Chapter 15: Accidentally Went Viral

Three new-energy vehicles were now completely engulfed in flames, the firelight reddening half the sky, the air thick with the acrid stench of burning rubber and batteries.

Although the middle vehicle's spontaneous combustion triggered the chain reaction, the root cause was the first car's tire blowout, which led to loss of control and a cascade of events. Fortunately, no one in the last two vehicles was injured.

Yet seeing the lifeless body on the ground and the two others still unconscious, his heart still felt heavy.

"Brother, you're awesome!"

Someone patted Qin Yun on the shoulder, genuinely impressed.

Qin Yun nodded; he noticed many people filming with their phones—some pointed at the burning cars, others at him.

He paid no mind to them; his mood was somewhat complicated.

What he didn't know was that his life-risking rescue had been filmed from afar—though blurry—and was already spreading across Douyin and Constable.

Platforms gave massive traffic boosts to real-time news; less than half an hour after the crash, it had been widely pushed out.

After a while, through the congested highway, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances arrived in succession.

Several traffic officers and firefighters rushed over, quickly setting up cordons, evacuating the crowd, and restoring traffic flow.

One officer checked his phone, then hurried over: "Comrade, were you the one who rescued people?"

Qin Yun nodded, briefly recounted the rescue, then gave his contact and personal information. He didn't linger, declined the suggestion to go to the hospital for a checkup, and walked past the police cars toward his own vehicle.

He took a T-shirt from the trunk, slipped it on, sat in the driver's seat, and sunlight streamed through the window, falling on his dusty arms.

Qin Yun started the car, slowly driving past the accident site, watching the scene recede in the rearview mirror, exhaling softly.

He really had changed; his old self would never have done this—he'd have fled instantly. But just now, he'd rushed over almost instinctively. Maybe it was because of the system, or maybe because he'd broken free from his marriage.

Qin Yun didn't dwell on it; he pressed the accelerator and kept driving toward Baoding Passenger Center.

Over an hour later, the car slowly pulled into the passenger center's parking lot.

He found a random parking spot and saw the girl crouched by the glass entrance, scrolling on her phone, occasionally giggling.

But when she swiped to the next video, she froze, her eyes widening in shock.

She stared at the figure in the video—though distant and blurry, the silhouette was too familiar; the location was the Jingkun Expressway. Xia Qingqing instantly believed the man saving people was Qin Yun. She scrolled further and quickly found several more clips from different angles.

Qin Yun picked up Xia Qingqing's bag from the passenger seat and walked straight toward her.

"Hey…" Qin Yun called from afar. When Xia Qingqing looked up, he waved the bag. "I brought it. How are you going to thank me?"

Xia Qingqing's eyes lit up and she ran over.

When she reached Qin Yun and saw his appearance, her expression changed.

"Qin… Brother Qin, was that really you in the video?"

"Video? What video?"

Qin Yun paused, then realized—it must be the footage from the highway accident going viral on social media.

"You mean the highway crash?"

Xia Qingqing nodded, gazing at him with admiration: "Yeah, I just scrolled through—it says a brother risked his life to save trapped passengers. The silhouette looked just like you."

Qin Yun didn't deny it, but didn't confirm either; he handed her the bag. "Check if anything's missing from your wallet."

Then he asked: "Didn't you say you were heading home today? Why are you still here? Are you planning to take a bus all the way to Shanghai?"

Xia Qingqing shook her head, put the wallet back in her backpack, then stuffed the bag into the luggage compartment.

"I'm taking a bus to Beijing Daxing Airport, then flying back to Shanghai."

"Heh, still putting up with your car sickness?" Qin Yun remembered her pale, exhausted face the first time he met her, and smiled.

Xia Qingqing blushed: "It's much better now. As long as I don't look at my phone and just relax, short trips don't make me dizzy anymore."

"Alright then, good luck. Have a safe trip."

Xia Qingqing quickly asked: "Brother Qin, where are you headed? Back to Beijing?" If he was going to Beijing, she wanted to hitch a ride.

"I'm going home—I'll drive all the way to Zhejiang."

Hearing this, Xia Qingqing felt disappointed but still said sincerely: "Thank you so much, Brother Qin. Drive safely. When you come to Shanghai, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Alright, goodbye."

Qin Yun nodded, waved, and turned away.

Xia Qingqing looked at Qin Yun's disheveled appearance, then compared him to her classmates, suddenly feeling a huge gap.

"Is this what mature men's charm looks like?"

Qin Yun naturally didn't know what Xia Qingqing was thinking. He reversed the car, waved at her again, and sped out of the passenger center. He'd planned to reach Hengshui by noon, but Xia Qingqing's matter had delayed him—he clearly wouldn't make it before noon.

But he wasn't hungry, so he wasn't in a rush.

As he re-entered the highway toward Hengshui, Douyin was flooded with news of his rescue—had he been a social media influencer, this wave of traffic would have made him rich.

But since the videos were shot from far away, no one could make out the rescuer's face, so no one knew who he was.

As a result, Douyin even saw videos attempting to dox the rescuer's identity.

Of course, such videos were quickly taken down.

Qin Yun didn't know the torrent of traffic had slipped past him. When he arrived in Hengshui and exited the highway into the city, it was already 1 p. m.

He planned to stay in Hengshui tonight and head to Shandong tomorrow.

Near the toll station, he checked into a hotel, took a shower, and noticed several missed calls—all from the same person.

He was about to call back when his phone rang again.

"Hello, is this Mr. Qin Yun? This is the Baoding Traffic Police Unit… we need to verify a few details…"

A woman's voice came through the line.

Qin Yun said: "Yes, it's me. What's the issue?"

"Mr. Qin, one of the people you rescued on the highway has been confirmed dead; the other two have regained consciousness. Since your act qualifies as heroic, there may be official commendation and a reward. Would you be able to come to Baoding later?"

Qin Yun sighed slightly; though he'd known the man was dead inside the car, he still felt sorrow.

"No need. I'm just passing through Hebei—I'll leave Hebei for Zhejiang tomorrow."

"That's really a shame, but don't worry — if there's a reward for brave deeds, you can just deposit it straight into your bank account."

"Thank you!"

Qin Yun didn't care about any brave-deed reward; first, how much money could it be? Second, he had simply done what he wanted to do.

He hung up the phone, went downstairs to find a place, picked an old shop with some history, ordered a donkey-meat huoshao, and satisfied his hungry stomach.

What is the meaning of travel? In a strange place, is it to visit scenic spots? Or to go to some museum?

Qin Yun felt neither was right; the meaning, he believed, lay in tasting foods never tasted before, admiring scenery never seen before, sensing different local accents, and meeting people from Tiannanhaibei.

But at this hour, forget it — too hot, waves of heat rolling, enough to fry the skin off you.

But before he could return to the hotel, a long-unheard-from phone call rang in.

Qin Yun glanced at the caller ID, his expression quite surprised. He pressed answer: "Why is Class Monitor my lord calling me?"

From the other end of the phone came a mature-sister voice: "Sure enough, after graduation people grow cold — you came to Hebei and didn't even bother to reach out to me. Men, huh, none of them are any good."

"Ahem…"

Qin Yun was so provoked by those words that he coughed twice.

"I say, Class Monitor my lord, what act is this? Who offended you? I'll help you teach him a lesson."

"Hmph… look, you don't even know where my home is." The mature-sister voice sounded very displeased.

Qin Yun was stunned for a moment, then quickly caught on: "Class Monitor, you're in Hebei? Didn't you say you went to Hangzhou?"

"I did go to Hangzhou, but am I not allowed to come home?"

Qin Yun rubbed his nose and said with a wry smile: "Did you take annual leave or something? Are you home now?"

The mature-sister voice snorted, and instead of answering, asked back: "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in Hengshui."

The moment the words fell, the voice on the other end suddenly turned a little odd: "Are you secretly following me?"

"You're in Hengshui too? Didn't you say your hometown is in Chengde?"

Chengde and Hengshui are separated by a distance bigger than two whole Beijings.

"My third aunt's daughter is getting married; I came to attend the wedding."

After saying that, the mature-sister voice added: "Send me your location so I can see where you are. If it's close, I'll give you a chance tonight to treat me to dinner, and check whether married men have all gotten fat."

So Qin Yun sent over his location. After the other side saw it, she immediately said: "Wait for my call tonight. Bye."

Qin Yun opened WeChat's Moments and, sure enough, found a comment underneath — from the very person who had just called.

On the other end, Su Huan hung up the phone, the corner of her mouth lifting into a smile.

"Who are you calling, smiling so happily?"

The bride beside her, seeing her older cousin's look, immediately grew curious.

Su Huan promptly tucked away her smile, glanced at her: "Where am I smiling? You're seeing things."

"Hmph!" The bride turned her head away. "I'm already married — are you still planning to get married? No wait, are you even planning to date? Since graduating college, I've never seen you with a man."

"Vulgar!"

Su Huan crossed her arms and looked at herself in the mirror: "I'm only 28, what's the rush? As long as my mom doesn't nag me, I can wait till 38 to marry."

"Then your second aunt will definitely beat you to death, I'm telling you."

In the mirror, Su Huan's face wore light, elegant makeup — relaxed brows and eyes, a delicate straight nose, a dainty little mouth — looking gentle, beautiful, and lively.

Loose long curly hair, jet-black strands with natural waves; part of the hair was casually tucked behind her ear, the rest falling over her shoulders and neck, the tips slightly tousled, yet looking relaxed and carefree.

An off-white short-sleeved shirt set off her exposed arms, making them Bai Xi and fine, with a natural translucent quality.

Such a seemingly gentle woman, yet her voice was full of magnetism and a sense of distance — that tone simply couldn't be matched to the girl in front of her; the contrast was just too great.

"Then can I tag along tonight too to join the fun?"

Su Huan glared at her: "What fun would you join? You still have to do the huimen visit this afternoon. Behave yourself and go be your bride."

"Hmph, I couldn't be bothered anyway."

Back on Qin Yun's side, he returned to the hotel and was scrolling through his phone when he found that the same-city feed had pushed out several videos, all of them related to him, and every one had very high likes and views. The comment section was even livelier — all sorts of things were being said, but mostly praise.

"Never thought it would blow up like this. What a pity — if I were a little more shameless, couldn't I just start a livestream on the spot and rake in the cash?"

After thinking it over, although he hadn't yet figured out what track to run with this account, he still went ahead and changed the profile info on his Douyin account — swapped the photo for a selfie, and changed the name directly to Qin Yun.