The sudden accident drew everyone’s attention.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, so the scene wasn’t too chaotic yet.
“What happened? Why did such a big commotion suddenly break out?”
The person in charge backstage was an elderly man.
He had been a physical education teacher at Jiangzhou University for decades.
Now that he was old, he had stepped back from the frontline, but still held considerable authority within the school.
Even though he was nearly sixty, he still looked robust.
As soon as the chaos began, he hurried over from the front stage and quickly started directing the crowd.
“Be careful! Don’t get cut by the glass shards.”
He frowned, wrinkles gathering on his forehead as he directed the backstage staff to handle the scene, while looking at the students in the area with concern.
“Is anyone hurt?”
Perhaps due to the suddenness of the incident, a few female students seemed dazed, but the others quickly responded to the old man’s question.
They checked themselves, confirmed they were fine, and shook their heads at him.
At this moment, the Student Union cadres responsible for maintaining backstage order also arrived late.
Among them were security personnel arranged by Fu Yi.
To avoid standing out, they had to follow along and immediately cordoned off the area.
“Sorry, we just heard some commotion over here.
Do you need help?”
The man in the lead strode up to the old man, out of breath, and asked.
“From the looks of it, there’s no major issue.
Apart from some performance equipment being damaged, there are no casualties.”
The old man crossed his arms, sighed, and spoke helplessly.
Facing the current situation, he didn’t know whether to feel troubled or relieved.
No casualties was certainly good news, but with performance facilities damaged, many student performances would inevitably be affected.
It was hardly encouraging news for these passionate kids, seeing their hard work about to go up in smoke.
“That’s still good news, I suppose.”
The Student Union cadre also realized the gravity of the situation.
Although troubled, he could accept it.
He glanced around, then instructed the people who had come with him.
“You guys check if anyone is injured.
Don’t let anyone hide it if they’re hurt.
Help clean up the area too.
I’ll contact the Deputy President and see if she has a way to quickly get new equipment.”
With his orders, everyone got to work.
Fu Yi’s people moved as well, and while no one was watching, one woman quietly sent a detailed report of the situation to Zhou Min.
The group began moving through the backstage area, splitting into three teams—to check the situation, reassure people, and clean up—each performing their duties, moving busily.
Inevitably, part of Fu Yi’s team was drawn into handling the accident.
If they didn’t want to expose themselves, they had no choice but to get involved.
Watching the scene become orderly again through the surveillance feed, Fu Mingxuan raised an eyebrow and a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“Heh.”
He let out a low laugh, full of sarcasm.
***
Almost at the same time the lighting rig collapsed.
At the side of the auditorium, in a corner near the Backup Distribution Box, a thin wisp of blue smoke—like burning plastic—rose from the crack of the box.
At first it was faint, but as time passed, the smoke grew denser, until it nearly triggered the Smoke Alarm on the ceiling.
Just then, a staff member happened to walk past the Backup Distribution Box.
As he walked, his expression suddenly changed, and his nose twitched as if he’d caught a strange scent.
As the smell of burning plastic entered his nostrils, he immediately grew alert, scanning the area in search of the source, anxiety increasing on his face when he couldn’t find it.
He quickly walked over to another staff member maintaining order nearby, preparing to report his discovery.
“Hey!
Over there!
Something’s burning!
Is it a short circuit?”
He rushed over, face full of worry, and pointed urgently toward the Distribution Box as he spoke, his tone tense.
When it comes to building electrical safety, this kind of thing is the lifeline of any major event.
If the Distribution Box was having problems—even a backup one—it was a critical emergency.
“What! When did this happen!”
Hearing there was a problem with the Distribution Box, the other staff member’s face changed instantly.
He immediately reported the situation over the walkie-talkie, running toward the Distribution Box as he spoke.
In the rush, he didn’t notice that the man who’d warned him had already vanished.
The staff member ran to the Backup Distribution Box, and as expected, the smell of burning was strong in the area, thick smoke billowing out.
Yet for some reason, the Smoke Alarm on the ceiling hadn’t been triggered.
“Damn!
Of all times to fail!”
The man cursed under his breath and quickly began inspecting the surrounding equipment to ensure there was no other danger.
As for the Distribution Box itself, he wasn’t a specialist and didn’t dare get too close, so he could only watch from a distance.
Every second dragged on like an eternity.
Fortunately, a man who looked like a Technical Consultant arrived carrying a toolbox, with several assistants behind him ready to help.
At a glance, most of the technical personnel were from Fu Yi’s side.
Clearly, this situation further highlighted the downside of Fu Yi having her people scattered among the students.
The suspected technical staff member wore a dust mask and jogged over to the Distribution Box.
Seeing the thick smoke pouring out, he frowned deeply.
Smoke that dense, but little response from the Distribution Box—this was clearly outside his experience.
Normally, he wouldn’t attempt a rough repair like this.
But in this situation, there was no choice.
Other technical staff would take time to arrive, and to prevent matters from worsening, he had to act.
With a grim expression, the technical worker immediately opened his tool bag and began inspecting the exterior of the Distribution Box.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead to the ground, the atmosphere thick with tension.