Qiao Yongyong, licking her ice cream, unashamedly said, "Have a thing for cleanliness? Great, I just love men who are clean."

Nie Yixiao sternly replied, "What else about me do you like that I should change?"

Qiao Yongyong pouted; he really is as stubborn as a rock!

But she didn’t give up, casually eating her ice cream while slowly moving closer to him.

In the sunset, the handsome profile of the man was coated in a layer of golden light, resembling a perfect sculpture, magnificent yet aloof. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

She suddenly forgot what she wanted to say to him, her mind swayed, and while he wasn’t paying attention, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek.

"Pop—" a loud sound, splashing like water in the air!

The soft touch of her cotton candy lips was warm, making contact with his skin.

Nie Yixiao’s breathing paused.

He still hadn’t settled the score with her for taking advantage in the train compartment that day!

Coldly freezing the bold girl, "Qiao Yongyong, are you sick?"

"Do you have medicine then?" Qiao Yongyong retorted.

Nie Yixiao knew he couldn’t show any leniency towards her, or she would push even further. He hardened his expression, his voice low, "Always handsy with men, are you still a girl? Next time, don’t blame me for being unkind."

It’s not like she was always handsy with men, just him alone. Seeing him angry, Qiao Yongyong didn’t dare say anything more, gave a giggly laugh and hurriedly changed the subject, "I’m done eating, I’ll go wash my hands next door and come straight back."

Having said that, she scurried off to the public restroom behind the ice cream shop.

Nie Yixiao frowned, pulled out a tissue to wipe the ice cream off his face but felt the lingering touch of her kiss, which long remained and made his cheeks feel increasingly warm.

He felt somewhat embarrassed, upset over his slight lapse in composure.

What was he doing?

Stolen a kiss by a milk-smelling lass, and yet he reacted like this.

As if he were some young lad who had never seen a woman before.

But was she really just a milk-smelling lass?

Her every move seemed like that of a siren capturing hearts, probably well practiced with many men.

In an instant, his expression darkened again.

*

Amusement park public restroom.

Qiao Yongyong was about to come out of the stall when she realized the door was locked.

She didn’t make much of it at first, but after pulling it again, she discovered it really was locked.

As if it was locked from the outside.

She called out a few times, but apart from herself, there was no one else in the ladies’ room.

This is bad.

Her phone was in the car, and she couldn’t ask Nie Yixiao for help.

As she was thinking about which foot had more strength to kick the door open, she faintly saw flames and smoke drift through the cracks of the door.

Flames? Smoke?

Is this—a fire?

No way!

Qiao Yongyong really started to panic; she didn’t want her life to end here. She kicked the door forcefully and yelled:

"Is anyone there—there’s a fire—"

The smoke got thicker and more suffocating.

Gradually, she could hardly breathe heavily or shout, her throat burning painfully, and when she touched the door latch to pull again, she screamed, withdrawing her hand!

The doorknob is scorching hot!

*

Meanwhile, outside the ice cream shop.

Not far away, someone’s voice drifted into Nie Yixiao’s ears:

"Oh no, it looks like there’s a fire over there."

"It does seem real! Wow, such thick smoke!"

Nie Yixiao’s heart skipped a beat, as if something tugged at him, and he had a bad premonition. He looked towards the direction of the voices—

It was coming from the public restroom.

Startled, he hurried over, didn’t say a word, backed up a dozen steps, then charged and kicked open the restroom’s door!

A thick cloud of smoke poured out, obscuring his vision, making it impossible to see ahead.

"Sir, please don’t go in, the fire is too big. We’ve called the firefighters, they’ll be here in a few minutes..." An amusement park administrator arrived on the scene and hurriedly tried to stop Nie Yixiao, fearing the situation might worsen if another person got involved.

Nie Yixiao seemed not to hear, took off his jacket, ran to a nearby faucet to wet it, and draped it over himself as he rushed in.

Upon entering, he was hit by a sharp, intense smell of gasoline!

Why would there be gasoline in the restroom?

Did someone intentionally use gasoline to set the restroom on fire?

Nie Yixiao had no time to think further; his face changed as he shouted towards the stalls:

"Qiao Yongyong! Are you in there??"

"I am, Brother Yixiao, I’m here! Over here!" Qiao Yongyong replied.

Nie Yixiao heard her voice, already hoarse and continuously coughing.

90% of fire victims don’t die from burns but from smoke inhalation.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

Following her voice, he reached a door, and upon touching the handle, immediately recoiled from the burn!

The doorknob was stainless steel, already heated red-hot like a branding iron, almost melting the skin on touch.

Qiao Yongyong could also feel the high temperature from outside: "Don’t come in, get out and wait for the firefighters..."

He hesitated no more, wrapped his hand with his jacket, clenched his teeth, reached for the doorknob, quickly unlatched it, then kicked the door open!

Qiao Yongyong’s face was covered in soot as she looked at him dazed, speechless before he even spoke, he took off his jacket, wrapped her head and face properly, and shielded her out.

The two rushed out of the restroom, Qiao Yongyong collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

Management staff quickly arranged for them to rest in a nearby lounge and went to call an ambulance.

Nie Yixiao saw Qiao Yongyong looking like a little sooty kitten, sitting on the lounge sofa silent for a long time. Knowing she was shocked, he took a clean towel prepared by the amusement park and went over to wipe her face.

That brought her back to her senses. She took the towel, attempting to wipe by herself but the moment she touched Nie Yixiao’s hand, she saw him reflexively retract it.

"Your hands..." Qiao Yongyong was surprised, "Burned? Let me see."

When twisting the door, his hand was burned by the high-temperature reddened latch.

He lifted his hand, indifferently wrapped it with gauze a few times: "It’s nothing, just a few blisters."

Qiao Yongyong’s throat tightened: "If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been injured."

Despite the heavy fire and smoke, he still rushed into the fire to save her.

"I am now your protector, it is my duty," Nie Yixiao replied calmly.

Qiao Yongyong pouted, this man, really a professional at damping the mood, just as she was touched, he doused it with a bucket of cold water.

"Good, after this scare, let’s see if you dare to go out again." He wrapped his burned hand and glanced at her.

"You think I’m easily frightened? That was nothing." Qiao Yongyong, ignoring her still dirty face, snuggled up, "You know, the most thrilling time for me was when I was ten years old. Once, my brother took me to Chinatown in Mexico City for a meal, and we encountered an ambush on my brother by his arch-enemy, which led to a shootout. My brother’s subordinate protected me tightly, but I could hear the bullets whizzing past my ears! Ha! That was thrilling! This was nothing. I think you were the one who got scared!"