Chapter 24 : Rescue

After dark, the small mountain village was shrouded in an indelible shadow. Heavy rain poured down, and the fierce wind raged on, yet what caught the eye was still a dense curtain of rain, blowing endlessly, obscuring vision. Nothing was clear, and everything was indistinct; only a sliver of moonlight barely illuminated the path ahead.

With the long-lasting rain, the mud on the road was damp and sticky, clinging to the soles of shoes like a stubborn plaster, making every step extremely difficult. Liang Qingqing, however, seemed oblivious to this as she briskly walked forward, step by step.

Fortunately, the village roads were so familiar to her that she could navigate them with her eyes closed. Her journey went relatively smoothly, and countless flashlights on the east side of the village illuminated the surroundings clearly, allowing her to see the people working hard in the mud.

Despite the large number of people, all men with loud voices, the atmosphere was eerily silent. Only the sound of digging could be heard, and as the rescue effort dragged on, everyone’s mood grew heavier. Everyone knew that if they couldn’t rescue the person in time, then…

Liang Qingqing took a deep breath and sneaked in quietly, silently taking a hoe and starting to mimic the actions of others. Her raincoat rustled in the wind, and her small frame looked especially out of place among the tall men. But at this moment, no one paid her any attention; everyone was too focused on the rescue to notice anything else.

After an unknown period of time, she carefully dug into the mud beneath her feet, her lips trembling uncontrollably. It took a while before she finally called out, “Help, help, there’s someone here!”

Her words were like a thunderclap in the quiet, causing the nearest person to rush over. Upon seeing the hands buried in the mud, he couldn’t hide his excitement and shouted, “Get some people to help!”

Soon, the crowd surged in, and the person buried in the mud was successfully rescued. Liang Qingqing was the first to rush over with a cloth to wipe the dirt from his face, but the next moment, she clenched the cloth in disappointment.

From the build, she had already known it wasn’t him, but she couldn’t give up without seeing the face.

“It’s the eldest of the Niu family! There’s still breath left. Hurry and send him to the hospital! Notify the family!”

The person was quickly dug out and sent away, all within five minutes.

Liang Qingqing collapsed onto the ground, her hands numb and aching from the long effort, trembling uncontrollably. After a few seconds, she leaned on the hoe to try and stand up again, but just as she steadied herself, someone pressed down on her shoulder.

“Which girl from which family came here to make trouble? Hurry up and go home.” The speaker was the village chief, Xie Qingbao, who had been supervising and maintaining order at the scene. After noticing Liang Qingqing, he rushed over and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the outside.

Liang Qingqing grabbed Xie Qingbao’s hand, trying to free herself, and raised her voice to argue, “I didn’t cause any trouble. I’m the one who found that person!”

Hearing this, Xie Qingbao stopped, recalling that this was indeed the case. He cleared his throat awkwardly, easing his grip and letting Liang Qingqing go.

“That’s something to be praised.”

As he spoke, he squinted at Liang Qingqing. The rain was so heavy that it took him a while to recognize her. With a look of disbelief, he widened his mouth and exclaimed, “Liang Qingqing? Why aren’t you at home and came here?”

Liang Qingqing was taken aback, her long eyelashes fluttering, her voice lowering involuntarily, “I came to help.”

“That’s nonsense. Why should a woman help?”

“Why can’t I? I didn’t cause trouble, and I even helped save someone!”

Liang Qingqing argued back, putting her hands on her hips, leaving Xie Qingbao speechless for a while. Seeing that she was determined to stay and help and had even saved someone, he was at a loss for what to do. He could only reluctantly wave his hand and say, “Alright, alright, as long as you don’t cause trouble. Anyway, one more person doesn’t make a difference.”

With that, he turned and left.

Relieved that Xie Qingbao hadn’t chased her away, Liang Qingqing turned around only to see someone running toward her from a distance. Upon closer inspection, it was Liang Junqiang!

“Little sister, little sister.”

With his long legs, Liang Junqiang reached her quickly. The commotion of the rescue made it impossible not to notice. As soon as he heard the cry for help, it sounded familiar, and when Xie Qingbao shouted Liang Qingqing’s name with such a loud voice, he was certain of her identity.

“What are you doing here?”

Liang Qingqing, who was covering her face with a raincoat, saw that she had been discovered, so she just threw in the towel and said, “I’m here to help.”

“Can mother allowed you to come?”

Of course not! With Ma Xiuzhi’s pampered and protective nature, there was no way she would let her daughter come to such a dangerous place. The heavy rain continued, and who knew if there would be another landslide? So, Liang Qingqing had sneaked out.

When she heard the news, it was nearly bedtime. The dreadful news had kept everyone awake, and they had all gathered in the main room. Feeling extremely anxious, Liang Qingqing took the excuse of going back to her room to change into her raincoat and grabbed a hoe before running out.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m here to help. How many people have been rescued so far?” Liang Qingqing quickly shifted the topic. Liang Junqiang sighed and answered, “Including the one just rescued, five people.”

That meant four more people were still buried, including Fan Yanxing.

Liang Qingqing lowered her eyelashes and said, “Don’t waste time. Let’s continue.”

“Little sister, why don’t you go back? I can see your hands are almost too weak to hold the hoe.” Liang Junqiang looked at Liang Qingqing’s dirt-covered shoes and pants with concern. Was this really his clean and delicate little sister who feared hardship?

Liang Qingqing shook her head, indicating her determination.

She didn’t know why she was so insistent on staying. There were already enough people here, and her presence wasn’t crucial. But if she didn’t come, she felt she might miss something and regret it for the rest of her life.

“Alright, I’ll stay by your side. If you get too tired and can’t go on, don’t be stubborn. Just go back and rest,” Liang Junqiang relented, unable to convince Liang Qingqing otherwise.

The siblings worked together, chatting occasionally, making the task seem a bit less arduous despite the heavy rain.

“Village Chief, Can we spare a group to help me look for my granddaughter? My granddaughter is missing!” An elderly, helpless voice called from the outskirts. Liang Qingqing turned and saw an elderly woman and a young girl seeking help.

“Go back to the village and look for her. She might be playing at someone’s house. We have life-threatening matters to attend to here; we can’t spare time to look for children,” Xie Qingbao waved his hand dismissively, not taking it seriously.

“We’ve already searched everywhere, but she’s nowhere to be found!” Aunt Zhou was on the verge of tears. Initially, like Xie Qingbao, she hadn’t taken it seriously. But as it grew dark and her granddaughter still hadn’t returned, she became anxious. She had taken an umbrella and searched all the usual places where the child might go but hadn’t seen a trace of her.

She didn’t want to delay the rescue operation, but with the rain so heavy, the chances of something happening to a small child were too high. She couldn’t rest easy without finding her!

“It’s late at night. Don’t cause trouble here. Can’t you see there are still four people waiting for us to rescue?” Xie Qingbao, increasingly frustrated, waved his hand to dismiss her.

“The child is really missing. Please, I beg you,” Aunt Zhou nearly pleaded on her knees.

Seeing Aunt Zhou’s age, Xie Qingbao’s actions to chase her away stopped. Softening, he said, “We really can’t spare the manpower right now. Here’s the plan: I’ll go back to the village with you and call on the aunts from each household to help look for her. We’ll start searching together.”

With these few words, he managed to calm Aunt Zhou down, and the scene gradually returned to quiet.

Time ticked by. Half an hour later, someone heard a faint cry for help, barely audible but enough to point everyone in the right direction. Liang Qingqing recognized it as a young girl’s voice and recalled the earlier report of a missing granddaughter. Could it be…

“The sound is coming from over here.”

“Everyone, dig carefully.”

“I see them. There are two people, one big and one small, pinned under the tree. Lift the tree with all your strength!”

Liang Qingqing stood outside the crowd, her heart pounding wildly. Not knowing where to put her hands, her palms were sweating. She stared unblinkingly at the scene, her vision blurred by the rain, and she wiped her muddy face with no regard for the mess.

Finally, with everyone’s relentless efforts, a large and a small person were dragged out of the mud pit.

The tree, which had been an obstacle during the rescue, had inadvertently created a protective cover for the two buried individuals, leaving a small gap. Furthermore, the adult had shielded the little girl at the moment of the landslide, absorbing most of the impact, which allowed the girl to retain some consciousness and energy to call for help.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to notice the corners where the two were buried.

“It’s Yanxing!” Liang Junqiang, who had been at the forefront, immediately recognized the motionless figure lying on the ground after moving the tree to the side.

“The adult has no breath, but the child still does. Let’s get them to the hospital first.”

Upon hearing this, Liang Qingqing, who had just been relieved to find Fan Yanxing, suddenly felt her breath quicken, her blood rush to her head, and she nearly collapsed. Regaining her composure, she pushed aside those in front of her and rushed to his side.

Fan Yanxing lay in the mud, covered in filth, unmoving, with the rain hitting his face without eliciting any response.

“How could you just die like this? You’re an important character in this story.” Looking at Fan Yanxing’s pale face, Liang Qingqing couldn’t help but murmur. She felt his neck for a pulse, finding none, and no warmth.

But she refused to believe he was dead.

Forcing herself to stay calm, Liang Qingqing quickly checked Fan Yanxing’s condition. She found that he did have faint breathing and a pulse, though it was extremely weak and almost imperceptible.

He’s still alive! He’s still alive!

Liang Qingqing took a deep breath, opened Fan Yanxing’s mouth to clear the mud inside, and then bent down to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But just as she was about to lower herself, Liang Junqiang stopped her.

“What are you doing, little sister?” Liang Junqiang, still immersed in the sorrow of losing his friend, was nearly in tears. Seeing his sister about to kiss Fan Yanxing, his eyes nearly popped out.

“Let go, don’t hinder me from saving him.”

Liang Qingqing pushed Liang Junqiang’s hand away and quickly pressed her lips against Fan Yanxing’s. Gasps of shock arose from the crowd as they wondered if Liang Qingqing had gone mad. Then they watched as she crossed her hands and pressed hard on Fan Yanxing’s chest.

“What is she doing?”

“Didn’t you hear? She’s performing CPR.”

“But the person is dead…”

As soon as the words were out, they saw the “dead” person begin to cough under Liang Qingqing’s actions!

“He’s alive! He’s alive!”

“Stop dawdling, get him to the hospital!”

Liang Qingqing collapsed on the ground, watching as Fan Yanxing was carried away. Once she recovered, she urgently called to the stunned Liang Junqiang, “Let’s follow them. If we don’t, who will take care of him at the hospital?”

“Yes, yes, we need to go and see.” Liang Junqiang was still absorbed in the sight of his sister’s rescue efforts. He noticed her wiping her lips but couldn’t find the right words to say. He suppressed his thoughts and silently followed the tractor heading to the hospital.

The so-called hospital was actually a clinic in the commune, crowded with patients and their families, most of whom were victims of the landslide. The floor was a mix of rainwater and mud, with no dry spot to stand on.

As soon as Fan Yanxing arrived, he was rushed into the emergency room. However, the situation was critical, and after a brief attempt at rescue, the doctor recommended immediate transfer to the country hospital.