Chapter 35 - Why Are You A Firefighter? There Are Some Things One Must Face!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor:

Atlas Studios

Chen Yeliang was observing the situation below. The pilot was focused on navigating the helicopter through the sky, searching for a suitable hovering location.

There were only three people in the cabin. The heavy silence made Lu Ruijin feel uneasy.

He gripped his knees with both hands. His grip was so strong that it felt like he was going to rip his kneecaps off. His palms kept getting wet with perspiration, and he repeatedly wiped them on his pants until his pants appeared to be getting worn out.

“Chen Yeliang, I heard from Wu Zhuo that you are a parkour live streamer who has been live-streaming all day today?” Lu Ruijin broke the silence and started chatting to Chen Yeliang.

Although Chen Yeliang could tell that he was trying very hard to hide his nervousness, he could still sense this implacable emotion emanating from Lu Ruijin.

Although as the fire chief of the fire brigade, Lu Ruijin had been in and out of disaster sites countless times, he had never encountered such an extraordinary and dangerous situation before.

It did not matter who came along, their reactions would be similar to his.

Chen Yeliang smiled and said softly, “It’s just a hobby. I was just in time to register for the competition today, but something unexpected happened.”

“Ahaha, looks like you like exciting things. No wonder you are so bold to ride a bicycle into the fire just like that.”

Lu Ruijin thought of that yellow silhouette leaving everyone in the dust, and involuntarily felt a shiver down his spine.

Initially he wanted to chat with Chen Yeliang to relax his tense frame of mind, but the more he chatted, the more nervous he became.

Lu Ruijjin licked his lips and asked awkwardly, “Did you volunteer to take on this mission for the sake of thrills?”

There was a hint of spitefulness in his insinuation. Usually, Lu Ruijin would not ask such a pointed question even if he had nothing better to do.

However, this might be their final moments before they face the life or death situation. It was not an embarrassing question to ask in the name of satisfying a little curiosity.

Chen Yeliang was a magnanimous person, so he probably wouldn’t be so calculative over such matters.

“For the sake of thrills?” Chen Yeliang turned his head to the side in confusion and asked Lu Ruijin in return, “What about you? It’s quite exciting to work in the fire department too. Are you also doing it for thrills? After all, the returns versus the risks are completely disproportionate.”

Lu Ruijin was stunned for a moment. Then he burst into laughter and said, “There are all kinds of missions. Some of them are trivial matters, while others are frighteningly dangerous. It doesn’t feel thrilling at all.”

“But you should know the nature of my job. If you want to hear some grandiose reasons, I can give you a whole butt load of them.”

As the two of them spoke, the helicopter circled twice above the target building. The rising hot air waves made the helicopter swing erratically, and it was with tremendous effort that the pilot managed to steady the aircraft and brought it higher.

In the face of such a perilous situation, Lu Ruijin was paradoxically much calmer. He gazed at the fire below and remained silent for a moment before slowly continuing.

“Those reasons are but wanton flotsam in the air. They are not suitable for this occasion. If you insist on knowing, I can only tell you that it was due to the exigencies of life.”

Lu Ruijin stuck out his tongue and jokingly said, “When I was young, I thought that fire engines were very cool. So I wanted to become a firefighter when I grew up, but I later realized that armed police officers are even more dashing. Hahahaha.”

He had put down his serious airs as a fire chief and light-heartedly threw out a simplistic reason. He did not look like someone in his forties at all.

“Pett!”

Both Chen Yeliang and the pilot burst out laughing.

“You don’t say!” Lu Ruijin grew more enthusiastic. “It really is cool to be a firefighter. Back then during the blind date, when your future sister-in-law heard that I was a firefighter, she immediately agreed to marry me. The following year, she gave birth to a cute girl for me!”

“It is all thanks to my job that I got such a wonderful wife.” He nodded emotionally.

Thanks to his humorous banter, the atmosphere in the cabin became much more relaxed.

Chen Yeliang smiled and said, “You mean to say that your job and your wife happened by chance and you just let nature take its course?”

Lu Ruijin’s smile dimmed at the mention of his family. “Of course.”

“During peaceful times, who would be so rebellious as to challenge fate? I’m just trying to lead a simple life.”

“My job is to protect the peace for the people and do my best to direct everything towards a positive outcome, instead of letting people suffer from natural calamities and man-made disasters… Wherever there’s danger, that’s where we will go. It’s not merely thrill-seeking….”

Chen Yeliang nodded and said seriously, “Chief Lu, I share your sentiment.”

“pursued the two criminals to this place. I didn’t expect them to cause the chemical plant to explode and implicate the entire Xilin City in this catastrophe.”

Lu Rujjin had heard a little about Chen Yeliang’s parkour incident. He listened to Wu Zhuo explain how the two men wanted to push Chen Yeliang off the 500-meter tall building.

He felt that things had not been easy for Chen Yeliang. He raised his hand and patted Chen Yeliang on the shoulder through the heavy protective clothing.

“Sorry for asking you such a question,” Lu Ruijin apologized.

Chen Yeliang shrugged his shoulders to brush off the hand that was on his shoulder. He smiled and said, “Chief Lu, you’re being too polite. You just said that your wife is my sister-in-law, so we’re already brothers. Such courtesy only makes us seem distant and remote.”

“speaking of which, how old is your daughter? Is she going to address me as ‘Uncle’?”

“Dream on!” Lu Ruijin said with disdain. “My daughter is 17 years old and is only a few years younger than you.”

“Ah, seventeen…” Chen Yeliang pondered over this. “The college entrance examination is in one year’s time, so she must be under a lot of pressure.”

When he heard that, Lu Ruijin let out a long sigh, and the ensuing vapor formed a white layer fogging up his protective mask.

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d almost forgotten about it. She’s staying at the dormitory of Zhongdian high school and only comes home on Sunday afternoons every week. I am seldom at home, and I haven’t seen her for almost two months. Speaking of which, my daughter is really pretty. I even have a

picture of her here!”

He groped excitedly around his chest trying to reach for the photo in his pocket to take a look, but his hand only touched the thick protective suit.

Thinking about his current situation, and thinking about how this might be the last chance for him to see the photo yet he couldn’t, Lu Ruijin’s eyes suddenly drooped.

Chen Yeliang watched his every move and felt as though something was pricking his heart. It did not hurt, but it was awfully unbearable.

He smiled and said, “After the mission is completed, you can rush to your daughter’s school and take a good look at her!”

“Don’t look at the photos for the time being. They might turn portentous.”

Lu Ruijin did not know what he meant, but his disappointed expression diminished and he smiled at Chen Yeliang.

He was fully aware that he wouldn’t be able to see her anymore.

Notwithstanding whether they could successfully turn the valve off or not, they would most definitely perish if they were to enter the center of the blaze!

Lu Ruijin had fought hundreds of fires, so he was well aware that he would be easily roasted by the several hundred degrees of core temperature inside the blaze. The protective suit would only last for a short time.

Even if they could narrowly hold on until the valve was turned off, the flames surrounding them would not automatically extinguish themselves.

Although his colleagues on the other side of the compound were trying their best to put out the fire, based on the situation, it would take at least ten hours to put out the fire completely.

Lu Ruijin thought self-deprecatingly, “By then, we don’t even require cremation.”

At this thought, he glanced sideways at Chen Yeliang and said in a serious tone, “Chen Yeliang, later I will go down first.. After I have confirmed that it’s safe, I will send you a signal and you can come down, understand?”