After the meeting, a large group of people walked to the late-night food street next door and headed straight for a barbecue restaurant. Since it was close to the headquarters, many firefighters often came to this street, and any firefighter who came to eat received a discount.
They pushed two large tables together and seated more than a dozen station captains. When they placed their order, they practically scared the server speechless.
Ren Yi laughed. “Too much?”
The server nodded. “Way too much.”
“We can all eat like crazy. Bring it on.”
The group ate, drank, and chatted, and the entire barbecue restaurant was filled with their hearty laughter. The atmosphere was incredibly lively.
Ren Yi took his beer and sat down beside Yan Jue. “Captain Yan, let me toast you.”
Yan Jue smiled and clinked bottles with him. “Looks like you ate quite a bit today. You must be recovered.”
“Don’t remind me. I lived on porridge for those few days. I mainly lost weight because I wasn’t eating properly. Hahaha.”
“Oh, what exactly happened that day? How did you find the body in such a concealed place?”
“The police had arrested several suspects before. There were clues.”
“It’s related to that series of arson cases in Hongwu District recently, right? We’ve heard about it too. Apparently there’s some kind of organization with a pyromania fetish.”
Ren Yi nodded. “I can’t reveal much more. Anyway, they’re a bunch of extremely vicious psychopaths, and they have people who specialize in arson and bomb-making. You guys need to be careful when responding to calls in the future. They seem to have a tendency to target firefighters. The police are going through cases from the past few years. Some cases we thought were accidents might turn out to be connected to them.”
Yan Jue frowned. “They’re that brazen? I’ve seen plenty of arsonists before, but I’ve never seen one organized into a group like this. There probably aren’t many cases like this anywhere in the world. At least, I’ve never read about one.”
Ren Yi shook his head. “It really is rare, but they’re cult-like, so that makes it easier to understand.”
Yan Jue looked enlightened. “Fire has always had a very close relationship with religion throughout history.”
“We’re doing everything we can to assist the police. Hopefully, we can catch their leader as soon as possible.”
“Then aren’t you in a lot of danger too? I heard you responded to almost all of those cases.”
Ren Yi gave a bitter laugh. “Almost all of them are connected to me somehow, so I’ve been prohibited from acting alone for now.”
Yan Jue patted Ren Yi on the shoulder. “We only have water hoses, not real guns. Be careful no matter what.”
“Don’t worry.” Ren Yi clinked his beer bottle against Yan Jue’s and chatted casually. “Your station is closer to the industrial area. You don’t get many calls normally, right?”
Yan Jue nodded. “Yeah. There aren’t many residential areas around us. It’s mostly factories, warehouses, and things like that. We don’t get many calls, but basically every time we go out, it’s not easy.”
“It’s a headache in densely populated areas too. People call you for every little ridiculous thing—unlocking doors, unclogging toilets, climbing through windows. We even have to handle a lot of the jobs you’d find on 58.com, and we do them for free.”
The two of them were similar in age, background, and work, so naturally they had plenty to talk about. By the end of the drinking session, they already felt like old friends who had hit it off immediately.
Just as they were getting into the drinking, Ren Yi’s phone rang. He saw that it was Gong Yingxian calling, and the alcohol immediately sobered him up a little. He hurriedly took the phone and walked aside.
“Hello?”
“Are you still coughing?” Gong Yingxian asked directly.
“My throat’s a little itchy. I’m fine. Almost completely better.” The thought that Gong Yingxian had specifically called to check on him made Ren Yi feel secretly delighted.
Hearing the noisy background and the unusual quality of Ren Yi’s voice, Gong Yingxian frowned. “You’re not at the station? You’ve been drinking?”
“I came to headquarters for a meeting today, a gathering of all the station captains. There are a lot of people I know.” Ren Yi smiled. “I didn’t drink much. I’m not drunk.”
“Who’s taking you back?”
“Uh…” On the way there, a firefighter from the driver pool had driven him over in a patrol vehicle. Normally, he would simply take a taxi home afterward. But then he remembered that Gong Yingxian had told him not to act alone. The alcohol had slowed his reactions a little, and for a moment he could not think of how to answer.
That half-second of hesitation was enough for Gong Yingxian to understand.
“The Fire Brigade headquarters is on Wanshou Road, right? I’m handling something a few kilometers from there. Wait for me. I’ll take you home.”
“No need to trouble yourself. I—”
“Send me the address.” Gong Yingxian’s tone brooked no argument.
“…All right.”
Ren Yi returned to his seat. Yan Jue opened another beer and handed it to him, but Ren Yi waved it away. “I’m not drinking anymore. I’ve had enough. A friend is coming to pick me up in a little while.”
“I’m getting a taxi later too. I can give you a ride. I have to pass through your district anyway when I go back to my station.”
“No need. You’d have to take a detour.”
Yan Jue smiled. “It’s not far. Why be so polite?”
“Thanks, but my friend will be here soon.”
“All right, then. Next time you come to my station, I’ll take you to get some really good hotpot mutton.”
A few of them continued eating, drinking, and chatting. Half an hour later, Gong Yingxian stepped into the barbecue restaurant.
There was no trace of smoke or fire on him. Dressed in a suit and polished leather shoes, his entire demeanor was completely out of place in this kind of street-side food stall. He looked like the last person who would ever appear somewhere like this.
On top of that, with his extraordinary looks, the moment he appeared, everyone turned to look at him.
Yan Jue raised an eyebrow and spoke in a teasing tone. “So he’s the friend you were talking about? Dressed like that, is he going to a wedding?”
The people beside him snickered.
Ren Yi walked over. “Yingxian, it’s dirty in here and there’s a lot of grease and smoke. Wait for me in the car. I’ll pay the bill and we’ll leave.”
Gong Yingxian looked at the two large tables pushed together inside, packed with station captains wearing the same flame-blue uniforms as Ren Yi. Leftover food, cigarette butts, and beer bottles covered the tables and floor.
Then he looked at Ren Yi. His face was flushed, his eyes bright and lively. Although there was an obvious drunkenness to him, there was also obvious happiness.
Suddenly, Gong Yingxian felt a powerful sense of rejection.
It wasn’t merely that he disliked the obviously unhygienic environment and food. It was that Ren Yi’s life itself seemed to be rejecting him.
Eating out, drinking, and chatting with colleagues—this was Ren Yi’s life. It was also the normal life of most people.
The abnormal one was himself.
He couldn’t accompany Ren Yi to nice restaurants to eat. He couldn’t drink and have fun with Ren Yi. He actually couldn’t fit into Ren Yi’s life.
And his own life… no one could live a deformed life like his.
No wonder Ren Yi didn’t like him.
Actually, no one would like him.
Even if someone was initially attracted to his appearance, they would soon be frightened away.
All these years, the only person willing to be his friend had been Ren Yi.
“Yingxian?” Ren Yi rubbed his slightly blurry, drunken eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Gong Yingxian shook his head. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“Are you sure? The environment here…”
“I’ll wait for you here.” Gong Yingxian repeated himself.
“…All right.”
Ren Yi returned to the table. “Brothers, you guys keep drinking. I’m heading out first. Be careful on your way home.”
“Don’t worry.”
Ren Yi patted Yan Jue on the shoulder and smiled. “I’ll definitely come find you next time. I’ll give you a chance to buy me a meal.”
Yan Jue held out his hand and shook Ren Yi’s. “Keep in touch.”
From a distance, Gong Yingxian watched the two of them looking like kindred spirits and gave a cold snort.
Ren Yi walked over to the counter to pay the bill, but several station captains immediately surrounded him.
“Hey, what are you doing? You come all the way to our district and still want to snatch the bill from us?”
Ren Yi laughed. “I said I’d organize it today. Don’t fight me for the bill.”
“No way. Next time you come to Hongwu District, we guarantee we’ll make you pay.”
The group immediately began pushing the responsibility back and forth.
At that moment, a man wearing a baseball cap walked out from the back room. The server bringing out dishes said, “Sir, the restroom is over there. You can’t go into the kitchen.”
The man grunted twice and hurried outside.
The barbecue restaurant was packed with noise, and almost no one heard the exchange.
But Gong Yingxian, standing by the entrance, noticed the man.
A police officer’s professional instincts and sharp perception told him that something about this man was unusual.
First, the man was walking extremely quickly. Because the barbecue restaurant had been exposed to grease and smoke for so long, the floor was somewhat slippery, and ordinary people would naturally watch their footing.
Second, although he had pulled the brim of his cap low, his slightly pursed lips, tense jaw, and hunched-forward shoulders all betrayed the nervousness in his body language and expression.
It was as if he wasn’t leaving a barbecue restaurant at all, but escaping a tiger’s den.
Gong Yingxian stepped directly in front of the man. As he pulled out his police ID, he said, “Police. Please show me your ID.”
The man froze for a moment, then suddenly slammed into Gong Yingxian, knocking him aside, and bolted outside.
At first, Gong Yingxian had only thought the man was suspicious. In a chaotic night market like this, there were plenty of petty thieves and troublemakers. But as long as they hadn’t actually committed a crime, people generally cooperated when they saw the police. Even experienced criminals knew that unless they were caught in the act, the police couldn’t do much to them.
But once they resisted, that was when they really ended up in trouble.
So the fact that this man ran confirmed that something was wrong.
Combined with everything that had happened recently, Gong Yingxian quickly connected the dots.
He shouted at Ren Yi, “Evacuate everyone first!”
Then he took off after the man.
Everyone in the barbecue restaurant was stunned.
It took Ren Yi several seconds to come back to his senses. He vigorously shook his head. Fortunately, he hadn’t drunk anything during the last half hour. He had been afraid Gong Yingxian would be unhappy, so he had been drinking nonalcoholic drinks instead. He was much more clear-headed now.
He shouted, “Everyone, get outside first! Everyone out!”
Yan Jue ran over, tense. “What happened?”
Wang Meng also asked, “Ren Yi, what’s going on?” He tried to stand up, but he had drunk too much and nearly tripped over a beer bottle at his feet.
“Don’t ask. Anyone who can move, help those who’ve had too much to drink get outside. Hurry!”
Ren Yi himself had no idea what had happened. He guessed Gong Yingxian probably didn’t know either, because everything had happened far too suddenly.
The employees and customers were also bewildered, but since a firefighter had told them to leave, they didn’t dare delay. They all got up and hurried out, and the restaurant quickly descended into some chaos.
Ren Yi rapidly replayed what had just happened in his mind. He hadn’t seen the whole sequence of events. He had only caught a glimpse of Gong Yingxian stopping someone, then that person running away, followed by Gong Yingxian chasing him.
So the key was that person.
Ren Yi shouted, “Who was that guy wearing the black baseball cap? Which table was he sitting at?”
A server said quietly, “I don’t know. I only just saw him too. He came out of the kitchen. Maybe he was looking for the restroom.”
The kitchen!
Ren Yi and Yan Jue exchanged a glance.
Yan Jue shouted, “Hurry up and evacuate everyone! Call 119! Get everyone from the surrounding shops out too! Hurry!”
Ren Yi ran toward the kitchen.
The kitchen staff had no idea anything had happened in the dining area and were still working as usual.
Ren Yi shouted, “Everyone stop! Turn off the gas! Everyone stop!”
Everyone froze.
Ren Yi swept his eyes around the room.
The most dangerous thing in the kitchen was undoubtedly the gas piping. Household gas pipes were relatively simple and usually concealed. But restaurant kitchens needed to supply many different burners, so there were far more pipes. Sometimes, because restaurants changed hands frequently—one owner might run a Japanese restaurant while the next ran a Sichuan restaurant—the kitchen would be repeatedly modified. If the modifications were done improperly, the pipes could end up exposed.
Ren Yi ran over and began checking the complicated network of pipes, starting with several valves.
Yan Jue also ran into the back kitchen. “How is it?”
“The valves aren’t leaking.”
There seemed to be nothing unusual, but to be safe, Ren Yi still shut the valves.
“Ren Yi!” Yan Jue let out a low cry, his voice trembling.
“What?”
Ren Yi ran over to take a look, and a chill went through his entire body.
Several sections of the metal piping were being corroded by some kind of unknown chemical liquid!