Chapter 37 – Chance to prove myself again! (1/2)

Outside of the cafeteria.

After Dong Xuebing, Tan Limei and the rest heard about the fire, they immediately ran out of the cafeteria and look towards the direction of the grey building. The fire was at the General Affairs Office’s building. Thick billowing smoke was coming out from the second floor. It was slightly further away from Dong Xuebing’s office. The thick smoke had covered the corridor and coming out from the windows. It seems that the fire was quite big.

“Whose office was that? Why did it catch fire?”

“Call 119!”

“We had called just now.”

The compound was filled with people.

At first, Dong Xuebing still did not think much of the fire. It was none of his business. But when he saw Li Qing and Zhou Changchun’s face, he immediately realized something was wrong. He looked at the second floor where the smoke was coming out. Damn! That was Li Qing’s office!

Li Qing shouted: “Quick. All those from the General Affairs Office, follow me!”

Zhou Changchun was wiping his sweat on his face and ran behind Li Qing towards that burning building. “Hurry and put out the fire.”

Guo Shunjie and Guo Panwei had caught up with them. Dong Xuebing knew that this was an emergency. He quickly ran forward with Tan Limei. Dong Xuebing knew that it was the faulty electric kettle that caused the fire. Li Qing and Zhou Changchun had forgotten to unplug it before leaving the office. They had to take responsibility for the fire, and the two very important documents were still in his office. If the documents were damaged, the whole General Affairs Office might be punished.

The corridor on the second floor was covered in thick smoke, and it was choking.

There were some people from the Political Section and Finance Department trying to put out the fire. They were throwing pails of water at the burning wooden door.

“The door is damaged by the fire and cannot be opened.”

“Put out the fire on the door first. Stop it from spreading.”

“Get a few more pails of water! It is not enough!”

Li Qing was panicking. He grabbed a fire extinguisher along the way to the building and spray it on the door. Guo Shunjie and Guo Panwei could not find any fire extinguishers. They could only get the pails and collect water from the washroom nearby. Changjuan, Dong Xuebing and the rest arrived shortly and helped to put out the fire.

“What’s happening? Li Qing, tell me what is happening?” A stern looking middle-aged man ran over from the end of the corridor. He was Yan Liang, Director of the District Branch Bureau.

Li Qing was panicking: “Director Yan, I…… I don’t know why my office caught fire.” He was lying through his teeth and trying to avoid taking responsibility.

Director Yan points at him: “I don’t care. Hurry up and save whatever documents in there!”

“Director Yan, I, I……” Li Qing was at a loss of words. “It’s fine if the rest of the documents were damaged. But…… but the two documents you passed to me this morning is…… still in my office.”

“What?!” Director Yan’s face changed. “Say that again?”

Li Qing’s fire extinguisher had run out, and he quickly explained: “This morning, the Confidential Documents Department was having a meeting and there was no one to accept the documents. So, I brought it back to my office and will deliver it after lunch. But who knows……”

Director Yan shouted: “Are you allowed to keep those documents in your office? What did I tell you when I pass you the documents? Those documents have no backups and were very important. How can you leave it in your office and go out for lunch? Do you know the procedures of handling these highly classified documents? Do you know?!”

Zhou Changchun was standing by the side sweating profusely.

Li Qing replied: “Director, don’t worry. There should be enough time to get the documents out.” The fire on the office door was extinguished. Li Qing shouted to Guo Panwei. “Stop trying to put out the fire and kick the door down. Get the documents in my desk’s second drawer on the right. Get it out of the fire even if it cost your life!”

Guo Panwei knew that if he could rescue the documents from the fire, it will be a great credit. He rushed forward and kicked on the door. Bang! But the door did not open. Dong Xuebing also saw this opportunity and wanted to kick the door. But Guo Shunjie pushed him aside and kicked the door.