Why are there so many things to deal with?” Ren Yi gave a self-mocking smile. “And a lot of the trouble is our own fault.”
Gong Yingxian gently stroked his hair, silently comforting him.
“I’m genuinely tired. Maybe it’s not so bad if I get to rest for a while.” Ren Yi traced Gong Yingxian’s features with his fingertips. “Right now, all I want is to spend every day with you.”
Gong Yingxian felt a warm ache of longing. He drew Ren Yi into his arms. “Come stay at my place for a while.”
“Forget it. Even if I’m not responding to calls, how would it look if I ran off right now? I need to stay here, be available for questioning at any time, and face this together with everyone else.”
Gong Yingxian sounded disappointed. “Then at least come to my place for a meal. You promised last time.”
“Mm, I can do that.”
“How about Saturday? The thing I wanted to give you last time is almost repaired.”
“Sounds good. I can take a look at it, and see your pets, too.”
Gong Yingxian gently smoothed Ren Yi’s hair and asked curiously, “By the way, those incidents they dug up about you—spraying a reporter with a water gun, fighting with a victim’s family member—what exactly happened?”
Ren Yi burst out laughing. “Oh, come on. I was young. That reporter was a complete fucking idiot. A mother and daughter had just escaped from a fire in the middle of the night. The woman was wearing nothing but a semi-transparent nightdress, and her child was still crying. Yet he insisted on interviewing her, practically shoving his camera into her face and asking how she felt about her house burning down. If her husband had been there, wouldn’t he have beaten the shit out of him? We told him several times to leave, but he wouldn’t budge and even started insulting us. So I blasted him with a water gun and knocked him to the ground.”
Gong Yingxian watched Ren Yi with a smile, his voice unconsciously turning affectionate. “Good job.”
“The other guy was even more disgusting. He sold some kind of health-promoting pillows and had piled the stock up at home. The goods leaked electricity and spontaneously caught fire. When we arrived, he lied and told us nobody was inside, asking us to move his things out first. But his eighty-year-old mother was bedridden and still inside.” Ren Yi shook his head. “Even now, thinking about it makes me angry.”
“Were you disciplined for that?”
Ren Yi nodded. “Of course. After seeing more and more disgusting things, I started learning to manage people and control myself. When I was younger, I was pretty reckless and easily provoked. I’ve gotten much better over the past few years. Otherwise, when we first met, we might have ended up fighting.”
Gong Yingxian kissed his forehead. “You couldn’t beat me.”
“You don’t know that unless you’ve tried.”
“I know without trying.”
“Then let’s try someday.”
“Not now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m going to let you win.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t beat me.”
“Tch.”
They continued this utterly pointless conversation, yet there was an extraordinary tenderness between them.
In the end, Gong Yingxian finally left, though he was reluctant to go.
As soon as he was gone, it was as if he had taken the magical protective shield with him. All the coldness, loneliness, anxiety, and worry came rushing back at once. Ren Yi got up, took a shower, then sat at his desk and smoked through the entire night.
At daybreak, Ren Yi led the firefighters through their usual morning drills.
The men all looked uncomfortable around him. They wanted to bring up what had happened, but they also didn’t know whether they should. Seeing their captain and fellow firefighters misunderstood and insulted like this—how could any of them feel at ease?
Ren Yi swept his gaze over the group. “Who’s missing?”
Gao Ge replied, “Reporting to the captain: Cui Yisheng requested leave today.”
Ren Yi understood immediately. Cui Yisheng had actually been leading the team that responded to the fire that day. After everything that had happened, the psychological pressure on him must have been immense. Ren Yi didn’t press him for details. Instead, he said calmly, “Everyone, carry on with your training and your usual duties. Don’t worry about anything else, and don’t pay attention to rumors or gossip. The instructor and I will handle this. I don’t want any of you getting distracted at any time, especially while working. Understood?”
“Understood!”
Ren Yi paused, then continued, “This may be the most difficult period our station has ever faced. But the harder things get, the more united, composed, and positive we need to be. Believe in yourselves. This will all pass.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Start with the warm-up.”
That afternoon, Ren Yi and Qu Yangbo were summoned to the brigade headquarters for another discussion. Ren Yi had already explained everything he could, and Qu Yangbo had compiled and submitted all the evidence as quickly as possible. The main purpose of today’s meeting was to discuss how to handle the situation.
The online war of public opinion reached a fever pitch on the third day, turning the incident into the biggest news story of the moment. As compelling evidence was released, the comments were no longer completely one-sided. Some people began questioning the accusations or speaking up in the firefighters’ defense, but those voices remained very weak.
Chen Xiaofei revealed the higher-ups’ position. Overall, things were not looking good. The delay in responding to the fire had largely been caused by circumstances beyond their control. As long as no procedures had been violated, the firefighters would not be punished for that. The private hospital issue, however, was much more difficult to handle. Even if it was a gift between friends, even if Ren Yi had received treatment through a charitable-care allocation, and even if there had been no exchange of favors, that would only mean no law had been broken. It would still constitute a disciplinary violation.
Gong Yingxian was also under investigation.
Chen Xiaofei and Xu Jin were trying to minimize the fallout and appeal to the higher-ups on their behalf. But looking at their deeply troubled expressions, Ren Yi knew the outcome would not be favorable.
There was no point in worrying now. All he could do was take things one step at a time.
After leaving the brigade headquarters, Qu Yangbo tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry too much. Things have reached this point, so all we can do is our best. As long as the organization still recognizes your worth, even if you’re punished this time, it won’t give up on you.”
Ren Yi nodded. “I can take it. I’m fine.”
Qu Yangbo draped an arm over his shoulder. “Sihuo, you know, I used to think you lacked ambition. I always felt frustrated with you, like watching a promising student waste his potential. But I’ve come to understand now. There’s nothing wrong with spending your whole life at the station. Someone like you isn’t suited to the political world.”
Ren Yi burst out laughing. “So you’ll finally stop trying to groom me for promotion?”
Qu Yangbo sighed. “I give up.”
“Then hurry up and become a big shot. You can look after me in the future.”
“That’s exactly what I’m planning. That way, when you go and do something stupid again, you won’t embarrass me.”
“Hahahaha—”
“Oh, right. I need to take tomorrow off. Can you and Gao Ge manage? I’ll be back the day after.”
“Of course. But why are you taking leave now?” Ren Yi was curious. This was the most critical moment of the whole affair. Qu Yangbo wouldn’t leave the station at a time like this unless something urgent had come up.
“My dad’s leading a team in a training exercise in the northwest. He won’t answer his phone, so I’m going to find him.”
Ren Yi fell silent.
Qu Yangbo pushed up his glasses. “Once your disciplinary decision comes down, it’ll be harder to do anything. We need to act quickly.”
“Yangbo, thank you.” Ren Yi knew Qu Yangbo hated asking his father for help.
“Hey, enough with the nonsense. Let me treat myself to a meal at your expense. That seafood place we went to last year—the giant Australian lobster there was excellent.”
“Come on, let’s go.”