Dawn
“Young Master, it’s terrible!” The servant rushed in hurriedly and whispered into his ear, and the man’s face changed instantly.
“What?!” The scene cut to the lumberyard, where dense smoke billowed; the workshop had exploded, turning the entire factory area into a sea of fire.
He slumped into the chair, grinding his teeth in anger. Lin Yan, could you really go this far for Song Yuhang, even to the point of not caring about your own life?
This was so unlike the woman he knew.
“Old Zheng, what’s the situation?” Duan Cheng paced anxiously beside him.
Zheng Chengrui maneuvered the drone over the blaze, but the screen showed nothing but smoke; visibility was zero.
He shook his head, sweat forming on his forehead.
“It’s no use, I can’t see anything.”
Duan Cheng, teeth clenched, was about to rush in when Fang Xin pulled him back with a firm grip: “Are you out of your mind?! Sister Lin told us to wait here for her. Who’s going to be around to rescue her if she comes out needing help?!”
“But…” Duan Cheng tried to argue, but when he saw the tears welling up in Fang Xin’s eyes, his heart skipped a beat, and the remaining words caught in his throat. He bowed his head and crouched down to fiddle with the mud on the ground.
“You can track traces, Old Zheng can operate drones and even hack through firewalls, but what about me? I can’t do anything; I’m no help at all.”
Fang Xin knew how distressed he felt and was also worried about the safety of the three people inside. She squatted beside him and gently patted his back.
“It’ll be alright; Sister Lin will definitely come out.”
After the blast had passed, Ji Jingxing was choked awake by the thick smoke.
Lin Yan was still lying on top of her, and with effort, she turned the body over, pushing it so that it lay facing up on the ground—a face smoked to the point of being unrecognizable, the exposed skin all wounded.
Ji Jingxing glanced once, couldn’t bear to look again, and hurriedly helped up Mother Song beside her.
“Mom, mom, wake up.”
When the explosion hit, Lin Yan had shielded them with her body, taking the brunt of the blast wave, which left Mother Song unharmed but quickly waking up, coughing violently, the smoke causing tears to flow continuously.
“Cough, cough…”
Ji Jingxing helped the person to stand up, looking around at the sea of flames; the passage that had just been blasted open was still there.
“Mom, let’s go, we need to hurry.”
Mother Song was dragged staggeringly, turning her head back, she called out tremblingly, “Yanyan…”
Lin Yan was lying on the ground, her face deathly pale, completely unconscious, as the rampaging tongues of flame had already licked up to the tips of her hair.
Ji Jingxing glanced back at the figure in the sea of flames. In such a scorching environment, every hair on her body curled from the intense heat. If they didn’t leave now, they would both die here.
She looked at Mother Song, as if making a monumental decision, and pushed her to the side of the steel door. That area was hit by the secondary explosion, where the shockwave had cleared everything around, making it relatively safer.
“Mom, stay here. If I don’t come back in a while, you go straight out, turn right. There’s a side door. Lin Yan’s friends will be there to meet you.”
She squeezed Mother Song’s hand, her eyes brimming with hot tears: “Mom, please take good care of Xiaowei.”
With that, she slipped off her high heels and, regardless of how Mother Song called out, plunged back into the inferno without looking back.
Barefoot on the burning floor, the piercing pain shot through her with each step.
With each step, sweat beads the size of beans formed on Ji Jingxing’s forehead. She gritted her teeth, held back tears, and navigated through a treacherous path, ultimately reaching Lin Yan’s side. Ji Jingxing took off her coat and smothered the flames engulfing Lin Yan’s body. She pulled Lin Yan up from the ground, shaking her by the shoulders.
“Lin Yan, wake up, wake up!”
Lin Yan’s head hung low, and Ji Jingxing supported her with a hand on her shoulder. Upon feeling something sticky, Ji Jingxing looked at her hand under the light of the fire and saw it covered in blood.
Dressed in black, it was impossible to tell that she was bleeding. With her agile movements, Ji Jingxing had thought she was fine, but now, as she opened her clothes, she saw a deep wound exposing bone.
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No matter how biased Ji Jingxing had been towards her, she couldn’t help but soften her heart a little.
Ji Jingxing clenched her teeth and, seeing that Lin Yan was still unconscious, raised her hand and slapped her hard.
“Lin Yan, wake up! Don’t think you’re something special just because you saved me. Let me tell you, this whole situation is because of you. If anything happens to Xiaowei, I won’t let you off the hook, damn it!”
“You’ll die, you’ll die! Once your gone, Yuhang will be mine!”
Ji Jingxing shook Lin Yan by her collar and roared. It was rare to see this typically dignified and gentle woman uttering foul language.
The slap was swift and brutal, catching Lin Yan off guard. Her head abruptly turned to the side, and she spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, abruptly waking up.
Lin Yan grasped her by the collar and shoved her away: “Keep dreaming your grand delusions. If it weren’t for your trouble, I’d be getting engaged right now, f*cker.”
She let out a slight groan, using the back of her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. Damn, that was harsh; this woman really meant business.
Seeing Lin Yan awake, Ji Jingxing, although it was to save someone, felt a tinge of embarrassment for slapping someone without an explanation—something she hadn’t done in her thirty-odd years of being a lady.
“Now that you’re awake, get out of here quickly.”
Lin Yan knelt on the ground, fumbling about: “You go first.”
Ji Jingxing stomped her foot in frustration: “What on earth are you looking for?!”
“My stick, the stick…” Lin Yan insisted, her voice full of conviction. Her eyes were stinging so much that she could barely keep them open, her fingers searching on the scalding hot floor.
“Have you lost your mind?! People are dying and you’re worried about a stick?!” Ji Jingxing snapped in exasperation as she tried to pull her away, only to be pushed back again.
Kneeling on the ground, Lin Yan didn’t care about the burning heat as she managed to embrace a charred stick, now blackened with soot. Tears seeped into her eyes, yet she curved her lips into a smile.
Clutching it in her hand, she felt reassured—a sense of stability and peace returned to her.
Lin Yan shoved the stick into the sash tied around her lower back and yanked Ji Jingxing to start running out.
“Let’s go!”
They met Mother Song at the door, and the three of them, supporting one another, stumbled their way out.
Flames leaped to the sky, the crackling sounds of burning wood were everywhere, and streams of fire flowed on the ground they passed, with columns from the burning beams falling from above.
Lin Yan glanced up, her pupils shrinking, and she pushed the two ahead of her: “Go!”
A sudden force from behind threw her off balance, and she slid forward. Glancing back, she was shocked to see Jingzhe using his back to shield her from a falling wooden column.
“Jingzhe!”
“Miss, go!” Jingzhe shouted, desperately trying to heave his body up, but the beam was too heavy; suddenly lifting his head, to his eyes, she was running back towards him.
Lin Yan summoned all her strength, the kind you muster when it’s all on the line, and together they pulled Jingzhe out from under the beam.
“If we go, we go together!”
“Old Zheng, can you go any lower?” Duan Cheng urged from the side. Zheng Chengrui, who was already portly, became even more anxious with this prompting, panting heavily, sweating more than anyone else there.
He tried his best to lower the drone a bit more, when suddenly his eyes lit up, he stood up with the remote control in hand.
“We’ve got them, they’re coming out!”
Duan Cheng dashed over in a few swift strides, lifting people out one by one from the side door.
The last one was Lin Yan, her face smeared with soot and singed, a far cry from her usual pretty appearance. But when she saw the weak daylight emerging outside, her eyes were fiercely bright.
She did it.
Song Yuhang, wait for me, just wait… whatever you do, don’t hand over the USB drive to them, don’t.
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With this thought, Lin Yan pursed her lips, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“Here, take a drink of water, wash your face, and then we’ll get you to the hospital.” Fang Xin took several bottles of mineral water from the car and handed them to Ji Jingxing and Mother Song, then instructed Duan Cheng to fetch a medical kit.
“Auntie, are you hurt anywhere?”
Mother Song shook her head, and Fang Xin checked her for injuries. Although the elderly lady bore only a few bruises and minor lash marks, the harrowing ordeal had clearly taken its toll, leaving her spirit considerably dimmed, a shadow of her former self.
Ji Jingxing was faring slightly better. Apart from burns on the soles of her feet, she didn’t have any serious issues.
As Fang Xin applied burn ointment, Ji Jingxing reached out to take it: “I’m okay, I can handle this myself, thank you all — so it was you who Lin Yan referred to as friends.”
She had thought it would be some of her own subordinates again; this was a rather pleasant surprise.
As they spoke, someone sitting against the car body let out a stifled groan of pain.
Jingzhe tore open her clothes and poured iodine on the wound.
“Miss, bear with it.”
Jingzhe glanced at her, and Lin Yan bit down on a white towel, beads of sweat the size of beans appearing on her forehead. Her body was taut as a line, her hands pressed against the ground, futilely clawing at the dirt.
The pain forced her to throw back her head, gasping for breath, the veins on her neck standing out starkly.
Ji Jingxing took one look and felt her heart lurch. She looked again, finding it shocking that a strange man was tending to her wounds — wasn’t she about to be engaged?
She’s not adhering to the virtues expected of a woman.
And it’s unclear for whom she’s indignantly indignant.
Lin Yan caught her gaze and, with a weak turn of the head, slightly lifted her chin in a defiant manner, her eyes rebellious. She extended her hand and raised her middle finger.
The message was clear: We’re not done over that slap you gave me.
Jingzhe finished wrapping the gauze under her armpit, pulling it into a tight knot. Lin Yan let out a muffled groan as large beads of sweat slid down her forehead, and with a “ptui,” she spat out the towel from her mouth and delivered a kick straight to the chest.
“F*ck, could you be any gentler? Do you want to kill me?”
Jingzhe staggered back a few steps, clutching his chest as he stood up. His red hair was striking against the night. He gave a slight nod as an apology, then turned and left.
Lin Yan, leaning on the car for support, climbed to her feet, pointing in Ji Jingxing’s direction, “Wait, take them with you.”
Saying this, she made an attempt to climb onto the vehicle.
Ji Jingxing hurried after her for a few steps, “Xiaowei hasn’t been found yet, I can’t leave.”
Lin Yan, with her fingers gripping the car door, looked back at her, then at Mother Song, and nodded, “Jingzhe, take Auntie to the hospital.”
“Jingxing, Yanyan…” Mother Song was being assisted past them, with Fang Xin following closely.
Knowing that her own presence would be of no help, but rather a hindrance, she said so.
“Sister Lin, I will go with this…” She glanced at the red-haired man, “with this redhead to take Auntie to the hospital.”
Having someone familiar around should offer some comfort to Mother Song.
Lin Yan nodded, “Okay, go ahead.”
She glanced at Duan Cheng, who climbed into the driver’s seat, “Sister Lin’s hand is injured; I’ll drive.”
Ji Jingxing stepped forward, taking Mother Song’s hand, “Mom, don’t be scared. We’re all out now. I’ll pick up Xiaowei, and then we’ll come to see you.”
Tears gleamed in Mother Song’s eyes as she looked at her, then at Lin Yan, with Lin Yan gently nodding to her in reassurance.
Mother Song also reached out to her, and the hands of the three women tightly held each other, even though two of them were a sight with their swollen noses and eyes.
Mother Song tightly grasped their hands and choked with emotion, “Yanyan, Auntie owes you a life this time. From now on, you are my own daughter. If Yuhang treats you poorly, I’ll break her legs and kick her out of the house.”
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Finally, she added with concern, “You… must be careful.”
After saying these words, she was supported by Fang Xin as they left.
Once they were gone, Lin Yan retracted her hand, opened the car door, and got inside, instructing Duan Cheng to drive.
Ji Jingxing, unwilling to back down, followed suit and got in. Zheng Chengrui sat in the back seat, continuously tracking Song Yuhang’s car on his computer.
“Entering the Yeling Mountain Tunnel.” The screen showed a fleeting glimpse of her Audi passing by.
Zheng Chengrui pressed the pause button.
Duan Cheng glanced at her and asked, “Sister Lin, is there still time?”
Ji Jingxing anxiously clutched the back of the front seat.
This night would eventually pass. The moon was about to set, and the mist was already seeping from the east. The vehicle drove through the mountains, as if galloping through a sea of clouds. On both sides, ancient cypress trees and green mountains loomed like ghostly shadows.
The day would eventually dawn, but Lin Yan didn’t know whether the spark in everyone’s hearts would reignite if they couldn’t save Xiaowei.
She let out a deep sigh and said, “I don’t know.”
LP: My hatred for Lin Ge just reignited alright ( ｡ •`ᴖ´• ｡)
Congrats JJ
Congrats JJ