The people outside were reveling on their newfound life, but it was still smoke and debris within the building.

  Xia Ruoxin felt a cutting pain in her throat. She squatted down. For the first time, she was this close to death. It was practically inches away from her.

  The twenty-plus years of her life flashed before her eyes.

  The little big brother underneath the tree who said that he wanted to marry her. The Chu Lui who forgot about her when he grew up. Gao Yi, the man who said that he would take care of her for the rest of her life. Who else? She could not recall.

  In the depths of her memory, etched in her heart were these two men. One she was eternally indebted to; the other she had let down.

  She buried her face in her legs. In this instant, tears had already flooded her face.

  If there were unending dreams, she’d dream……

  She’d travel all the roads, should they never end……

  She’d go after love, if love never changed……

  The police had put up a barrier outside as shell-shocked customers were rescued from the mall. There was joy in their newfound survival alongside the cries, but fear was still very much present.

  The barrier and first-aid vehicles separated the crowd. Smoke escaped from the mall towards the sky.

  Chu Lui parked the car without caring if he had crossed the line. There was throbbing in his head, and he could not think.

  There was a puddle of sweat in his dry hands. He looked up. There was a thick cloud of smoke, and his eyes almost hurt from the smoke.

  He paused a little, his legs turning weak.

  He crossed the barrier and was about to take a step forward when the firefighter stopped him.

  “Sorry, sir, please step behind.”


  “Step behind?” Chu Lui laughed coldly. “My wife and child are still in there. You’re asking me to step behind? How can I do that?”


  He looked like a panther ready to strike and kill his prey, just as he was known in the business circle. The firefighter took a step back in fear, shocked beyond response; but there was a sudden change in the man.

  Chu Lui’s pupils dilated as he looked towards the crowd.

  He hurried over. At this point, a firefighter was still consoling a wailing child. She was about three or four and looked really pretty and cute. She was small, and the people’s heart ached for them as she asked for her mother. However, no one knew who her mother was.

  The firefighters did not know how to deal with the crying child. They showed no fear when fighting fires, but the small child terrified them.

  He felt the child lifted from his arms, and he paused. The crying child that he had been holding was in the arms of a tall man.

  Rainy toned her crying down when she saw Chu Lui.

  “Uncle, Uncle……”


  “There, there, don’t be afraid; Uncle’s here.” He pressed the little girl’s face into his chest.

  “Uncle, I want Mommy; I want Mommy.” Rainy’s voice was hoarse.

  Chu Lui felt his heart tighten. It felt hard for him to breathe. He felt like he was suffocating.

  “Where’s the child’s mother?” He suddenly reached out and grabbed the firefighter. “Can I know where the child’s mother is? Where’s my wife? Where is she?”


  His fear and anxiety catalyzed into a murderous aura, and the firefighter shivered in response.

  “I……” The firefighter licked his almost dry lips. He looked up at the mall where the smoke was coming from. “She’s still up there.”


  Suddenly, he felt a weight in his arms. It was the child from earlier. The man clad in the suit was running towards the building, but he was stopped.

  “Sir, you can’t go in anymore. The doors are sealed. There’s too much smoke.”


  “Where’s my wife.” Chu Lui flung the people holding onto him aside. He had kept a low profile as an ex-soldier, but he swung and punched the firefighter to the ground. By this point, more people had arrived.

  It took several men all the effort they had to pin the man down.

  The tongues of the fire could be seen on the sixth floor. Even though the firefighters were trying their best to put out the fire, the smoke and fire emerging from the mall clearly revealed that the mall was pretty much burned to the ground. The goods, not to mention people, barely had a chance of surviving the fire.

  Chu Lui stood up and rushed forward angrily. The doctor on the ground ran over and nodded at the nurse, who sneaked behind the man and poked him with a syringe while he was distracted.

  The medicine took effect rather quickly. Before long, Chu Lui felt the energy leave his body. He gripped his hands tightly as he stumbled. He kept his body upright as he covered his face. In an instant, there were almost tears in his eyes.

  He was crying. He was actually crying.

  The tranquilizer spread across his body as it traveled in his bloodstream. It sucked the energy out of him…… as it did with his consciousness.

  Tears flowed out of the man’s eyes between his fingers as light reflected off the teardrops. However, the man stood up straight, clinging to his last bit of consciousness.

  His mind was empty as was his life. His only thought was that he did not want to live if she died.

  Almost twenty years……

  That year, he hand-picked his bride. That year, he married her. The same year, he cast her aside. Now, he wanted to use the rest of his life to make it up to her; but the gods were not giving him the opportunity.

  No, he was just too late. He had always believed that things could return to the way they were before no matter how long it took. He would be content even if he just accompanied her silently. Right now, his hopes were smashed, buried here in the debris.