我要再来一次

Chapter 131 Yu Chen, I miss you

Luo Xiaolei was glad that her family seemed to have stopped sending their men in her house. She had not encounter any of her family since the day she moved in Yu Chen’s house and it was such a relief for her. She didn’t know if they really stopped or they just couldn’t find her but she didn’t care anymore. All she wanted was to stay away from them.

In the past days, Luo Xiaolei had been re-evaluating her plans. She had been sticking to her plans all these years but since the day Yu Chen appeared in her life, things had drastically changed. Because of Yu Chen and the changes that happened, Luo Xiaolei had decided, that she was not going to wait anymore.

Inside her room, Luo Xiaolei had just opened the secret vault under her bed. The vault seemed to have contained some important documents she was keeping for years.

After securely putting them inside her bag, Luo Xiaolei breathed deep. The look in her eyes was suddenly intense. She looked like she was preparing for something huge.

Luo Xiaolei then looked around her room once again before she finally walked towards the door. However, just as she was about to touch her bedroom’s door knob, she was startled. The fire alarm suddenly went off.

Luo Xiaolei’s eyes widened but her fight or flight instinct immediately took over. She grabbed her bag as she quickly dashed towards the front door. Luo Xiaolei was still calm as she approached door but the moment she pushed it open, she could only look in horror.

The lobby was already filled with thick, acrid smoke and she could now hear screams from people panicking. Luo Xiaolei knew that smoke like this contains toxic gasses that could make anyone collapse if inhaled so she immediately shut her door closed.

She remembered that she had an emergency breathing device in her house so without wasting any second, she dashed towards her kitchen to find it. However, the moment she grabbed the apparatuses, she saw flames shooting up outside the window and then out of the blue, the glass in the window smashed into her kitchen, barely missing her.

The shock made her knees trembled but she didn’t let herself froze and watched there in horror. Without wasting a moment, she wore the breathing apparatus and dashed out of her apartment. She could now tell that the fire had started from the floor below her and it might already be too late for her to use the stare case going down. Judging from the thickness of the smoke, Luo Xiaolei could only choose to climb upstairs but the smoke was thicker, black, and she could hardly see anything.

...

About ten minutes after leaving Scarlet Hill, Yu Chen was terrorized by the call he received. The man he assigned as Luo Xiaolei’s chauffeur said that Luo Xiaolei’s apartment building was on fire and that she was still inside her house.

Yu Chen was horrified when he dialed Luo Xiaolei’s number and she was not answering.

"Get the chopper, now!" was the first words to come out of Yu Chen’s mouth and his men, sensing the extent of the disaster immediately moved.

The chopper had arrived shortly after that and without wasting a single second, Yu Chen and his men left to rescue Luo Xiaolei.

When he saw the smokes in the distance, Yu Chen’s aura had turned extremely dark. He looked like he was about to explode. His jaws were clenched tight as he silently dialed Luo Xiaolei’s number once again.

But still, she was not answering. The longer he listened to the ringing phone, the more he felt like being suffocated. His fingers started to tremble, and he wanted to go berserk. But he waited. He waited for her to at least receive his call and tell him that she was fine... and that he was not late again.

When the call ended, Yu Chen gritted his teeth. His fists clenched into a tight ball and his knuckles turned so white. The atmosphere had become extremely heavy and his men could only feel one thing coming from him; unconscionable worry and anger. This was the sign of an approaching doomsday they were talking about just hours ago, and they could only hope and pray that Luo Xiaolei was fine and that everything was not too late, or else... they couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen next.

In no time, the chopper was finally approaching the building’s rooftop but Yu Chen remained immobile like stone. His menacing aura was blazing like never before.

But something unexpected happen. Yu Chen’s phone suddenly rang and the caller was no other than Luo Xiaolei.

...

In the dark lobby, Luo Xioalei was giving her all to reach the top floor. She still had three floors to climb and her breathing device only have ten minutes left. She had to hurry but it was too dark that all she could do was rely on her memory and kept climbing the stairs.

By the time she had finally reached the 14th floor, Luo Xiaolei was distracted by the voice of a screaming girl. She could tell that she was a child and she could hear her calling "mommy" over and over again.

The stairs she was about to climb was the last and she would finally reach the roof top. But the scream of the girl made Luo Xiaolei stop. She couldn’t bear to leave listening to that child wailing in despair.

Without a choice, Luo Xiaolei listened to the source of the voice and followed it. Gladly, the girl seemed to be nearby. The child was lying by the door of the second apartment from the stairs.

When Luo Xiaolei found her, she could tell she was being suffocated. "Mommy, I can’t breathe." The child cried, her body was slightly limped as Luo Xiaolei carried her.

Luo Xiaolei could tell that the girl was about to collapse. Without a choice, Luo Xiaolei took off her breathing device and put it on the girl.

The smoke quickly made Luo Xiaolei felt like she was being strangled. And when she looked at the end of the lobby, Luo Xiaolei could only look in horror. She didn’t think that the fire reached the 14th floor in a matter of ten minutes.

Panicking, Luo Xiaolei tried to hold her breathe as she carried the girl. But everything happened too fast and she couldn’t see anything ahead, she couldn’t breathe.

She collapsed on the lobby and the child with her cried again. "Mommy, get up. The fire is coming!" she wailed but Luo Xiaolei could now only crawl, chasing her breathe.

Realizing that it’s impossible for her to carry the child, she decided to send her away. The oxygen left in the device would still be enough for a child like her until she reached the rooftop so this was the only option she had.

"Baby girl, run towards the stairs as fast as you can. There are people waiting in the rooftop, you go ask help, okay?" Luo Xiaolei pleaded but when the girl shook her head, Luo Xiaolei screamed. "Please, go now, faster! Or else we both will die here!"

The girl could only cry again as he finally stood and then she ran towards the stairs.

Luo Xiaolei began crawling again, but the smoke was too much for her. And then, she fell. As she struggled to keep crawling, Luo Xiaolei saw her phone fell on the floor. As she stared at it, the first thing she remembered was Yu Chen.

She remembered how she had been missing him and that she promised to the twins that she would call him tonight. But it looked like everything just kept on getting on her way. She didn’t know why something like this was happening to her again. She didn’t understand why something like this need to happen to her again. She couldn’t help but think that maybe, she was meant to die helplessly like this again, and she could only smile bitterly. She wanted to curse, but she didn’t.

Instead, the first thing she did was call the only person she had in mind at that very moment and the instant she heard his voice, she couldn’t help but feel the surge of hope blazing inside her heart.

"Luo Xiaolei?!!" he exclaimed, he sounded like he was in a panic.

"Yu Chen..." she uttered, as she continued crawling, heaving and coughing.

"Where are you?!"

"I’m up here. I’m on the 14th floor."

"I’m coming for you. I’m coming to get you!" he said in a loud voice. She never heard him yelled like that before.

But before Luo Xiaolei could reply, something exploded behind her back. She was forced to look behind her and when she saw the flames right before her, her tears could only fall. Her lips trembled as she listened to Yu Chen’s voice asking her if she’s alright and that he was coming.

Luo Xiaolei didn’t speak, but after a moment of silence, "Yu Chen, I miss you." was all she could say.