"Shen Minyao! Wake up quickly!"
Xu Xiuwen thought Shen Minyao was still asleep and called out loudly, trying to wake her up.
But Shen Minyao did not respond at all.
This was definitely not a normal sleeping state.
Xu Xiuwen's heart sank.
He quickly dragged Shen Minyao off the bed.
He set her down on a chair and continued shouting her name.
Still, there was no response.
Xu Xiuwen hurriedly checked her condition.
Shen Minyao's breathing was extremely weak, almost undetectable.
Xu Xiuwen immediately thought she might have inhaled too much smoke or even toxic fumes.
He grabbed a towel and rushed to the bathroom.
But when he got there, he found that the faucet was no longer running water.
Xu Xiuwen quickly returned to Shen Minyao's side.
He hesitated for less than a second, then unwrapped the wet towel from his face and pressed it over Shen Minyao's mouth and nose.
Meanwhile, he kept shaking her and calling her name, while also performing the acupressure technique on her.
Heaven favored those who were earnest.
After his efforts, Shen Minyao suddenly broke into a fit of violent coughing.
Shen Minyao woke up.
Xu Xiuwen was overjoyed.
"Shen Minyao, can you hear me?" Xu Xiuwen shouted.
Shen Minyao, groggy, opened her eyes and asked, "Xu Xiuwen, why are you here? Where am I?"
Xu Xiuwen spoke rapidly, "This is your dormitory. Your building caught fire. I couldn't reach you by phone, so I came up to find you. You were unconscious."
Shen Minyao nodded, looking somewhat dazed.
Her mind was foggy, and she might not even understand what a fire meant right now.
Xu Xiuwen quickly calmed down.
"Shen Minyao, I'm going to carry you down now."
He said this, then moved in front of Shen Minyao and began to lift her onto his back.
Shen Minyao was completely powerless, and Xu Xiuwen had to use his own strength to lift her.
After some effort, he finally got her onto his back.
But then he suddenly remembered something and immediately set her down.
He hurriedly took off his coat and tried to put it on Shen Minyao.
Shen Minyao noticed Xu Xiuwen's intention.
She used her limited strength to push him away, resisting having him put the coat on her.
Putting on the coat was simple, but with Shen Minyao resisting, the task became difficult.
"Shen Minyao, what are you doing?" Xu Xiuwen couldn't help but shout at her.
Shen Minyao regained some of her composure and seemed a bit more alert.
She wasn't angry with Xu Xiuwen for yelling; instead, she suddenly smiled at him.
In the current situation, the smile seemed a bit out of place.
Then, what the girl said was even more unexpected to Xu Xiuwen.
She said, "Xu Xiuwen, put me down and run quickly."
Xu Xiuwen was stunned for a moment, then snapped back to reality and shouted, "What are you talking about? How can I just leave you behind? Why would I come in to find you if I were going to abandon you?"
"But if you carry me, you won't be able to escape. It's enough for me that you came to save me."
Shen Minyao felt she probably wouldn't survive today, but she didn't fear death; instead, she felt a bit of happiness.
"Don't talk nonsense. I will take you out for sure." Xu Xiuwen ignored Shen Minyao's plea.
"Don't worry about me..." Shen Minyao stubbornly struggled.
The two of them were locked in a standoff.
Seeing that talking was useless and time was of the essence, Xu Xiuwen showed no mercy, and with no regard for gentleness, he slapped Shen Minyao hard on the buttocks.
The slap was far more effective than any words. It jolted Shen Minyao, causing her hands and legs to go weak, and she finally subdued.
Taking advantage of her compliance, Xu Xiuwen swiftly put the coat on her.
He then adjusted the wet towel around her mouth and nose.
Shen Minyao came to her senses and anxiously said, "What about you?"
"I'm fine," Xu Xiuwen said, forcing himself to sound calm.
Due to the fire, the air in the dormitory was thin, and Xu Xiuwen had to take deep breaths just to get enough oxygen. The whole building was filled with thick black smoke.
As Xu Xiuwen breathed deeply, he inevitably inhaled the smoky, contaminated air.
His head felt dizzy, and he knew he couldn't waste any more time—he had to leave immediately.
With everything prepared, Xu Xiuwen picked up Shen Minyao and hurried to the door.
He took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and opened the door.
The moment the dormitory door opened, the corridor outside was relatively okay, but further down, tongues of red flames mixed with swirling black smoke were rampaging, consuming everything in their path.
The air was filled with a stifling, acrid odor.
Facing the fierce fire at the other end of the corridor, Xu Xiuwen frowned.
Before entering the girls' dormitory, Xu Xiuwen had considered the dangers but still underestimated how quickly the fire had spread.
What now? Push through or retreat back into the dorm?
Pushing through was risky. He wasn't sure what awaited him beyond the flames—if it was a sea of fire instead of just a wall, it would be like a moth to the flame, leading to his own death.
Moreover, he had no idea what the situation was like in the corridor or on the lower floors.
But retreating also seemed like a dead end.
With time running out and no room for hesitation, Xu Xiuwen decided to push through the "deathtrap" of a narrow corridor.
Surrounded by black smoke, Xu Xiuwen couldn't see the exact situation in the corridor and had to rely on instinct to push forward.
Just a few steps in, intense flames burst out from both sides of the dormitory doors.
Xu Xiuwen felt a sharp pain in his arm and instinctively wanted to let go.
It looked like Shen Minyao would fall off his back.
But Xu Xiuwen snapped back to his senses. Despite the pain, he didn't let go; instead, he tightened his grip on Shen Minyao's legs.
With flames continually erupting, the ceiling crumbling, and smoke everywhere, Xu Xiuwen overcame his fear and moved forward with great difficulty through the narrow corridor.
In no time, he reached the stairwell.
Seeing the stairwell felt like a glimmer of hope.
He quickly entered the stairwell and started down the stairs.
Although the stairwell had fewer combustible materials, the smoke was just as thick as in the corridor.
Xu Xiuwen couldn't see the steps and had to run down by feel.
If he missed a step, the outcome for him and Shen Minyao was uncertain.
Determined not to see that grim scenario, Xu Xiuwen forced himself to focus, keeping his eyes firmly on the steps.
First floor.
Second floor!
Third floor…
After navigating through eight corners, Xu Xiuwen finally reached the first floor.
Just as he burst out of the stairwell, his legs gave way, and he nearly crashed into the wall.
He staggered over to the wall and finally came to a stop, supporting himself with his hands.
At this moment, his head was spinning, and breathing was extremely difficult.
His face, arms, and every bit of exposed skin were red and swollen.
Struggling to stay on his feet, Xu Xiuwen knew he couldn't afford to stop.
Even if he felt terrible, he had to hold on.
Ahead was another long corridor leading to the dormitory's main exit.
This corridor was just as dangerous.
Xu Xiuwen bit his tongue, the pain sharpening his focus slightly.
He held his breath and plunged into the smoke-filled corridor.
The short corridor felt interminably long, like a thousand meters.
Xu Xiuwen had never felt so exhausted.
His eyes felt like they could barely open.
Finally, as he emerged from the smoke, he saw a glimmer of light.
The dormitory door was within reach.
With a last burst of energy, Xu Xiuwen rushed out of the dormitory door.
Outside, nearly a thousand people had gathered, blocking all the entry and exit routes.
Despite the teachers trying to maintain order with loudspeakers, telling everyone to return to their dorms, many students, eager to watch, continued to flood towards the area.
Several key school officials were anxiously waiting outside.
No one knew if the student who had gone inside would make it out.
If something went wrong, the school and its leaders could not escape responsibility.
Many students had seen someone rush into the dormitory building, and those who hadn't heard about it through word of mouth.
Everyone was on edge and waiting anxiously.
Just then, Xu Xiuwen emerged from the dormitory door, carrying Shen Minyao on his back.
The brief surge of energy disappeared.
As soon as he exited the building, Xu Xiuwen's legs gave out, and he fell to the ground, still carrying Shen Minyao.
Seeing Xu Xiuwen emerge with someone on his back, the students erupted in astonished gasps!
As Xu Xiuwen lay on the ground, his eyelids grew heavier, and his consciousness began to fade.
In his final moments of awareness, he managed to turn his head and look back.
The girls' dormitory looked like a scene from a nightmare.
The building was ablaze, with flames shooting out of numerous windows.
The fire, driven by the wind, licked out in scorching tongues, spreading aggressively as if to consume everything.
The students hurriedly backed away in panic.
The fire grew fiercer, and the erupting flames seemed almost otherworldly.
They danced wildly in the wind, constantly changing direction, soon merging into a continuous wall of flames.
These flames wrapped around the building, expanding unchecked, trying to cover everything under its dominion.
The sound of shattering glass filled the air.
Glass shards flew like hailstones, raining down.
Fortunately, the students had already retreated far enough, and no one was injured by the falling debris.
At that moment, the girls' dormitory looked as though God were standing atop it, pouring a huge bucket of red dye down upon it.
The scene was utterly terrifying.
The intense red glow from the flames illuminated the entire sky.
The students who had been cheering and gasping earlier now stared at the scene in stunned silence.
The fire brigade finally arrived.
The police also showed up.
Upon hearing the sirens, Xu Xiuwen let out a sigh of relief.
His head slowly drooped.
In the last moment before his eyes closed, he saw two girls breaking through the teachers' barriers and rushing towards him.
Crying, shouting, and the wail of police sirens—everything was distorted in the chaos of the fire...
The fire brigade, though delayed, was not deterred by the fierce blaze.
Heroic firefighters, wielding heavy "water hoses," directed a powerful stream of water at the flames.
Water could extinguish fire, but at that moment, the massive water jets seemed powerless against the inferno.
After a prolonged struggle, the hoses eventually subdued the flames.
Fortunately, because the dorm supervisor had notified the students to evacuate earlier, no students were harmed.
...
"Miss Nurse, when will he wake up?" A girl's voice sounded in the room.
The girl spoke rapidly, her anxious breathing betraying her nervousness.
"Under normal circumstances, he should be awake by now, but don't worry. He should wake up soon."
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Xiuwen finally "woke up."
Before even opening his eyes, he first smelled the disinfectant, which reminded him of a hospital.
His eyelids slowly lifted, and his pupils unconsciously gazed at the ceiling.
It took him a while to fully wake up.
Then he realized he was indeed in a hospital.
He was lying on a hospital bed, with an IV drip attached to him.
Xu Xiuwen looked up and saw two girls with their backs to him, talking to another woman dressed in white.
Though he could only see their backs, he easily recognized the two girls.
It was Tang Weiwei and Su Yanyan.
The woman in white was likely a nurse.
"Cough cough…"
Xu Xiuwen coughed a couple of times.
The sound of the cough was incredibly clear in the quiet hospital room.
Tang Weiwei and Su Yanyan froze for a moment before immediately turning around to look at him.
"Xu Xiuwen!"
"Dada!"
The two girls exclaimed excitedly.
The nurse, seeing Xu Xiuwen awake, came over to check on him, then said to the girls, "He's awake now. Make sure he gets plenty of rest and doesn't get out of bed. Let me know when the IV is done."
"Thank you, Miss Nurse," Tang Weiwei said politely.
After the nurse left, Tang Weiwei immediately turned her attention to Xu Xiuwen.
Xu Xiuwen looked back at Tang Weiwei.
She was still as beautiful as ever, but her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying.
Su Yanyan beside her also seemed to have been crying, sniffling as she wiped her nose.
"Hey, I'm fine, why are you still crying?" Xu Xiuwen said with a smile.
As he spoke, he lifted his hand, trying to hold Tang Weiwei's.
But as soon as he raised his arm, the pain made him wince.
He looked down and saw that his arm was wrapped in bandages, both on his upper arm and forearm.
"What happened to my arm?"
Tang Weiwei replied, "The doctor said your arm has second-degree burns. These bandages are from the doctor."
Noticing Xu Xiuwen's concerned expression, Tang Weiwei quickly added, "Don't worry, Xu Xiuwen. Your arm will be fine and will heal quickly."
Xu Xiuwen nodded.
Given that he had entered a burning building, he had expected this kind of outcome.
And since it was only second-degree burns on his arm and no more severe injuries, it was already a stroke of luck in the midst of misfortune.