Chasing My Wife Through Fire and Ashes

When Chen Zhi rushed out of the apartment building, he missed a step and pitched forward, his knees slamming into the concrete ground. He winced in pain.

He didn't bother to look at the wound, scrambled up, and ran toward the neighborhood gate.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Pei Ningxue's number.

"Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off—"

He forced himself to stand still and catch his breath for two seconds, scrolled down his contacts, and found a note for "Lao Zhao."

Pei Ningxue's private driver.

"Boss... Boss Chen?"

Lao Zhao's voice carried a hint of hesitation.

"Lao Zhao, where is Pei Ningxue?"

The other end of the line was quiet for two seconds.

"President Pei..."

"Speak."

Lao Zhao sighed. That sigh came through the receiver, heavy and solemn.

"Half an hour ago, President Pei asked me to book the next flight to Beijing."

"Where is she? Where is she right now?"

"On her way to Tianhe Airport. President Pei didn't let me drive her; she called a ride-hailing car herself."

"What time is the flight?"

"Let me check... 11:20."

Chen Zhi glanced down at the time in the upper right corner of his phone.

10:17.

One hour.

From the old neighborhood to Tianhe Airport, it usually took forty minutes by car.

"Lao Zhao, can you reach her?"

"I called three times, but President Pei didn't answer." Lao Zhao paused. "Boss Chen, before President Pei got in the car, I heard something wrong with her voice on the phone."

"What do you mean?"

"Like... she had been crying."

Chen Zhi pulled the phone away from his ear and looked up at the sky.

Dark clouds pressed down on his head, suffocatingly heavy.

"Thanks, Lao Zhao."

He hung up the phone and ran out to the road by the neighborhood gate.

The old neighborhood was in the east of the city, a remote area. At this hour, there wasn't even a shadow of a person on the road, let alone a taxi. Chen Zhi stood under a streetlamp, looking both ways. There were no cars at all.

He opened his phone to call a ride.

Estimated arrival time: 47 minutes.

In line, 3 people waiting ahead...

"Fuck."

Chen Zhi closed the app, stepped straight into the middle of the road, and stared in the direction where headlights would appear.

Thirty seconds later, the roof light of a taxi flickered in the distance.

He rushed forward, practically throwing himself onto the hood, and flagged the car down.

The driver was so startled he slammed on the brakes, rolled down the window, and leaned out to curse, but swallowed his words when he saw Chen Zhi's face.

"Young man, do you want to die?"

Chen Zhi pulled open the back door and slid in, fished out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a stack of red bills, and slapped them straight onto the passenger seat.

"To Tianhe Airport, as fast as possible. I'll cover all points and fines for running red lights."

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

The young man's T-shirt was half soaked, his knees scraped, and his hair a mess. He looked like a madman.

"Hold on tight."

The driver floored the gas pedal, and the car shot forward.

As soon as they hit the main road, the sky split open.

A bolt of lightning struck down, followed by thunder, and then bean-sized raindrops smashed onto the roof of the car, crackling.

The wipers were on the highest setting, but they couldn't keep up with the rain. The front windshield was a curtain of water, and visibility was terrible.

"Young man, this rain... I have to slow down."

"By how much?"

"Sixty kilometers an hour tops. Any faster and I won't be able to see the road."

Chen Zhi closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the back of the front seat.

The pair of red strings clenched in his hand hurt his palm.

Bought by Shichahai.

Woven by an old granny.

Later, she had said something.

"I will never take off what you gave me."

Now, that pair of red strings lay on the desk in the guest room, next to a box of barely touched takeout.

He was thinking about what Pei Ningxue had gone through today.

In the morning, when he left, she hadn't come out of the guest room.

At lunch, eating noodles, she hadn't said a word.

In the afternoon, he went to pick up Lin Wanwan.

In the evening, he was drinking with the two families at the hotel, toasting Lin Shuxian.

She was alone in the guest room.

Her foot hit by a fishing rod, the lightbulb broken, the takeout cold.

Then his mother came back, carrying a doggy bag, and she stood up and bowed, saying, "Auntie, thank you, I'm sorry for the trouble."

Chen Zhi released the red strings with his right hand, raised it, and slapped himself hard in the face.

"Smack—"

A crisp sound exploded in the car.

The driver jumped in the rearview mirror, almost swerving the steering wheel.

"Brother! What are you doing!"

Chen Zhi ignored him.

His left cheek burned with pain, which cleared his head a bit.

"Driver, how much further?"

"Normally twenty-five minutes, but in this rain... it'll take half an hour."

10:32.

Flight at 11:20.

Check-in closes forty-five minutes prior.

Which meant he had at most thirteen minutes.

Thirteen minutes.

"Driver, please."

The driver didn't say anything, but he pressed down harder on the gas pedal.

Outside the window, the streetlights and neon lights blurred into halos, flashing backward.

Chen Zhi dimmed his phone screen, opened WeChat, searched for Pei Ningxue's number, and sent a friend request.

He sent another message to Lao Zhao: "Help me check which terminal President Pei's flight is at."

Lao Zhao replied quickly: "T2, China Southern CZ6586."

"Which zone is the check-in counter?"

"Zone F, near the security checkpoint."

10:41.

The car drove onto the airport expressway ramp.

The rain had lessened a bit, but the water on the road was deep. When the wheels rolled over it, water splashed onto the windows, blurring visibility again.

Chen Zhi gripped his phone, constantly refreshing WeChat.

The status of the friend request remained unchanged.

She hadn't accepted it.

Nor had she rejected it.

10:48.

"We're here, we're here, T2 is right ahead."

Before the car even came to a complete stop, Chen Zhi pushed open the door and jumped out.

The downpour poured over him, drenching him from head to toe in three seconds.

He ran toward the terminal doors.

The moment he entered, the cold air from the AC hit his soaked clothes, making him shiver. He ignored it and dashed straight for the Zone F check-in counter.

When he got there, there was no line.

Check-in was closed.

He turned to look toward the security checkpoint.

From dozens of meters away, the line in front of the security channel was already very short.

Then he saw it.

At the end of the line, a figure in a beige light trench coat, dragging a silver suitcase, was handing her ID to the security personnel.

Her hair fell over her shoulders, slightly curled, her back straight.

Chen Zhi's legs went weak for a second, and then he ran toward that direction as if his life depended on it.

His leather shoes stepped on the marble floor, leaving a long trail of wet footprints.

He ran to the outside of the security checkpoint, across that damn yellow line, and yelled out with a cracked voice.

"Pei Ningxue!!"

The terminal was too big, and the echo bounced around under the dome.

The passengers around all turned to look at him.

A young man, completely soaked, standing outside the security checkpoint, yelling a woman's name inside.

Pei Ningxue's footsteps stopped.

Stopped for about a second.

Chen Zhi saw her shoulders tense slightly, then relax.

She didn't look back.

The security personnel handed her ID back. She took it and walked straight through the gate.

The glass wing doors of the gate slowly closed behind her.

Chen Zhi dashed forward two steps, but a hand grabbed his arm in a death grip.

"Sir! Sir, you can't go through! You can't enter the security checkpoint without a boarding pass!"

The airport security guard's grip was ridiculously strong.

Chen Zhi tried to shake him off, but another one came over.

Two uniformed guards pinned his arms from both sides.

"Sir, please calm down!"

Chen Zhi didn't struggle.

Pinned in place, his eyes remained fixed on the retreating figure inside the security checkpoint.

Getting smaller and smaller.

Getting further and further away.

Then, she turned a corner and disappeared.

When the two guards finally let go, he slumped directly onto the floor.

The marble floor was freezing, his soaked trousers clinging to his legs.

He lowered his head.

He was clutching the red string in his palm so tightly that the edge of the peace buckle attached to the knot had cut into his skin. Beads of blood seeped through his fingers, mixing with rainwater as they dripped onto the bright, polished floor.

He just sat there like that for about two or three minutes.

Passing travelers walked around him. Some secretly took photos with their phones, while others muttered, "He must be drunk."

The phone in his pocket rang.

Chen Zhi pulled it out mechanically.

Lin Wanwan.

"Chen Zhi! How did you handle the company matters? It's raining so heavily outside, you didn't get wet, did you?"

Her voice was sweet and soft.

Chen Zhi opened his mouth.

"...It's handled."

"That's good! Why is your voice so hoarse?"

"Got caught in the rain."

"Huh? Why didn't you use an umbrella! Hurry home and take a hot shower, don't catch a cold!"

"Yeah."

"Then get some rest early. I'll come hang out with you tomorrow! Goodnight!"

"...Goodnight."

The call ended.

Gripping his phone, Chen Zhi sat on the floor of the airport lobby. He was surrounded by the pale glare of incandescent lights, while the overhead speakers looped flight announcements.

He heard the boarding announcement for Pei Ningxue's flight.

"Attention passengers traveling to Beijing Daxing, boarding for China Southern Airlines flight CZ6586 is now beginning..."

Chen Zhi closed his eyes for a moment.

Then, pushing off the ground, he stood up.

He walked over to the check-in counter.

"When is the next flight to Beijing?"

"Sir, the earliest one is at 6:15 tomorrow morning."

"Nothing left tonight?"

"The 11:20 flight was the last one tonight, and check-in is already closed."

Chen Zhi stood before the counter, resting both hands on the surface.

"Give me a ticket for 6:15 tomorrow morning."

The staff member glanced at him but didn't ask questions.

"Please show your ID."

Chen Zhi took out his ID card and handed it over.

Just as the boarding pass was being printed, his phone rang again.

It was Dai Damai.

Chen Zhi opened the message, and a line of text popped up.

[Brother Zhi, President Pei just logged into the company's intranet and transferred all the CFO's permissions to me. Is she withdrawing her shares?!]