Chapter 75 Nobody Wants to Leave Home
"Where is the village phone?" Du Ruoxia could only turn to look at Gao Songbai.
Gao Songbai led them to the village chief's house, but the village chief was not home, and Du Ruoxia's expression was not good.
Where is the village chief?
At this critical moment, the village chief was absent, making the villagers even more unwilling to evacuate.
“The village chief went to town to give a report. He always does this every year. Maybe the bridge is gone and they can’t cross it,” Gao Songbai said thoughtfully.
Du Ruoxia's heart sank to the bottom. Based on the situation, the flood should occur in the next day or two.
"Gao Songbai, find a way to get the villagers evacuated first?" Du Ruoxia said to Gao Songbai with utmost seriousness.
Gao Songbai didn't quite understand the decision to evacuate, saying, "It's been about the same every year; the rain won't last forever."
"Moreover, they have lived here all their lives and can't let go of everything at home. My grandfather just asked me to go and remove the mud from the landslide behind the mountain."
Helpless, Du Ruoxia turned on the landline with the village chief's wife to contact Wang Hu outside, hoping that he could contact Yang Zeyan as soon as possible.
But Wang Hu silently shook his head at Du Ruoxia while holding the phone, and Du Ruoxia had a bad feeling.
"What?" she asked urgently.
"The call can't go through," Wang Hu replied with a stern face.
"Oh no, the wire must be broken!" the village chief's wife exclaimed, slapping her thigh.
Du Ruoxia was completely stunned; this time, she was utterly helpless.
She let out a long breath to calm down; the situation was just too bad.
Gao Songbai is used to the floods every year and thinks it's a big problem. It's just that there were more landslides this year, so the water got into the house.
"The water should recede by tomorrow, but the landslides are a problem." Gao Songbai looked at the back mountain not far away with a worried expression.
In previous years, landslides were rare, and the workers could handle them on their own. This year, however, the landslides were much larger.
Du Ruoxia knew that these people were completely unaware of the severity of this natural disaster, so she turned to look at Wang Hu.
"Go out and see what's going on. You must find Yang Zeyan and tell him what's happening here," Du Ruoxia said.
Wang Hu nodded, then looked at the sky again, "The heavy rain is coming soon. If it really comes to this, let's go up the mountain first!"
Du Ruoxia nodded. This was the only option when absolutely necessary.
As soon as Wang Hu left, the heavy rain started again.
Du Ruoxia and Gao Songbai fought alone, with her pulling Gao Songbai to go door to door to spread awareness about the dangers of floods and flood prevention knowledge.
Du Ruoxia came to promote the idea, and Gao Songbai was responsible for organizing the people of Liujia Village to listen together. Some people didn't believe it and didn't come.
The water level rose even higher, and they could no longer see the road below.
Du Ruoxia was soaked all over, and her feet felt cold after being soaked in the water for a long time.
"Look at the sky, the heavy rain will continue, it won't stop tonight, and the water level is rising faster and faster!"
"Let's organize everyone to evacuate. Let's set up tents on the mountain before it gets dark!" Du Ruoxia urged Gao Songbai and his grandfather.
The other two young men, who also had jobs like Gao Songbai, followed Du Ruoxia when they saw her advertisement. Du Ruoxia's leadership impressed them, and now that she said she was leaving, they looked anxious.
“The village’s livestock must be taken away; they are their property,” the young man said.
Du Ruoxia was extremely annoyed. Livestock, livestock, it's all about livestock again!
Seeing this, Gao Songbai felt embarrassed and said, "Comrade Du, why don't we go up the mountain first and set up the shed?"
They couldn't persuade the village elders in a short time, so this was the only option!
Du Ruoxia gritted her teeth, "We can't just wait to die! Let's go up the mountain, bring the fences, and take all the livestock we can!"
Gao Songbai and the two young men were filled with fighting spirit and began to hurry home.
Gao Songbai brought the livestock out, and the old man couldn't persuade Gao Songbai otherwise, but he absolutely refused to leave home!
"I have to guard the house, what if a thief comes!" the old man insisted.
The group carried the chickens and ducks from their home, while another person led the cow up the mountain.
The pine and cypress forest is a not-so-high hill, with a flat area on the top used for growing sweet potatoes. The road is relatively easy to walk on.
Perhaps because of this, Du Ruoxia still fell twice. She held her luggage tightly, inside which was a rope she had prepared.
Following Du Ruoxia's instructions, they took a few tattered raincoats, which were enough to make a makeshift shelter.
The shed collapsed several times while being set up in the rain. Seeing how strong the wind was, Du Ruoxia decided not to set up on the hilltop.
Finally, they found a sheltered spot where there were still some unharvested sweet potatoes.
“These are sweet potatoes from Aunt Gao’s house.” One of the young men looked at Gao Songbai, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
Du Ruoxia ignored her with a cold face. At this point, who still cared whose land it was!
With the team working together, this time they really got it built!
"First, bring all the women and children from the village up here, then go get some things to add to the group!"
"Remember to bring food!" Du Ruoxia called out to the three of them as they set off.
She remembered that hundreds of people had suffered in this area. In addition to the more than two hundred people in Gaojia Village and Liujia Village, there must have been more in the surrounding small villages. But she couldn't care less about that now!
While praying for Yang Zeyan and the others to come quickly, Du Ruoxia continued to chop wood on the mountain to prepare tools. Gao Songbai did not come down the mountain to help.
"Brother Gao!" A young voice rang out, and the two looked over.
There were a few children around ten years old on the hilltop. Gao Songbai looked delighted and said, "Tie Niu, come here to hide from the water too!"
As soon as Gao Songbai shouted, the children ran over and looked at the shed they had set up with great curiosity.
"My grandfather told me to follow you!" Tie Niu said excitedly.
"Where are the others?" Gao Songbai asked the child.
Several people shook their heads. "They said they have work to do at home and can't go up the mountain to play!"
Du Ruoxia sighed, "The rich really don't know the value of oil and rice; they don't seem to feel any danger at all."
Gao Songbai's expression wasn't good either. He suppressed his anger and asked about the water level, only to find that it had already reached his knees!
"Brother Gao, I'll help you too!" the children said, grabbing tools to cut down trees.
Du Ruoxia was happy to have some peace and quiet, and after reminding them to be careful, she went to set up another shed, while she herself became anxious.
With the children joining in, Du Ruoxia and her colleagues found their work much easier; she no longer needed to chop wood, as the children could do it themselves.
Without her raincoat, she could only use branches and leaves to cover herself.
They were covered in mud, and it was raining. She kept wiping the water from the corners of her eyes.
The newly built tent is quite large; it can at least accommodate everyone squeezed together.
The children followed suit and built their own, and Du Ruoxia let them.
Seeing that it was getting late, Du Ruoxia noticed that the two young men hadn't arrived yet, so she looked at Gao Songbai.
“Let’s go take a look!” she said coldly.
Du Ruoxia asked the children if they knew how to start a fire, and they jumped up excitedly.
But they quickly lost their spirits again, saying, "This firewood is so wet, it won't burn."
Du Ruoxia nodded, "Go and gather some firewood that dries easily. I have a plan!"
The children looked at Du Ruoxia with admiration, and seeing their innocent faces, she finally smiled.
Du Ruoxia and Gao Songbai went down the mountain to check on the two young men. They had been gone for some time and they didn't know what had happened to them.
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