Dong Xuebing was afraid of dying. He was terrified of dying.
If it were in the past, he would never rush in even if a gunwas pointing at his head. It was dangerous.
But now, Dong Xuebing was different. He has the specialability, BACK, as his trump card. He has an extra life compared to everyoneelse in the world. He could use BACK to return to the time where he was unhurtif he encountered some dangerous situation. With this power, his wellbeing wasnot his top priority. He had died once before, what's wrong with dying again?Anyway, he will not really die. What matter the most to him was to gain creditand accomplish some achievement to gain the trust of his higher-ups. This wasthe reason why Dong Xuebing rushes into the burning office without secondthoughts.
The fire was burning everywhere around Dong Xuebing.
The thick smoke blocked Dong Xuebing's vision, and he couldnot see a thing in the office. He choked on the smoke and coughed a few timesbefore covering his mouth with his wet sleeves. Tears were flowing from hiseyes, and he quickly walks forward in the darkness.
Hot. He could feel his skin burning.
Dong Xuebing could not stand it after entering the officefor a few seconds. He avoided something burning on the floor and gritted histeeth.
There were shouts and screams behind him. Everyone wascalling him to get out of the office.
"Xiao Dong!" It was Li Qing's hoarse voice. "Come out! Don'tcare about the documents. Your life is more important!"
Zhou Changchun also shouted: "Xiao Bing, get out of theoffice immediately! This is an order!"
"Bing Zhi, are you mad? The fire is getting bigger! Come outnow!" Dong Xuebing's colleagues were all calling for him.
Dong Xuebing also thought that the documents should beburned to ashes by now. But his purpose was not to find the documents. He wantsto show that he was fearless and could help the higher-ups in critical times.He ignored all their cries and move quickly to a half-opened door in theoffice. He kicked the burning door open and entered the room. Crash! It was thesound of something heavy crashing down. He could feel the floor shook. Heturned around and saw a bookcase had collapsed, blocking the main door. His exitwas blocked!
Dong Xuebing got a fright from the loud sound. Damn!
"Oh no!"
"Ah... Bing Zhi cannot come out now!"
"Hurry and save him!"
Everyone outside was panicking. They used the fireextinguisher on the burning bookcase, hoping to clear an exit path for DongXuebing. If the fire on the bookshelf was not extinguished, Dong Xuebing wouldhave no escape route and will either be burned to death or suffocated from thesmoke.
Dong Xuebing hesitated for a while. But he still entered thesmaller room in the office.
Crash!
A desk on his left had crashed down, and the table top andlegs hit Dong Xuebing's pants. It immediately burned a hole in his pants andparts of his leg was burned. He screamed out in pain. Cold sweat was drippingdown his back. He endured the pain and extinguished the fire on his pants withhis hand. The pain made him more determined. He strained his eyes to seethrough the thick smoke and limped towards a burning pile by the side of theroom. It was Li Qing's desk.
Crash!
The fluorescent lights above exploded from the high heat.
The glass pieces fell on Dong Xuebing, and some cut hisback, neck, and hands. Blood was flowing out from his wounds.
Dong Xuebing cursed and limped forward. He was trying hisbest to keep his conscious.
He got closer, and he could see the burning desk clearer.Dong Xuebing was overjoyed to see that the drawers on the left were onlyburning slightly. It was not engulfed in flames entirely. He immediatelyreached out for the second drawer without thinking. Ah!!!! His fingers wereburned when he touched the drawer. It was excruciating. He quickly uses his legto kick the locked drawer.
Bang! Bang!
Two kicks.
Cracked! The scorched parts of the drawer cracked, and therewas a big opening. Dong Xuebing could see 2 brown envelopes in the drawer!
The documents were still around!
Dong Xuebing was very excited. He ignored the pain on hishands and reached into the drawer to grab the envelopes. The envelopes wereslightly burned on the edges. Dong Xuebing was coughing heavily from the thicksmoke. He covered his nose and mouth and lowered his body. He tried to make hisway back out of the office. But the collapsed bookcase was blocking the mainexit. He could not escape from there. The people outside were still trying toput out the fire and remove the debris of the bookcase.
Hurry up and let me escape!
Dong Xuebing could feel his head getting heavier andgiddier....
He wanted to use all his strength to move nearer to theexit, but he had inhaled too much smoke. His brains and body were not listeningto him!
Dong Xuebing's vision slowly became blurred. Bang! He fellonto the floor.
The moment the documents touched the floor, it startedburning. Dong Xuebing was also screaming in pain as the fire engulfs his wholebody.
Dead...
Dong Xuebing knew he was dying.
He used his final strength to shout out: "BACK!"
...
Everywhere around Dong Xuebing was still burning.
The 2 envelopes were still in the drawer and could be seenfrom the cracked opening.
Time had returned to 1 minute before.
Dong Xuebing could feel his mind shook. He could feel hisbody again, but he was still feeling giddy. No matter what, it was still betterthan the few seconds before he was about to die earlier. He knew that the thicksmoke was toxic, and he does not have much time. Even if he could get the documents,he still could not get out of the office alive.
Dong Xuebing could not afford to waste time. He grabbed thetwo envelopes again, and this time, he did not pick the earlier path which ledto his death. He ran towards the window panels of the office and picked up aporcelain teacup along the way. He threw the cup at the window panel with allhis strength, smashing the windows.
This office was located on the second floor. Although it wasdangerous to jump out of the window, it was better than suffocating to death bythe thick smoke.
Dong Xuebing could feel he was at his limits. He took insome fresh air near the windows and at the awning below. The awning was to shelterthe parked bicycles below. Dong Xuebing felt slightly relieved when he saw the plasticcanopy. He hugged the documents and slowly climb out of the window. He used hisfingernails to press hard on his temples to clear his mind, before using thelast of his strength to jump down.
4 meters...
3 meters...
2 meters...
Crash!!!
Dong Xuebing could feel the pain on his left shoulders, andhis body hit on the blue translucent plastic shelter. He landed on the awningand lost his balance and rolled down the sides. Bang! He fell from the canopyonto the concrete ground, barely missing a few parked bicycles.
He was gasping for fresh air.
Dong Xuebing resisted the urged to vomit and looked at theblue skies. He was finally safe.
He was alive!
He did not die!
3 minutes later...
Footsteps could be heard coming closer to him.
It was the people who were trying to put out the fire. Allof them had run to the back of the building. Among them, it was the Chief ofthe General Affairs Office and Dong Xuebing's colleagues.
"Bing Zhi! Bing Zhi!"
"Xiao Dong, how are you feeling?! Are you okay?!"
Dong Xuebing's body was covered with burns and bruises. Hecould not stand up. He tried his best to give them a smile.
Tan Limei, Zhuang Zhi, Changjuan and the rest got closer tohim and saw Dong Xuebing covered in blood and burns lying on the ground. All ofthem were shocked: "Call the ambulance! Quick!" Zhuang Zhi was the closest toDong Xuebing. He shouted and move forward to try to help him up.
Li Qing was deeply touched. "Xiao Dong... you... Sighed. Youknow that the documents were burned and yet you still...."
Dong Xuebing was still panting and said: "The documents arenot burned."
"What did you say?" Li Qing, Zhou Changchun and everyone at thescene were shocked.
Dong Xuebing turned his body painfully to his sides and tookout 2 envelopes under him. "Are these the documents?"
"You found it?" Li Qing and Zhou Changchun could not believetheir eyes. They're almost cried on the spot and quickly walk forward to pickup the bloody brown envelopes. "Yes! Yes! These are the documents!" Li Qing wasso ecstatic until he did not know what to say. "You... This... Xiao Dong... Goodjob! Terrific!"
Everyone was stunned by Dong Xuebing.
Guo Panwei and Guo Shunjie looked at each other. They couldnot believe what had happened. Earlier when Dong Xuebing rushed into theburning office, no one expects him to come out alive. Let alone escaping withthe documents.
Zhou Changchun looked at Guo Panwei and Guo Shunjie who werestaring at Dong Xuebing in disbelieved. His opinion of Dong Xuebing hadchanged. Guo Panwei and Guo Shunjie had still claimed that Xiao Dong wasimpulsive and immature. But what did the both of them do just now? They werehiding away from the fire. Dong Xuebing was much more dependable than them.
Director Yan had also arrived and was shocked by DongXuebing's actions. He looked at Dong Xuebing and took the documents from LiQing. "You don't need to write your resignation letter, but you will still bepunished. Go back and write a report for me."
Li Qing replied. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Director Yan."
Zhou Changchun also said: "Thank you, Sir." Both of themwere overjoyed for not need to resign.
"Don't need to thank me." Director Yan looked at DongXuebing who was still sitting on the floor. "If you two want to thank someone,you should thank him. Both of you are really lucky to have such a goodsubordinate."
Li Qing and Zhou Changchun nodded.
That's right. Which leader will also feel the same forhaving a subordinate who was willing to risk his life for his leaders. Atleast, there was no one else like Dong Xuebing in the Western District BranchBureau.
At this moment, everyone's impression of Dong Xuebingchanged. This person was crazy and was willing to risk his life....