Chapter 38: The Premature Fire

When Gu Jingxuan saw Cui Mingtao, he realized that this little girl must have something to do with him being here.

The situation in front of him made Gu Jingxuan’s nerves tense up. He kept a close eye on the developments, suspecting that there might be more to the story than he had initially thought.

The two people, each with their own thoughts, heard a rustling sound coming from inside the room. It was the sound of someone searching for something.

“Thud thud thud.” It was the sound of things being moved.

“Really making a racket, what’s he up to in the middle of the night?” Yu Zihan silently grumbled.

The person inside fumbled around for half an hour. Outside, the two of them were on edge, thinking that he was about to come out.

“You damn slut, you should be grateful that I’m even interested in you,” a voice yelled from inside.

“Such a shameless woman. I offered to take care of you, give you the best, and you refuse it.”

“I know that old Zhou is your lover, huh. You think that just because you’re hanging around with that idiot old Zhou, you’ll have an easy time at this cotton mill?”

“Tch, you ungrateful bitch, you really have no idea how lucky you are. You don’t want me, you look down on me, and you even knocked me out.”

“You think you can scare me like this? Haha, the more you resist, the more I like it.”

Hearing the insults, Yu Zihan could tell that he was insulting her mother. She could hardly contain her anger. She wanted nothing more than to rush over and silence this bastard or somehow make him mute with whatever she could find.

She gritted her teeth, restraining herself. “Old pervert, just you wait. Right now, just talk, but you’ll pay for your words.”

The sound of things crashing to the floor echoed, followed by more signs of the man venting his frustration, throwing things around in his anger.

“I’ll make sure that idiot old Zhou gets kicked out today. Let’s see what you have left. Once Zhou’s out of the picture, I want you on your knees begging me. And even if you do, I won’t accept it. Let’s see if you’re still so proud then.”

When he spoke those words, Yu Zihan sensed that the man was about to do something.

“Could he be planning to set the fire earlier than expected?” Before Yu Zihan could think further, she saw the man come out of the room, holding a large handbag. This time, he didn’t even bother locking the door behind him.

Yu Zihan and Gu Jingxuan watched as the man walked toward the warehouse door. Just as they were still processing what was happening, they saw Cui Mingtao turn around and give an eerie smile.

Then, with a loud “boom,” a bright flash of light burst from the room, followed by a massive sound.

When Cui Mingtao saw that the room was about to catch fire, he quickly ran toward the warehouse door. Yu Zihan couldn’t let this culprit escape; she sprinted at full speed and tackled him to the ground.

“You old pervert, not only do you do nothing useful, but you’re also going to harm everyone. You disaster, where do you think you’re running? If you fall into my hands, do you think you can escape?” she yelled.

While speaking, Yu Zihan quickly took out a rope from her space and skillfully tied the arsonist up tightly.

“Who the hell are you? It’s the middle of the night and you’re meddling in my business. Are you bored? Let me go now!” Cui Mingtao yelled, but his attention kept drifting to the increasing flames inside the room. He was afraid of being burned alive in the fire.

Yu Zihan ignored him and hurriedly ran toward the room. The space had told her that something she needed was inside, and it was connected to this man’s life. Only if he died would Uncle Zhou and her mother be safe.

She rushed into the room just as she heard the man shout, “Don’t go in there! Are you looking for death? That fire is caused by gasoline! It won’t be extinguished easily. If you die, who will get me out?”

Hearing the man’s voice made Gu Jingxuan’s heart tighten. He had already run into the room when the fire started, having smelled the gasoline fumes. He thought there was gasoline stored inside the room, so he was desperately trying to put out the fire to prevent a large-scale disaster. He knew that if the warehouse in the cotton mill caught fire, the consequences would be unimaginable.

While Gu Jingxuan was dazed, a large beam from the ceiling suddenly collapsed and landed squarely on his head.

When Yu Zihan rushed in, she saw Gu Jingxuan staring at the door, with a heavy beam solidly crushing his head.

Yu Zihan didn’t know why, but tears welled up in her eyes. Without hesitation, she rushed over and lifted the beam off him. Then, she dragged the unconscious Gu Jingxuan out of the room.

Quickly, she exchanged for a fire extinguisher from her space. A burst of spray filled the air, and after a while, the fire was finally under control. Yu Zihan opened a wooden chest and saw stacks of account books and letters. Thinking of the injured Gu Jingxuan, she couldn’t stay to organize the items. She quickly stored everything in her space.

Afterward, she ran to Gu Jingxuan’s side, crouched down, and helped him sit up.

The commotion had attracted the attention of the security department of the factory. When the gate opened, the head of security, Qin Shouye, saw the vice factory director tied up.

“Vice Director Cui, what are you doing here? Who tied you up?” Qin Shouye asked loudly.

At that moment, everyone who entered saw Cui Mingtao in such a disheveled state. His eyes flicked around, and he shouted, “Hurry up and untie me! Someone tried to steal from the warehouse, and I caught them. They tied me up when I found them!”

Cui Mingtao was in a panic, seeing that the fire had been put out. He feared that the contents inside the room would be discovered.

He regretted his plan now. He had intended to set the fire to destroy the evidence—blame it on Old Zhou for the negligence, and burn everything to ashes. But he hadn’t expected someone to interfere.

Just as Qin Shouye was about to untie Cui Mingtao, Yu Zihan’s voice rang out: “If you release him without asking questions, you’re letting a tiger go back to the mountain. Don’t you know that he’s the one who started this fire? This man here is a police officer. He was knocked unconscious by a beam while trying to put out the fire. You’d better wait for him to wake up and then ask him what happened before making any decisions. Right now, the most important thing is to call an ambulance. He’s in danger.”

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice and saw the small, soot-covered girl holding a sturdy man. The man appeared to be unconscious.

Qin Shouye looked from the two of them to Cui Mingtao, and his mind quickly formed an answer. As a head of security who had come from the battlefield, he had a keen instinct for criminal activity.

Seeing that neither of the two was the type of person who would engage in illegal activities, and considering that Vice Director Cui’s reputation in the factory wasn’t good, his suspicions grew.