strictlysupreme Chapter 1424 Yunrui's Sincere Inscription: Wen Huixin & Gu Zhaohua
Chapter 1424 Yunrui's Sincere Inscription: Wen Huixin & Gu Zhaohua
An eerie calm enveloped the entire Gu family. Everyone understood that Bai Xiuxian's affair was inextricably linked to Gu Mingcheng, but no one dared to ask, no one dared to delve into the matter.
After dinner, Gu Mingcheng returned to his study alone. Gu Yunqian hesitated for a long time before finally knocking on the door. "Come in."
In the study, the documents about Lin Xu were gone, replaced by a stack of newspaper clippings about the Hong Kong fire. Gu Mingcheng was sitting at his desk flipping through them, his fingertips tracing the speculative reports about corruption in the construction project. "What are you trying to say?" he asked without looking up.
"You were the one who did what happened to Aunt Bai." Gu Yunqian's tone was not a question, but an affirmation.
Gu Mingcheng finally looked up, smiled at him, and said with a hint of relief in his eyes, "You've grown up and finally learned to use your brain." He pointed to the newspaper clippings on the table, "The fire was not an accident, and the corruption in the project was not unfounded. Bai Xiuxian's background was not clean in her early years, and the man she married was even more so... We haven't been in contact for too long these years and have overlooked too much unseen dirt."
Gu Yunqian's pupils contracted slightly: "You found out a long time ago?"
“A little earlier than you.” Gu Mingcheng put down the clipping. “I told you not to get involved, not because I didn’t want you to care, but because I didn’t want you to get involved in these dirty things. Lin Xu’s matter involves too many things, and using legitimate means is too slow. Taking advantage of the situation is the fastest way.” He stood up and patted his son’s shoulder. “I’ve already made arrangements in Hong Kong. Bai Xiuxian will speak up. You just focus on protecting Yunxi. Leave the rest to me.”
Watching his father's retreating figure, Gu Yunqian suddenly understood something. The so-called calm was merely the calm before the storm; the so-called inaction was nothing more than strategizing behind the scenes. Gu Mingcheng's power never came from loud reprimands or ruthless methods, but from the precision and ruthlessness hidden behind the calm—when he acted, he was always right.
When Gu Yunxi stepped out of the study, the television in the living room was still broadcasting news about the fire. Gu Yunxi was looking up donation channels in Hong Kong on her phone, wanting to do her part for the victims.
When Gu Yunqian turned off the fire live stream on his phone, Hongfuyuan was still burning on the screen.
The towering flames dyed the Hong Kong night sky red, and even from a screen thousands of miles away, one could almost smell the pungent odor mixed with burnt plastic, burning wood, and dust.
The live broadcast camera was distorted by the heatwave, and the orange figures of the firefighters appeared and disappeared in the sea of fire, as fragile as candles in the wind. The sound of their footsteps running with water hoses, the spray of high-pressure water guns, and the sharp sirens of ambulances in the distance exploded through the receiver, weaving a suffocating net.
News feeds kept popping up: "Fire trucks from the Greater Bay Area have arrived in Hong Kong, and 200 firefighters have been deployed to the rescue overnight," "The fire has broken through the 12th floor, and the high temperature has caused the walls to crack," and "Several elderly people were found trapped at the scene, and rescuers dug through the rubble by hand."
Behind every "progress" lies a heavier reality—the wind is too strong, with gusts of wind reaching level 8 per second carrying sparks and rushing towards neighboring buildings like wild beasts. Small flames that have just been extinguished instantly reignite, and the water jets sprayed from the hoses turn into steam before they even hit the ground due to the high temperature. The firefighters' uniforms are soaked with sweat and then dried by the fire, forming a layer of white salt stains.
Gu Yunxi sat on the sofa with her tablet in her arms, her fingertips tracing the list of victims, tears silently falling onto the screen.
The list includes a recently retired teacher, a tea restaurant owner who has run the business for thirty years, and several children who are about the same age as Niannian.
They said that an old woman ran back into the fire to get her husband's portrait..." Her voice choked with sobs, "How could she bear to let her life's memories burn away like this?"
The most tragic cases are those of ordinary people who scrimp and save their entire lives to buy a house, only to have everything wiped out in a fire. Some don't even survive, not even having the chance to say goodbye to this world.
The wind howled outside the window, as if mourning a distant disaster. The atmosphere in the Gu family's living room was even heavier than when Bai Xiuxian had her accident...
Meanwhile, outside Wong Fook Court in Hong Kong, police tape was layered on and on, and reporters crowded into the safe area, microphones in hand, cameras pointed towards the fire. Amidst the chaos, a figure in a faded denim jacket, holding a phone stand, stood out—it was Qi Ruixiang.
He stood not too close to the police cordon, his phone camera pointed at the burning building, his face turned to the side, his voice deliberately lowered, mimicking the calm tone of a news anchor: "Hello everyone, I am currently at the scene of the fire at Hung Fook Court in Tai Po, Hong Kong. As you can see, the fire is still not fully under control, and the sky in the distance has been dyed dark red..." He deliberately adjusted the angle so that the flames reflected on his face, creating a sense of being "deep in danger."
The wind tousled his hair, and the cuffs of his denim jacket were rolled up, revealing a tattered T-shirt underneath.
He seemed unfazed, occasionally wiping his soot-blackened cheeks as he continued speaking to the camera: "According to firefighters at the scene, the biggest challenges in the rescue are the high temperatures and gusty winds, preventing many rescue equipment from arriving in time..."
His words were interspersed with professional jargon, a habit ingrained from his days as a journalist, but paired with his current disheveled appearance, they seemed somewhat incongruous.
A reporter nearby recognized him and couldn't help but whisper to his colleague, "Isn't that Qi Ruixiang? He resigned with such high spirits back then, how come he's reduced to trying to ride the coattails of a fire now?"
"What else could it be? First he was dating a rich man's daughter, then he was involved with other people, and later he went to the Golden Triangle and made a big splash. I heard he didn't even care when his wife was giving birth." Another reporter curled his lip. "Look at his posture, he's obviously trying to imitate Sister Man from 'Queen of the News,' rushing to the front line to do live reporting, trying to grab attention."
"Learn from Sister Man? I think he's at most Gu Zhaohua." Someone sneered. "Wen Huixing has real skills and is daring and adventurous. He's just desperate and can only rely on playing the victim to gain attention. Didn't you see the title of his live stream? 'Down-on-his-luck reporter returns to the fire scene to reveal the truth behind the rescue.' He's practically blatantly trying to gain traffic."
These murmurs didn't escape Qi Ruixiang's ears. His grip on the phone stand tightened, his knuckles turning white, but his voice remained steady, even deliberately raised a few decibels: "As you can see, the fire trucks from the Greater Bay Area have arrived at the scene, and the hoses are being connected. I believe the fire will be under control soon..."
As he spoke, he suddenly strode towards a firefighter who had just come out of the fire, attempting to conduct an interview, but was stopped by a police officer behind the firefighter: "Please step back to a safe area and do not obstruct the rescue!"
The policeman's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority. Qi Ruixiang froze on the spot, his face flushing red and then turning pale.
The comments in the live stream exploded instantly—"Hahaha, how embarrassing, the firefighters completely ignored him." "Is this what happens when you try to be like Wen Huixing? If you don't have the ability, don't try to piggyback on it." "I suddenly feel sorry for him. He used to be a reporter covering the front lines. What happened to him?" "Sympathy my ass! Using disaster to gain attention is disgusting."
He hurriedly retreated to his original position, trying to appear calm in front of the camera: "I tried to get closer to the scene just now to bring you a more direct report, but in order not to affect the rescue, we still respect the order at the scene."
Despite saying that, his eyes betrayed a hint of panic, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed against his phone screen—the number of viewers in the live stream was rapidly decreasing, and most of the comments were sarcastic...