“Only Old Chen from the warehouse suffered more severe burns and has been taken to the hospital. He was sorting out goods at the very back of the warehouse and was a little slow to escape. Everyone else was relatively calm, and according to our usual fire drills, they only suffered minor injuries,” Guo Sheng replied on his behalf.
At this moment, the head of the fire department came over, shook hands with Guo Sheng, and said thankfully, "Factory Director Guo has always followed our requirements to conduct fire drills for employees, which is why there were no major casualties. Your factory is a key fire prevention unit of Kangqiao, and it has done a very good job in recent years, and has been rated as a model fire prevention enterprise several times. It is a stroke of luck that there were no casualties."
Song Qing politely stood up, nodded, and forced a smile.
Apart from Guo Sheng and Xia Xiaodong, no one present could truly understand the deep sorrow in her heart. The new project and Power One were of paramount importance to Fuhua; one represented the present, the other the future. Afraid of losing control of her tears, she walked to the window, gazing up at the night sky, remaining motionless for a long time, her heart screaming, "Dad, why has everything been so unsuccessful since you started developing the power project? Accidents keep happening one after another."
Why are peaceful days so short?
Aunt Zhou gestured for them not to disturb her.
After a long while, she turned around, her face pale, and said to the police, "Alright, let's take your statement now."
The police asked them about the basic situation. Although Song Qing listened the whole time, her heart was bleeding.
“Director Su, our workers have always had a high level of fire safety awareness. This is a basic requirement for us to enter the factory. I just asked the workers at Factory No. 1, and none of them have done anything to affect safe production. We suspect that someone deliberately set the fire, so we asked you to come over,” Guo Sheng said.
“According to your workers, you’ve been working overtime a lot lately. Could it be that some workers couldn’t stand it and secretly started a fire by smoking at night?” another policeman asked.
Xia Xiaodong, being young and impetuous, rolled up his sleeves and said urgently, "That's impossible! Our factory's production is very mature, and we are particularly strict about the management of fire sources. Moreover, Chairman Song is very concerned about the No. 1 factory project. Even the workers responsible for cleaning are the best ones. Besides, we operate on a three-shift system, so there's no way there could be any fatigue issues!"
The police officers kept taking notes. Song Qing stood up and said, "Director Guo, you take good care of Director Su and the others. Xiao Dong and I are going out for a walk."
She turned around and stopped Aunt Zhou, saying, "Don't follow me. I'm not leaving the factory; I'm just going out for some fresh air."
Aunt Zhou sighed, handed Song Qing's coat to Xia Xiaodong, and told him to take good care of her. She told him to call Yi Mantian as soon as they left to report.
They waited for quite a while after going downstairs before the firefighters let them in. The workers had already dispersed, and although the entire factory was illuminated by the fire lights as if it were daytime, it was quiet at this time. Song Qing raised his wrist and saw that it was already six o'clock.
She walked slowly, hugging herself with her arms. The tall streetlights cast her small, blurry shadow, making her appear incredibly tiny.
Xia Xiaodong dared not speak. He grabbed his singed hair with resentment, feeling extremely angry. He had been holding his breath ever since the incident, and he knew why Song Qing had come out. At this moment, he had no desire to know the cause of the accident.
This sudden turn of events caught Song Qing completely off guard; there was absolutely no warning. They had already reached the warehouse, which was littered with the aftermath of the battery explosion. It was utterly destroyed, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of glue. Just a few hours earlier, it had been piled high with goods, ready to be delivered to the first customer at daybreak.
She spent almost half a year on this project, neglecting even Power One, and now it has been brutally broken in half.
This is all her hard work; she was just one step away, just one step away.
Looking at her frail body standing amidst the mess, Xia Xiaodong suddenly exclaimed, "Chairman Song, if you want to cry, then cry!"
Song Qing carried him on her back, lowered her head, and after a long while turned around, "I'm so sorry, all your hard work has been wasted. Go back to your dorm and clean up. You're only allowed to sleep for two hours. We'll have a lot to do as soon as it's light."
Xia Xiaodong's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but seeing Song Qing's calm and forced smile, he ultimately said nothing and walked away slowly with his head down.
She finally broke down in tears, slowly and helplessly sliding down the charred wall, burying her face in her arms. She touched the burnt remains of a lighter, and just then, a flurry of phone calls came in.
There were signatures from Yan Xunan, Madam Song, Song Ning, Leng Feng, He Min, and Secretary Liu... but none from Yi Zhengwei.
Looking at the gray sky, she wished that the sky would never brighten and the sun would never rise.
She was unwilling to admit that her new project had been aborted. Tomorrow morning, the client would call to urge her to hurry up, and Fuhua's trust would be greatly diminished. Shixin's Yin Haixin would also reconsider whether she could entrust her with long-term, large orders with confidence, and her father-in-law, Yi Mantian, would take the opportunity to make her narrow down her business scope.
She always believed that there was no problem with Fuhua's production management, but it was meaningless for her to believe it alone. She was also a businesswoman, and she knew what business people were thinking. She knew the impact of this accident on Fuhua and on the new project.
Her stomach started hurting again, so she called Aunt Zhou and said she was going out to get breakfast. "I'm not going back for now. Have driver Zhang bring my Blue Wing over."
She drove Guo Sheng's car aimlessly along the small streets of Cambridge, without direction or purpose. The county roads were nearly deserted in the early morning. She drove faster and faster, until everything—people, objects, and scenery—became indistinct. Inside the car, deafening rock music blared. She was terrified of this silence; it felt like the calm before a storm.
Therefore, she cannot allow herself to be in a dangerous state of quiet.
As she sped past a large white house, she suddenly slammed on the brakes and stopped abruptly. Then, without even turning, she reversed wildly down the road, causing the cars behind to honk their horns, but to no avail. They could only give way to Song Qing, but they all stuck their heads out and cursed loudly in unfamiliar languages that Song Qing couldn't understand anyway.
She reversed until she stopped precisely in front of a building called Kangda Hospital, opened the car door, and walked straight in as if no one else was there. On the far right of the hospital was a large parking lot, next to a lush lawn. There, strolling, were Shen Xing, dressed in a hospital gown, and the leisurely Yi Zhengwei. The two chatted as if no one else was around, then stopped in front of Yi Zhengwei's black sports car.
"Zhengwei, you only arrived at dawn, and you're leaving so soon." Shen Xing looked up, her face full of reluctance.
"I'll come see you again. You need to take good care of yourself." Yi Zhengwei was as handsome as ever, and despite not having slept all night, he still looked energetic.
He turned around to open the car door, and that's when he saw Song Qing. Shen Xing gasped in surprise, covering her mouth. Her face, which had been flushed with embarrassment at Yi Zhengwei's arrival, turned deathly pale. Her eyes widened like saucers, thinking it was simply unbelievable.
Yi Zhengwei suppressed his smile, his unease growing stronger. He couldn't read anything on Song Qing's face, which only made him more anxious. Today, her lips were pursed, her eyes devoid of joy or sorrow, so indifferent as if they contained no emotion whatsoever, yet her face was even paler than Shen Xing's. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Yi Zhengwei finally caught a whiff of something amiss—good heavens, she reeked of burning!
Yi Zhengwei's heart tightened, and he quickly stepped forward to hug her, anxiously looking her up and down, "What happened? Where did you go? Are you hurt?!"
His urgent and worried tone made Song Qingxin feel a pang of sadness. The tears that she had been hiding from everyone burst forth in front of him, like a flood that had broken its banks, surging forth as if burying and destroying everything.
"Why didn't you answer the phone?" The question was so calm it didn't sound like an accusation, yet it was more accusatory than anything else.
Yi Zhengwei felt as if his heart was being torn apart, and he mentally lashed out at himself a thousand times. God, what had he missed? What had happened to Song Qing? He hadn't seen her so helpless and vulnerable in such a long, long time.
Song Qing's lips trembled slightly. He could no longer control himself and held her tightly in his arms, his brows furrowed in heartache.
“Gone, all gone…” Song Qing murmured.
Immediately, Yi Zhengwei felt her in his arms getting heavier and heavier, so heavy that he could hardly hold her anymore.
"Qing'er, Qing'er!!!" He shook her desperately, but she had already closed her eyes and was unconscious. Shen Xing was so frightened that he didn't dare to move at all. He just watched as Yi Zhengwei picked up Song Qing and rushed into the hospital.
The entire hospital was filled with his heart-wrenching screams, "Doctor! Doctor!"
Chapter Fifty-Four: Husband and Wife United
"I see you're getting more and more business-savvy. Actually, this matter isn't difficult to resolve, it's just a bit tedious. In fact, I think this incident will make you more skilled, so the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."
-Cold wind
Song Qing only rested for one night at the hospital in Kangqiao before rushing back to Linchuan the next day. Yi Zhengwei did not return; he stayed in Kangqiao to help her handle the aftermath of the fire and the investigation into the cause of the accident.