Chapter One: The Gallery Fire
The rain started falling in the evening.
By the time Su Xiao finished hanging the last painting, a misty rain had already accumulated outside the window.
She took out her phone to send a message to Yan Mingshen, but her fingertip hovered over the screen.
In the end, they took it back.
Yan Mingshen said this morning that there would be an important business dinner tonight.
A man like him, busy socializing at banquets, probably wouldn't have time to check the news.
This is their third year of marriage.
People in the circle always make fun of it.
It is said that Yan Mingshen treats her like a precious gem, afraid of breaking her if he holds her in his hands and afraid of her melting if he keeps her in his mouth.
But Su Xiao didn't think so...
Yan Mingshen had been with her for so many years, but he had never touched her.
Even when he occasionally comes home, he sleeps in the study.
Over the past three years, there has been hardly any trace left in the house of Yan Mingshen's life.
But aside from all that, Yan Mingshen was indeed very good to her.
Almost everything in the house, big and small, was purchased according to her preferences.
What she likes and dislikes.
Yan Mingshen remembers everything that was mentioned, even if it was just a whisper.
So much so that sometimes even she couldn't tell whether that person loved her or not.
Su Xiao gave a wry smile and put her phone back in her bag.
The old injury on my wrist was throbbing.
"Xiao Xiao, wait a moment and lock the door. I need to go to the basement."
The father's voice came from the other end of the corridor.
"knew."
Su Xiao responded.
As I turned around, I caught a glimpse of the new gray hairs at my father's temples, and a sudden pang of sadness welled up inside me.
The Su Family Gallery has been open for thirty years, growing from a small studio to an art landmark. My father has devoted almost his entire life to it.
"Dad, it's too late, and your legs aren't good. Let me go for you."
The basement door is in the gallery's backyard, not connected to the first floor, and you have to get through a short rain shower to get there.
When she chased after him, her father had already put on his raincoat.
"It's alright. The rain has just stopped. The newly arrived Xuan paper is susceptible to dampness, so I'll go take a look."
"dad......"
"I'll be back in a bit."
Su Zhen waved his hand.
He had barely stepped down when the wind picked up outside.
The wind whipped the raindrops against the window, making a howling sound.
The chandelier in the gallery flickered twice and then went out.
Su Xiao took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.
The warm yellow light swept across the paintings on the wall, which made Su Xiao feel a little more at ease.
She walked down the corridor toward the power distribution room, wanting to check if the main switch had tripped.
As soon as I took a few steps, a burnt smell suddenly entered my nose.
It was very faint, as if something had been set on fire.
Su Xiao frowned and held up her flashlight to look at the power distribution room across the street.
There seemed to be light flickering through the crack in the door, accompanied by a buzzing sound of electricity.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Just as I was about to turn around to grab the fire extinguisher next to me, the electrical room suddenly exploded.
Orange flames licked at the wooden door and leaped out, instantly scorching the carpet next to it.
Fire!
Thick smoke billowed towards her, and Su Xiao coughed violently, choking on it.
When I came to my senses, flames had already climbed up the ceiling chandelier.
Crystal shards fell down with a crackling sound.
"Dad! Su Zhen!"
The power distribution room is also connected to the power generation equipment located in the basement.
Su Xiao dared not think any further.
She stumbled and ran towards the backyard, the glass door scorching hot from the heat.
Su Xiao wrapped her hands in her clothes and opened the door.
The wind blew in from outside, carrying sparks that flew towards her face.
The basement door in the backyard was tightly closed.
There was no light coming through the crack in the door, only thick, impenetrable black smoke.
"Dad! Open the door!"
She pounded on the iron gate, her knuckles aching from the impact.
"dad--"
The wind is too strong.
Her voice was swallowed up as soon as it came out, only the bloodstains on her palms seeped into a small patch of red on the cold metal.
In a daze, she subconsciously pulled out her phone and called Yan Mingshen.
But both calls went to a busy signal.
Finally realizing what had happened, he called the police with trembling hands.
The fire truck sirens arrived quickly.
The alternating red and blue light pierced through the rain curtain, illuminating Su Xiao's pale face.
She knelt in the mud and water, watching the firefighters rush towards the fire with hoses, unable to utter a sound.
The persistent tinnitus relentlessly assaulted my sensitive nerves.
Someone pulled her away from the police line.
She gripped the railing tightly, her fingernails almost digging into the wood.
The gallery's roof collapsed with a loud bang.
Flames shot into the sky, illuminating half of the rain curtain in red.
In that fiery glow, her home was slowly devoured by the red flames...
"Make way! Make way!"
When the stretcher was carried out of the fire, Su Xiao suddenly rushed over like a madwoman.
Under the white sheet, only the charred corner of the father's clothes could be vaguely seen.
She rushed forward, wanting to see her father one last time.
But he was held down firmly by the firefighters next to him.
"Family members, please calm down!"
That's my dad...
Her voice broke in the rain:
He said he'd just go check it out and come right back...
The ambulance siren sounded like a dull knife repeatedly cutting into my nerves.
Su Xiao was being helped towards the ambulance when they passed the gallery's front hall.
She caught a glimpse of the painting in the glass case, which had been burned down to only half its original size.
It was a painting of the Jiangnan water towns that her father had drawn for her last year.
The small bridge and flowing water in the painting are still faintly visible, but the upper right corner has been burned away.
It felt like a piece of me had been brutally ripped out.
She broke free from the crowd and stumbled inside, not even feeling the pain as broken glass pierced her palms.
She held the drawing tightly in her hand.
The paper was wrinkled from being soaked in rain, and the dissolved ink was spreading little by little on my fingertips.
The raindrops fell on her in thin, continuous streams.
It's so cold.
The hospital corridors were long, and the smell of disinfectant was so strong it was almost unbearable.
The fishy smell of rainwater carried by passersby made one feel nauseous.
Su Xiao sat on the bench, staring at the glaring red light at the entrance of the emergency room.
The phone in my hand kept ringing.
Numbly, she dialed that number she knew by heart over and over again.
For the past three years, no matter how outrageous Yan Mingshen was, he would never have abandoned her. Why did it have to be today?
The three characters "Yan Mingshen" are in the contacts.
The screen was gradually blurred and distorted by what I couldn't tell was rain or tears.
"Beep...beep..."
The only response she received was a busy signal.
Hang up and dial again.
Still busy signal...
Just when she was about to give up.
The call finally went through after a long wait.
But then came the sound of suggestive panting from the other side.
"Xiaoxiao, I'm still busy here. If you're sleepy, go to sleep first. Don't wait for me..."
Yan Mingshen's voice completely crushed the last string of reason in Su Xiao's mind.
"Yan Mingshen, didn't you say there was a banquet? Didn't you say you were busy? Where are you?"
Su Xiao's voice was trembling uncontrollably.
She had never spoken harshly to Yan Mingshen in front of his friends before, and this was the first time she had questioned him like this.
"Xiaoxiao, I really have something very important to say, please stop joking around."
He hung up in a hurry, as if she were some kind of trouble.
Looking at the closed door of the emergency room, Su Xiao suddenly found it ridiculous.
"How important is it? Do you even know what just happened?!"
"The Su family's art gallery caught fire, my father is still in the hospital, you..."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Yan Mingshen's questioning voice: "What did you say?"
There was a rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other on the other end of the line. Yan Mingshen seemed to be about to get up, but was interrupted by a woman's laughing voice beside him:
"Does Miss Su know I'm back? Is she trying to coax our CEO Yan back?"
"Don't worry, I'll definitely send it back to you intact tomorrow morning."
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