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87.5% Learning About My Time Of Death For An Insane Life / Chapter 35: Why Are You A Firefighter? There Are Some Things One Must Face!

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

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 Ruijin 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.

"Pfft!"

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."

"I 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 Ruijin 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?"


Chapter 36: Chen, You Even Know How to Pilot an Aircraft?

Editor: Atlas Studios

"You have to listen to my instructions, understand?" Lu Ruijin finished his sentence and waited for Chen Yeliang's reply.

Chen Yeliang gave him a puzzled look and said, "Chief Lu, I haven't joined the fire department, so logically speaking, I'm not under your command."

Lu Ruijin almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Judging from Chen Yeliang's words, it seemed like he was going to act alone.

Turning off the valve might not be accomplished in one go. The risk of both of them going in at the same time was too high. It was totally unnecessary.

Lu Ruijin had accepted the mission with the understanding that he might not return alive. The chief commander must have considered that since he was a senior employee, he was experienced enough and would definitely find a way to deal with unexpected situations.

Therefore, Lu Ruijin did not wish for Chen Yeliang to go in. At least not before he himself had been sacrificed!

"Do you think this is child's play? In this kind of situation, you must listen to orders. If we both went in instead of sending one person to scout around first, we may both perish, and then what?" Lu Ruijin said anxiously.

The emotions that had finally settled down were once again stirred up by Chen Yeliang.

Chen Yeliang was very naive. He did not understand why Lu Ruijin would suddenly become anxious.

He explained, "I mean…"

At this moment, the pilot, who had been keeping quiet all this while, suddenly spoke.

"Chief Lu, the airflow at the designated location is unstable and cannot be approached. I found the nearest spot for rappelling, but it's still about 300 meters away from our target landing spot."

"Furthermore, the hovering time has been greatly reduced. It might only be ten seconds or so. Otherwise, the helicopter will be deflected by the airflow, causing it to crash."

"Chief Lu, can you guys cover 300 meters on foot? Please advise!"

It was only then that Chen Yeliang and Lu Ruijin noticed that they had already circled several times in the air.

Half of the fifteen minutes that the engineer estimated had been wasted in the air!

Lu Ruijin made a prompt decision. "Let's go to the place you chose!"

He knew very well that both his time and the time in the chemical plant was running out. There is no time to hesitate anymore!

"Understood!"

The pilot immediately descended towards his chosen position.

At this moment, the viewers in front of their televisions were all very worried for the three of them.

Even if Lan Sixi had been shut out of the information loop, she would have known that Chen Yeliang had rushed to the chemical plant by now.

She sat on the sofa and stared at the television. Her fair white hands covered her mouth as tears fell onto the snow-white blanket like pearls from a broken necklace.

When she was on campus, she couldn't get hold of Chen Yeliang and thought that she could celebrate with him after the competition ended.

Who would have thought that in just a single day, everything would change so drastically?

Earlier Chen Yeliang had gone deep into the fire site to save the workers. At this moment, he was risking his life to make an emergency rappelling landing under very turbulent airflow conditions.

Her mouth was wide open in dismay. She couldn't get a word out of her throat. She couldn't even whimper.

Her stepmother sensed that something was amiss. She handed the child in her arms to the nanny and sat down beside Lan Sixi.

She lovingly stroked Lan Sixi's hair and said, "Sixi, stop watching. You just got discharged from the hospital and need to rest. Don't watch anymore."

Lan Sixi grabbed her stepmother's hand and begged, "Aunt, where's my dad? Where's my dad?"

"Your dad is still in a meeting at the station… you…"

"I'm going to look for Dad and ask him to save Yeliang…" Lan Sixi said agitatedly. Then she felt that this plan wasn't feasible, so she changed her mind and said," At least… at least get them to stop this plan! Officer Zhao is at the scene. I'll immediately go and beg him! "

Her voice had unknowingly gotten louder and she fumbled frantically for her phone on the sofa.

All this commotion startled her baby brother so much that he started crying loudly. Sixi's stepmother asked the nanny to carry the child to another room to calm him down. She then looked at the helpless Lan Sixi and hugged her tenderly. She cajoled her softly.

"Sixi, don't get too worked up. I'll bring you to your father right away. Let him think of a way."

Although she wasn't Lan Sixi's biological mother, Lan Sixi was well-behaved and sensible. She was really well-loved by everyone. In addition, after learning the truth about Lan Sixi falling off the building, her stepmother blamed herself even more.

Even if she knew that her husband would not be able to do anything, if it could help Lan Sixi have some peace of mind, she was willing to accompany her daughter.

Meanwhile, at the fire site, the pilot flew to the revised location and turned to say to the two guys standing by the cabin door, "When I count to three, you guys will start rappelling down!"

"One!"

The two of them had already opened the hatch and stood there facing the rushing wind, waiting for the pilot's signal.

Boom!

Just as their apprehension was reaching its peak, a sudden explosion occurred before the pilot could complete his countdown!

Warehouse 8 was completely engulfed by the fire by now. Just like the earlier Warehouse 2, it had progressed to the stage of repeated small explosions!

The fire was like a blooming flower, and the metal shreds and broken glass that were mixed in it exploded in all directions, smashing onto the helicopter in a barrage of clanging noises.

The already turbulent airflow was made worse by this development. The impact from the blast caused the helicopter to flip up and spin uncontrollably twice in the air.

"Get down!"

Chen Yeliang reacted quickly. He held onto one corner of the seat with one hand and pressed Lu Ruijin onto the ground with the other so that he would not be thrown out by the centrifugal force!

The pilot held on tightly to the throttle and tried his best to stabilize the aircraft, to prevent it from being deflected by other air currents!

After about 10 seconds, Chen Yeliang felt the helicopter stabilize. As he stood up, a shard of glass fragment smoldering with sparks smashed onto his visor.

It was only then that Chen Yeliang saw the debris from the blast had flown into the cabin through the opened hatch. There were small flaming lumps scattered all over the floor, just like fireflies by the water.

"Are you okay?" He quickly asked the pilot.

The pilot shook his head weakly. His hands, which were tightly gripping the throttle, suddenly dropped down and his body collapsed to the side.

Chen Yeliang quickly held him up. As his hand touched the pilot's shoulder, a sticky red fluid flowed down his face. Not far away from the pilot, the flames on a smoldering fist-sized object gradually died out.

"Chief Lu, bad news! He has been injured by the flying debris from the explosion!" Chen Yeliang said as he removed the pilot's helmet.

"How did this happen?"

Lu Ruijin hurried over and helped the pilot down from his seat.

Chen Yeliang took over the job of piloting the aircraft. He regained control of the throttle and guided it upwards.

"How are the pilot's injuries?" Chen Yeliang asked.

Lu Ruijin checked for a long while. It looked like a superficial wound, but blood vessels on the head were dense, so there was more bleeding.

He found a clean towel in the cabin to use as a tourniquet over the pilot's wound.

Then, he gave the pilot's face a few pats and called his name out twice, but the pilot only emitted a weak groan. He couldn't be sure whether it was a conscious response or a reflex action due to the pain.

"With the helmet protecting him, his external injuries are not serious, but there might be internal injuries. He needs to be sent to the hospital immediately!" Lu Ruijin said to Chen Yeliang.

Then he abruptly froze on the spot.

He stared at Chen Yeliang navigating the aircraft, his eyes widened in disbelief. He said in surprise, "Chen, you can fly an aircraft?"


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