The flames rolled over like crazy, the scorching air caused skin to burn painfully, and people inside the room screamed and fled.
Outside, thick smoke billowed, and orange-red flames shot out from the windows of the house.
Even a slight touch to the skin would get scorched.
Shen Liguang quickly arrived at the scene of the fire, where numerous young men and women dressed in ancient costumes scattered in panic.
Wu Xiaowu explained, "There's a group of Hanfu enthusiasts gathered here, and it seems the fire was accidentally caused during their activities."
Shen Liguang was checking his fireproof suit while asking, "Is the power cut off?"
Wu Xiaowu nodded, "It's cut off."
Shen Liguang said, "Xiao Wu, you go disperse the crowd. Qian Zheng and I will go inside to rescue people; others stay outside to fight the fire."
"Yes."
"Fire, firefighter uncle..." At this moment, a boy grabbed Shen Liguang in a panic, so frightened he couldn't speak properly, "There are still people inside, my boss, my boss is still in there."
"I know, I will get her out safely."
Shen Liguang calmed the boy's emotions. After completing checks, he grabbed his gear and quickly entered the building.
There were no flammable materials inside, so the fire did not spread very quickly.
Qian Zheng had already led the trapped people to safety, while Shen Liguang continued to stay and search for any remaining trapped people.
The fire inside the building grew bigger, as if ready to devour someone.
Just as he was about to turn around thinking no one was there, a faint moan came from the corner behind him.
"Save me..."
Shen Liguang turned back, flipped open a wall panel, and a girl in ancient costume, having lost her strength, fell at his feet.
"Save me..." Tears streaked the girl's young face.
Shen Liguang rapidly bent down and lifted the girl in his arms.
Fu Ying's consciousness was blurry. In her daze, she felt someone lifting her.
She tried hard to open her eyes and saw a strangely dressed man before her.
He wore a hood, so his face was indistinguishable.
All she could sense were his eyes, cold and serene as a deep pool.
"Thank you, young master..."
Fu Ying murmured weakly, then completely lost consciousness.
That title made Shen Liguang frown briefly, before quickly carrying her away from the blaze.
...
A month later.
Fu Ying was dressed in a blue and white school uniform, standing at the entrance of Mingyang Third Middle School, uneasily holding her bag strap as she watched the bustling crowd.
In the palace, she had never seen so many people; only a few palace maids and eunuchs accompanied her daily.
Suddenly having to interact with so many people made her feel lost and bewildered.
Fu Mingchuan, worried about her, repeatedly cautioned, "Don't cause trouble, do not fight with classmates, do not scold the teachers. I do not want to be called to the school again."
The girl was gentle and obediently nodded her head.
Seeing his daughter behaving so obediently gave Fu Mingchuan an illusion.
He always felt she was pretending to be good. The moment he left, she would show her wild, unruly nature.
"Fu Yan, as the older brother, keep an eye on your sister."
"..." Fu Yan frowned unhappily, "I'm in college, she's in high school. How can I keep an eye on her? Am I supposed to run over next door to see if she's causing trouble?"
Fu Ying blinked her eyes, speaking with a soft Wu dialect, "Dad, I'll be good."
Fu Mingchuan felt oddly touched, unsure if she was pretending, but this obedience was his first time seeing such behavior from her.
Fu Mingchuan kindly patted Fu Ying's head: "Alright, good girl, go on in."
"Did the injury affect her brain?" Fu Yan muttered as he shook off his clothes and sauntered to the neighboring college.
"Hey brat, don't talk about your sister like that. Yingying, don't listen to his nonsense," Fu Mingchuan chastised.
Fu Mingchuan pulled out a pack of orange-flavored candies wrapped in colorful transparent paper from his pocket and stuffed it into her bag.
"Go in. Dad will pick you up in the evening."
Fu Ying nodded and turned towards the school building.
As people looked her way, she timidly lowered her head and walked in.
Fortunately, she still retained memories of the place, otherwise, she couldn't even find her classroom.
Fu Ying entered Class 5 of the first grade. Her seat was at the very back.
After a while, a teacher entered.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses, surnamed Tan and named Ruonian, their math teacher, immediately began checking the holiday homework.
When it came to Fu Ying, she nervously pulled out her pristine holiday homework…
Tan Ruonian looked at her skeptically, probably guessing she hadn't done it.
This wealthy girl, so hard to manage.
He flipped through it casually, and Tan Ruonian's face turned green: "Not a single word written? Were you even too lazy to write your name? What did you do all holiday, Fu Ying?"
"I..."
I fly kites in the Imperial Palace...
I don't know if you'll believe me...
"Bring your father here tomorrow."
"Don't..." Fu Ying blushed and felt embarrassed in front of everyone. No one had ever dared to treat her like this.
Even her Grand Tutor had never treated her this way.
Fu Ying's face was burning hot.
"Teacher, don't call my dad. He's old and can't handle the shock."
Fu Ying's demeanor surprised Tan Ruonian.
In the past, Fu Ying would definitely have stiffened her neck and said, "Call him if you want, I'm not scared," and would never have seemed as frightened as she was now.
His expression softened slightly: "Now you know fear, what were you doing earlier? What were you doing during winter break? You didn't write a single word of your homework, I must call your parents, I need to have a good talk with your dad."
"It's already the second term of first grade, soon it will be second and third grade, you won't even get into college this way. Although every profession produces its masters, think about it, you're a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old kid, what can you do without studying? Get a job? Who would want you? Do you think working is easier than studying?"
"I..." Fu Ying lowered her head, embarrassed and wanting to find a crack to crawl into.
"Tea... Teacher." A boy next to Fu Ying stood up, gave his own written math homework to Tan Ruonian, "Take, take the wrong one, the one that wasn't written is mine, this one is hers."
Tan Ruonian frowned and took the homework with suspicion. The title page had a name on it, Li Hanyi.
"Li Hanyi, do you think the teacher is stupid? Whose name is this? Is it yours? If you want to fool the teacher, at least erase the name."
Tan Ruonian angrily threw the homework back, and said to Fu Ying, "If you had written it, even if you didn't know how and left it blank, I wouldn't have said anything."
Fu Ying: "I, I don't know any of it."
Tan Ruonian: "..."
I've taught everything, and still, you say you don't know.
Tan Ruonian, furious: "Bring your father here tomorrow!"
Fu Ying clutched her fingers, no wonder Fu Mingchuan had warned her this morning, saying he didn't want to be called to school.
She hadn't expected that, on her first day at school, she would be asked to bring her parent.
Just the first day of school, and without having classes, each teacher came to check the homework, they basically knew Fu Ying hadn't done it, and knew that Tan Ruonian had asked to call her parent, so they didn't say anything.
They also handed out a lot of textbooks, she flipped through them, completely clueless.
Fu Ying leaned on the desk, looking out of the window at the blue sky, unable to muster any energy.
Why was she here? This story starts a month ago.
That day, foreign emissaries arrived, and Father Emperor was deeply worried, often hesitating as he looked at her, powerless.
During a banquet, she accidentally overheard the foreign emissaries discussing marriage alliances. Fu Ying tensed up, realizing that Father Emperor showed a look of helplessness towards her.
The Empress Mother did not want to send her away in marriage. She hurriedly packed up overnight, planning to sneak her out of the palace, but her movements were hasty, and she accidentally knocked over an oil lamp.
Later, Yixin Palace caught fire, and when she awoke, she was here.
For half a month after she woke up from the hospital, everyone looked at her strangely.
The reason was, her personality was completely different from the Fu Ying who originally lived here.
Luckily, she retained the memories of this place.
Fu Ying played with a pen, lowered her head, and sketched the firefighter who had saved her and helped her escape the inferno on paper.
She thought back, but could only sketch the outline of his headgear from memory.
"Boss."
"..."
Her desk mate Li Hanyi pushed her: "Boss?"
Only then did Fu Ying realize he was calling her.
Fu Ying turned around, not knowing when, several boys had gathered behind her.
It startled her.
Li Hanyi: "Boss, why are you acting so timid? You're usually not like this."
Du Yong: "Yeah, why are you afraid of Tan Ruonian? You normally would've dealt with him!"
The boys said it with a fierce look on their faces.
Fu Ying's brain slowly processed, realizing these were the original Fu Ying's minions here.
Li Hanyi: "My gosh, Boss, what's with that look? You don't recognize us anymore?!"
"Fire accident, burnt your brain, lost your memory?"
The boys' remarks grew more and more absurd.
"Burnt your brain, and then amnesia, you're brain-damaged?"
"That's hilarious to me."
The boys kept talking, bantering back and forth.
Fu Ying thought, they must have a lot of ideas.
She quietly asked, "What if the parents don't have time to come to school?"
"That's tough, Tan Ruonian knows each parent's phone number."
"Just find anyone to come to the school, how hard can it be?"