Waiting for You in a City

At three o’clock in the morning, there was silence in the hospital.

Song Yan leaned his back against the wall and sat on the floor of the corridor, he had calmed down, too tired.

Xu Qin brought a glass of water to him, after he drank it in one gulp, his lips were still a little chapped.

She sat down next to him on the ground, her pajama pants tucked up, revealing her white ankles.

That’s how she was squatting here just now.

Song Yan stretched out his hand to hold her ankle, it was cool, he couldn’t let go of it.

Xu Qin lowered her head, covered his hand, stroked it gently, and asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Tell the facts.”

“En.”

“What do you want to say?” He looked at her.

“It’s your job duty, I have nothing to say,” she said.

He still looked at her.

She said: “If Professor Xu has a medical accident and someone dies, the higher-ups will investigate; as a participant, I will also record it truthfully. It’s not because of right or wrong, but because of my duty. But if no one comes to ask me, then I… even if I know, I won’t say it, because I don’t care.”

“That is like you,” Song Yan curled the corners of his mouth slightly, and asked bitterly, “Don’t you think I should lie and hide it? Like you said last time at supper, when you get promoted, to do bigger things?”

She stopped stroking the back of his hand, thought seriously for a long moment, and asked rhetorically: “Can you?”

Song Yan looked at her,

She hugged her legs, laid on her knees, and spoke: “The Wan Liu Club that Xiao Yixiao frequents, there’s a head hostess named Ah Lu. I’ve always gone there with Xiao Yixiao to play and got to know her.”

The corridor was very quiet, her voice wasn’t loud, neither slow nor fast,

“I asked Ah Lu, there are so many beautiful girls in the club, where do so many resources come from, is it because the boss has a powerful background, he did something by force to milk people dry? Ah Lu said no, they were all voluntary. I was surprised, they were all first-class beautiful women, they could do well in other places, coming here, were they cornered by life? Ah Lu said, also no.”

“She said, that the club only recruits for the front desk, the salary is higher than that of white-collar workers. Although the applicants know that this is a shady area, but the front desk is clean. They are also prepared not to stay long, when they can quickly earn some money and be able to settle in Di City, they will leave.”

“After working at the front desk for a month, the head hostess said, why not be a room guide, just walk a few more steps, don’t need to go into the room, the salary is doubled. En, double the salary means making enough faster and leaving faster, to start a new life. Let’s be a guide.”

“A month later, the head hostess then said why not be a waitress, you’ve already walked to the door of the room, if you lead the guest in, your salary would double. En, let’s be a waitress.”

“Then the head hostess said, why not be a private room hostess, since you’re already in the room, serve some tea and pour some water. En, in order to make enough money to leave faster, let’s be a private room hostess. In another month, the head hostess said, be a companion hostess, when serving tea and pouring water, just chat with the guests, it’s just moving from the front of the coffee table to the sofa, the salary can be doubled, and if you earn more, you can leave earlier. Okay, then let’s be a companion hostess. Later, I’m already paid to chat with the guests, so let them touch I guess; later, having already touched, let’s sleep together then.”

“In the end, the money earned was already enough, but no one left. They all became hostesses and continued to make a lot of money, without exception.” Xu Qin said, “That’s how Ah Lu lived her life.”

The corridor was silent.

She understood him, so she was coaxing him in her way.

Song Yan didn’t say a word, but inadvertently got closer to her.

At this moment, not only the body, but also the mind, as if the two were closer.

She felt it, and she couldn’t help but lean closer to him.

She rubbed her eyes, a little tired, but being tired made one more talkative,

“Actually, I don’t think there’s anything right or wrong about hostesses, maybe I don’t have a view of right and wrong, I think that it is also their choice to do what they want. But if someone doesn’t want to be a hostess in the first place, then I think, at the beginning of the story, don’t be the ‘clean’ front desk. Because…”

“Some bottom lines, once you go past, it will be a thousand miles away. Things will not develop according to your initial imagination, because people are animals that will constantly make excuses for themselves. Many people have good ideas, but get lost on the way. When you take the first step against your original intention, your original intention can no longer be returned.”

She slowly finished speaking, and was silent for a long time. Unsure if it was because she was sleepy, or if the thoughts in her head had been drained, she didn’t react.

The person next to her never responded.

She turned her head and saw him staring at her all the time, with a calm expression, even a little tired, but there was a faint smile in his eyes, as if the man who was a little out of control just now had completely disappeared. And her Song Yan returned to her side.

She couldn’t help but smile slightly, as if she had finally coaxed him well: “Are you laughing?”

He curved the corners of his lips.

“Laughing at what?”

“It’s nothing.” He shook his head, seeing that she was tired, he pulled her into his arms, pressed his chin against her temples, and said softly, “I think you are very good.”

She leaned into his arms, found a comfortable position to lean on, was silent for a long time, lowered her eyes sleepily: “Actually, I’m not that good, I also have a little selfishness in my heart, and I’m not happy.”

When he heard this, he took a breath almost imperceptibly, suppressing the emotions that were slightly churning in his heart, knowing very well what she was thinking, but still knowingly asked, wanting to hear her say:

“Such as?”

She yawned slightly and said slowly:

“I also wonder if you would betray your principles for me. I don’t want you to do this, but it seems like doing it can prove something.”

He has always cared about her for how much or how little he had given her,

“However, the firefighter who just died is still lying there, your comrades are still unconscious, if you ignore the dead at this time, regardless of the truth, you would be terrible, and not the you that I like.”

He couldn’t say a word, only his body instinctively pressed her temples tighter.

“…Besides, you are also struggling and suffering because of your commitment to me. I have seen it. Although it hurts, I’m also a little happy.” She smiled slightly.

He lowered his head, shook his head, and smiled more bitterly.

She leaned over his shoulder, rubbed her eyes, and couldn’t help but yawn again.

He whispered: “Very sleepy?”

“En.. Are you more sleepy than me? Going in and out of the fire is very exhausting.”

Song Yan was stunned for a moment, only then did he realize that he was tired all over his body, but he had forgotten.

She looked up: “Can’t rest tomorrow?”

“The higher ups will come from above.”

“I hope that the leader of the task force has a decent style of working, so that tonight’s worries are superfluous.”

“Hopefully.” He laughed and whispered, “Go back and rest early.”

He had to go.

“En.”

He helped her up and wanted to send her out, Captain Wu of the Liu Ye Tan Squadron walked towards him

Xu Qin waved her hand: “You are busy, don’t worry about me. I’ll go back by myself.”

She turned around and was about to leave, but Song Yan grabbed her hand: “Xu Qin.”

“En?” She was stunned for a moment, “Anything else?”

He looked at her, his returning gaze firmed: “Don’t worry, I will handle this matter properly.” After a second, the old man smiled like an old husband, “… I won’t let you down.”

“En.” Her eyes lit up and she nodded, her eyes full of trust.

He suddenly felt that his whole body was revived with blood, he smiled again, and rubbed her head lightly.

Xu Qin left.

Song Yan glanced at her back, then withdrew his smile and looked at Captain Wu.

The latter strode over: “Let’s hurry back. At dawn, the task force from the Seventh Bureau will come. Before that, we have to prepare a detailed statement.”

Song Yan: “Okay.”

The two walked through the hall and headed out.

Captain Wu was on the verge of collapsing all night, his mood was unstable at the moment: “Song Yan, I have seen the scene, It shouldn’t have burned so badly. I guess you can see it too, so I won’t hide it from you. I only knew that the bar was opened by a rich second generation, and today I understood that someone above took money to look the other way.”

Song Yan didn’t interject, listening to him finish,

“I know the Liu Ye Tan brigade better than you, so I can guess who it is. It stands to reason that if things went wrong like this, no matter what post the person has they have to be dismissed. But if they aren’t dismissed, move to another place and continue to work, then they will continue to kill people. This time I’m fucking not going to let it go, I’ll get to the bottom of this matter, I’ll have nightmares every night, looking at that child’s scorched face.” Speaking of this, Captain Wu choked up again, “His parents came here overnight by train, I…” He turned his head away to wipe his tears.

Song Yan: “Don’t be discouraged, the people in the department have come down, and the detachment and the brigade will not dare to make mistakes.”

“But the background of the captain’s family…” Captain Wu gritted his teeth, “It’s okay if the leader who comes from above is here for strict investigation; but if he is sloppy-“

When the man walked to the gate, he swallowed the words.

The fire suits on the two were too conspicuous, as soon as they went out, the reporters who were squatting surrounded them:

“Are you firefighters from Liu Ye Tan?”

“What about the comatose firefighters? How many are dead and wounded?”

“Why did the explosion happen?”

“Why is the fire uncontrollable, was it ineffective to extinguish?”

Song Yan blocked the reporter, did not turn his head and walked out of the courtyard, when he threw everyone off and walked out a distance, Captain Wu suddenly stopped: “Song Yan.”

Song Yan turned his head to look at him, already guessing what he wanted to do.

“We can’t go at it too hard. How about…”

Song Yan interrupted: “Those journalists just want to get the exclusive from this disaster.”

“But public opinion is the best way to go, and it has the greatest power. No matter whether the leaders who come are right or wrong, they will be afraid of this.”

“Calm down first.” Song Yan rejected, “Once some news is released, it can’t be contained. Maybe you want to attack a few people, but in the end, it may be the entire group that is attacked, causing many innocent people to be implicated. Unless it is absolutely necessary, don’t go this way.”

“If this doesn’t work, and that’s not okay, what should we do then?”

Song Yan thought for a while, and said, “Although we won’t go this direction, we can still use it.”

……

At nine o’clock in the morning, the conference room of the Liu Ye Tan Fire Brigade.

The leaders of the task force, the captain and political commissar of the Nan City District Fire Detachment, the captains and instructors of the three fire brigades who participated in this fire fighting operation, and the captains and instructors of the three fire squadrons had all arrived.

Director Chen, the leader of the task force, sat in the center of the conference room.

Three civilians were killed in this fire, and one firefighter was lost, the impact was very bad, and Director Chen did not seem to be in a good mood.

The captain of Liu Ye Tan Fire Brigade was going to pour tea for him at first, but Director Chen stopped him lightly: “Don’t dawdle, sit down for the meeting.”

The accident occurred in the jurisdiction of Liu Ye Tan, the captain of the Liu Ye Tan Fire Brigade first gave a comprehensive overview of the fire, from the time of occurrence, the process of receiving the police’s alerts, the fire fighting operation, and all the way to the casualties.

After he finished speaking, Director Chen did not continue to the next item, but asked, “Who is the squadron leader?”

Captain Wu raised his hand.

Director Chen said, “You are the one who directly extinguished the fire, from your own point of view, explain the situation again.”

The captain’s face changed.

Captain Wu’s mood was not as agitated as in the night, his statement was orderly and reasonable, it basically coincided with what the captain had said, but at the end, he mentioned a sentence:

“If it weren’t for the correct judgement from Shi Li Tai’s Captain Song, there might not be only one firefighter killed this time, but six or seven. Not to mention the seriously injured.”

When Commissioner Chen heard this figure, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, he was extremely displeased.

If six or seven public officials really died, it would be inevitable to conduct a thorough investigation from top to bottom, and it would be impossible to stop without removing a few important positions.

With this frown, the atmosphere in the entire conference room froze.

Director Chen asked: “Captain Song of Shi Li Tai, the one who made meritorious contributions in the Wang Xiang earthquake?” After scanning around, he found Song Yan.

Song Yan bowed his head in greeting.

Director Chen’s face softened slightly: “This time, you have made meritorious contributions again. ……Preliminary report on the cause of the fire, written, correct?”

Song Yan: “Written.”

Director Chen: “Read it.”

Song Yan’s report did not have the slightest subjective emotion and inference, and was very plain:

“The cause of the fire was a circuit design violation, which caused a short circuit.”

“The reason for the rapid spread of fire was that the building design was substandard from the perspective of fire protection, resulting in an accelerated burning. The overall wiring in the room was not insulated, the material was flammable, and the escape channel was blocked.”

“The fire eventually exploded and spiraled out of control due to the collective dismantling of smoke and sprinkler devices, causing rapid heating in the confined basement.”

After he calmly finished, the faces of several captains and instructors on the opposite side turned pale.

Song Yan’s face did not change color and put down the report paper.

Director Chen immediately slapped the table: “The boss did not comply with the fire regulations, and the fire inspection was not done well!”

The captain and political commissar of Liu Ye Tan immediately answered and admitted their mistake: “Yes, yes, the people below were negligent, this matter must be investigated. A thorough investigation.”

Song Yan said lightly: “If the captain wants to investigate, it has to be done quickly, it is best to get a preliminary result today.”

The captain looked over.

Song Yan took out a piece of paper, glanced down, and read: “Some survivors responded, they tried to use the fire extinguisher, but it was broken; and there was no water in the fire hydrant…” He turned over another piece of paper, and read: “According to the insiders, they revealed that the owner of the bar is a rich second generation, it is suspected that someone gave him the green light.”

He raised his eyes, “This was what I read on the news this morning.”

Several people on the opposite side were dumbfounded at the same time.

Director Chen’s face became even more solemn. Rumors have begun to circulate in the media on the internet, he saw them before he came.

Song Yan said: “Although the media was kicked out when the incident happened yesterday, in today’s society, the news cannot be blocked. The impact of this fire was bad, and the topic of firefighters’ sacrifice will soon be discussed on social media. All of you have witnessed how some public emergencies can get out of control. When the media is curious, the public criticizes, and when public officials respond, even if they make a slight mistake or take a slow step in responding, the situation would quickly deteriorate.”

“In my opinion, rather than allowing the media to catch up with rumors, and letting the public opinion ferment in an unfavorable direction, leading to being out of control, leading to a decline in credibility, resulting in any information released by the special task force as an ‘after the fact’, ‘finding excuse’, ‘hiding the truth’, ‘catch the scapegoat’,”

“It’s better to take responsibility, deal with it, make it public, and cut off the possibility of spreading rumors and gossip before the media digs up gossip and the public opinion ferments. Only by making a decisive decision can we win back our reputation.”

“It’s just…”

Song Yan slowed down his speech and said,

“The eyes of the masses are poisonous, and their mouths are poisonous, they cannot be fooled. Otherwise, the backlash will come back and the end will be even worse.”

After saying this, there was silence in the conference room.

The faces of several group leaders and instructors were as pale as paper.

Several leaders of the task force collectively fell into deep thought.

It was between choosing to cover up, and eventually someone digging out the gossip, which would lead to a public opinion of betrayal and a crisis of trust;

Or choosing to act ruthlessly, cut through the mess quickly, win the praise of the public, and get a good opportunity for meritorious service?

This choice was not difficult.

Director Chen glanced at Song Yan. This junior… Heh, he was young and had a lot of courage.