Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The air grew noticeably hotter. Through the south-facing floor-to-ceiling window, flames could be seen licking up from below.

The fire didn't seem extensive yet—certainly not enough to dispel the gloom in the living room—but suddenly, all sounds in Gu Yubai’s world ceased, leaving an eerie silence in his ears.

Then, a conversation began to sharpen in his mind.

"Hello, are you Mr. Gu Mingliang’s son? The inpatient building of Mingcheng Hospital has unexpectedly caught fire, and the entire structure has burned down. I regret to inform you of some terrible news."

"How tragic—he was completely cremated. If he hadn’t been comatose, he might have escaped. He was the only fatality in the entire building. Everyone else had family by their side, and even those who didn’t could still move. The medical staff helped evacuate them."

"Everyone forgot about the patient in that room. The aide had slipped downstairs to slack off, and when the fire broke out, they panicked and ran, without even thinking to notify the deceased’s family."

A voice chattered incessantly in Gu Yubai’s ear, growing louder and louder, nearly driving him mad.

Blinding flames raged before his eyes—unstoppable, swiftly turning the pristine hospital room into charred ruins. The air was thick with a strange, acrid smell.

Gu Yubai had rushed from campus, only to find the once-intact hospital building already collapsed and destroyed.

Everything was reduced to ashes. Even his adoptive father’s remains were mixed into the debris, with only a small patch of dust—outlined in white chalk—indicating the spot where his hospital bed had been. That might have been the last trace of his adoptive father’s ashes.

Gu Yubai’s world turned upside down. His breathing became labored, and in his daze, he seemed to hear someone sneering at him years later.

"This jinx got his adoptive father killed in a fire. Who in the Su family would care about him? He’s a jinx—bad luck follows anyone near him!"

----

Someone shoved him.

"Big brother, big brother! Why are you zoning out? The fire downstairs isn't out of control yet—we need to get out now!"

Gu Yihong’s voice seemed distant, but he was right in front of him, eyes filled with worry.

Gu Yubai snapped out of his memories, drew a deep breath, and firmly pushed Gu Yihong’s face away from his own.

"First, contact property management. Then, trigger the building’s fire alarm and notify the residents in the group chat. The fire alarm downstairs didn’t go off—something must be wrong. I’ll go turn on the water valve in the hallway."

Gu Yubai quickly reeled off instructions, then opened the door and headed to the corridor by the elevator to activate the water valve.

By now, the upstairs wiring had already burned through, and the elevator was unusable.

Holding a damp towel over his nose, Gu Yubai tried opening the stairwell door. Surprisingly, though the fire downstairs had filled the stairwell with smoke, it wasn’t blocking their escape.

Gu Yubai called out to Gu Yihong, and the brothers helped each other as they made their way down.

When they reached the floor where the fire had started, Gu Yubai remembered their new neighbor. He grabbed a broom and forcefully knocked on the kitchen window of the corresponding unit.

The glass shattered under his strikes, but there was no response from inside.

There was no telling whether the occupant was asleep, passed out, or simply not home.

By now, other residents had realized something was wrong. The stairwell was filled with shouts and calls from the building’s occupants.

Fortunately, the fire was still contained to the floor where it had started. Those below remained calm. Only when Gu Yubai and Gu Yihong made it outside and looked up did they realize the fire was worse than they'd thought.

Not far away, the wail of fire truck sirens grew louder. Behind them, the security guard on duty was on the phone.

"I just tried contacting the owner of that unit, but I couldn’t reach them. However, the exit records show that Mr. Yu’s car left in the afternoon and hasn’t returned since. I expect he’s still working late at the company. The fire department is here, and residents from the nearby floors have been evacuated."

"Understood, manager. As soon as we determine the cause of the fire, I’ll notify you immediately."

Hearing that Yu Li wasn’t home, Gu Yubai breathed a small sigh of relief.

On a summer night, you wouldn't catch cold even shirtless outside.

Gu Yubai stood at the base of the building, gazing up at the flames consuming the mid-level floors, his mind wandering.

Under the dark sky, his face was alarmingly pale.

Gu Yihong stole several glances at him, thinking he was shaken by the fire and hesitating to speak.

Only when the firefighters quickly contained the blaze did Gu Yihong clear his throat and attempt to start a conversation.

"Big brother, I'm staying for now. With the fire at home, I’ll stay and keep you company."

At the sound of his voice, Gu Yubai frowned slightly, his gaze strangely distant.

"What about the Su family? I thought you were hiding from them?"

Didn’t you say you wanted to make the Su family lose face and cut ties with them completely?

As Gu Yubai reflected on everything that had happened since his rebirth, he stared at the gradually dying flames upstairs and suddenly felt a sense of disorientation.

Had he truly been reborn?

Had his adoptive father, still lying in that hospital bed, long been reduced to ashes? Was all of this just a hallucination?

A breeze swept by, carrying traces of heat, yet Gu Yubai couldn't stop shivering.

It was a little cold.

-----------

After three in the morning, the world was plunged into darkness.

Only the fire engulfing one floor of the residential building lit up part of the night sky.

Yu Li had just returned from the company. As Assistant Jin drove closer to the neighborhood, he slowed the car and turned to Yu Li with suspicion in his tone.

"President Yu, it looks like there’s a fire in your residential complex."

Not just the complex—upon closer inspection, it was the very building Yu Li lived in, and the fire was on a floor close to his.

The car couldn’t get any closer to the entrance, so the two got out and walked the rest of the way.

Before they even reached the building, Assistant Jin fell completely silent.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the floor on fire was the one he had arranged to be renovated not long ago. It was only meant to be a temporary residence for Yu Li until the Yu Corporation’s operations fully relocated back to the country, after which Yu Li would move back to the Yu Family Estate.

But after moving in, Yu Li had informed Assistant Jin that there was no rush to prepare the estate—he wouldn’t be relocating anytime soon.

And now, after just a few days, the entire floor had burned down.

Assistant Jin stole a glance at the silent Yu Li, only to see him stride toward two young men in the crowd.

Looking up, Assistant Jin inexplicably found one of the youths familiar.

Pulling out his phone, he realized it was none other than the True Young Master Gu Yihong, who had been making waves online recently.

The other one was the milk tea delivery guy who had once come to their company and had a conflict with the Su family’s young master.

Assistant Jin's eyes suddenly showed understanding.

The world is truly small—CEO Yu actually lives in the same neighborhood as this boba delivery guy and the True Young Master. They probably knew each other for a while.

No wonder he defended that boba delivery guy in front of the Su family's young master earlier.

Assistant Jin glanced at Yu Li, listening to the surrounding speculations about the fire, then turned to inquire about the cause of the fire on Yu Li's floor.

Just as Yu Li squeezed his way behind Gu Yubai, he heard the nonstop talking of Gu Yubai's younger brother, Gu Yihong, who was holding a suitcase.

"Big brother, I'm not leaving. Even if the Su family comes knocking, I don’t care—they can’t do anything to me anyway. The most important thing now is to go upstairs later and check if the fire downstairs has affected our home. If it caused any damage, I’ll go with you to handle it."

"Damn those downstairs neighbors... Why did they have to start a fire now, of all times, when everyone has urgent matters to attend to? Big brother, I’m not going on that trip anymore."

Gu Yubai’s face was paler than ever before. He gazed absently at the building, his thoughts unclear.

Hearing Gu Yihong’s concerned words, he managed a weak smile but hadn’t yet spoken when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

"You don’t need to worry. If there’s any damage to your apartment, I’ll compensate for it in full."

The voice was deep and steady, unmistakably familiar.

Gu Yubai turned sharply to see his new neighbor offering him a gentle, comforting smile.

Yu Li seemed in a bit of a hurry—his black suit was slightly wrinkled, and his hair was a bit disheveled.

Having pushed through the crowd to stand behind Gu Yubai, he noticed the latter quietly watching him, his face pale. Instinctively, Yu Li gave him another comforting smile.

He repeated, "Don’t worry. I’ll cover all losses caused by this fire."

This man was strikingly handsome, exuding an air of maturity and stability. He was still dressed in his suit, and if not for the beads of sweat on his forehead, Gu Yubai might have thought he was completely unfazed by the summer heat.

Yu Li.

Gu Yubai slowly rolled around the name in his mind.

This man had never appeared in his past life.

He was new.

His features were so vivid in Gu Yubai’s eyes that he could even make out the tiny brown mole on his left eyelid.

This was not imaginary!

No matter how confused or questioning he was about reality, he couldn’t have conjured up someone so handsome, composed, and accommodating out of thin air.

Gu Yubai's unease suddenly calmed somewhat.

------

Finally coming back to his senses, Gu Yubai grabbed Gu Yihong and smiled at Yu Li.

"Good thing you were working overtime at the company. When the fire broke out downstairs earlier, I almost thought you were sleeping too soundly and got trapped in the smoke. But CEO Yu, your company is really ruthless—you’ve only just moved in, and this is already the second time I’ve seen you working late."

His tone carried a playful familiarity, the kind reserved for someone he knew well.

His pale complexion softened slightly, finally showing some color.

Gu Yihong looked at the tall, composed young man opposite them with slight surprise.

He asked, "Big brother, do you know him?"

Before Gu Yubai could answer, Assistant Jin’s loud voice came from behind.

He pushed through to Yu Li’s side.

"CEO Yu, the firefighters just confirmed that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical conduit in the living-room during the earlier renovations, combined with the summer heat. The good news is, only your floor was affected. The bad news is, you might have to stay in a hotel tonight."

"Also, I’ve already contacted the renovation team. A few units upstairs had their wiring affected, but I’ve arranged for repairs."

Yu Li nodded slightly and instructed Assistant Jin to book a nearby hotel.

However, after several calls, Assistant Jin returned with a helpless expression.

"CEO Yu, some worse news."

"Due to the incident, the authorities have ordered all nearby hotels to stop taking new guests for the next two to three days for inspections. CEO Yu, how about staying at my place for the night?"

Yu Li couldn’t help but frown slightly.

He said flatly, "Clear out my office. I’ll stay there for a couple of days."

"CEO Yu, the office isn’t comfortable for living," Assistant Jin objected.

Before he could say more, his eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at Gu Yubai and Gu Yihong, then suddenly smiled.

"CEO Yu, don’t you know that boba delivery guy? Besides, his younger brother, Gu Yihong, is the Su family’s True Young Master. Given your past connections with the Su family, you could temporarily stay at their place."

"I just followed the firefighters upstairs—aside from the power outage, the fire didn’t affect the upper floors at all. You can stay with them for now."

Yu Li was about to refuse when he suddenly processed what Assistant Jin had said. His hand froze, and he snapped his head up, his eyes flashing with shock.

"What did you just say? Who’s the True Young Master?"

Assistant Jin looked puzzled.

"Gu Yihong, Young Master Gu—the boba delivery guy’s younger brother. Didn’t you already know?"

Yu Li’s expression turned stormy instantly.

His expression turned grave as he stared at Gu Yubai and Gu Yihong in the distance, his brows furrowed, expression shifting across his face.

Assistant Jin noticed something wrong and cautiously asked,

"CEO Yu, the whole Su family’s true and false young master scandal has been blowing up online lately. Photos of Gu Yihong, the True Young Master, have been all over social media—I recognized him the moment I saw him. You don’t pay much attention to online gossip, so maybe you haven’t seen what the True Young Master looks like?"

Yu Li didn’t answer. Instead, he took out his phone and searched for details about the Su family’s true and false young master dispute.

After reading for a while, he finally figured it out.

The Su family’s True Young Master... had been switched.

Gu Yubai looked just like the late Madame Su in her youth—he couldn’t have mistaken that. Moreover, when he first met Gu Yubai making a boba delivery at his doorstep, he had already confirmed with Old Master Su abroad that this was indeed the grandson living with his adoptive father.

They had even become neighbors by chance, and Old Master Su had asked Yu Li to keep an eye on Gu Yubai.

So what was going on now? Did Gu Yubai know he was being impersonated? Did Old Master Su, recovering overseas, know that the grandson he'd verified had been replaced by someone else?

Yu Li looked up, his gaze darkened with suspicion.

What he'd been going to say suddenly changed.

He pointed at the two brothers not far away and told Assistant Jin,

"Alright."

It took Assistant Jin a moment to realize Yu Li had agreed to his revised accommodation plan.

He quickly turned and walked toward Gu Yubai nearby, where Gu Yihong was already asleep, clinging to Gu Yubai's arm.

After a brief exchange with him, Yu Li saw Gu Yubai glance his way, then nod and give him a warm smile.

Yu Li immediately understood, he had agreed.

Yu Li approached Gu Yubai, his eyes flickering briefly, and said softly,

"Thank you."