Chapter 76 Why is there still no sign of rescue?
When we got back to the village, the water level was already above our knees.
Everyone stared angrily at Gao Songbai and Du Ruoxia.
As soon as Du Ruoxia submerged in the water, she felt even colder, and facing the villagers' gazes, she felt extremely upset.
"What's wrong, Aunt Gao?" Gao Songbai quickly asked the neighboring family.
Aunt Gao glanced at Du Ruoxia with disdain, turned around, slapped her thigh, and then began to speak.
"Gao Songbai, you're not a child anymore. This flooding happens every year. How can you still be so confused? I asked you to carry mud from the back mountain. What am I supposed to do with the brothels up there while you're up there?"
"It's already dark, and the water level is rising to the back of the mountain. If that muddy water floods into the house, what are we going to do?!"
The old lady's words made it sound as if Gao Songbai was a sinner who shouldn't be neglecting his duties.
"Auntie, the water level is already up to our knees, and the rain is getting heavier. Aren't you afraid of a flood?" Du Ruoxia asked impatiently.
The water beneath their feet was already showing signs of movement; in fact, the flood had already arrived. Du Ruoxia noticed that neither of the two villages seemed to realize this; ignorance is truly terrifying.
"What auntie? Don't call me that! You're a pretty girl, but you can't bewitch Gao Songbai like this!" Aunt Gao pointed at Du Ruoxia and started scolding her.
Du Ruoxia took a deep breath as she watched the hand that was about to point to her forehead, and spoke while holding her breath.
"The rain upstream is getting heavier, and the water flowing down will only increase. It's too dangerous to stay at home now!"
"Danger my ass! Are you planning to steal my things after we all leave?" As Aunt Gao spoke, she was about to point at Du Ruoxia's forehead, but Gao Songbai quickly stopped her.
"A girl coming to a man's house with him? She's really shameless! I don't know which family raised such a shameless girl!"
"Pah! You shameless bastard!"
The sound of Aunt Gao cursing attracted several older women in the village to peek over, and they all shook their heads at Du Ruoxia.
Even Du Ruoxia's good manners vanished. Facing such an unreasonable old woman, she sneered inwardly.
"Fine, you guys stay here, we're leaving!" she called out to Gao Songbai.
Gao Songbai looked apologetic. "Comrade Du, I'm really sorry, Aunt Gao has a rather sharp tongue."
Du Ruoxia shook her head with a faint smile, "She's the one who misspoke, why are you apologizing? At worst, we won't let her use the shed for a while."
The two went to look for two other young men, both of whom were being scolded by their families and looked at Du Ruoxia with disdain.
Du Ruoxia spoke directly, "Since none of you are willing to go up the mountain, the child has to go. He's so young; if a flood comes, can you protect him?"
Ignorance and blindness are both major taboos, and since things have already come to this, she won't force it.
After hearing Du Ruoxia's words, the villagers' expressions softened somewhat, but they still wouldn't let it go.
"Who knows if you're a child trafficker!" They looked at Du Ruoxia guiltily.
Du Ruoxia laughed when she heard this. What kind of classic quote is this? And it's being used on her!
"Fine, it's up to you. Go up the mountain if you want, or stay home and sleep if you don't!" Du Ruoxia said coldly.
As soon as she finished speaking, a clap of thunder sounded in the sky, and suddenly a torrential downpour began. Everyone was startled and showed expressions of fear.
She took Gao Songbai back to his home, and Gao Songbai immediately pulled his grandfather away without saying a word.
The old man still didn't want to leave, but he was no match for Gao Songbai. In the end, he took some of the valuables from his home, and Du Ruoxia grabbed two small stools.
Du Ruoxia frowned as she looked at the darkening sky. There was still no news of Wang Hu, and the village chief had not returned either.
In this wave, Du Ruoxia led several families and some children up the mountain; the water for those families was already up to their thighs.
Seeing the dozens of people following behind, she breathed a sigh of relief. Fate cannot be defied; she had done her best.
"Let's start a fire first; it's easy to catch a cold in this weather," Du Ruoxia said, looking at the children.
"Sister, these clothes are too wet!" Tie Niu said dejectedly.
Du Ruoxia smiled mysteriously and said, "I have a way! Watch me perform magic!"
Du Ruoxia took out a bottle of kerosene from her luggage, poured some into the woodpile, and Gao Songbai lit it.
"Wow! That's amazing!" The children exclaimed in amazement, which made Du Ruoxia feel much better.
“This is kerosene for lighting lamps at home; it ignites instantly,” Gao Songbai said.
Du Ruoxia's cool gaze fell upon him, and he immediately fell silent.
"That's amazing! Even my grandma wouldn't dare use it!" Tie Niu looked at Du Ruoxia with admiration.
"Alright, you can go dig up the sweet potatoes and put them in now!" Du Ruoxia said mysteriously to the children.
The children were so excited that they immediately started to get to work, while Gao Songbai, watching their actions, hesitated to speak.
"What's wrong?" Du Ruoxia looked at him calmly.
“That piece of land belongs to Aunt Gao’s family. She was like that this afternoon. I’m scared…” Gao Songbai said with a worried expression.
“Why can’t my Tie Niu dig up two sweet potatoes from her? She even killed one of my chickens the other day!” Tie Niu’s mother, Xu E, immediately squeezed in with a two-year-old child in her arms.
Gao Songbai breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xu E; it was good that an adult was there!
Du Ruoxia smiled as she looked at Tie Niu's mother, Xu E. She was no ordinary woman either, and she was just right for the occasion.
Tie Niu and his men dug quickly and brought over a large pile in no time, which was just enough to solve their dinner problem.
"Comrade Du, do you think the rain is getting heavier and heavier? Will it collapse?" Xu E hugged her child and looked worriedly at the awning above her head.
Even sitting on the stool, Gao Songbai's grandfather was uneasy. Du Ruoxia smiled and shook her head.
Gao Songbai walked to the four corners of the shed and shook the stick there. "Xu E, don't worry, it's safe!"
As soon as Gao Songbai finished speaking, thunder roared again, and Tie Niu started crying in fright. The rain outside intensified.
"Oh dear, with this rain, our house is going to be flooded!" Xu E said with heartache.
Du Ruoxia wasn't in a much better mood either. The area was going to be flooded before tomorrow, and she hoped they could escape to the mountain in time.
"They absolutely refuse to leave, and with the rain continuing, it's going to be a disaster." Xu E realized the seriousness of the situation.
Du Ruoxia remained silent. According to her calculations, the thighs should be touching by now.
She was deep in thought, wondering where things had gone wrong and why the rescue hadn't arrived yet.
"Wait a little longer," Du Ruoxia said calmly.
Du Ruoxia sat silently by the fire, the firelight flickering, but her heart sank to the bottom.
Her thoughts drifted back to what had happened along the way, and naturally she thought of Section Chief Zhao.
"The meteorological bureau people have all arrived, so why is there still no sign of a rescue operation? Something's not right," Du Ruoxia thought as she listened to the rain and lit a fire.
According to her memory, the rescue team arrived too late back then, but now Yang Zeyan has arrived ahead of time, so why isn't he in the disaster area?
The rumbling thunder had frightened the children into a huddle. Luckily, they didn't see any lightning, or they would definitely have screamed.
"Mother, when can we go home?" Tie Niu asked his mother, looking on in confusion.
They all thought they were just visiting the mountain for fun, that their houses had flooded, and that the water would recede after they went up the mountain for a while.
Du Ruoxia remained silent, knowing that the water wouldn't recede so easily and would take several days!
“We’ll go back as soon as it’s light tomorrow. Your mother came along because she was worried about you not being able to see us at night,” Xu E comforted him, stroking his head.
The haystacks in the shed were crowded with people. They looked at the rain and their faces were not good. They obviously guessed that things were probably not good at home.
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