Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 103

Chapter 103

At this moment, Shan Ling, who was staying in the staff room with the air conditioning on, felt inexplicably sleepy.

Perhaps it was due to a recent period of mental exhaustion and worrying about various problems. In the suddenly empty coffee shop, she was finally alone. The surroundings were so quiet that she could even hear the sound of the wind outside the window.

The wind was blowing so strongly; it would probably be cloudy tomorrow.

Shan Ling sat on the chair, stretched, and then lay down on the table, preparing to rest and wait for Shen Qingyi and the others to return with the machine.

The wind outside was howling, and the air conditioner inside the staff room hummed as it operated.

Everything seemed to quiet down, and in the peaceful night, Shan Ling drifted off to sleep.

Just then, a dark shadow quietly slipped in through the unlocked back door.

The first floor of the coffee shop was extremely dim; the streetlights outside couldn’t penetrate with any light. The person had to take out a phone and turn on the flashlight, illuminating the entire restaurant.

In the pitch-black hall, the person walked back and forth several times, finally stopping next to one spot.

He reached out and touched the table and chair, letting out a smile: “Song Qinglan, you don’t know how much I like you. Why can’t you just look at me?”

“I’ve been revolving around you every day, just wanting to talk to you. Why do you avoid me like this?”

As the person spoke, he started crying, two lines of clear tears hanging on his face, but he quickly controlled his expression. He pulled out something from his backpack, resembling a small jerrycan, unscrewed the cap, and poured the liquid onto the tables and chairs.

The pungent smell rushed towards him, but the person was delighted. After dousing the tables and chairs, he poured gasoline onto other areas, excitedly saying as he sprinkled the acrid-smelling liquid, “As long as you can see me, I’ll do anything!”

Once the last of the gasoline was splashed out, he covered his mouth and nose and left the coffee shop. Standing by the glass door of the coffee shop, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket.

With a ‘snap,’ the windproof lighter instantly flared up.

The night wind was whistling. The man adjusted his phone to recording mode and took off his mask.

The person was the sasaeng fan who had been following Song Qinglan for a long time. Before the Chinese New Year, he was arrested for chasing her car and was detained for 15 days before being released.

During his detention, he wasn’t annoyed about being locked up; he even felt that only by doing something drastic would Song Qinglan finally look at him.

So this time, he was going for something big!

“Do you see this, Song Qinglan!” The man recorded the video, saying to the phone, “This is the place where you often drink coffee. I’m going to burn it down now, so you will remember me forever!”

Having said that, he turned around and threw the burning lighter into the coffee shop.

And in the next instant, towering flames instantly spread!

Shen Qingyi and Nuonuo were each carrying a large box as they walked back.

“This driver is too unreliable. He kept saying he was arriving immediately, but he made us wait in the cold wind at the intersection for almost half an hour,” Nuonuo said angrily, hugging the large box in her hands. “And he didn’t even deliver it to the shop, not even giving us a small cart. It’s too much.”

The box Shen Qingyi was carrying was heavier. She was also annoyed at the moment. She hugged the box, turned to Nuonuo, and said, “If you’re tired, rest for a bit. I remember we have a small cart in the shop. I’ll get it later to help you move yours.”

“I’m not that tired; I’m just complaining.” Nuonuo knew her box wasn’t as heavy as Shen Qingyi’s, and she quickly ran up and said, “Boss, what are we eating later?”

“Haven’t you decided what to eat yet?” Shen Qingyi walked on with a smile, “If you still haven’t decided by the time we get to the shop, then we’ll let Shan Ling choose the place.”

“Letting Xiaoling choose is fine too.” Nuonuo looked at Shen Qingyi’s smile and remarked, “Boss, look how happy you smile whenever you mention Xiaoling. Seriously, are you really not planning to confess?”

Shen Qingyi didn’t say anything, just glanced at Nuonuo.

Nuonuo added, “Although I don’t know what you’re hesitating about, I sincerely think you need to hurry up. Don’t miss out on Xiaoling.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t know what she was thinking. The cold night wind blew, lifting the stray hair on her forehead.

“I know,” Shen Qingyi said softly, “I’ll think about this matter. Don’t be so gossipy and keep rushing me to get together with her.”

“I’m anxious,” Nuonuo said helplessly. “Heaven knows how hard it is for me as an outsider to watch you two being so sweet but not together. How long has it been, and you haven’t made any progress. Is that really okay? Boss, you need to cherish the person in front of you!”

As she was speaking, Nuonuo saw Shen Qingyi suddenly stop.

“What’s wrong?” Nuonuo asked curiously, holding her box.

Shen Qingyi’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed. She looked at the bright white light suddenly flaring up ahead and asked Nuonuo, “Is that… our shop?”

“Huh?” Nuonuo turned around in confusion, looking at the distant direction. Flames were soaring and thick smoke was billowing. She instantly widened her eyes: “That looks like our shop, Boss…”

Shen Qingyi’s eyes suddenly widened. She dropped the box in her hand onto the ground and immediately ran towards it at top speed.

Nuonuo reacted a second later, but immediately realized what was happening. She also threw her box to the ground, pulling out her phone and dialing the fire department as she ran: “Hello! Is this 119! This is Central Park, our shop is on fire!”

Shen Qingyi ran incredibly fast. In the dark night wind, she seemed to smell the scent of burning not far away.

The flames ahead grew larger and larger. When she reached the entrance of the coffee shop, all she saw was her two-story building almost completely engulfed by the fire.

‘Crackle’ sounds of explosions echoed in the fire. Quite a few onlookers had already gathered. They more or less knew the shop, and seeing Shen Qingyi run over, gasping for breath, they looked at her with concern.

“Xiaoling…”

Shen Qingyi remembered that when she and Nuonuo left, she told Shan Ling to stay in the staff room, but where was Shan Ling now?!

“Shan Ling!”

Shen Qingyi looked around, loudly calling out Shan Ling’s name, but didn’t see the familiar figure. When Nuonuo also ran up, breathless, she looked back at the coffee shop engulfed in flames.

“Boss, I already called the police. They said someone else had already reported it, and they are currently on their way.” Nuonuo had never seen such a large fire either. She looked nervously at the situation inside the shop and asked frantically, “Where is Xiaoling? Is she not here?”

No one answered her.

Even Shen Qingyi didn’t know whether Shan Ling was inside or outside at that moment.

“…I think… someone…”

“I also… was just calling… didn’t escape…”

The people nearby began to whisper. Shen Qingyi seemed to hear some words. She turned to look at the small groups of people, her eyes dark.

“What are you saying?” Shen Qingyi looked at them, lifted her foot, and walked towards them: “What were you just discussing?!”

These people were workers working overtime nearby, who occasionally came to drink coffee at this shop. They naturally recognized Shen Qingyi. Hearing her question, they looked at each other before saying, “We arrived early. We seemed to hear someone screaming inside, but we’re not sure if we misheard.”

“Yes, with such a big fire, we can’t be sure if we misheard. The main thing is that was about ten minutes ago. There’s no sound now.”

The more Shen Qingyi listened, the colder her hands and feet became. She still remembered Nuonuo constantly urging her on the road to confess to Shan Ling, telling her to ‘cherish the person in front of you.’

At that time, Shen Qingyi was unmoved. She felt there was still plenty of time, and she hadn’t figured out what kind of relationship she and Shan Ling should have.

Shen Qingyi kept hesitating over whether the other person would accept her.

But only now did she realize how foolish her hesitation was.

Everyone could tell she had feelings for Shan Ling. It was only because of some difficult reasons that she hesitated again and again. Even just moments ago, she told Nuonuo to stop talking and let her keep considering it.

The huge fire behind her made Shen Qingyi’s head buzz. She seemed to hear sounds from the fire, the sounds of Shan Ling crying out.

Shan Ling was still inside!

Thinking this, Shen Qingyi turned and ran toward the coffee shop.

Nuonuo hadn’t even reacted before she saw Shen Qingyi approaching the main door of the coffee shop.

The glass had already exploded, and the ground was covered in broken shards. Shen Qingyi looked at the fiery red expanse and focused her gaze behind the counter where they usually worked.

“Boss!”

Nuonuo seemed to guess what Shen Qingyi was about to do and turned pale with fright, shouting at her, “Boss, don’t do anything stupid!”

Shen Qingyi retreated two steps. She remembered the back door was closer to the counter, so she made a decisive move and ran towards the back door of the coffee shop.

The back door wasn’t burning as fiercely as the front door; at least the glass hadn’t exploded, and it didn’t look as severe as the front.

Shen Qingyi reached out and grasped the doorknob, but the scalding heat made her snatch her hand back.

So hot!

Shen Qingyi’s vision was left with only intense colors, like thick oil paints stacked in large patches, causing her mind to become hazy.

This was thought disorder triggered by stimulation. Zhou Shu once told Shen Qingyi during therapy that if she heard or saw something, she must not chase it; it might just be a hallucination.

But at this moment, Shen Qingyi couldn’t care less. She took off her jacket, wrapped it around the doorknob, and pulled the door open with all her might!

A massive burst of flames assaulted Shen Qingyi’s retina. She suddenly felt everything was a tragic red, with shadows of fire everywhere. She could barely see anything.

It was too blinding, and the temperature inside the coffee shop was incredibly high. Shen Qingyi suddenly felt like she had entered an oven, and she was the fish about to be baked!

“Shan Ling!”

Shen Qingyi shielded herself from the flames and shouted into the coffee shop, hoping for a response.

“Shan Ling, Shan Ling, are you there?!”

There was no response, only the continuous sound of burning flames, followed by a ‘bang’ explosion.

‘Cheep-cheep—’

Suddenly, Shen Qingyi seemed to hear something. Did she hear a bird chirping?

How could there be a bird in her coffee shop?

This must be a hallucination; she must have misheard!

“Shan Ling, Shan Ling!” Shen Qingyi tried to take two steps forward. Just as she was about to cross the fire line ahead, she suddenly saw a small black dot in her vision.

At that moment, the small black dot was flying from above.

In just half a second, Shen Qingyi saw that what was flying towards her was actually a small white bird!

In that instant, Shen Qingyi’s eyes widened. She watched it desperately fly towards her, then dive into her arms.

‘Cheep-cheep!’

Yiyi!

Shen Qingyi only felt Shan Ling’s voice echoing in her ear. In the next second, she was pulled out by several people wearing firefighter uniforms.

In a daze, Shen Qingyi seemed to hear many voices around her.

Some were scolding her.

Some were worrying about her.

Then, a large coat was placed over Shen Qingyi’s shoulders. She saw Nuonuo standing nearby, distraught and on the verge of tears, her mouth opening and closing, saying something.

But at that moment, Shen Qingyi couldn’t hear anything. She held a small white mountain sparrow in her cupped hands, unable to recover her senses for a long time.

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