Volume One, Chapter 56 (Climax - Punishing the Scum): Zhou Jinghuai Returns, Kneeling in the Rain

Two hours later, Zhou Jinghuai hurried back to Jing City.

It had rained at noon, leaving the explosion site in complete ruins.

Over a hundred search and rescue personnel were busy at work, accompanied by ten search and rescue dogs. However, the heavy stench at the scene severely impaired the working dogs' sense of smell.

As soon as Zhou Jinghuai stepped out of the car, he saw Zhou Jingyao, his hands locked in silver handcuffs, standing there in a daze while being guarded by others.

"Zhou Jingyao, you bastard!"

Zhou Jinghuai threw a punch.

He used his full strength, and blood instantly gushed out from Zhou Jingyao's nose and mouth. Yet, Zhou Jingyao did not fight back; he just took a step back and continued to stare blankly in the direction of the abandoned warehouse.

Time was precious, and Zhou Jinghuai had no time to settle scores with him.

He stepped into the mud and consulted with the head of the search and rescue team, personally arranging the rescue operations. On top of the original deployment, he added another eighty rescue personnel and brought in professional life detectors.

The rain grew heavier, but Zhou Jinghuai wore no raincoat, his body caked in mud.

He dug into the crumbling walls with his bare hands. Together with the rescue workers, he lifted heavy concrete beams. As time passed, his palms became covered in blood, but Zhou Jinghuai felt no pain.

——Ye Wu was right down there.

His Awu was down there. Every extra brick he removed added a fraction more hope to her survival.

Far in the distance, Madam Zhou held a black umbrella and called out to her son with a heart full of anguish: "Jinghuai, it's raining so hard. Come out of the rain."

Zhou Jinghuai turned a deaf ear.

Madam Zhou wanted to go over and pull him back, but Zhou Yanli stopped her: "Ye Wu is his wife. Whatever he does now is only right."

With that, Zhou Yanli discarded the black umbrella in his hand and plunged into the rain to help.

Watching her husband throw himself into danger without hesitation, Madam Zhou felt a profound shock—

She had never known that Yanli cared so deeply for Ye Wu.

Ye Wu had never borne children, so why was this?

In the rain, a piercing, muffled voice rang out. It turned out that Ye Wu's maternal grandmother had rushed over. Though the old lady was in poor health, she supported herself and called out her granddaughter's name in the rain, each cry heartbreakingly shrill—

[Awu, Awu, my Awu.]

[Grandmother is here, Awu, come home with grandmother.]

[Awu, grandmother is right here.]

...

Mrs. Chen had also rushed back from Yun City. Supporting the old lady and listening to her tragic cries, she felt an unbearable ache in her chest. She thought of the elderly woman who had adopted her own daughter—would she too, in the dusk rain, be calling out for her "Awu"?

Mrs. Chen shed tears.

Looking at her husband, she whispered tearfully, "Think of something."

The sky and earth were gloomy, and night was gradually falling completely.

The rain fell heavily like bamboo stalks, pelting the ground like cascading beans.

Eight hours had passed since the accident. The head of the search and rescue team felt all hope was gone. Wiping the muddy water from his face, he tactfully expressed this to Zhou Jinghuai.

Zhou Jinghuai staggered and dropped straight to his knees in the muddy water. Beneath his feet, a delicate little flower was crushed by the mud, yet it still retained a trace of vividness.

With hands covered in blood, Zhou Jinghuai picked that little flower.

In his ears echoed Ye Wu's calm and gentle voice—

[I like them, Zhou Jinghuai. No woman doesn't like flowers.]

Two streams of hot tears fell from Zhou Jinghuai's mud-stained face. Suddenly, he stood up, stumbling as he walked toward the Zhou family car. Reaching out, he pulled open the door and got in, and a moment later, the car sped away through the muddy water.

Everyone was stunned.

Some guessed that the Rong'en Group's CEO had lost his mind from the grief of losing his wife...

Dark clouds rolled across the night sky as it rushed forward.

An hour later, a black car sped back from afar—it was Zhou Jinghuai returning.

The black limousine opened, and he stepped out holding a small white dog. It was precisely the little white dog Ye Wu had raised.

The little white dog's dark, obsidian eyes looked around blankly. Zhou Jinghuai gently stroked its little head.

Holding the puppy, he walked through the muddy water all the way to the spot where Ye Wu had the accident before putting it down.

The puppy seemed to understand.

It began to search anxiously among the ruins, sniffing here and there. Ten minutes later, it started scratching frantically at a collapsed wall, digging rapidly with its two small paws until they were soon stained with blood—

The puppy whimpered anxiously, its two dark, obsidian eyes looking up at Zhou Jinghuai.

Filled with moisture—

Zhou Jinghuai bent down, picked it up, and handed it to Mrs. Chen.

He stood quietly in front of that collapsed wall for about two seconds, and then spoke in a hoarse voice: "Right here. Be careful... don't hurt her."

No one believed Ye Wu still had a chance of survival, but everyone exercised extreme caution.

The tower crane's floodlights illuminated the rainy night as bright as day.

An hour later, that wall was finally cleared away, and the people beneath were unearthed.

——It was Ye Wu.

She was tightly shielded beneath the body of Gu Jiuci. Both of them were covered in blood and grime, and one of Gu Jiuci's arms was a bloody mess.

The sight was utterly soul-stirring.

The scene fell into absolute silence.

Not knowing whether Ye Wu and Gu Jiuci were still alive, for a moment, no one dared to step forward to check.

Zhou Jinghuai half-knelt in the muddy water. Cautiously, he felt for Ye Wu's breath... There was a warm current of air.

Zhou Jinghuai raised his head and took a deep breath toward the night sky.

He couldn't hold back his emotions—

His Awu was still alive.

His Awu was still alive!

Not daring to move her, Zhou Jinghuai only dared to gently pat her cold face, calling out her name: "Awu, Awu... I'm back."

Ye Wu slowly opened her eyes—

The lights were so bright, so dazzling. Where was this?

Her mind not yet clear, she murmured the words she had thought of countless times that night—

[Zhou Jinghuai, dawn has come. Will you come to save me?]

[Zhou Jinghuai, dawn has come...]

...

Repeating it a few times, Ye Wu's consciousness slowly returned. Looking at the man before her, she smiled faintly.

He had finally returned.

Zhou Jinghuai wanted to pick her up, but Ye Wu gently shook her head. Slowly, she unclasped her blood-stained palm—

In the center of her palm lay the shattered longevity lock.

Ye Wu's gaze fell upon Zhou Jinghuai's face, and she softly spoke: "The thing you gave me, I am returning it to you now."