Chapter 68 (Part 1)

Everything in the kitchen and living room was already on fire, and the crackling flames engulfed everything. The thick smoke made people's throats and lungs feel like they were about to explode.

The burning, tingling sensation spread upwards and outwards; the sense of fear swept people's hearts. The high temperature blurred people's eyes.

The child looked frightened as he hid beside the toilet.

Mingxi wrapped the quilt around him. When she rushed out with him in her arms, suddenly a beam broke and fell down.

…

“Mingxi, wake up.”

“Zhao Mingxi, it’s alright.”

Mingxi was dripping with sweat, as if her head was being held down and soaked in sweat. There was no strength in any place from her eyelids to her fingertips.

She was terrified, and tried her best to open her eyes.

Then, she found out that she was already in the hospital.

The clean, white ceiling greeted the eye.

The pungent smell of disinfectant finally overwhelmed the billowing smoke—

Her heart was beating wildly. Turning her head, she saw that Dong Hui's eyes were red. She was holding a wet towel to wipe the dirt on her face and neck, and He Yang was not far away.

"She’s awake, she’s awake!" He Yang rushed out and said to the doctor.

Mingxi heard the doctor outside say, "Then she’ll be fine. It's just that she inhaled some thick smoke and her throat was damaged. Ask her to try not to talk for a few days and drink plenty of water. It will be fine after a slow recovery."

Dong Hui and He Yang were relieved when they heard this.

I’m out of the house?

The burnt feeling seemed to remain on the surface of the skin.

Mingxi felt that everything was a little surreal.

Wait—

"Where's Fu Yangxi?" As soon as Mingxi opened her mouth, she found that she was almost forced to speak with her breath.

Her voice sounded as if she was 70 or 80 years old.

She struggled to sit up, but only her mind could move. Her body was like a heavy shot put, and she couldn't lift a single finger.

Especially the arms, so tired that every cell was sore and limp.

She remembered the moment when the crazy flames rushed up, the child almost fell out of her hold, and she fell into a cold embrace in the distorted heat.

The sheets on her body were already scorched by the high temperature and were about to burn.

At that moment, the new soaked sheets wrapped her body again in time, and someone rushed out with her. The power that hugged her seemed to lead her to a new life.

"He's in the next ward," Dong Hui said.

It really wasn't an illusion.

Mingxi's internal organs were seized up in fear for a moment. "What's wrong with him?!"

"Okay, okay, stop talking, your voice will break if you open your mouth again!" Dong Hui quickly pushed back Mingxi who was barely supporting herself, and said to her, "He's fine, but he hasn't woken up yet. Everyone is all right, Mingxi, you saved the child's life. But the professor's house may have burned down, and the firefighters only managed to save half of it—"

Before she finished speaking, Dong Hui saw Mingxi desperately propping herself up with her elbows, trying to get off the bed.

But because she had no strength, she fell off the bed directly with a "bang".

"Hey, I said he's fine. You really are a child." Dong Hui and He Yang rushed to help. They looked left and right, but they didn't see any support, so they had to help Mingxi to sit down on the bed.

Dong Hui knelt down to help put on Mingxi’s shoes, and said, "Your Uncle Dong has gone to communicate with the police. Dong Shen, we haven't told him about it yet. It's not good to disturb your rest if there are too many people. I’ll ask him to come tomorrow to bring you some soup. He Yang, go downstairs and rent a wheelchair."

Mingxi's limbs were still weak and limp. She felt like she had run a marathon for the rest of her life. She obviously only spent a few minutes rushing in, but at this time her blood sugar was so low that her vision was turning black.

As she didn't see Fu Yangxi, she was still holding a breath of fear.

Her heart was still beating wildly, not daring to relax.

He Yang went downstairs to rent a wheelchair.

It was very difficult for Mingxi to speak. Her throat seemed to be on fire, so she had to wait with her lips pursed.

Seeing that she had been changed into a blue and white striped hospital gown, she subconsciously lowered her head and touched her neck.

Then, she found that the piece of jade that she had been wearing around her neck was gone.

Was Grandma's gift to me lost in the fire?

"Here it is." Dong Hui could tell what she was looking for at a glance. She quickly took out a piece of jade from under her pillow, and handed it to her.

Mingxi's fingers trembled a little. She took them, and tried to wipe them with her trembling thumbs.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with her grandmother’s gift, except that it was stained with black ash.

After wiping it clean, it was back to its original look.

It's just that the red rope that had been hanging around her neck had been burned.

Seeing Mingxi's watery eyes looking over, Dong Hui explained, "The firefighter probably found it for you. When the ambulance brought you over, it was stuffed in your pocket."

Mingxi nodded slowly, her beating heart finally slowed down, and she gradually woke up from the surrealism and fear of the fire.

He Yang pushed the wheelchair up. Mingxi also recovered a little bit of strength, so she could walk a few steps with just Dong Hui’s support.

As soon as they went out, they saw a few bodyguards in black suits, who should be workers of the Fu family.

Ke Chengwen and Jiang Xiuqiu were both in the next ward. Seeing Mingxi being helped over, they asked He Yang a few words about Mingxi's situation, and they were relieved when they got the answer that nothing was wrong.

It was luck among misfortunes. The fire was not so big that it could not be contained, and Mingxi rushed out with the child fast enough. Before she was about to lose her strength, Fu Yangxi who rushed in caught her again.

No one was hurt.

Except for—

Mingxi pushed them away, and finally saw Fu Yangxi clearly on the hospital bed.

His eyes were tightly closed. His face seemed to be fine, only his lips were a little pale. His handsome face was dirty, and his short hair on his forehead was burnt.

Mingxi was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, she suddenly vaguely saw bloodstains on the pillow under his quilt.

Mingxi's eyelids twitched. She gasped, stepped forward and pulled the quilt lightly. She saw that his upper body was covered by the loose hospital gown, only half worn, his right shoulder had already been bandaged, and the snow-white bandage was covered with medicine.

Even so, there was still bright red blood oozing from his shoulders.

“...”

Mingxi was so distressed that she could hardly speak. Her throat was sore, and hot tears fell down instantly.

You call this “alright”?

Ke Chengwen came over to explain, “Xi ge was given anesthesia. He may wake up later than you, but the doctor has examined him and said that there is nothing seriously wrong with him, and he will be fine when he wakes up tomorrow."

Mingxi glanced at Ke Chengwen, and pointed anxiously at Fu Yangxi's shoulder.

Ke Chengwen comforted her and said, "It's okay, don't worry. It's just a small piece on the shoulder. The doctor has already treated it, and it will recover."

Mingxi was angry and anxious. She wanted to make gestures but she couldn't express herself clearly.

There was a commotion in the elevator. Several bodyguards walked over and stopped them.

Mingxi's thoughts were all on Fu Yangxi. She didn't care about what happened to the commotion. When Dong Hui came over and said that the Zhao family wanted to see her, she was in no mood to deal with it. She walked past the last few bodyguards, and the commotion ceased.

She went to see Professor Gao's grandson. His little grandson was also safe and sound. Professor Gao had already wiped his cheeks and hands. At this time, Professor Gao was lying on the bedside and had fallen asleep in exhaustion.

Mingxi gently closed the door of the ward, and returned to Fu Yangxi's ward.

People from the Fu family also came. Lawyer Zhang went to cooperate with the police in investigating the cause of the fire.

It was said that at first, the neighbors in the surrounding neighborhood thought it was Professor Gao’s grandson who was playing with electrical appliances at home and accidentally caught fire, but after an investigation by the police, they found that some flammable chemicals remained in the yard.

The fire seemed to be purposely ignited by a person.

This sentence gave Ke Chengwen, He Yang and the others goosebumps.

In any case, these matters were handed over to the police and the Fu family for investigation.

Mingxi stayed and waited quietly for Fu Yangxi to wake up.

In the evening, Dong Hui made soup, but she didn't drink a lot from it.

Around 10 o'clock, Xiao Li came to change Fu Yangxi's bandages.

Under the bright incandescent light.

Mingxi watched as the nurse and Xiao Li untied the bandage wrapped around Fu Yangxi's right shoulder.

The young man's chest was strong enough and was originally perfect, but at this time, there was a hideous burn on his white and broad shoulders that spread from his collarbone to his right shoulder. It was bloody and raw. After putting on a new bandage, the blood stains quickly soaked through it.

Fu Yangxi was still unconscious. His eyes were closed tightly, and his brows were furrowed.

Mingxi figured out why the broken beam didn't cause any harm to her before she lost consciousness.

She looked at the wound on Fu Yangxi's shoulder, and her tears gradually blurred her vision.

The impact of the fire was great. It was even up on the social page.

Because people from the Fu family were involved, the police handled the case faster.

Almost that night, Zhao Yuan, her art school boyfriend, and those gangsters were investigated.

Ke Chengwen and Jiang Xiuqiu stayed in the hospital until they learned of some leads about this matter. Then, they left the hospital.

Before they left, they didn't talk to Mingxi who had just woken up, for fear of irritating her.

But Mingxi heard the startled chatter of some bodyguards outside the ward, and guessed some things.

So, this incident was caused by someone.

The target was probably aimed at her at the beginning, but no one thought that in the end she was fine, and the disaster was all passed on to Professor Gao's family and Fu Yangxi.

Mingxi's eyes fell on Fu Yangxi who was sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed.

She stretched out a trembling hand, and gently stroked his ridiculously scorched lock of hair. Her heart felt as if it was pinched hard by a hand.

She was angry and blamed herself.

At night, Dong Hui advised Mingxi to go back to her ward to sleep. Besides, the nurse did not allow Mingxi to stay in other wards.

Mingxi had no choice but to go back.

She felt tired all over, her body feeling heavy and sluggish. She couldn't open her eyelids anymore, and so she finally fell into a drowsy sleep on the hospital bed.

ray's note: when you thought this was gonna just be fluff for the final few chapters and this happens 🤷🏻‍♀️