At the word “amputation,” the noisy scene instantly fell silent. Everyone was stunned.
The injured victim trapped underneath the debris had not suffered injuries to his head or other vital organs, so he was still conscious. When he heard Gao Ge’s words, he struggled desperately. “No… No…”
Shi Xiaoqian held Xiaowang down. “Please, don’t move.”
“No… Don’t amputate…” Xiaowang cried out in terror. “I can’t live without my legs…”
Ren Yi crouched beside Xiaowang. Looking at the blood and tears mixed across his face, his features twisted with despair. Ren Yi pressed down on his shoulder and said softly, “The surgeon from Hongwu Hospital is on his way here. He’ll make the final decision.”
Xiaowang grabbed Ren Yi’s sleeve and rasped, “Don’t cut off my legs. I-I’m only twenty. I can’t live without my legs… Please, I’m begging you, save me… Save me…”
Ren Yi felt a throbbing pain in his temples, and the tip of his nose stung. He said solemnly, “You’re only twenty. You still have a long life ahead of you. Even without your legs, at least you’ll still be alive.”
Xiaowang burst into tears, and everyone present was deeply moved.
Soon, the doctor arrived with a nurse.
Clinging to his last shred of hope, Xiaowang looked at the doctor pleadingly. “Doctor, save me. Don’t… don’t amputate my legs. Please, I’m begging you.”
The doctor examined Xiaowang’s trapped legs, then took a document from the nurse and said calmly, “Young man, even if we get you to the hospital, there’s a very high chance your legs won’t be salvageable.”
Xiaowang wept in despair, his eyes completely lifeless as he murmured, “Why?”
The doctor handed him a pen. “Simply put, the tissue in both of your legs has already died and is releasing a toxin. The reason this toxin hasn’t killed you yet is because your legs are being crushed, so the blood isn’t circulating. Once the pressure on your legs is removed, the toxin will immediately enter your bloodstream, causing acute kidney failure and shock. If we don’t amputate, you may not even make it to the hospital. Sign here.”
Through his sobs, Xiaowang tremblingly signed the consent form.
The doctor and nurse began preparing for the amputation on-site.
Ren Yi couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He had Gao Ge take charge of the cleanup and follow-up work, while he led one team back first.
When they returned to the station, it was dinner time, but nobody had much of an appetite. When they returned from a call with good news—when it had been a false alarm or when everyone had escaped danger safely—their moods would naturally be good. But when they encountered an accident like this, where even giving everything they had could not prevent death and permanent disability, that feeling of helplessness could leave them depressed for a long time.
Ren Yi felt restless. He said goodbye to Qu Yangbo and left. He planned to go to the veterinary hospital and bring the little kitten back.
The kitten had basically recovered, and the veterinarian said it could be taken home. However, it needed its dressing changed at a nearby pet hospital every other day, and there was a pet hospital right beside their station, so it would be very convenient.
After not seeing it for a week, the little black kitten seemed to have gained a little weight. It no longer looked anything like the weak, dying creature it had been before. Although it still had bandages wrapped around its body, it looked energetic enough, pouncing around inside its cage and playing with a crumpled ball of paper.
Ren Yi said happily, “It’s really okay now?”
“It’s fine now. But the burned areas may have a hard time growing fur again in the future.”
“As long as it survived, that’s what matters.”
Ren Yi slipped a finger through the bars and poked the kitten. The kitten wrapped its paws around his finger and began nibbling it with its tiny milk teeth.
The veterinarian opened the cage, picked up the kitten, and handed it to Ren Yi. Ren Yi gently stroked its soft fur and smiled.
On the way back, Ren Yi called Gong Yingxian.
“Hello, Dr. Gong. Are you at the precinct?”
“I am. What’s up?”
“Just as I thought, you’re working overtime again. I… happened to be passing by, and there’s something I want to show you.”
“Okay. Come over.”
When Ren Yi arrived at the precinct, the female police officers in the lobby immediately started teasing him.
“Captain Ren, why do you keep coming to our police station every few days? Are you thinking of changing careers?”
Ren Yi laughed. “Of course. There are so many beautiful women at the police station. It’s nothing like our station. I’m just here scouting the place out.”
He found Gong Yingxian in the office area at the back, bent over his desk doing research. It was already almost nine o’clock, but half the workstations were still occupied, and everyone looked extremely busy.
Ren Yi smiled and waved at Gong Yingxian.
Gong Yingxian picked up a thick stack of documents with one hand. “You came at just the right time. I’m taking you to the Cybercrime Division. We have some new discoveries.”
He strode over, looking hurried.
Ren Yi followed behind him. “Hey, wait. I have something I want to show you.”
“What?”
Ren Yi glanced around, opened the door of an empty office, and pulled Gong Yingxian inside.
Gong Yingxian frowned as he looked at the hand casually gripping his arm. He felt somewhat uncomfortable.
But that discomfort wasn’t the rejection, or even disgust, he had felt when other people touched him in the past.
Rather… it was because he realized that he actually wasn’t very resistant to it.
That abnormality was what made him uncomfortable.
Perhaps, just as Ren Yi had said, he really was slowly getting used to this person?
Ren Yi closed the office door. There was a hint of excitement between his brows as he mysteriously reached into the large pocket of his training uniform and pulled out something furry.
Black fur.
Golden eyes.
A soft, lively, adorable little kitten.
Gong Yingxian raised an eyebrow and took a step backward.
“What? Are you afraid of cats?”
“No.”
“Then why are you backing away?”
“Dirty.”
Gong Yingxian paused. “And a cat’s body temperature is higher than a human’s.”
Ren Yi shrugged. “Its whole body has been disinfected. It’s pretty clean. Besides, we rescued this little guy from the fire together. Don’t you want to hold it?”
“No need.”
“Then pet it?” Ren Yi poked the kitten’s soft belly with his fingertip. “It’s so soft, like it doesn’t even have bones.”
The kitten let out a tiny “meow” and stared unblinkingly at Gong Yingxian.
Gong Yingxian hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
“Just touch it. It’s not going to burn you.” Ren Yi held the kitten out toward him. “Besides, you’re wearing gloves. What are you afraid of?”
Gong Yingxian’s thick brows furrowed slightly. He extended his hand and tentatively stroked the kitten’s belly.
It was actually so soft…
Ren Yi smiled. “Pretty soft, right? Look at you. You don’t like being around people, and you don’t even have a pet. Don’t you ever feel lonely?”
“I have a pet.”
“Really?” Ren Yi asked in surprise. “You actually keep a pet? What kind? A dog?”
“Do you want to see it?”
Gong Yingxian looked into Ren Yi’s eyes.
Ren Yi’s eyes lit up. “Sure. Where do we go to see it?”
“You showed me your pet, so I’ll show you mine.” Gong Yingxian’s tone was casual. “You can come over this weekend. Uncle Sheng happens to want to cook for you.”
Ren Yi’s heart leaped. “Y-You’re inviting me to your house for dinner?”
“Yes. Uncle Sheng has mentioned it several times.”
Gong Yingxian’s eyes shifted slightly.
“Besides… you said yourself that friends should eat together.”
“Okay. Then this Saturday,” Ren Yi said quickly.
Gong Yingxian glanced at the kitten. “Are you planning to keep it?”
“Yeah. I can keep it at the station, or I can keep it at home.”
Ren Yi had rescued small animals before, but he had never thought about keeping one as a pet. But this kitten was something he and Gong Yingxian had rescued from the fire together, and somehow, he felt that gave it a special meaning.
He wanted to keep it by his side.
“Have you named it?”
Ren Yi looked at the kitten and grinned.
“How about calling it Manman?”
“What?”
Ren Yi walked over to the whiteboard in the conference room, picked up a marker, and wrote two characters on it:
“淼淼.”
Gong Yingxian gave a scoff. “Where did you find such an obscure character?”
“This is my gaming name. Look, my name has four ‘fire’ radicals, and this has four ‘water’ radicals. It just happens to help suppress my temper.”
Gong Yingxian walked over as well. He took the marker and wrote “淼淼.”
“Suppressing it completely wouldn’t be good either.”
Ren Yi smiled at Gong Yingxian.
“You said you hated my name. Actually, I don’t want to have such a fiery temper either. If I weren’t too lazy to deal with the trouble, I would’ve changed my name long ago. A firefighter named Sihuo—‘Four Fires’—sounds pretty ominous.”
“I told you, your fire is the kind of fire that attacks fire.”
Gong Yingxian gazed into Ren Yi’s eyes.
“And besides, the fire that keeps a person alive is this very fire.”
“What do you mean?”
“Fire is spirit. It is emotion. It is the soul. In the Five Elements, the heart belongs to fire. And from phrases such as ‘the fire of life,’ ‘when the oil runs out and the lamp goes dry,’ and ‘reborn through fire,’ you can also see how fire serves as a metaphor for human life.”
Ren Yi was stunned for a moment.
“Captain Qiu said you’ve studied fire.”
“‘Studied’ is too strong. I’ve learned about fire culture. It helped me overcome my fear of fire as much as possible.”
“Then… what did you learn?”
Gong Yingxian was silent for a moment.
“You’ve heard this saying, right? ‘Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs.’”
Ren Yi gave a bitter laugh. “In my line of work, I couldn’t possibly understand that saying more deeply.”
Gong Yingxian shook his head.
“People think this saying means that Heaven and earth are unkind and trample on all things. That interpretation is incorrect. The so-called ‘Heaven and earth are not benevolent’ means that Heaven and earth are both ‘without action’ and ‘without favor.’ The will of Heaven and earth is that there is no will. Heaven and earth simply continue to follow their own natural way—the sun rises and sets, sunlight and rain, bitter cold and scorching heat. It has never changed. Heaven and earth do not change according to the will of all things, and the fate of all things does not need to be blamed on Heaven and earth.”
Ren Yi was getting a little confused listening to him.
Gong Yingxian let out a soft sigh.
“Fire is the essence of Heaven and earth. Fire likewise has no will, no good or evil. What is truly frightening is not fire itself, but the way fire is used—especially… the way humans use fire.”
Ren Yi said solemnly, “You understand that, yet you’re still afraid of fire.”
“I’m trying to overcome it.”
“Actually, everyone has something they’re afraid of. You don’t have to force yourself to become fearless. No one can be fearless.”
Ren Yi quietly looked at Gong Yingxian and said gently, “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of fire.”
Gong Yingxian froze.
All this time, his fear of fire had brought him both pain and shame. His fear of fire was an enemy he had wanted to defeat all his life, yet had never been able to completely overcome.
But Ren Yi told him, “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of fire.”
Those words were like a warm, gentle hand smoothing out wrinkles, giving him a feeling of relief.
Even if it was only a little, he seemed to finally be able to take a breath in the midst of his fear of fire.
Ren Yi knocked on the whiteboard and grinned.
“Let’s go with yours, then. We’ll call it Miaomiao. Leave me one little flame.”