DCISBS chapter 24

The fire scene was chaotic, with dozens of different sounds flooding his ears.

The distant wail of fire trucks, the crackling of flames, the whispers and shouting around him—everything blended into a disordered symphony.

Lu Nanyang stood in front of the building, his mind focused on a single thought.

Sixth floor, Room 601.

It really was Xie Quan’s home.

“Who the hell parked in the fire lane?!” He heard a loud voice from the crowd. “The fire trucks can’t get through!”

A middle-aged woman responded, “I told them not to park there, I always told them! But they never listened, and now look!”

“Black Chevrolet Cruze, license plate Yun B390! Who owns this car? Move it now!” the loud voice continued. “Does anyone know whose car it is? Hurry up and get them!”

Two middle-aged women nearby whispered, “Who lives there? There wouldn’t still be people inside, would there?”

“I think it’s a student. But it’s already past their school hours, so it’s hard to say.”

“Ah…”

The woman wanted to say something more, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tall, thin figure “bang” something down and rush straight into the fire scene without looking back.

“Hey—! Someone, someone went in!” She screamed urgently.

The chaotic symphony of sounds faded behind him as Lu Nanyang took two steps at once and ran up the stairs.

He vaguely heard people shouting things like “Crazy!” and “What is he thinking?” but at that moment, his mind was completely blank.

The higher he went, the thicker the smoke. Lu Nanyang coughed as he tore off his shirt and used it to cover his mouth and nose, forcing himself up to the sixth floor.

Xie Quan’s door was completely engulfed in smoke. Lu Nanyang couldn’t open his eyes and had to feel his way forward purely by instinct.

But the moment his hand touched the doorknob, he yanked it back—

The metal handle was scalding hot, too hot to grip.

“Shit!” Lu Nanyang cursed, took a few steps back, and kicked the door at the lock with full force.

This time, the door flew open with a bang, and a wave of dense smoke rushed out, making Lu Nanyang’s eyes stream and his throat burn. When he finally managed to crack his eyes open, he saw flames nearly as tall as a person dancing wildly inside.

“Xie Quan!” He shouted with all the strength he had left, then immediately burst into a violent coughing fit. The suffocating sensation closed in on him—his head and legs were going numb.

It reminded him of a time in the army when he fell into a river—bitter water flooding his mouth and nose, a single gulp making his lungs scream in pain. The feeling now was eerily similar.

Back then, he waited to be rescued.

Now, he was the rescuer.

“Xie—!” He shouted again, but the word barely left his mouth before a coughing fit dropped him to his knees.

A thought like a needle pierced his brain: With a fire this big… what if Xie Quan’s already…

A cold shiver surged from his toes to his fingertips, like a hand had gripped his heart tight. Just the thought of it was more suffocating than the smoke.

Just as his consciousness was starting to fade, a hand suddenly yanked him hard from behind.

The force nearly sent him sprawling. He barely managed to brace himself against the wall when—

Smack!

A stinging slap landed hard across his face.

“Are you insane?!” someone roared. “Trying to get yourself killed?!”

Lu Nanyang opened his eyes and saw Xie Quan, furious, standing right in front of him.

In that instant, Lu Nanyang felt his heart slam back into place.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but all that came out was another bout of violent coughing, so intense it felt like his lungs might come out with it.

“Move!” Xie Quan barked, slipping an arm under Lu Nanyang’s to haul him up and drag him toward the stairs.

When the two of them finally stumbled out of the stairwell, the fire truck had just arrived. Firefighters swiftly hooked up high-pressure hoses and began shouting to clear the area.

Lu Nanyang leaned against the wall, coughing for a long time before finally catching his breath. When he looked up, he was met with Xie Quan’s furious glare.

“What the hell is wrong with you? If you wanna die, jump off some other building—not right outside my place!”

Xie Quan’s pale face was blackened by smoke, his eyes bloodshot—probably from the smoke too.

Lu Nanyang coughed again, then finally managed to speak, his voice hoarse to the point of cracking. “I thought you were still inside…”

“Then why the hell didn’t you call me? Or ask someone nearby? Where’s your brain?!” Xie Quan shoved him, seething with frustration.

“I didn’t think,” Lu Nanyang rasped. “I just… even if there was only a one-in-a-million chance you were still inside, I had to go in.”

Xie Quan stared at him for a long time, then finally gave him a hard shove and slid down to sit against the wall, clearly exhausted.

Lu Nanyang couldn’t stay standing either and plopped down beside him, leaning back to catch his breath.

Around them, the chaos continued—water cannons blasting the flames, people shouting encouragement, others arguing with firefighters. But between them, there was silence. For a long time, neither spoke.

Lu Nanyang moved first. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the bag of cake he’d dropped earlier—now trampled and squashed. He scooted over and hooked it back with his foot.

“Wanna eat?” he offered.

“…What is that?” Xie Quan frowned.

“Cake. Believe me, it used to look like cake.” Lu Nanyang rummaged through the squished mess. Most of the desserts were completely ruined, chocolate and cream smeared everywhere.

Eventually, he found one relatively intact piece. A corner was missing, but at least it still resembled a cube.

He carefully picked it up and held it out. “The inside’s clean. Didn’t touch the ground.”

Xie Quan gave him a look of pure disgust. “I don’t like sweets.”

“Well, start liking them.” Lu Nanyang said righteously. “You eat spicy food all day—it’s bad for your stomach.”

He raised the cake again, closer to Xie Quan’s face.

Xie Quan didn’t respond at first, just stared at the cake. After a while, he took it. Lu Nanyang even opened the little plastic fork and stuck it in the cream for him.

Xie Quan took a bite and chewed in silence. Lu Nanyang adjusted his position and tilted his head to watch him. “Good? People say this place uses really nice cream.”

Xie Quan didn’t answer, just chewed, Adam’s apple moving as he finally swallowed.

Lu Nanyang looked at him expectantly.

Xie Quan glanced up at him, and said flatly: “Tastes awful. No flavor.”

Lu Nanyang reached for the cake. “Then give it back.”

Xie Quan smoothly dodged, took another bite. “You gave it to me—you’re not getting it back.”

“Damn.” Lu Nanyang laughed. “You’re seriously toxic.”

Xie Quan squatted down and finished the piece of cake. When he finally crumpled up the wrapper, there was still a bit of cream on the corner of his mouth. Lu Nanyang looked at him with curiosity—it was the first time he had seen Xie Quan this unkempt while sober.

Xie Quan clutched the wrapper and stood up, walking over to a trash can a few steps away. Lu Nanyang also pushed himself up with his legs, stepped back a few paces, and looked up toward the building.

The smoke on the sixth floor had clearly thinned out; within sight, there were no more visible flames.

It looked like the fire had been extinguished.

“Don’t let me catch you doing something that stupid again,” Xie Quan said, tossing the wrapper into the trash. “I’m not dumb enough to need someone else to come save me.”

Lu Nanyang immediately retorted, “You just got lucky this time, happened to not be home. But what if—”

“There’s no such thing as ‘what if,’” Xie Quan cut him off. “The fire started while I was downstairs buying food. From the moment I left the building to when someone called it in, it wasn’t even ten minutes. You really think coincidences like that just happen?”

Lu Nanyang frowned. “You think someone set it on purpose?”

“I don’t think—I know,” Xie Quan replied, looking up at the now-burned sixth floor.

“Who was it?” Lu Nanyang blurted out.

Xie Quan gave him a glance. The cold white light of the streetlamp lit up the side of his face, revealing a fleeting, complex emotion in his eyes.

Even though he didn’t say anything, Lu Nanyang instantly read something in his expression.

“It was Liu Qiuyan, wasn’t it?” he asked.

The fire truck finally stopped spraying water. The lead firefighter wiped soot from his face and announced that the blaze had been put out.

“I didn’t say that,” Xie Quan replied, then turned and started heading downstairs.

“Hey!” Lu Nanyang called after him.

It was the second time he’d called out to stop him from leaving. Xie Quan was slightly annoyed but still turned around. “What now?”

“Your apartment burned down. Where are you going to stay?” Lu Nanyang asked. “Wen Fei told me you’re a day student and don’t have a dorm bed. Or are you thinking of staying at that old place with Li Xin?”

“That’s none of your business,” Xie Quan replied curtly.

Lu Nanyang nodded and stayed where he was, thoughtful. Xie Quan couldn’t be bothered to entertain his sudden bout of caring and turned to leave—but just as he took a step, the voice came again from behind him.

“Xie Quan,” Lu Nanyang said, “Why don’t you move in with me?”