Wang Xiu Niang's voice was filled with pride and love when she mentioned her son.
"That's great! He's such a smart and obedient child. He's sure to bring you a lot of good luck in the future."
Wen Zhu praised with a smile, her tone full of sincerity and kindness.
After hearing this, Wang Xiu Niang also showed a happy smile and quickly poured out the used hot water.
After a brief personal cleaning, Wen Zhu gently changed his clothes and lay down on the bed, and soon fell asleep.
It was unknown how much time had passed, but a clear and rapid baby cry suddenly penetrated the quiet atmosphere brought by the night, followed by an extremely pungent and difficult to ignore smell filling the air, which made Wen Zhu, who had just struggled back to reality from the edge of the dream, cough several times in succession.
She gradually realized that there was an increasingly strong burning smell all around her - the result of something being set on fire.
When I suddenly opened my eyes, I found that a flame nearly half a person's height had been burning in front of me!
"Is there a fire here? Where did the accident happen?"
In panic, she quickly got up from the soft bed, and then covered her mouth and nose tightly with the nearest silk scarf to prevent harmful gases from being inhaled into her lungs, trying to identify the specific conditions of her current environment in this way.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of burning oil, indicating that the fire might have started somewhere on both sides of the corridor and spread...
The store was primarily constructed of wood, making fire extremely easy to spread and difficult to control.
What's worse is that the wardrobe in the house also started to burn, which means that the entire space will soon become very dangerous.
"Mom! Help!"
A panicked voice of a child came from next door, the voice was filled with undisguised fear and despair, which made people feel heartbroken.
That was Wang Xiu Niang’s son, named Qing’er.
Wen Zhu held his breath through the thick smoke and groped his way to the table. He picked up the teapot and carefully poured the water into a clean cloth to moisten it.
Then she quickly covered her mouth and nose with the wet cloth, took water from the bucket next to her and poured it over her body for an extra layer of protection, preparing to take the risk and rush out.
As soon as I walked out of the room, the smoke in the corridor outside became thicker, as if it could block all vision.
But she still did not stop, her eyes fixed on the direction of the stairs, only to see that the fire there was the most intense, like a giant dragon raging.
At this time, other workers also noticed the sudden fire and rushed over from their respective posts to try to participate in the fire-fighting work.
Fortunately, this store had taken precautions and stored some small leather bags of water in an easily accessible place for emergency use.
Workers began throwing bags filled with liquid towards the burning areas; others carried various basins, buckets and other utensils and poured them towards the most conspicuous fire spots, hoping that this method could alleviate the current dangerous situation.
But even so, the situation was still very urgent. No matter how hard everyone tried to suppress the flames, it seemed to have no significant effect.
The fire in the entire space was getting more and more intense. It was impossible for a few people to resist such a natural disaster.
Meanwhile, Shopkeeper Lin was trapped in a sealed room near the main door, searching for any possible opportunity to escape.
Just as he was about to take advantage of the opportunity to break out, part of his clothes were suddenly ignited by the sparks. The pain forced him to stop and retreat to a safer area to continue struggling.
"See if you can jump out the window!"
Through the thick black curtain, Wen Zhu shouted out this suggestion with almost all his strength, and immediately ran towards the area that had not yet been completely enveloped by the heat.
The air was filled with various pungent and burning smells, making people feel extremely uncomfortable.
Almost immediately after she uttered these words, the brave girl ducked down and dashed through layers of smoke and high-temperature air currents, heading straight for the Wang family mother and son...
The small and dangerous space of the Wang family had been completely engulfed by a ruthless fire. The roof beam fell from the top and hit Wang Xiu Niang squarely on the waist, causing her to lose her ability to move. What was worse was that the flames that spread rapidly from the wood gradually burned Wang Xiu Niang's clothes, causing her lower body to be engulfed in flames and unable to escape.
"Don't...don't worry about me, take Qing'er out!"
Despite enduring tremendous pain, this great mother still cried out loudly, hoping to give her child a chance to survive.
Sparks began to appear around Qing'er, who was hiding in the corner and crying.
The faint firelight danced in the darkness, as if the footsteps of the god of death were approaching.
Wen Zhu was just wondering how to get through safely when Wang Xiu Niang suddenly threw a package at her - when she opened it, she found it was a water-soaked blanket.
The wet feeling passed through the package to her hands, making her feel a little reassured.
It turned out that the water in the fish tank used to raise fish in the room was poured onto the blanket. Wang Xiu Niang had obviously foreseen what might happen next.
Seeing that there was no time to save Wang Xiu Niang, Wen Zhu quickly took the wet blanket and wrapped herself up. Even though the biting cold spread instantly, she suppressed the fear that was rising in her heart and mustered up the courage to rush to Qing'er.
She hugged the child and protected him tightly with a blanket. The little guy trembled slightly but soon stopped struggling. In this short yet long moment, he seemed to have found a trace of warmth and support. Then she took the child and escaped at the risk of her life.
Shortly after stepping out of the door, there was a violent shaking that made the whole house tremble as if in protest, and then I saw a burning beam falling to the ground.
One end hit the hard ground with a deafening sound; the other end landed squarely on an old cabinet placed in front of the door, completely blocking the exit.
Seeing this scene, even a battle-hardened person would probably feel a tightness in their heart. Wen Zhu felt an unprecedented chill running up her spine to the top of her head, making her shiver involuntarily.
When I looked back, the place where I could barely make out the outline was now occupied by a sea of blazing flames.
Through the thick smoke, one could vaguely see that Wang Xiu Niang's frail body was almost completely surrounded by the blazing flames.
Although his heart was filled with unspeakable sorrow, Wen Zhu also knew that now was not the time to stop and grieve.
So she continued to move forward towards the light with her child nestled tightly in her arms.
However, when they finally reached the end of the corridor with great effort, they found that any chance of survival had already been completely destroyed by the sea of fire.
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