The daily routine of a fire brigade squadron was training. Aside from responding to calls and dealing with special circumstances, a squadron normally trained for several hours every day. After all, before the firefighting system was restructured, they had belonged to the armed police forces, and even after the restructuring, they continued to maintain a militarized management system.
However, it had been extremely hot lately. Ren Yi had shifted the training schedule away from the period when the sun was strongest, but the firefighters were still sweating profusely.
They were practicing laying out fire hoses when the firefighter on sentry duty shouted across the training ground, “Captain Ren, someone’s here to see you.”
“Let her in.” Ren Yi narrowed his eyes and looked toward the entrance.
From a distance, he could see a slender young girl carrying a large bouquet of flowers and two bags, walking quickly toward them. Under the sunlight, her skin seemed to glow white, and her pretty ponytail swayed lightly with every step. She was brimming with youthful energy and looked exceptionally beautiful. Everyone’s attention was drawn toward her.
Ren Yi said, “Ding Qing, go receive her.”
“Yes.”
Ding Qing ran over and took the things from her hands.
The girl quickly walked up to Ren Yi. She blinked her large, clear black-and-white eyes and looked at him somewhat shyly.
Ren Yi raised an eyebrow.
This little girl is really beautiful.
In his entire life, he had never seen a girl this beautiful in person.
“Hello. Do you remember me?” the girl asked with a bright smile.
“Are you the one from the café last week…?”
“Yes, yes, that’s me!” she said happily. “You remember me!”
Ren Yi smiled. “It’s too sunny outside. Come in and sit. Gao Ge, keep an eye on them.”
“Yes.”
They entered the reception room. Ding Qing put down the things and left. The girl stared unblinkingly at Ren Yi.
“My name is Gong Feilan. What’s your name?”
“My name is Ren Yi.” Ren Yi smiled. “Have you fully recovered?”
“Yes. I’m completely fine.” Gong Feilan held out the flowers to him. “Captain Ren, thank you for saving me.”
“Haha, it’s what I should have done. It’s our duty.”
Ren Yi accepted the flowers and pointed at the things she had brought.
“I can accept the flowers, but I can’t accept gifts. We have regulations. But thank you for the thought.”
“I made these chocolate cookies myself.” Gong Feilan pushed the paper bag into Ren Yi’s arms. “You have to try them. I made them especially for you.”
Ren Yi looked somewhat awkwardly at the things in his arms.
“They really are cookies.” Gong Feilan took them out. “Look.”
“All right, thank you.”
After responding to emergencies, they often had members of the public come to the squadron to express their gratitude and bring gifts. Sometimes, when they couldn’t refuse someone’s sincere generosity, they would accept food, aside from things like pennants and flowers.
“Be careful when you go out to have fun in the future, and learn more about disaster self-rescue.”
Gong Feilan nodded vigorously, still staring fixedly at Ren Yi.
The silence became somewhat awkward, so Ren Yi had no choice but to find something to talk about.
“Do you go to school nearby? Are you on summer vacation now?”
“Yes. I often pass this fire station after school.” Gong Feilan pursed her lips. “I never paid attention to it before. Who knew there was such a handsome firefighter brother here?”
Looking at the familiar light sparkling in Gong Feilan’s eyes, Ren Yi suddenly felt his scalp tighten.
Over the years at the fire station, there had been several young women coming to confess their feelings after he responded to emergencies, as well as uncles and aunties coming to arrange blind dates for him every year.
But a middle school student…
This was definitely his first time encountering one.
Maybe I’m overthinking it.
Ren Yi smiled.
“You’re making me so embarrassed with all that praise.”
Gong Feilan looked directly into his eyes.
“Captain Ren, are you married?”
“Uh… no.”
“You don’t have a girlfriend either?”
Ren Yi hesitated.
He felt that this conversation was becoming extremely inappropriate. But he wasn’t accustomed to lying. He only struggled between lying and telling the truth for a second or two before Gong Feilan excitedly said, “No! I can tell from your expression that you don’t!”
Ren Yi gave an awkward laugh.
“What, do you have an older sister you want to introduce me to?”
Gong Feilan straightened her chest. Her pretty, still-childish face was full of confidence.
“What about me?”
Ren Yi hadn’t expected the girl to come straight at him with such a direct approach. He was caught completely off guard.
He frowned slightly.
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m serious.”
Her eyes were filled with innocent, naïve admiration.
“You know, when I thought I was about to die, you appeared in front of me just like that and said to me…”
“Wait.”
Ren Yi smiled.
“Little classmate, listen to me. When you’re in danger, it’s very easy to develop feelings for the person who rescues you. I’ve seen this happen many times. There’s a specific term for it in psychology called the ‘suspension bridge effect.’ Gratitude and romantic feelings are two different things. You’re confusing the two.”
“I’m not.”
Gong Feilan raised her chin.
“If someone can’t even tell what they like, aren’t they basically a pig?”
She looked at Ren Yi’s tall figure and handsome face, secretly delighted.
“And besides, if you weren’t so tall and so handsome, I wouldn’t just fall for anyone, okay? Ah, or do you think I’m not pretty?”
Ren Yi said seriously, “You’re very pretty.”
“Then be my boyfriend.”
Gong Feilan took a step forward.
Ren Yi instinctively stepped backward and raised his hands in surrender. He was both amused and helpless.
“Little classmate, how old are you?”
“Fourteen.”
Ren Yi sighed helplessly.
“Do you know how old I am?”
“I don’t care.”
“I care.”
Ren Yi was practically ready to call her his great-auntie.
“I’m thirty. If I’d made a mistake when I was younger, I could have had a daughter your age by now. Stop fooling around. Be good and go home.”
“Who says I’m fooling around?” Gong Feilan became anxious. “I’m a little young, but I have everything I’m supposed to have!”
She pushed out her chest again.
“I like you. If you don’t agree right away, then… then I’ll pursue you. It’s no big deal.”
Ren Yi was terrified.
“Little classmate, I’m begging you. Have you ever thought about the fact that if you really became my girlfriend, you’d have to visit me in prison?”
Gong Feilan said unconcernedly, “We just won’t tell anyone.”
“How could that possibly work? What about your parents? Aren’t you afraid they’ll find out?”
A trace of gloom flashed through Gong Feilan’s eyes.
She snorted.
“They won’t care.”
Ren Yi tried to persuade her.
“At your age, it’s normal for kids to become curious about romantic relationships. I understand that. But you should find a boy around your own age.”
“Boys my age are all stupid and childish.” Gong Feilan pouted. “As an adult, you’re way too cowardly.”
“…”
Gong Feilan clenched her fists.
“Anyway, I’ve decided. I want to be your girlfriend. You don’t know me yet, which is why you won’t accept me. I’ll let you get to know me properly. You’ll definitely fall for me.”
Ren Yi immediately felt a psychological headache coming on.
Gong Feilan pulled out her phone.
“Add me on WeChat.”
“…It’s not very convenient.”
“Then I’m not leaving.” Gong Feilan spread her hands. “I’m on summer vacation now. I’ve got plenty of time.”
Ren Yi couldn’t help laughing helplessly.
“All right.”
Gong Feilan watched as Ren Yi accepted her friend request and happily stomped her feet twice.
“Then I’ll come visit you again another day.”
She gave Ren Yi a lovestruck look.
“I’ll send you my prettiest photos.”
Ren Yi couldn’t wait to escort her out the door.
Gong Feilan blew him a kiss, even her departing steps carrying a hint of cheerfulness.
Ren Yi stood there in a daze for a long time, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
Ren Yi had originally hoped that Gong Feilan’s behavior was merely a momentary impulse on the part of a child.
But when she came to the squadron to see him for the fourth time, he finally realized that things were becoming troublesome.
Although this trouble really shouldn’t have been his fault, Gong Feilan was, after all, an underage girl. Even the instructor had spoken with him once, telling him to reduce the impact of the situation.
He wanted to reduce the impact too, but her legs belonged to her.
He had also considered saying something harsher, but whenever he looked at Gong Feilan’s face, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He decided to ask one of his friends at the police station to look up her parents’ contact information and solve the problem at its root.
That afternoon, he received a call from the nanny saying that his father’s stomach wasn’t doing well and that he had vomited. Ren Yi decided to make a trip home.
He only had forty-five days of leave per year and, according to regulations, wasn’t allowed to leave his post without authorization. However, because of his father’s special circumstances, the detachment was very understanding of him. Moreover, his home was actually right across from the fire station, so it wouldn’t affect emergency dispatches. As a result, they tacitly allowed him to find time to go home and check on his father.
He found Deputy Captain Gao Ge in the cafeteria and briefed him on his duties.
The moment Sun Dingyi saw him, he began teasing him.
“Oh, look at our Tianqi Fire Department’s number-one handsome man. From mature women in their forties all the way down to fourteen-year-old girls, they’re all completely lovesick over Captain Ren.”
Ren Yi kicked his chair.
“Can’t a meat bun shut your mouth?”
Gao Ge struggled to hold back his laughter.
“Did the instructor talk to you?”
“Is it my fault? Is being handsome my fault?”
Ren Yi sounded aggrieved.
“You guys don’t understand the troubles of being a beautiful man.”
Everyone collectively went, “Pfft.”
Ren Yi said, “I’m going home tonight. You guys behave yourselves.”
“Let me place a bet before you go. Let me ride your coattails.”
“Tomorrow.”
Ren Yi left the fire station and walked toward the street opposite.
Their Phoenix Squadron was one of the earliest fire stations established after the founding of the country. At the time, Tianqi’s property prices hadn’t gone completely insane yet, and directly opposite the squadron was the fire department’s residential compound.
He had been born and raised in that compound, and ultimately followed in his father’s footsteps and took up firefighting, although his mother had strongly opposed his becoming a firefighter.
After walking for several minutes, he entered the compound.
The residential complex was extremely old, and all sorts of facilities had fallen into disrepair. Most of the people who could afford to improve their housing had already moved away. Because of its good location, more than half the apartments had been rented out to office workers.
It wasn’t yet time for people to get off work, so the compound was somewhat quiet.
When he reached the entrance to his apartment building, dusk was settling in.
The stairwell was pitch-black. He vaguely saw someone inside.
As he approached, he realized it was a tall, upright man.
His legs were long and straight, stretching his suit trousers so smoothly that they were almost completely wrinkle-free. His waist was flat and lean, his shoulders broad and his chest wide. His polished dark leather shoes and snow-white shirt were spotless.
He was even wearing pure-white gloves and a pure-white mask.
If someone put a white lab coat on him, it would feel as though the next moment he would either be entering an operating room or walking onto a photography set.
For someone like this to appear in the doorway of such an old apartment building was exceedingly strange.
Ren Yi couldn’t help looking the man over.
Putting aside his impeccable physique, most of his face was hidden by the mask, but judging from those deep, beautiful eyes alone, it was obvious that he had to be exceptionally handsome.
Ren Yi was a perfectly healthy man, and his thoughts immediately began wandering.
Seeing that the other man was looking at him too, Ren Yi took the initiative to ask, “Hey, man, waiting for someone?”
Those European-style double eyelids slowly lowered, then slowly rose again. The man’s gaze swept over Ren Yi from head to toe with an extremely impolite attitude, coldness mixed with a hint of contempt.
Ren Yi was somewhat annoyed.
I wonder which pretentious Mike from some foreign company this is.
He couldn’t be bothered to pay any more attention to him and headed straight for the stairs.
Unexpectedly, the man suddenly stepped sideways and blocked his path.
The two nearly collided.
Fortunately, Ren Yi stopped in time. Now that they were closer, he realized just how tall this man really was.
Ren Yi himself was 184 centimeters tall, but this guy was probably close to 190.
Ren Yi narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know you, do I?”
“Ren Yi, is it?”
The man finally spoke.
His voice was as cold and arrogant as his attitude, yet the tone itself was extraordinarily pleasant, like a breeze passing through an ancient temple—ethereal yet dignified.
It was a voice that could be described as refined and magnificent.
Ren Yi looked at him carefully again.
“Have we met? Why don’t you take off your mask?”
It’s nearly forty degrees out here, and you’re wearing a mask and gloves. What is wrong with you?
“My name is Gong Yingxian. I’m Gong Feilan’s older brother.”
He seemed unwilling to waste even a single unnecessary word with Ren Yi.
“Oh, her brother.”
Ren Yi said, “I was just planning to find her family and talk to them…”
Gong Yingxian suddenly pulled something out of his pocket.
It was an identification badge.
The symbol printed on it was something everyone would recognize.
A police badge.
Ren Yi froze.
“Gong Feilan is under fourteen years old. Do you want me to give you a crash course in the Criminal Law?”
Ren Yi’s brows drew tightly together.
“What do you mean?”
“Gong Feilan said you’re her boyfriend.”
Gong Yingxian’s eyes were exceptionally sharp.
“If you don’t know how to write the two words ‘shame,’ you can first learn how to write ‘crime.’”
Ren Yi snapped angrily, “Bullshit. What boyfriend? That’s something the kid imagined herself. I’ve never said a single inappropriate thing to her or done a single inappropriate thing.”
“Where are your pictures together?”
“Is taking one picture together a crime?”
“What about those chat records?”
“How the hell would I know? I’ve never replied to any of her messages.”
Ren Yi was inexplicably subjected to this kind of accusation and was absolutely furious.
“I’m an active-duty armed police officer. You have no evidence, yet you dare talk to me in that interrogative tone like I’m a criminal?!”
Gong Yingxian narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll verify what you’ve said. If I find out you’ve had even the slightest improper thought toward my sister, I won’t let you off.”
Ren Yi stepped closer and stared directly into Gong Yingxian’s eyes.
He said each word distinctly.
“Who the fuck are you trying to scare?”
The two stared at each other.
The sweltering air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Suddenly, Ren Yi felt something press against his waist.
It was cylindrical…
In weather reaching thirty-eight degrees Celsius, Ren Yi suddenly felt a chill run down his back.
Looking at Gong Yingxian’s icy eyes, and thinking about his strange outfit, Ren Yi wondered if the man might not be entirely right in the head.
His tone immediately softened somewhat.
“I only rescued her at the fire. She’s a kid. Kids do stupid things sometimes. I’ve already talked to her. You should go home and talk to her too. There’s no need for this…”
Gong Yingxian said disdainfully, “Get away from me.”
A smart man knows better than to suffer a loss in front of someone holding the advantage.
Ren Yi immediately took a step back.
Then he looked down and nearly choked with rage.
Gong Yingxian was holding a small spray bottle.
The diameter of its nozzle looked almost the same as that of a Type 64 police pistol.
Gong Yingxian opened the cap and sprayed Ren Yi once.
Thinking it was tear gas, Ren Yi instinctively stepped back, turned his head, and covered his face.
Instead, he only smelled a faint scent of alcohol, which immediately evaporated into the air.
He became furious.
“What the hell is that?!”
“Disinfectant.”
Gong Yingxian put the spray away and glared at Ren Yi warningly.
“Stay away from my sister.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Ren Yi cursed, “Are you sick? Watch yourself, or I’ll report you for abusing your authority!”
Gong Yingxian didn’t even turn his head. He walked straight toward a Jeep.
Ren Yi gave the departing vehicle a vicious middle finger.