121: Chapter 121: Only the TV crew remains at the fire station.

The Company's PR director held three meetings overnight.

Li Li fell asleep instantly.

Early the next morning, a WeChat message popped up from Jiang Rumu.

"There are over thirty people blocking the entrance, including reporters, self-media, and a few people holding signs. Teacher Wang called the police."

Li Li turned over and replied with two words.

"Don't go out."

"I'm not stupid."

Three seconds later, another message arrived.

"Xiao Chai ran out the back door and knocked over a self-media person's tripod. The other party is demanding compensation."

"Teacher Wang says to pay, but I told him to first discuss the illegal gathering and blocking the door with the police officers."

Li Li stared at the screen.

This woman, having been scolded by the entire internet for three days, had actually gained fighting power in arguments.

That afternoon, the Mount Qingcheng Police Station dispatched six people to disperse the crowd at the entrance of the welfare home.

Teacher Wang posted on her Moments, with a photo of Xiao Chai running wildly in the yard with half a tripod leg in its mouth.

Caption: [Returned.]

The system panel popped up simultaneously.

[Hidden side quest "Counterattack" completed. Public opinion reversal progress: 72%.]

[Reward issued: Vocal Proficiency / Bonus reward: Cantonese Proficiency.]

Li Li glanced at it and closed the panel.

Vocal skills advanced, and Cantonese will come in handy too.

Having more skills never hurts, so he went about his business.

---

For the next two days, the atmosphere at the Fire Station was surprisingly normal.

Outside, the world was turned upside down—the discussion volume for the topic #Jiang Rumu Period# broke eight million, Qi Wanyin's "by name and surname" rushed into the top three of the charts two hours after its release, and Zou Xiaoou's fans and Qi Wanyin's fans were in a mess in the super topic.

Inside the Fire Station, training continued as usual.

For the first time, Cheng Songyan didn't scold anyone after professional training ended.

Standing in the center of the field, holding a stopwatch, he looked at the report card.

"Today's results are barely passing."

Shen Jue muttered at the end of the line: "Barely passing means progress, right?"

"Shut up, do another set."

"..."

Shen Jue went to do extra training honestly, and Qin Xiaoshan followed behind, chewing on half a bag of beef jerky in his pocket, his cheeks bulging like a hamster. Cheng Songyan didn't stop him; he had truly witnessed what it meant to get hungry fast.

---

There was one person whose style never changed.

Su Nianzhi.

During Wednesday's climbing training, she stood under the rope and shouted to Li Li, "How do you untie this knot?" Qin Xiaoshan rushed out from the side to teach her hand-in-hand, serious throughout like a Fire Department internal instructor. Su Nianzhi smiled, but the arc of her smile was obviously shallower.

At lunch on Thursday, she carried her tray and sat across from Li Li.

"Li Li, your water!"

Before she finished speaking, Qin Xiaoshan came over with two cups of water.

"Brother Li! Your water! I got it for you!"

Su Nianzhi watched Qin Xiaoshan place the water cup in front of Li Li, his movements even more proficient than a waiter.

"Sister Su, do you want water too? I'll go get some more!"

"No need."

Su Nianzhi picked up her own cup and took a sip, her spine straight, her sitting posture elegant.

But the force with which she poked her chopsticks into the rice was three times stronger than usual.

Li Li kept his head down pulling at a chicken leg the whole time, not giving her a single glance.

This woman had no bad intentions; she just purely wanted to ride the heat of the camera. But her tactics—asking for help opening bottle caps, bending over to tie shoelaces, handing towels to wipe sweat—were all part of a routine when there were cameras, but when there were no cameras, she was as cold as a high school student council president, never getting within three meters.

Too lazy to expose her, just using Qin Xiaoshan as a human shield was enough.

Qin Xiaoshan himself was completely unaware of this. He just simply felt that running errands for Brother Li meant he could eat an extra portion.

He was a willing tool, even enjoying it.

---

Friday afternoon, single hose connection training.

Cheng Songyan divided the people into two groups, and after reading the list, Gu Zeyan raised his hand.

"Captain Cheng, I want to change groups."

Cheng Songyan looked up.

"Why?"

"I want to train at the same time as Li Li to compare speeds."

The words were polite. Everyone understood the subtext—he wanted to compete with Li Li.

Cheng Songyan looked at him for two seconds.

"Okay."

Two hoses were laid on the ground, 65mm diameter, standard fire hoses. From unfolding, connecting, connecting to the fire hydrant, to the nozzle spraying water, the whole process.

Han Su stood by as the timekeeper, stopwatch in hand.

"Ready! Start!"

Gu Zeyan moved.

The hose unfolded, the first interface clicked into place, the technique was standard, even with a sense of performance-style fluidity.

Fast. Indeed fast.

Shen Jue watched from the side, nodding subconsciously; this guy had practiced, his movements weren't as stiff as the first week.

Gu Zeyan locked the second interface and looked up.

Li Li's nozzle was already spraying water.

The water column sprayed three meters away, splashing Ji Shen's pant leg.

Ji Shen jumped up: "Damn!"

Han Su clicked the stopwatch.

"Li Li, 14.3 seconds. Gu Zeyan..."

He glanced at Gu Zeyan, who was still squatting on the ground.

"You continue."

Gu Zeyan squatted next to the second interface, his hand on the buckle.

He didn't look up.

His knees were on the ground, his back taut and straight.

Three seconds later, he stood up, put the hose on the ground, patted the dust off his hands, turned around, and left.

He didn't speak.

His steps were a little faster than usual, but his face maintained the "aloof and indifferent" smile polished by his agency for three years.

Shen Jue whispered to Qin Xiaoshan on the side: "His smile is like a product in a supermarket with the discount sticker torn off halfway."

Qin Xiaoshan didn't understand, but felt it made a lot of sense, and nodded vigorously.

---

Saturday afternoon.

The weather in Pengcheng was muggy and sticky, the national flag in the Fire Station yard was drooping, and there was not a breath of wind.

At 2:17 PM, the phone in Station Chief Chen Tao's office rang three times in half an hour.

At 2:35 PM, the Fire Station's alarm rang again.

It wasn't training.

The fourth fire.

Old residential buildings, industrial park factories, shopping mall underground parking lots, trucks catching fire under highway bridges—all within the rescue range of Luohu Station.

Li Li had originally been called by the Production Team to discuss the next variety show.

On the way back, passing the reception room, he heard the duty receptionist also being asked by Cheng Songyan to go out for the mission.

Four places caught fire at the same time.

This probability was not normal.

But now was not the time to ponder this.

All fire trucks were dispatched.

Ten vehicles, red lights flashing, one after another drove out of the garage, the roar of the diesel engines making the window frames hum.

Cheng Songyan had changed into his combat suit, and stopped for a second as he passed the door of the reception room.

He turned his head to look at Li Li.

"I'll leave the reception room to you. You know how to handle the monitors, communication, and emergency calls. If there's a situation, contact the command center immediately. I hope there won't be any more situations."

Three screens in front, a walkie-talkie on the left, an emergency phone on the right.

"Understood."

Cheng Songyan nodded, and ran out with Han Su, Qin Xiaoshan, and Zhong Ji.

When the last fire truck drove out of the gate, the entire Fire Station was empty.

A large station of eighty people, now only nine variety show guests remained, plus Li Li as a "temporary duty officer".

Second floor of the dormitory building, male guest dormitory.

Shen Jue was lying on the bed scrolling through his phone. Tonight at eight o'clock, "Brave Blue Friends" would premiere on TikTok, and half an hour later, it would be broadcast on Tomato TV. He tossed and turned, wondering if he had enough screen time, and if the editing would cut out his most handsome angle.

Jiang Shiyu was leaning on the head of the bed, headphones on, his thumb constantly sliding on the screen.

Ji Shen was doing push-ups. When he counted to forty-three, his phone rang. He got up to take a look, then laid back down and continued.

Tao Qianzhi was sitting by the window, holding a thermos, staring blankly at the empty garage downstairs.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

Then.

Boom.

The whole building seemed to shake.

It wasn't the long, swaying kind like an earthquake. It was a short, sharp vibration coming from the ground up.

The window glass hummed.

Immediately after, the Fire Station's alarm rang again.

Everyone jumped off their beds at the same time.

Shen Jue's phone fell to the floor, landing screen-down on the cement floor; he didn't have time to pick it up.

"What's going on?!"

Jiang Shiyu pulled off his headphones and walked to the window to look out. In the direction of the Fire Station entrance, a gray-black plume of smoke was rising.

Not far.

Very close.

Ji Shen stood at the door, turning back to scan the people in the dormitory.

Shen Jue asked the question everyone was thinking.

"This... we can't participate, right?"

As soon as the words fell, Gu Zeyan sprang up from his bunk, grabbed his jacket, and rushed out the door.

His movements were unreasonably fast, faster than when he connected the water hose today.

Shen Jue and Ji Shen exchanged a look.

Tao Qianzhi stood up from the window, placed his thermos on the table, and walked two steps toward the door.

"When the Fire Department is fully dispatched, Li Li was assigned by Captain Cheng to cover the shift in the reception room at the entrance."

He paused.

"He's alone."

No one in the dormitory spoke.

Shen Jue put on his shoes and ran out.

In the stairwell, Gu Zeyan's footsteps had already reached the first floor.

In the direction of the duty room, the sizzling of the walkie-talkie and the shrill scream of the alarm were mixed together, covered by another closer muffled sound.

Li Li's left hand had already pressed the direct dial button to the command center, and he notified the command center to send a vehicle.

"Luohu Station, community restaurant on the first floor of the residential building directly opposite the Fire Station, suspected new energy vehicle rushed in and caught fire, fire spread to the second floor, there are trapped people on the third floor, suspected children. All fire trucks in the station have been dispatched, requesting reinforcements."

The dispatcher at the command center was stunned for half a second.

A first-level Fire Station asking the command center for a vehicle is equivalent to a five-star hotel borrowing a quilt from a nearby budget hotel. But after confirming the fire information, the other party responded immediately.

"Received, the nearest dispatchable unit is expected to arrive in twenty-five minutes."

Other stations were too far away, plus the traffic jam on Saturday night, 25 minutes was already very fast.

Li Li looked across the main road outside the station gate. A community restaurant on the first floor of an old residential building had been rammed into by a new energy SUV, and for some reason, it suddenly exploded. Now the fire on the first floor was fierce, thick smoke was rolling on the second floor, and smoke was starting to rise above the third floor.

This was a seven-story self-built house, and he didn't know how many people were above.

And a figure flashed by the window frame on the third floor, directly above the ignition point.

Only the head was exposed.

It was a child.