@EatingABigOrange: ["Lone Warrior" – A new song MV (Weibo video link)]
Without any prior warning, the song was suddenly released. Even the casual fans were caught off guard, let alone the little fruits (die-hard fans).
Wei Tongzi had set up special notifications, so she was the first to know when her idol posted—unless her phone was on silent during meetings.
"A new song? Ninth Brother is working too hard. Isn't he exhausted? His new album just dropped not long ago."
"But this really feels like a surprise Ninth Brother prepared just for us little fruits." Wei Tongzi felt like her entire day's bad mood had been healed.
At this point, she hadn't yet realized the gravity of the situation.
The little fruits immediately liked, reposted, and commented, then clicked to watch. Because "Like Smoke"'s MV had gone viral, Chu Zhi's MVs generally had a broader appeal among casual listeners compared to other singers.
"Come watch this with me!" Xiao Zi dragged her best friend over forcefully.
Xiao Qi, now a fan of the GZ boy group, reluctantly sat down. Xiao Zi's plan was to use her idol's breathtaking beauty to make her friend see the light.
She hit play—
The prelude unfolded with high-pitched piano and flute, creating an unsettling rhythm. The MV showed explosions—factories, residential buildings, shops, ruins—but without any sound effects, just visuals.
"You are all brave, the wounds on your foreheads, your differences, the mistakes you've made. No need to hide, your tattered dolls, your masks, your true selves."
"They say you must carry light to tame every monster. They say you must stitch up your wounds, for no one loves a clown."
The low, somber voice sounded like a lament. The MV didn't show the idol Xiao Zi had expected but instead focused on firefighters—their instant reactions to alarm bells. Some were on leave, some mid-shower, some eating. No matter what they were doing, the next second, they were rushing to the scene.
In their haste, one tripped down the stairs, another slipped in the hallway wearing slippers. Did they look like clowns? Of course not. They just knew that every second counted—one second faster could mean one more life saved.
"Is this song for firefighters?" Xiao Qi frowned. She hadn't participated in the online harassment campaign because she felt it was wrong, but she also didn't think the behavior was entirely unjustified. "Putting facts aside, could the firefighters really be completely blameless?!" She started feeling resentment toward Chu Zhi. "What's it to you? Just hopping on the trend to release a song."
"Why can't loneliness be glorious? Only imperfection is worth singing about. Who says those covered in mud aren't heroes?"
"I love you for walking alone in dark alleys, for never kneeling. I love you for facing despair but refusing to cry."
"I love you for your tattered clothes, yet daring to block fate's bullet. I love you for being so much like me, flaws and all."
In Guangxi, days of rain had caused a road collapse. A woman was trapped in the mud, with no solid ground to grip. A firefighter buried his head in the sludge to serve as an anchor.
Another scene showed firefighters drilling through a concrete slab during a rescue. The slab was too hard to secure, so one knelt and held the long drill bit steady with his bare hands as debris flew.
At a construction site, a worker was pinned in a crevice. When loose rocks and mud cascaded down, a firefighter instantly shielded the worker with his own back.
Xiao Zi fell silent. She'd known firefighters had a tough job but never realized just how brutal it was—and she'd never seen news like this before.
"Go? Are you worthy? In these tattered cloaks."
"Fight? Fight on! With the humblest of dreams."
"To the sobs and roars in the dark—who says only those standing in the light are heroes?"
The flames still raged, the fire still blazed.
In Donggang, a wholesale market caught fire at midnight. Gas cylinders spewed flames, yet firefighters carried them away from crowds, risking explosions to minimize casualties. Even when the fire raged beyond control, they stood their ground.
"They say you must tame your pride, like wiping away dirt. They say climb step by step, but the cost is bowing your head."
"Then let me refuse the wind. You, too, can wear your pride—who says battling the mundane isn't heroic?"
Floods, raging currents, collapses, icy waters—no matter the danger, firefighters seemed capable of miracles.
Xiao Zi felt like these people were gods.
"I love you for walking alone in dark alleys, for never kneeling. I love you for facing despair but refusing to cry."
"I love you for your tattered clothes, yet daring to block fate's bullet. I love you for being so much like me, flaws and all."
"Go? Are you worthy? In these tattered cloaks. Fight? Fight on! With the humblest of dreams."
Xiao Qi was also stunned by the footage. One firefighter, overwhelmed by the heat, collapsed onto the snow, desperate to cool down. Full gear could resist flames, but prolonged exposure to extreme heat rendered any protection useless.
His teammates rushed to cover him with snow. It was hard to imagine how much he was suffering.
"Don't they feel fear?" Xiao Qi's thoughts condensed into one question.
How could they not be afraid?
And why didn't they just take off their gear to cool down? Xiao Qi didn't understand—until she saw the firefighter, barely recovered, charge back into the inferno.
The consequence? He collapsed the moment he exited, vomiting from heatstroke, his uniform drenched.
There's a kind of pain that hurts just to watch. Xiao Qi's voice softened. "They must be in so much pain."
In Shanxi, a breached riverbank forced firefighters to stand in freezing floodwaters to reinforce the dam. After hours, their lips were pale, their bodies trembling.
After another rescue, one firefighter's hands shook so badly he couldn't hold his chopsticks.
Another emerged with bloody, mangled hands.
Yet another, scalded, screamed as disinfectant was poured over his wounds.
They were only human. Of course it hurt.
"You'll borrow no one's light. You'll build your kingdom atop the ruins."
"Go? Go on! With the humblest of dreams. Fight? Fight on! With the loneliest dream."
"To the sobs and roars in the dark—who says only those standing in the light are heroes?"
In Xitiaoxi, two people were trapped in rapids spanning 80 meters. Squadron Leader Lü Ting attempted a rescue but was swept away. When found, his body was pale, lifeless.
In Yulin, firefighter Yang Kezhang fell from the fifth floor while carrying a toddler. The child, cradled in his arms, survived with only a scratch. He did not.
The Tianjin explosions claimed dozens of firefighters' lives. Ning Yu, just 19, was among them. His mother knelt by his bed, pressing her face into the sheets, desperate for one last trace of her son.
In Sichuan's Liangshan wildfire, a sudden explosion engulfed everything in seconds. The youngest on the casualty list were 18-year-olds Xu Penglong and Wang Fojun.
A surviving squad leader dreamed nightly of his teammates begging, "Pull me up, squad leader..."
"He was only a year older than me..." Xiao Qi, also born post-2000, was stunned. "How could someone just 18 or 19 die like this?"
The song's final frame displayed the names of firefighters who had died in 2019—dozens of them, stark and glaring. Most were in their 20s or 30s, the prime of their lives.
Xiao Qi completely broke down, sobbing. She realized how wrong it was to say those things about firefighters. They weren't gods—just ordinary people fighting death itself to save others.
Beside her, Xiao Zi had already cracked, tears streaming uncontrollably.