114: Chapter 114 Shen Yu: My favorite ship is gone!

Li Li didn't go downstairs.

He stood by the window in the corridor, watching Cheng Songyan jump off the command vehicle, give a few instructions to the nearby Firefighter, and turn to enter the building.

His hands were pressed against the seams of his trousers the entire time.

They were shaking.

It wasn't the kind caused by fatigue—Firefighters returning from a call always have steady hands; holding hoses, unloading equipment, it's all muscle memory.

Cheng Songyan's shaking was different.

His ten fingers were irregularly clenching and unclenching, exactly the same as when they assembled last time.

Li Li watched for two seconds, then looked away.

His phone vibrated. A message from Shen Jue: "Brother Li, come down quickly, the cafeteria is serving food."

—

The Fire Station cafeteria was on the east side of the first floor.

There were four long tables, and on the wall was a sign that read "Practice Thrift, Oppose Waste," with a handwritten sticky note added next to it: "Whoever leaves leftovers washes the pots—Instruction from the Station Chief."

Li Li set his tray down and sat down. Across from him, Qin Xiaoshan had already finished two bowls of rice and was conquering a third.

"Brother Li! There's braised pork today! Eat quickly!"

With half a piece of meat stuffed in his mouth, he spoke unclearly, pointing his chopsticks at the neatly arranged braised pork on the tray.

Beside him, Han Su was shoveling rice into his mouth without saying a word. Gu Zeyan held his chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat, lifting it to his eyes to examine it for three seconds.

"How many... calories are in this?"

No one paid him any mind.

Qi Wanyin hadn't moved her chopsticks much.

She was holding her soup bowl, scooping it up with a spoon and putting it back down.

He Manzhou asked something in a low voice, and she shook her head.

Li Li's peripheral vision swept over. Qi Wanyin's right ring finger—the spot for her plain silver ring was empty, but her hand holding the bowl was very steady.

Unnaturally steady.

Su Nianzhi walked over with a tray and stopped a step away from Li Li.

"Brother Li, is this seat taken?"

"Yes."

"By whom?"

"Qin Xiaoshan's fourth bowl of rice."

Qin Xiaoshan nodded vigorously: "That's right! I need another bowl!"

Su Nianzhi smiled and walked away.

—

The first week of training brought everyone back to reality.

Morning training was at 6:30, running drills, physical fitness, equipment training, special training in the morning, and repetition in the afternoon. The training intensity at the Fire Station did not slack off in the slightest because of the cameras.

The guests went from "it's okay" on the first day to collective silence by the third day.

The snoring in the dormitory grew louder every day. From the third day on, Ji Shen would collapse onto his bed after training and sleep until the alarm went off. Tao Qianzhi was the first to wake up and the last to sleep every day, and his trajectory in between consisted of only three things—training, eating, and applying medicated plasters. His thirty-eight-year-old knees and lumbar spine were the first to surrender.

Han Su was the last to turn off the lights every night, doing abdominal exercises under his quilt, the iron bed frame creaking. On the fifth night, Ji Shen finally couldn't help but poke his head out from the upper bunk:

"Han Su, if you move again, I'm going to weld you to the bed."

Han Su quieted down.

Only one person never showed any signs of fatigue.

Every day after training, Li Li would return to the dormitory, shower, change clothes, and then disappear.

On the fourth night, Shen Jue pretended to go to the restroom and secretly followed him for a bit.

At the corner at the end of the corridor. A blind spot for the cameras.

Li Li was leaning against the wall, phone pressed to his ear.

Shen Jue pricked up his ears and vaguely heard a woman's voice. She spoke very quickly, with laughter mixed in.

Then Li Li spoke: "Turn the camera over, I want to see them."

A two-second pause.

"Not looking at you, looking at the dogs."

Another two-second pause.

"You're blocking the camera, move back a bit."

Shen Jue turned silently, returned to the dormitory, and pulled up his quilt.

Brother Li has a partner, and he even raises dogs.

Or rather—Brother Li is using looking at dogs as an excuse to look at a person.

Oh no!

Jiang Rumu doesn't have any dogs!

This realization made him tremble with pain under his quilt.

The CP he shipped was gone!

Sister, your little brother can't help you anymore.

—

The daily video call became Li Li's only private time at the Fire Station.

The routine was fixed: Jiang Rumu would first shove the two huskies in front of the camera to report on their home-demolition battle results.

"The gray and white one chewed the table leg in the orphanage cafeteria today!"

"Change one."

"Change the table?"

"Change the subject."

Jiang Rumu hummed and flipped the camera.

High ponytail, no makeup, a fever-reducing patch on her forehead.

"The patch is crooked, move it two centimeters to the left."

"...Can't you say something nice?"

"Moving it two centimeters to the left makes it straight, isn't that nice to hear?"

Every time the call was about to end, Jiang Rumu would tease him with trending topics from the internet.

"Do you know who the number one ranked CP is on your Weibo super topic?"

"Me and you?"

"You and Su Nianzhi."

Li Li didn't say anything.

"It's even hotter than when we were on the Dating Reality Show." She sent him a screenshot of the trending topic.

"Su Nianzhi Li Li Brave Blue Friends in the same frame"—230 million views.

"What exactly did you two do on that variety show?"

"She got a cramp, so I told Qin Xiaoshan to help her stretch her leg."

"Just that?"

"Just that."

"Then why does the internet say you interact every day?"

"She interacts every day, I dodge every day."

Jiang Rumu laughed.

She didn't press further.

But Li Li could tell—the tail end of that laugh was cut off too quickly.

"Don't look at those."

"I didn't say anything."

"Your breathing got faster."

The other end of the phone was quiet for a beat.

Then it hung up.

Three seconds later, a message popped in: [My breathing is fast because I just finished running! Not because of you!]

Second message: [Xiao Chai says he misses you.]

Third message: [Xiao Chai said it, not me.]

Li Li looked at the screen and put his phone away.

—

Monday of the second week, a day off.

Zhong Ji slapped the table: "My treat, I'll take you all to eat authentic Pengcheng cuisine."

Han Su stood at the door: "I want to stay and train—"

Zhong Ji poked him in the waist from behind.

It was exactly the spot he had strained during training yesterday.

Han Su jerked, and the second half of his sentence was swallowed back.

A group of twelve people marched out of the Fire Station.

Zhong Ji led everyone through the old streets of the East Gate, turned into an alley, and pushed open a hole-in-the-wall restaurant without a sign. When the proprietress saw him, she slammed her chopsticks on the table: "Young Master is here! The usual spot!"

"Auntie, there are a lot of people today, open two tables."

Qin Xiaoshan started scanning the price list on the wall as soon as he entered.

He looked for three seconds.

"This... rice noodle rolls are eight yuan a portion?"

Zhong Ji nodded.

"It's one yuan fifty over where we are."

The whole table went quiet for a beat.

Su Nianzhi spoke up. She looked at Li Li first, then turned to the three new Firefighters, her tone softening by three degrees.

"You three little brothers have also worked hard in training this week, let me treat today."

Han Su had just opened his mouth—

Zhong Ji poked him again under the table. In the same spot.

Han Su let out a muffled grunt, and the words "no need" were swallowed back.

"Thank you, Sister Su." Zhong Ji took over.

Qin Xiaoshan was already studying the menu: "Then can I order two portions of rice noodle rolls?"

"Order whatever you want."

"Three portions?"

"...Whatever."

The food was served.

In the middle of the training week, when Qi Wanyin was climbing the training tower, she suddenly stopped on the third-floor platform and stood there motionless. Cheng Songyan shouted twice from below before she reacted, saying she had slipped, but Li Li noticed that after she came down, she flipped her phone over and stuffed it back into her pocket, screen facing inward.

Since then, she had been in this state—present, but not present.

It was the same sitting at the dinner table now.

The spoon scooped up the soup, put it back down. Scooped it up, put it back down.

Shen Jue leaned over from diagonally across, lowering his voice.

"Brother Li, Sister Qi has been like this all week."

"I know."

"Do you think—"

"Eat your food."

Shen Jue didn't ask again and lowered his head to shovel in a few bites of rice.

Suddenly he froze completely.

He gripped his phone tight, turned his head, and lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear.

"Brother Li."

"Hmm."

"Zou Xiaoou announced his engagement."

Li Li's chopsticks paused mid-air.

Zou Xiaoou. The Heavenly King of the music industry. Everyone in the circle knew—that was Qi Wanyin's ex-husband, the one with whom she had a seven-year hidden marriage that he had unilaterally denied.

The silver ring, that conversation in the corridor—it all matched up.

He turned to look at Qi Wanyin.

She was still drinking soup.

The rhythm of the spoon hadn't changed.

Scoop it up, put it back down.

But her right middle finger rubbed against the edge of the bowl—the finger next to the ring finger.

Li Li looked away.

Shen Jue said "Holy shit" again.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was enough to make everyone at the table turn around.

Eleven pairs of eyes stared over.

Shen Jue's face turned bright red, and he waved his hand: "It's nothing, nothing, just saw a funny video."

Once the attention drifted away, he shoved his phone screen in front of Li Li.

A news notification. The headline was in bold red text.

[Exclusive Scoop: Top celebrity Jiang Rumu suspected of tax evasion, amount may reach the ten-million level]

Li Li stared at the line of text.

His chopsticks hung in mid-air.

Across the table, Gu Zeyan was holding up his phone, the lens pointed this way.

He was filming behind-the-scenes footage of their day off for his fans.

The angle of the lens—framed Li Li perfectly.

Gu Zeyan's thumb rested on the record button, not pressing stop.

Li Li put down his chopsticks.

"Little Jue, put your phone away."

Shen Jue put it away instantly.

Gu Zeyan's phone was still held up.

Li Li picked up his tray and stood up.

"I'm done eating, I'm going back for a bit."

He walked out of the hole-in-the-wall restaurant and turned into the alley next to it.

The sound of chairs moving came from behind him.

More than one person stood up.