"Wanwan, be good. I'll go out and take a look. I'll be back soon, okay?" Song Ruyi comforted Song Wanwan. As the smell was too strong, Song Wanwan could also smell it.
Song Wanwan was afraid. She did not want to separate from Song Ruyi.
"Mommy, take me with you."
Song Ruyi was cautious in every aspect. Every time she went to bed, she would close the main valve of the natural gas in the kitchen. She would also check every outlet in the house to see if the power was switched off.
She would never plug in an electrical appliance that should not be plugged in unmonitored.
Song Ruyi would plug in her phone charger only when she needed to. If she was not charging anything, then she would pull it out.
Therefore, she did not think that her house was on fire.
Nonetheless, such a strong and pungent smell could be from directly upstairs or downstairs. She wanted to go out and take a look first.
Even so, Song Wanwan did not allow her to go alone.
She had no choice but to put her coat on Song Wanwan first. She had also put on some decent clothes.
At this moment, Auntie Shen of unit 901 ran out of the house and knocked on Song Ruyi's door first. "Ruyi, Ruyi, unit 601 downstairs is on fire. Quick, take some important things from your home and bring Wanwan out."
After Auntie Shen finished knocking on Song Ruyi's door, she immediately went to knock on unit 903's door.
Although Auntie Shen was a nosy person, she was well-known for being warm-hearted in her neighborhood. She would be happy to help any family that needed help.
In any case, it was only her and her husband at home. Both of them had retired. Their children had grown up and had their things to do, so they did not disturb them and lived their own lives.
When Song Ruyi heard that there was a fire downstairs, she quickly helped Song Wanwan change her clothes. Fortunately, the weather was not cold, so it was quick for them to change their clothes.
When they reached the door, Song Ruyi carried the bag hanging behind the door. Nothing else in the house was important. At this time, their lives were more important than anything else.
Song Ruyi opened the door, carried Wanwan, and went out.
At this time, she could not take the elevator. She could only take the safety stairs. Many people were running down the stairs. Everyone was running for their lives.
Song Ruyi did not see Auntie Shen either. She wanted to thank her. Otherwise, she would not have known what was going on.
She was on the ninth floor. As there were too many people, everyone was running in a hurry. They were afraid that if they were slow, they would be trapped in the building.
During this escape, everyone only wanted to save their lives. No one paid much attention to the elderly, the sick, and the disabled who needed help.
Song Ruyi wanted to run, but she also had to take care of Wanwan. She was afraid that Wanwan would be injured. After going down just one flight of stairs, she was knocked down by the people who followed closely behind her, and she sprained her ankle. It was very painful.
Despite that, she could not care too much. Song Wanwan kept looking at her. She only frowned a little, but Song Wanwan noticed it. "Mommy, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Auntie Shen saw the situation and immediately went home to get a loudspeaker. She shouted, "Everybody, don't be anxious. There are elderly and children. Don't bump into them."
Song Ruyi sensed that the people around her had noticed that she was running away with her child and slowly avoided her.
Her foot was injured, and she was limping. She could not walk smoothly either.
When she reached the seventh floor, thick smoke was billowing. Song Ruyi endured the pain and gritted her teeth as she jogged. She was afraid that if she ran slower, she would not make it in time.
On the sixth floor, there was special property staff who were diverting people. When the sixth floor caught fire, they were notified and rushed over immediately. That said, the fire was too big, and their equipment could not control it at all. They could only call for people to evacuate the residents first, leaving some people to divert the other people here. As they were on night duty, there were far from enough people.
That was why the situation was so chaotic, causing the residents to panic.
After the management of the property was notified, they were also on their way.
Some of the timid ones were scared to tears by the situation. When Song Wanwan heard that the adults were crying, she became even more afraid. She hugged Song Ruyi's neck and called her softly, "Mommy."
She wanted to ask if they would be burned to death. She seemed to feel the temperature of the fire.
Song Ruyi looked down at her and comforted her. "Wanwan, don't be afraid. I'll bring you out."
She did not care anymore. It did not matter if her foot was numb from the pain. She gritted her teeth and ran as fast as she could.
A thick layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Song Wanwan's heart ached when she saw it.
She wanted to reach out and help Song Ruyi wipe her sweat, but at that moment, Tang Shan appeared.
Tang Shan had seen them on the eighth floor, but because there were too many people, he did not rush to their side immediately. He saw Song Ruyi's discomfort.
He squeezed his way over with great difficulty and took Song Wanwan from Song Ruyi's hand. "Miss Song, I'm Tang Shan. Don't say anything first. I'll take you out first."
The moment Song Ruyi saw Tang Shan, she was excited and touched. She had not expected Tang Shan to appear at this time.
She knew very well what this meant.
However, at this moment, she could not say anything.
"Thank you, Mr. Tang. Take Wanwan out first. I sprained my leg, so I'll walk slowly. Don't worry about me first," Song Ruyi said to Tang Shan.
"Your leg is injured?" Tang Shan lowered his head. There were so many people, and they were all squeezing them. He could not see what kind of situation Song Ruyi was in.
He made a prompt decision and squatted down. "Miss Song, come up. I'll carry you down. You just need to hold on to me."
Tang Shan's mission was to protect the mother and daughter, not just Wanwan.
He wanted to take both of them out.
"That's not necessary." Song Ruyi refused. She was embarrassed.
Besides, it was hard for Tang Shan to carry both of them.
"Mommy, be good. Come up quickly," Song Wanwan called out to her.
Looking at Song Wanwan who was about to cry and hearing Tang Shan urging her, Song Ruyi gritted her teeth and climbed onto Tang Shan's back.
Tang Shan was also very attentive. He held Wanwan with one hand and Song Ruyi with the other. He would never touch places that he should not touch.
The two of them together were not considered heavy. Given how thin Song Ruyi was, Tang Shan could see how hard it was for her to take care of the child alone.
…
At the Bai family's villa.
For some reason, Lu Jingnan could not sleep that night.
That night, he had gone to Song Ruyi's place. When he saw the gangsters in her apartment building, he rearranged Tang Shan's accommodation to be in a hotel near Song Ruyi's residential area.
Lu Jingnan had thought that if something happened to Song Ruyi, she would have a helper.
Having said that, he had never thought that such a big thing would happen in Song Ruyi's neighborhood on the first day that he had arranged for Tang Shan to stay nearby.
Lu Jingnan was watching TV in the small living room upstairs. Bai Yunfei could not fall asleep either. He sat with him and played on his phone.
It was late at night. When the late-night news appeared on the TV, Lu Jingnan saw that Song Ruyi's neighborhood was on fire. He immediately stood up.
He kicked Bai Yunfei directly. "Get up and drive me to Guangfu Road."
Given the emergency, he needed a racer like Bai Yunfei to send him to the place he wanted to go as fast as possible. At this moment, he wished he had wings to fly high so that he could immediately appear by Song Ruyi's side.