He's back
It was suffocating and scorching, and even the air seemed to be on fire. Tongues of fire rolled up thick smoke and swallowed up everything in sight.
As soon as Cheng Yayin entered the fire scene, she was immediately surrounded by flames. The bucket of water she had poured on her body was powerless in this purgatory-like sea of fire. She could feel the clothes that were originally wet and sticky on her body being quickly evaporated, and she felt a burning sensation all over her body.
"Yang Zhilan."
She opened her mouth to shout, and immediately thick smoke filled her throat. She couldn't help coughing violently, and her vision was blurred by the smoke.
The flames hung above her head like the sickle of a ghost from the underworld, and could strike at any time. Cheng Yayin didn't dare to guess how long Pei Songsheng could hold on in this situation. She could only search hard between the burning eaves and rooms, avoiding the burning beams that could fall at any time. She had only one thought in her mind - she must find him.
The broken voice echoed in the flames, but no response was received. Cheng Yayin wondered in despair whether he could no longer respond to her.
Despair filled her mind, and even her steps became weak. She didn't notice that a beam above her head was making a horrible sound as the flames gnawed at it, and it was peeling off from the roof bit by bit.
Until someone suddenly pulled her into his arms, turned around and used his body to withstand the impact of the heat wave when all the beams fell to the ground.
The man's embrace was so warm that it warmed Cheng Yayin's heart, which was frozen with despair.
They stared at each other in the sea of fire, and the first words out of their mouths were: "Why did you come here?"
Unable to wait for his explanation, Cheng Yayin pulled him to walk out, but he broke free and pushed her out instead. He said resolutely, "I was the one who took the initiative in forcing everything between us. I shouldn't be the only one to suffer. Let me die in the sea of fire. Sister-in-law, you go now. From now on, we'll be together forever. Don't come back."
Cheng Yayin suddenly turned around, grabbed Pei Songsheng's hand, and bit down hard on the joint of his index finger. She bit so hard that she could feel her teeth piercing through the thin flesh. Pei Songsheng groaned in pain, stopped talking, and asked in confusion, "What do you mean, sister-in-law?"
"Wake up." Cheng Yayin's eyes were burning with fire, so hot that it almost blinded her. "I'm telling you, if you die here today, it will be my fault. No matter where I am in the rest of my life, I will never forget that I am responsible for a life. I will never be happy for the rest of my life."
Taking advantage of Pei Songsheng's daze, Cheng Yayin dragged him back along the original route between the burning corridor and the door frame without saying a word.
Going back was harder than coming in. The scope of the fire had expanded, and many of the roads she had walked on the way here had been engulfed in flames. Cheng Yayin had no choice but to choose another route, and she also had to guard against the danger of falling objects from unknown sources. She was caught in a dilemma, and after staying in the fire for a long time, she gradually had difficulty breathing and was about to collapse.
A horizontal beam with flames fell down, blocking the way to the main gate. Cheng Yayin almost couldn't avoid it and was held by Pei Songsheng and rolled on the ground. She was exhausted and her mind was gradually becoming blurred.
Pei Songsheng's situation was not much better than hers. He had used up all his strength just to roll on the ground to avoid the burning wood. It felt like his lungs were on fire, burning out all his vitality.
As his consciousness gradually faded, he saw Cheng Yayin lying weakly on the ground, an arm's length away. Her eyes were filled with tears from the smoke, and the glimmer of unwillingness in her eyes gradually dimmed.
I can't let anything happen to her - his body was surrounded by heat waves, his consciousness gradually melted in the scorching temperature, but this one thought became clearer and clearer, piercing through all the fog in his mind like a sword, breaking through some restrictions and causing his head to ache unbearably.
The pain penetrated his consciousness, but it also made him regain some clarity. He mobilized all his strength and suddenly stood up, hugged the exhausted Cheng Yayin and walked out again.
This time, as if by divine intervention, a gap was opened in the continuous line of fire by several jets of water. Someone came through the gap and saw Pei Songsheng and Cheng Yayin cuddling together. He shouted in surprise, "Found it!"
One group of firefighters used cowhide water guns to disperse the flames, while another group wrapped the two men with thick wet felt and quickly escorted them out of the fire scene and placed them together with the women and children in the orphanage.
They had just witnessed the terrifying scene of two people rushing into the fire one after another. Because of Cheng Yayin's previous donation of money and gifts, they were very worried. Seeing that both of them came out safely, they all breathed a sigh of relief and busied themselves settling the two people down, fanning them and getting them water.
Si Xuan came over, sweating profusely, and complained, "Where are you two nobles from? Why are you rushing into the fire? Isn't this..."
Pei Songsheng took a wet handkerchief and wiped the mess off his face, revealing his handsome face. Si Xuan met his gaze and asked in shock, "Pei Zhongcheng?"
Cheng Yayin was originally leaning against a tree to rest, feeling dizzy, and taking sips of the water bag handed to her by the dean to moisten her throat. When she heard this, she almost jumped up, grabbed Pei Songsheng's sleeve and wanted to explain something to him. As soon as she opened her mouth, she felt as if charcoal was rolling through her throat, and she started coughing violently.
Pei Songsheng half-knelt beside her, patting her back to soothe her breathing. He said to Si Xuan, "Putting out the fire is the most important thing. You guys focus on your work first. Make sure to put it out within half an hour to prevent it from spreading to the surrounding area. I'll find a place to house the women and children in the Salesian Home, but this fire started strangely. Once it's out, quickly investigate the cause and report back to me first."
His voice was hoarse from the smoke, but he was calm and measured. After calmly arranging everything, he turned to the surprised Cheng Yayin and said:
"It's me."
***
Pei Mansion.
It was dark at night, but the candlelight was still on in the bathroom.
Cheng Yayin soaked in the bathtub, letting the warm water flow over her shoulders and neck, melting away all the fatigue.
Tonight, I was so hot-blooded that I rushed into the fire without caring about anything else. Now that I've calmed down, I realize I had a near-death experience and am still terrified. Although I don't have any obvious injuries, I feel pain everywhere now that I've relaxed.
After taking a bath, Cheng Yayin sat in front of the dressing mirror with her long black hair loose. Lanyue and Yixing each held a pair of small scissors and helped her cut off the ends of her hair that were burnt by the flames.
Lan Yue felt distressed as she cut the hair. "You don't know. Yixing and I didn't see you when we came out of the clinic. We were so scared. Miss, how could you rush into the fire alone? You don't take your own safety seriously at all."
"That's right." Yixing complained angrily, "If anything happens to the young lady, how are we going to explain it to the master and the mistress?"
Cheng Yayin was in the wrong, so she had to apologize with a smile and beg for mercy. She opened her hoarse voice and was ordered not to speak. She obediently drank a bowl of lung-moistening pear soup. While drinking, she gestured to the two of them, indicating that she should send a bowl to Pei Songsheng as well.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door.
Yixing muttered to himself, wondering who else might have something to do so late at night, but Cheng Yayin already had a clear premonition in her heart.
Sure enough, Lan Yue, who answered the door, came back and said that Pei Songsheng had arrived and asked if he wanted to be invited in.
Living under the same roof, there was no way to hide. Cheng Yayin sighed and gestured for someone to come in.
She walked behind the screen of the next room, her heartbeat uncontrollably quickening. She couldn't help but take a few deep breaths. The air poured into her throat, causing a stinging pain, but it didn't calm her inner tension at all.
Pei Songsheng, who had been used to being Yang Zhilan for a while, didn't know how to get along with him now. Moreover, he had said a lot of ridiculous things to him and even done ridiculous things during this period. He thought he would need some time to digest it, but he didn't expect him to come to him so soon.
He wasn't coming here to call her to task, was he? After all, if she hadn't impulsively taken him to see a play, he wouldn't have ended up with a broken brain, becoming a completely irrelevant person, and looking so ugly.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, not as stealthy as in the past few days, but Pei Songsheng's usual steady pace.
There was no time to think too much, Cheng Yayin decided to take the initiative. She turned around and was about to speak, but when she saw Pei Songsheng's appearance, she froze in place.
He had obviously bathed and was wearing a clean white robe. His temperament was still elegant, but he was holding several food boxes in his left hand and several packages in his right hand, all of which were stuffed full. Judging from the exposed objects, they were all girls' favorite things such as round fans and wind chimes. The jingling sound of them added a bit of worldly air to his aloof temperament.
For a moment, Cheng Yayin thought Yang Zhilan was still there.
But she quickly realized from the other person's unwavering gaze that he was Pei Songsheng.
After a moment of trance, Cheng Yayin asked: "What are you doing?"
After asking, she remembered that she seemed to have heard Jian Zhu say that he bought a lot of things to apologize to her. But it was Yang Zhilan who left. In just a few hours, everything had changed. Why did he come to her with things, when she was Yao Wanniang?
Pei Songsheng placed the things he brought on the table one by one and said softly, "This is for you."
Wu Ji's food box was placed closest to Cheng Yayin. She would always be eager to taste it when they met at night, but now she wasn't interested at all. She took one look and shook her head, saying, "This isn't for me. This is Yang Zhilan's gift to Yao Wanniang. Now they've all gone back to the book. Master Pei, please don't tease me anymore."
Pei Songsheng: "But I am also wrong and I want to apologize to you. It's late at night and the dew is heavy, so I can't make other arrangements. I can only borrow flowers to offer to Buddha."
Cheng Yayin was puzzled: "What did you do wrong?"
"I have been confused and unclear lately, and I apologize for any offense I may have caused.
"You..." Cheng Yayin's heart seemed to be twisted, guilt mixed with shame spread in her heart, "Who are you stupid because of? And, if you are talking about offensive behavior, then I..."
She couldn't continue speaking. The scene of kissing him yesterday appeared in front of her uncontrollably, and Cheng Yayin felt like her face was burning.
Pei Songsheng obviously thought of the same scene. He turned his head away awkwardly, covered his lips and coughed lightly, and his ears quickly turned bloody.
After they both calmed down for a while, Cheng Yayin finally asked the question she wanted to ask the most: "When did you know I was writing a book?"
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