From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the temperature kept climbing.
By now, it had reached a staggering 46°C (114.8°F).
Even by the river, the heat waves rolled in relentlessly. The trees along the roadside were sun-scorched and yellowing. Under the bridge, people sat sweating and thirsty, desperate for relief.
The bottled water Chu Yian had brought to cool herself down turned out to be a lifesaver.
She twisted open a bottle of mineral water and tilted her head back, gulping down half in one go. The sound of her drinking echoed through the shade—nearby people, parched and dry, unconsciously followed the movement of her throat, as if they could feel that cool water sliding down their own dry gullets.
It was just that hot.
Finally, a middle-aged man in a collared shirt and leather shoes approached her, clearly wilting from the heat. He glanced at the pile of water bottles in her trike and pulled out a 100-yuan bill.
"Miss, mind selling me a couple of those bottles?"
Chu Yian blinked at the large bill, then replied honestly, "I don't have change."
The man looked like someone used to air conditioning and chauffeur service—not short on cash.
"100 yuan for two bottles is fine. Keep the change."
Before she could even respond, he stuffed the money through her open window.
Chu Yian handed over two bottles of mineral water.
That much money for just two bottles felt like too much, so she instinctively bent down to grab two more to make up for it—
But the man had already walked away, and others had started swarming over.
"Hey, got more water? I'll take one!"
"Me too—two bottles, please!"
"Fifty yuan for mineral water?! That's robbery! Are you all crazy?!"
…
In seconds, her Foton Five-Star trike was surrounded.
Some people were accusing her of price gouging, while others were shoving money forward without hesitation, desperate for a drink.
The few remaining bottles were snatched up in a frenzy.
"All I have left are six bottles of drinks—four sodas and two milk teas. Anyone want those?"
"Yes! I'll take them all!"
In the end, even those six drinks were gone in a flash.
Chu Yian hadn't expected it at all. She had only come under the bridge to escape the heat, yet ended up making a few hundred yuan just by selling drinks. Now, all she had left for herself were three bottles of water.
Even as more people approached her to ask, she could only shake her head and say:
"No more left."
And it was true—she was completely out.
4:00 p.m.
The temperature outside had dropped slightly to 44°C (111.2°F)—but honestly, it didn't feel any different from noon.
Most of the people under the bridge had already been here since 11 a.m. Some hadn't eaten, others hadn't had a single sip of water. Everyone was drained.
One by one, people started deciding to leave.
They'd wanted to leave hours ago, but no one had dared to be the first.
Now that one person made a move, others began following.
A woman on the phone was the first:
"I haven't gotten back yet, no."
"I'm telling you, it's just too damn hot. I've been stuck under a bridge all afternoon, okay?"
"Haven't eaten either. It's sweltering down here. You all just stay inside with the AC—don't come looking. I'm heading back now."
…
She ended the call and began pushing her electric scooter out of the shade.
The seat, which had absorbed heat for hours, was scorching. She flinched the moment she sat down—but that didn't stop her. She wobbled out into the blazing sun and set off with grim determination.
Chu Yian watched her leave from the shadows.
Her stomach growled—she'd barely eaten anything all day, just some water. She stood up too, thinking of heading back into the city for a meal.
But then—
The woman's scooter, which hadn't even gone that far, suddenly began to glow.
Not a reflection—actual light.
The scooter had caught fire.
"Get off! Get off right now!"
"It's burning!"
"Move! Hurry!"
Chaos erupted. People under the bridge shouted in alarm, some dashing into the sun despite the heat to help.
The woman had already panicked but couldn't get off—the scooter frame was burning, and she was stuck.
Someone sprinted up, grabbed her, and yanked her off just in time.
The moment they pulled her free, the scooter was completely engulfed in flames.
Burning.
Explosion.
It all happened in mere seconds.
Everyone was stunned. The woman didn't even scream right away—she had been in shock. But when the pain hit, she let out a blood-curdling shriek.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
She'd been burned.
She hadn't hesitated to get off earlier—the problem was her skin had stuck to the scorching metal frame. Her flesh had adhered to the superheated surface.
When the man pulled her off, it had ripped a piece of her thigh clean off.
One leg had blisters bubbling up already, and the inside of her thigh was missing a massive chunk of skin.
The ambulance and firefighters arrived much later. By then, the scooter was just a blackened frame of twisted metal.
It was horrifying.
Chu Yian had been just about to leave herself—but the incident killed any such thoughts.
For safety's sake, she decided to wait a while longer.
She'd already survived six hours under the bridge—what's another hour or two?
She wasn't the only one thinking this way.
5:32 p.m.
Chu Yian took the last sip from her final bottle of water, climbed into her Foton Five-Star, and began the drive back into the city.
Her first stop: food.
She found a restaurant with strong air conditioning and sat down, ordering a grill feast.
Slices of pork belly sizzled on the grill in front of her.
She hired a waiter to help manage the grill so she could focus entirely on devouring food like a starving beast.
And to be fair, she really was starving.
Two plates of pork belly, two of beef, a portion of oysters, shrimp, scallops—
She cleaned them all out.
Even the free fruit and chilled desserts vanished into her mouth like a black hole.
She only stopped when she was too full to breathe, staggering out of the restaurant, leaning against the wall for support.
7:00 p.m.
The sun had gone down, but the heat still lingered in the air.
Chu Yian drove aimlessly around the city and spotted a wholesale market. There, she stocked up on more boxes of bottled water, as well as ice pops, various seasonings, and a few perishable vegetables she personally liked.
By the time she finished shopping, it was 8:00 p.m.
The temperature had finally started to cool. It was time to head home.
Before leaving, she stopped by a gas station and bought another 1,000 liters of diesel, then began the return journey.
She drove fast but carefully along the familiar roads.
Passing the spot where someone had tried to flag her down the night before, she gave it a quick glance. Tonight, it was completely empty.
She didn't dwell on it and turned toward home.
Just a few hundred meters more and she'd be at the construction site from earlier in the day.
She was getting closer.
But just as she made a turn—
"Bang!"
The front of her trike suddenly dipped hard, followed by a lurching skid that almost sent her crashing into the guardrail.
She slammed the brakes.
The Foton Five-Star stopped just inches from slamming into the mountainside.
Before she could even check what she had hit, footsteps echoed from the shadows.
Fast.
Heavy.
Rushing toward her vehicle.