0p0 Chapter 265 The Most Important Person
Chapter 265 The Most Important Person
Realizing what had happened, Lu Ran instantly came to her senses.
Without hesitation, he rolled out of bed, quickly put on a coat, and without even bothering to put on shoes, stepped barefoot onto the cold floor. He rushed to the door, opened it, and headed straight for Shen Yuege's room.
The walls of the corridor were trembling slightly, and the picture frames hanging on the walls were crooked, making creaking sounds.
The stair railing was vibrating, as if some enormous force was shaking the entire building.
Lu Ran's heart suddenly raced, but his mind remained unusually clear.
Instead of running outside immediately, he rushed into Shen Yuege's room first.
The door wasn't locked.
Shen Yuege was still asleep, her brows slightly furrowed, probably because she was uncomfortable from being shaken.
She was wearing a light-colored nightgown, with the blanket kicked to one side, revealing a section of her fair calves.
"Yuege!" Lu Ran rushed to the bedside and grabbed her shoulders. "Wake up! There's an earthquake!"
Shen Yuege opened her eyes groggily, not yet realizing what had happened, only feeling dizzy, as if the whole world was spinning.
"What's wrong... I feel so dizzy..." she mumbled, her voice hoarse from just waking up.
"Earthquake! Get up quickly!" Lu Ran didn't have time to say anything more and pulled her out of bed.
Shen Yuege then came to her senses, her face turning pale instantly.
Lu Ran grabbed her hand and ran outside. As they passed the living room, he grabbed a large coat from the sofa—a thick down jacket that Shen Yuege usually wore when she went out.
He glanced at the clock on the wall; the hands were stopped at 12:11.
From the moment they felt the earthquake to the moment they pulled Shen Yuege out, it was only two minutes.
The moment I pushed open the door, a blast of cold wind hit me, scraping my face like a knife.
In the dead of night in early winter, the temperature had already dropped to single digits. Lu Ran was only wearing a thin nightgown and a hastily grabbed jacket, and he shivered from the cold.
But he didn't care about any of that and dragged Shen Yuege all the way to the open space in front of the villa.
It was a lawn surrounded by several ginkgo trees, all of which had fallen leaves, their bare branches trembling in the night wind.
The lawn is quite large, and there are no tall buildings around it, making it the safest open area in this villa area.
Shen Yuege stood on the lawn, panting heavily, her face pale and her lips blue.
She was only wearing a thin nightgown, shivering in the cold wind, curled up like a frightened kitten.
Lu Ran quickly draped the large coat he was holding over her shoulders, then took off his own coat and wrapped it around her legs.
"What are you doing!" Shen Yuege exclaimed, "Aren't you cold?"
"I can withstand the cold," Lu Ran said, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Put it on first, so you don't catch a cold."
Shen Yuege wanted to say something, but when she saw Lu Ran standing in the cold wind wearing only a thin vest, his lips already frozen purple, her eyes immediately reddened.
"Why didn't you run first..." Her voice choked with emotion. "You could have run out and then called me..."
"It's too late," Lu Ran said. "Besides, I can't just run away first."
He didn't even realize when he said that Shen Yuege had unknowingly become the most important person in his life.
Not just one of them, but the only one.
That kind of importance is that the first reaction to sensing danger is not to run away, but to rush towards her.
They would rather freeze themselves than not put their clothes on her. Even if the sky were to fall, they would make sure she was safe first.
Lu Ran didn't know when he had this feeling, but at that moment, the first person he thought of was Shen Yuege.
Shen Yuege looked at him, tears silently streaming down her face.
She didn't say anything more, but simply held his hand tightly and hugged him, trying to keep them both warm.
Although they were still cold, Shen Yuege felt inexplicably warm when she held him.
People gradually filled the open space.
One by one, the residents of the villa area came out. Some were wearing pajamas and wrapped in blankets, some were carrying children and walking dogs, and others were carrying suitcases.
Lu Ran was speechless at the person carrying the suitcase.
An earthquake! It's not like we're going on vacation; why would we be in the mood to pack our bags?
People stood in twos and threes on the lawn; some were still shaken, some were making phone calls to let others know they were safe, and some were comforting crying children.
The sirens of fire trucks and ambulances could be heard in the distance, rising and falling, sounding particularly jarring against the silent night sky.
Lu Ran took out his phone and glanced at the signal strength—full bars.
He opened the news app, and the homepage was already flooded with news about the earthquake.
[Breaking News: Strong Earthquake Strikes Sichuan Region, Tremors Felt Across Many Parts of China]
[Latest news: An 8.0-magnitude earthquake has struck western China, with a focal depth of approximately 10 kilometers.]
The earthquake was felt strongly in Shanghai, Beijing, and many other areas in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, prompting residents to evacuate.
Level 8.0.
Lu Ran stared at the number, completely stunned.
He certainly knew what an 8.0 magnitude earthquake meant.
It was an earthquake, a collapse of houses, a shattering of mountains and rivers, and the instantaneous burial of countless lives.
It was a reality more brutal than any disaster movie, a despair that no language could describe.
He remembered the massive earthquake from his past life very clearly.
Behind those cold, hard numbers are broken families and smiling faces that will never be seen again.
His hands were trembling; it was unclear whether it was from the cold or something else.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yuege noticed his unusual behavior and leaned over to look at his phone screen.
She was stunned the moment she saw the news.
"Level eight..." she murmured, "This..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but Lu Ran knew what she wanted to say.
An 8-magnitude earthquake would be a devastating disaster anywhere.
They stood in silence, and no one spoke.
After a long time, the tremors completely disappeared.
People started walking back, muttering things like, "It should be alright now," and "Let's go back to sleep."
But many more people remained standing there, scrolling through their phones. They were still a little uneasy, as many hadn't brought their phones with them when they came out and had no idea what had happened.
Lu Ran's phone rang; it was Zhou Mingzhe calling.
"Lu Ran! Are you alright?!" The voice on the other end of the phone was clearly tense.
"It's okay, Yuege and I are both in the open space outside."
"That's good, that's good..." Zhou Mingzhe breathed a sigh of relief. "I just ran downstairs, and my legs were weak. This earthquake was terrifying."
"How's it going on your end?"
"Thankfully, nothing serious happened. It's just that nobody's dared to go back inside; everyone's standing downstairs. Oh, and I saw on the news that there was an 8-level storm in Sichuan..."
"I know," Lu Ran interrupted him. "Don't think about these things now, be careful. We can talk about it tomorrow."
"Okay. Be careful too."
After hanging up, several more calls came in—from Li Mo, Tan Yu, Xu Manxue, Zhou Xiaoou... all confirming his safety.
Lu Ran replied to each of them, letting them know she was safe.
Shen Yuege didn't bring her phone with her, so she had to borrow his.
She called her parents and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that everything was alright.
The two stood there for a while longer, and only after confirming that there were no signs of aftershocks did they slowly walk back.
Back at the villa, Lu Ran told Shen Yuege to go change her clothes first.
He stood in the living room, looking at the crooked picture frames and the few books scattered on the floor, and suddenly felt a little dazed.
Just minutes before, he felt his life was on track—his career was steadily rising, his relationship was stable and sweet, and everything was moving in the best direction.
But now, those things that seem sturdy are incredibly fragile in the face of natural disasters.
Shen Yuege changed her clothes and came out. She saw Lu Ran standing in the living room in a daze, so she went over and gently hugged him.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking..." Lu Ran paused, "What can we do?"
Shen Yuege was stunned for a moment, then released him and looked intently into his eyes.
"You mean... disaster relief?"
"Um."
...