Chapter 1314 Incoming 3
very clearlyWith a frown, Su Chen was worried and got up as well.
“I’m going with you.”
When Ji Zitong heard his statement, she paused, and when she turned to him, he had already walked over to her. Before she could respond, he had swiftly taken out some clothes to put on.
A few minutes later, the husband and wife left their homes in a rush and made their way straight to Ji Zitong’s flower shop.
Before they even got near, they could already see a fire truck and a large crowd congesting the area up ahead. Police cordons were put up too. From afar, they could see a red blaze soaring. The firefighters had long been on the task of putting the fire out, and many people surrounded the place.
“Manager! Manager! Over here!” Ji Zitong had just walked over when the anxious shop a.s.sistant went up to her.
“What’s the situation up ahead? There shouldn’t be anyone inside, right?”
Another female shop a.s.sistant had applied for two days’ leave. Earlier, they had also called her parents and confirmed that Mother Ji was not in the shop before Ji Zitong could relax.
“There’s no one in our store, but I don’t know about the other two shops. Their managers haven’t rushed over yet. Earlier, Captain Xiao of the fire brigade says that he wants to meet you to understand the situation, but right now the fire is still quite strong. They can’t immediately identify what happened either,” the young shop a.s.sistant responded.
As Ji Zitong frowned slightly, she pursed her lips tightly and turned around to look to Su Chen beside her.
“h.e.l.lo, Chief Su!”
The young male a.s.sistant was an employee that Ji Zitong had just hired to be a runner for the flower shop. Because Su Chen frequented the store, he recognized him as well.
Su Chen nodded calmly in response instead. He turned to look at Ji Zitong. “Don’t worry. Let’s go and take a look.” Then, he picked up his pace and continued walking ahead.
“Chief Su! It’s you!”
He had just walked a few steps when Captain Xiao from the brigade and a few of the firemen walked over.
Su Chen nodded. “Thank you for your hard work, Captain Xiao. What happened?”
“Sigh, we initially guessed that it might have been the wire experiencing a short circuit since the fire spread quite quickly and immediately burned all the surroundings too. Thankfully, there was no one in the store. It might take a while for us to put it out. It’s so early in the morning. The sky hasn’t even turned to light yet. How come you’re here, Chief Su? Oh, this is…”
Captain Xiao seemed like a warmhearted middle-aged man. He looked at Su Chen and Ji Zitong, then immediately raised his brows.
“This is my spouse. The flower shop that caught on fire is ours,” Su Chen explained simply.
“Oh, Madam Su, honored to meet you!”
“h.e.l.lo, Captain Xiao!”
“How’s the situation now?” Su Chen lifted his head to look at the swaying fiery dragon. Its blaze lit up the entire road, and it looked like there would be nothing left of the store.
“That’s how it is. Even if we put out the fire, I’m afraid the damage and losses are heavy, especially for the two stores beside yours. They are both high-end fashion stores, but they’re probably going to be wiped out by the fire. Thankfully, there was no one inside. Otherwise, that would’ve been bad. The spreading of the fire is now under control. Su Chen, while you don’t need to worry about that, the fire did start from your store, so you might have to be prepared to compensate,” Captain Xiao said with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing that, Ji Zitong frowned even more. Her eyes were filled with worry as she looked solemnly ahead at the fire, then turned to Su Chen.
Su Chen just looked at the fire before them in contemplation. He hesitated for a while, then as if he suddenly thought of something, his eyes darkened.
Su Chen was certain that there was a low probability of the fire starting from Ji Zitong’s store because he had personally checked on the store’s circuits. In fact, the store had a main power switch, thus there was no way it would be from a short circuit unless something else had happened.
Su Chen fell silent for a while, then turned and saw Ji Zitong’s solemn little face. He wanted to console her, but she already spoke up, “But, Su Chen, I remember that when I finished work, I did shut off the main power switch and all. There’s no way the store would just catch on fire for no reason. All of the electrical devices in the store wouldn’t have been switched on, so how could it have just suddenly caught on fire?”
Ji Zitong was certain that she remembered correctly. Last night, she was the last to leave the store, and she remembered switching off the main power unit before leaving very clearly. The store’s safety index was very high, so there was no way this would have happened unless something was amiss.
When Ji Zitong said that, Captain Xiao looked doubtful and thought about it as he looked at the fire. Finally, he said, “But based on what we know so far, it is proven that the fire started from the store in the middle. In fact, many witnesses saw it for themselves. Because it’s also the dry season in autumn, with some wind, the fire spread quite quickly. It immediately swallowed the two shops on the side too.”
“Her store’s fire prevention measures are quite complete. There’s something odd about this incident.” Su Chen did not hesitate to believe his own wife as he immediately defended her, and as he said that, his dark eyes squinted slightly too. He turned his head and looked around. Soon, his eyes fell on the CCTV cameras by the roadside.
His eyes darkened slightly while he quickly took his phone out and called his a.s.sistant, Secretary He who only answered after quite a while, but his tone was respectful.
“Chief Su? Good morning, Chief Su! You…”
“Stop sleeping now. It’s almost time for you to wake up. When you get to work this morning, get the footage from the CCTV cameras near my wife’s store right away. I want footages from last night till this morning. Do you hear me?”
Hearing how heavy Su Chen’s tone was, Secretary He felt uneasy. “Yes! Chief Su! Did something happen?”
“We’ll talk about it back at the bureau. Get this done right away. Also, get the ones from the nearby road intersections too. Be quick!” Su Chen ordered, then hung on the call before turning to look at Captain Xiao. “I’ll have to trouble you to handle things over here then. Investigate the cause of the fire properly. If it’s true, we will provide the necessary compensation. First, console those who have suffered damages, and tell them not to panic. We’ll give them a proper explanation.”
“Don’t worry, Chief Su, this is within our duty!”
Su Chen nodded. “Alright, I’ll arrange for someone to come over and look over later. If there’s anything, you can discuss it with them.”