Ren Yi wanted to ask more, but Qiu Yan responded with silence. He knew this wasn’t something that could be explained in just a few words, and he could understand why Qiu Yan didn’t want to continue.
What exactly had happened eighteen years ago?!
When he returned to the hospital room, Uncle Sheng had already changed Gong Yingxian into clean clothes. When he saw Ren Yi come back, he went to take care of the discharge procedures.
Ren Yi stood beside the hospital bed, carefully studying Gong Yingxian’s pale, peaceful sleeping face.
He really was beautiful.
Even with those deep, brilliant eyes closed, his captivating beauty remained undiminished. Yet even someone so carefully sculpted by the Creator could not receive the slightest mercy from the god of fate. Instead, fate had cruelly taken everything from him in the most brutal way.
Ren Yi’s heart ached.
Precisely because he had witnessed far too many tragedies caused by fire, and had experienced fire taking away teachers, brothers, and friends he respected deeply, he could understand Gong Yingxian’s suffering all the more.
A tremendous pain that even an adult would struggle to bear had been forced upon a six-year-old child.
Ren Yi couldn’t help reaching out. His fingertips gently touched Gong Yingxian’s cheek.
The faint warmth beneath his fingertips softened something deep inside him, and then… then gave rise to an indescribable flutter in his heart.
Ren Yi startled and immediately pulled his hand back.
He guiltily glanced around, then wiped his face and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Afterward, he sat on a chair and silently watched Gong Yingxian. Eventually, unable to resist his exhaustion, he fell asleep sitting there.
Half-asleep and dazed, he heard someone calling him.
“Ren Yi, wake up.”
Ren Yi struggled to open his eyes. Through his half-open, blurry vision, he saw Gong Yingxian’s face.
He instinctively stood up, but he moved too quickly and staggered.
Gong Yingxian immediately caught him.
Ren Yi became a little more awake.
“Hey, you… you’re awake?”
Although Gong Yingxian still looked somewhat pale, he was much calmer than before. He asked grimly, “Why am I in the hospital?”
“…You don’t remember?”
Ren Yi glanced outside the window. It was already daylight.
Gong Yingxian frowned.
“I only remember saying that I wasn’t going to the hospital.”
“How could you not go to the hospital in that condition?”
Ren Yi looked him up and down. Seeing that he really seemed fine now, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry. After Uncle Sheng came, he changed your clothes and bedding. He was only one step away from replacing the entire bed.”
Gong Yingxian rubbed his arm, feeling uncomfortable all over.
“I want to go home.”
“Let the doctor examine you first—”
Gong Yingxian suddenly stared at Ren Yi.
“Were you injured?”
Ren Yi froze for a moment.
“No.”
His palm had only been burned badly enough for some skin to peel off. For them, that was nothing unusual.
“Then why are you wearing hospital clothes?”
“Oh, my friend’s clothes were completely ruined.”
Ren Yi suddenly remembered something. He scratched his head awkwardly.
“Were those clothes really expensive?”
“What is there to worry about over a ruined piece of clothing?” Gong Yingxian said irritably. “I’ll reimburse you.”
Ren Yi burst out laughing.
“Just wait for my receipt.”
Then he remembered something else.
“Hey, where’s Uncle Sheng?”
“Taking care of the discharge procedures.”
Gong Yingxian paused.
“Did Sister Yan come?”
“Yeah. She went to deal with Zhou Chuan’s case afterward.”
Thinking about their conversation a few hours earlier, Ren Yi still felt a knot in his chest.
At the mention of Zhou Chuan’s name, Gong Yingxian’s eyes became extremely dark.
“By the way, Dr. Gong.” Ren Yi smiled. “Thank you for saving me.”
Gong Yingxian froze, then said angrily, “As a firefighter, don’t you have even the most basic awareness of protecting yourself?”
“Of course I do. Actually, there should still have been time.”
“‘Should have’?”
Gong Yingxian gritted his teeth.
“Have you forgotten what you said to me when I jumped from the building to chase Zhou Chuan? How can you lecture other people?”
Ren Yi was left speechless. He could only smile sheepishly.
“I’ll be careful from now on. Anyway, you were so afraid of fire, yet you still went in to save me…”
He patted his chest and put on an exaggeratedly moved expression.
“I’m so touched.”
Gong Yingxian shot him a sideways glance.
Then his gaze stopped on Ren Yi’s face, carefully examining it.
Ren Yi became uncomfortable under his stare and touched his own face.
“What? Am I that handsome?”
“…Have you always had this mole?”
“Which one?”
Ren Yi suddenly remembered.
“Oh, this one on my nose? Obviously. What, did I plant it yesterday?”
Gong Yingxian realized that he had actually noticed it long ago. He simply hadn’t paid much attention to it.
But yesterday, walking directly into the source of the fire had triggered his memories. Somewhere deep within those memories, there had once been another person with a similar mole.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember who that person was.
Ren Yi touched the mole on his nose and mocked himself.
“They say a mole on your nose means you’re destined for great wealth and prosperity. Sigh. Just like my unlucky name, I guess we shouldn’t believe in feudal superstition.”
Gong Yingxian was silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly said, “Fight fire with fire.”
“What?”
“In your firefighting tactics, there is a tactic called fighting fire with fire, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“So your ‘Yi’ means the fire that attacks fire.”
Gong Yingxian spoke quietly.
“It’s not necessarily unlucky.”
Ren Yi grinned.
“As expected of a doctor. Always so insightful.”
Gong Yingxian cleared his throat lightly.
“Where are you going now?”
“Back to the station. I can’t exactly go home dressed like this. What about you?”
“Home.”
Gong Yingxian looked tired.
“I need to go home and rest for a day.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. Zhou Chuan’s case has already gotten enough attention. Captain Qiu will definitely investigate it thoroughly. Just take some time off and rest for a few more days.”
Gong Yingxian shook his head.
“It’s not just Zhou Chuan’s case. There’s also the Wanyuan Residential Complex case. With so many things going on, I can’t rest for too long.”
Ren Yi knew there was no point trying to persuade him. He patted Gong Yingxian on the shoulder.
“Let me know immediately if there’s any progress on the case. Especially that bastard Zhou Chuan. I want to sit in when you interrogate him.”
Gong Yingxian nodded.
“Ah!”
Ren Yi suddenly cried out.
Gong Yingxian frowned and looked at him in confusion.
“I just patted your shoulder, and you didn’t react.”
Ren Yi blinked.
“Are you still groggy from what happened, or are you finally not disgusted by me being dirty?”
Gong Yingxian seemed to be caught off guard by the question as well. Then he became embarrassed and irritated.
“I was just thinking about something else.”
Ren Yi was about to tease him a little more when Uncle Sheng returned.
The three of them left the hospital together. Uncle Sheng took Gong Yingxian home, while the driver took Ren Yi back to the fire station.
The moment Ren Yi stepped into the station, he saw flowers, balloons, fruit, and pastries arranged throughout the lobby. A banner had even been hung up:
Congratulations to the Human Little Steel Cannon on Ending His Paid Vacation, Bidding Farewell to a Horde of Beautiful Women Who Lovingly Attended to Him, and Successfully Restoring Full Functionality to His Catheter, Membranes, Air Bubbles, and Organs.
Ren Yi thought to himself that he hadn’t even told anyone he’d gone to the hospital.
How were they so well informed?
“Captain Ren?”
Cui Yisheng and several firefighters were walking in. They stared at him in surprise.
“Why are you dressed like that?”
“I just got back from the hospital.”
Ren Yi clicked his tongue twice.
“Did you really have to make such a huge production out of this? Talk about formalism. It’s not like anything serious happened to me.”
Cui Yisheng and the others looked at Ren Yi awkwardly.
“It’s not…”
“Captain Ren?”
One head after another poked out from the conference room.
“Weren’t you still on vacation? Why are you dressed like that? Cosplay?”
“Cosplay my ass. You guys…”
Ren Yi suddenly spotted Sun Dingyi, whom he hadn’t seen in quite some time, and immediately understood.
“You—you got discharged?!”
Sun Dingyi grinned.
“Hehe. Hu Han San has returned!”
Ren Yi was overjoyed. He rushed over and punched him twice.
“You little bastard! Why didn’t you stay in the hospital longer? Without you in the station, it’s been peaceful and upright around here.”
“I wanted to, but they wouldn’t reimburse me if I stayed any longer.”
Sun Dingyi put on an agonized expression.
“When I was hospitalized, my partner was completely at my beck and call. That might have been the peak of my status in life.”
“Not ‘might.’ Absolutely.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Qu Yangbo said, “Ren Yi, what happened to you? Why are you wearing a hospital gown?”
Ren Yi let out a long sigh.
“Let me tell you about my thrilling two-day vacation.”
After returning to his dormitory, Ren Yi finally took off the hospital gown and changed into his familiar flame-blue training uniform.
When he thought about Qi Xiao’s clothes, he felt another wave of headache.
He collapsed onto the bed, pulled a bag of cookies out of the snack cabinet, and called Qi Xiao while munching on them. He briefly explained what had happened to the outfit.
Qi Xiao shouted in surprise, “You caught the arsonist on the spot? Those bastards actually burned a kitten! What happened to the kitten?”
Ren Yi sighed.
“The vet called me this morning. They said the kitten’s condition had stabilized.”
Qi Xiao cursed several times in succession.
“Why didn’t those bastards burn to death? A bunch of animals, a bunch of sickos!”
“There are even more sickos hiding in the darkness. You never know when they’ll come out and hurt someone.”
The more Ren Yi spoke, the heavier his mood became.
“Sorry about your clothes… That brand was pretty expensive, right? How much were they? I’ll—”
“Hey, hey, forget it. It’s just a set of clothes. Besides, they were sponsored by the brand. I didn’t pay for them myself.”
Qi Xiao sounded somewhat distressed.
“As long as you’re okay. Listening to what happened scared me.”
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“Your job is so dangerous. Sometimes when I see those fire disasters or firefighter stories online, I think of you.”
Qi Xiao lowered his voice.
“I get really worried about you.”
Ren Yi smiled.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been doing this for so long that all the experience I’ve accumulated isn’t just for helping other people better. It’s also for protecting myself and my teammates better. Actually, firefighters become safer as they get older.”
“Really?”
“Of course. The young soldiers who are full of adrenaline and lack experience are the ones who are most at risk. So relax.”
“Mm.”
Qi Xiao said, “Then get some good rest. If you’re in a bad mood, I’ll drink with you again.”
After hanging up, Ren Yi noticed that cookie crumbs had fallen onto his pillow.
He quickly picked up the pillow and dusted it off.
He thought that if Gong Yingxian saw this, he would definitely give him another round of sarcastic remarks.
Ren Yi could already imagine Gong Yingxian’s disgusted expression and tone, and couldn’t help laughing.
At that moment, his phone received a new message.
He opened it.
It was a picture of a completely black kitten, its body wrapped in pure white gauze, lying on a soft cotton pad and sleeping soundly.
Its innocent, oblivious expression softened his heart.
Ren Yi pressed the phone against his chest and slowly closed his eyes.