The sky was a dull gray, and the rain poured heavier with each passing second. It crashed violently against the roadside trees and slapped hard against the car windows. Everything around was drenched, wrapped in the relentless downpour.
On the way to the film set, the road ahead was completely blocked.
Gu Qing glanced at the rearview mirror and looked at the man sitting quietly in the backseat. “Mr. Jiang, should we stop somewhere to eat? You also need to take your medicine,” he suggested softly.
For the past whole month, they had been relentlessly cleaning up Sheng Minghao’s network around sheng corporation, cornering him step by step until the man was left with no escape. Just before fleeing abroad, Sheng Minghao had even hired someone to stab Jiang Ci in order to slow them down.
In the backseat, Jiang Ci leaned back with his eyes closed. He hadn’t slept the entire night, traveling nonstop till morning. His complexion was ashen, his thin lips pale and cracked, and a light stubble had begun to shadow his firm jawline. He looked utterly worn out. “No need,” he replied flatly.
Gu Qing knew his boss well—Jiang Ci was someone who did everything with deadly precision. What should’ve taken several months, he had compressed into just over thirty days and handled it all with ruthless efficiency.
After a long wait in the jam, their car finally crawled into a nearby village.
But just as they were about to enter fully , Gu Qing noticed multiple ambulances parked up ahead. Rescue workers in orange raincoats were also swarming around.
“Mr. Jiang…” Gu Qing’s voice was laced with a strange unease. “I’ll get out and check first, what’s going on?.”
Jiang Ci slowly lifted his eyelids and glanced outside. His brows knitted tightly as he gave a curt “Mm.”
Grabbing an umbrella from the front seat, Gu Qing stepped out into the storm. The wind howled and the rain beat down mercilessly, bending the trees as if trying to uproot them. A short while later, Gu Qing came back, his trouser legs soaked.
“Mr. Jiang…” His face was grim. “There’s been a landslide.”
Jiang Ci’s eyes snapped open, sharp as blades. “Where’s the crew?” he demanded.
“Some of the staff made it down the mountain. They said more than a dozen actors were buried under the rubble… Madam is one of them. The rescue team has just arrived and is trying to save whoever they can.”
A chill instantly surrounded Jiang Ci, as his entire body radiating a biting cold. Gu Qing hadn’t felt this kind of terrifying pressure from him in a long time .
Jiang Ci pulled out his phone and dialed frantically, again and again, but the call wouldn’t connect. His expression grew darker by the second.
“Mr. Jiang, should we—” Gu Qing hadn’t even finished when the car door was flung open. Jiang Ci rushed out into the storm without a second thought.
“Mr. Jiang!” Gu Qing quickly grabbed the umbrella and chased after him.
Outside, Director Guan and the surviving crew members had just made it down the mountain. They had barely escaped the landslide and were still visibly shaken.
“Where is Su Yue?” Jiang Ci’s clothes were already soaked, clinging to his lean frame, but his eyes were fiercer than the storm around them.
The crew members stood frozen, startled by his sudden appearance and the overwhelming fury on his face.
“Speak you idiot !” Jiang Ci roared, scanning the group—but Su Yue was nowhere to be seen.
“S-Su Yue was walking behind us with the other actors…” Director Guan stammered. “The mountain collapsed before she could have a chance to come down.”
Jiang Ci’s jaw clenched as his gaze shot up the mountain. The path midway was completely buried under mud and rock. His voice dropped to a deadly whisper, “Why aren’t they saving people already?! What are these rescuers doing just standing here?”
“The rain is still heavy,” the team leader explained cautiously. “There’s a risk of more landslides. We’re discussing the best rescue approach to ensure safety.”
Jiang Ci let out a cold laugh. “By the time you’re done talking, they’ll all be dead.” His scar, stretching from the side of his face, had turned pale under the cold rain.
“We can’t risk the lives of rescuers, either,” the man argued. “The conditions are extremely unstable.”
Gu Qing caught up, covering Jiang Ci with the umbrella. “Mr. Jiang, your wound—”
Jiang Ci shot him a chilling look. A wound? As if he had time to care about that now.
“Mobilize our own people. Now.” His voice was low, firm, and colder than the wind around them.
“Yes, sir.” Gu Qing immediately made the call.
Jiang Ci stared at the mountain once more and strode toward it.
“Sir, you can’t go up there—it’s too dangerous!” the team leader tried to block him.
But Jiang Ci didn’t even hear him.
“Mr. Jiang—please stop! I’ve already called for backup. They’ll be here in two hours—”
“In two hours, she’ll be dead,” Jiang Ci cut him off coldly.
Gu Qing went silent, then nodded. “Then I’ll go with you.”
“No. Stay here and coordinate with the rescue team.”
Without another word, Jiang Ci turned and disappeared into the rain.
His tall, straight figure slowly faded into the downpour.
“Why didn’t you stop him?” the team leader demanded.
Gu Qing’s face was splattered with rain. He didn’t move. “You don’t know him. Once he decides something, no one can change his mind. Don’t waste time on him — you just focus on saving people.”
Gu Qing had been by Jiang Ci’s side for years. He had seen how Mr. Jiang never let anyone close, especially women. But Su Yue… Su Yue was different. The things Jiang Ci had done for her… Even now, in a deadly storm, as he didn’t even hesitate to risk his life.
For Jiang Ci, Su Yue meant more than his own life.
The Winter was drawing near and the temperature was already low along with the freezing rain, the mountain air now turned bitterly cold. The collapsed path was buried under rocks and thick mud, more than two meters high and stretching hundreds of meters long.
Jiang Ci approached the mound of debris. His lips were bloodless, eyes frozen, and his voice cut through the storm, “Su Yue…”
“Su Yue, if you can hear me—answer me!”
A fresh rumble echoed from above, and more rocks tumbled down. Jiang Ci glanced around—there were no tools.
Still, he didn’t hesitate. He dropped to his knees and started digging with his bare hands.
It was foolish. But he didn’t care.
“Su Yue!” he called out, his voice hoarse from the cold and shouting.
His hands turned red, raw, covered in mud and cuts. One by one, he tossed the stones aside with force.
Finally, a figure emerged under the rubble—an actor, barely conscious. Jiang Ci dragged him out.
The man gasped, coughed, and clutched his chest. “You saved me… Thank you…”
“Shut up!” Jiang Ci didn’t even look at him. He turned, still digging frantically.
Then he froze. “Did you see Su Yue? Where is she?!”
The actor blinked. “I think… I saw her over there. Chu Mengyun was holding her back during the collapse…”
Jiang Ci’s eyes narrowed. Without a word, he rushed toward the indicated spot, moving rocks and mud like a man possessed.
When Gu Qing arrived with the rescue team, what he saw stunned him—Jiang Ci, hands bleeding, face pale, soaked to the bone, still digging alone.
“Mr. Jiang! You’ll destroy your hands at this rate!” Gu Qing tried to hold him back.
“Get out of my way!” Jiang Ci shouted, his strength fueled by sheer desperation.
“Mr. Jiang, the team’s here. We have a plan. Reinforcements are on the way.” Gu Qing gritted his teeth and pulled Jiang Ci back.
“Gu Qing!” Jiang Ci’s eyes were bloodshot, his fury explosive. “Move!”
He was drenched, wounded, and barely standing, but his determination was terrifying.
—
In Granny Ping’s house, Su Yue had already changed into dry clothes.
“Madam, the ginger soup is ready. It’s just the right temperature.” Sheng Yan entered with a warm bowl and placed it on the little pink-clothed table they had set up just for Su Yue.
Su Yue frowned. “How’s Sheng Tian’s leg?”
“She probably broke a bone. But as long as she rests, it’ll be okay for now. The road down is still blocked.”
Su Yue’s eyes darkened. “What’s the situation like now?”
During the landslide, Chu Mengyun had tried to drag her along, saying she couldn’t run in heels. But in that moment, Sheng Yan and Sheng Tian kicked her away and shielded Su Yue. Sheng Tian’s leg was crushed by a rock in that scruffle.
Sheng Yan answered, “The village chief’s organizing a rescue team . The team from the bottom of the mountain has also arrived.”
“And the soup?” Su Yue asked, eyeing the bowl suspiciously.
“President Jiang specially asked me to prepare it. He said you must drink it,” Sheng Yan confessed carefully.
Su Yue blinked. Instead of getting angry, she pouted and chuckled softly, then obediently lowered her head to sip the soup.
“I’m going to see if someone nearby can lend me a phone. We need to report back to President Jiang.”
Su Yue paused, then smiled gently. “Tell him I’m safe. Tell him not to worry.”
Sheng Yan nodded.
But just as she turned to leave, a sharp pain suddenly pierced Su Yue’s head. Her system rang loudly.
“Anger level: 100!”
Su Yue’s hand trembled, and the bowl of ginger soup slipped from her grasp, crashing to the ground.
She clutched her head. “A-Ao is angry…”
Before Sheng Yan could react, Su Yue collapsed, unconscious.