When Zhao Yiming returned, he was accompanied by not only his farmhand but also many villagers. Their home was at the end of the village, and the open space around it was large and relatively safe, so those who had not suffered came over.
Zhao Yiming had just sat down to catch his breath when he heard someone running towards the village, shouting, "Brother Daniu, Brother Daniu."
Zhao Yiming quickly stood up. Tian An accompanied him out of the crowd and they saw Da Shu, who looked anxious and sweaty.
When Dashu saw Zhao Yiming, he grabbed him as if he had found a life-saving straw and said, "Brother Daniu, help me! My grandparents and Nini are trapped under the collapsed house."
Zhao Yiming didn't say anything and walked out with his men.
At this time, Dashu's younger brother Dajun pushed through the crowd and ran out, grabbing Dashu and saying, "Brother, I'll go with you."
Dashu pulled him away and said, "Just stay here and wait for your second brother to rescue grandma and Nini and then come back to pick you up."
"Second brother." Dajun looked at Dashu stubbornly: "I want to go save grandpa and grandma and Nini too."
"Dajun, be obedient." Dashu was anxious and his voice was inevitably a little harsh.
Worried about Dajun, she could only ask Tian An, "Sister-in-law, please help me take care of Dajun."
Tian An nodded, "Don't worry! I promise he'll be safe and sound when you come back." Then he asked Deng Xue to hold Da Jun back. No matter how hard he struggled, he wouldn't let go.
When Dashu brought Zhao Yiming and the others there, his parents, elder brother, and several uncles were digging at the pile of rubble in front of them.
Dashu's house was built some time ago. They had originally planned to renovate it after selling the grain during this autumn harvest, but they didn't expect it to be reduced to ruins by an earthquake.
With the help of Zhao Yiming and others, the ruins were quickly cleared. After the group worked together to lift a thick beam, they finally found two old people and young Nini under a pile of wood.
Grandpa Big Tree was at the top, half-kneeling on the ground with a piece of wood on his head. There was a big hole on the back of his head, and blood was all over the ground, but he was holding Grandma Big Tree in his arms.
Unfortunately, a broken log had pierced Grandma Tree's back, and when she was dug out, she was already dead. Only Nini, who was protected by the two elders in the innermost part, escaped.
Zhao Yiming pulled Nini out of Grandma Dashu's arms and stuffed her into Dashu's arms. "Hurry up and take her to see An'an."
Dashu looked at his grandparents lying lifeless on the ground, wiped away his tears in grief, picked up Nini and ran towards the end of the village.
After confirming that no one was under the rubble, Zhao Yiming led his men to other places for rescue. Only the Dashu family members were left, still wailing around the two elders.
After leaving Dashu's house, Zhao Yiming and his men went to Xiaofeng's house first. His grandparents, too old, hadn't gone to the fields with him. They were taking a nap in their room at noon and were trapped before they could escape. The rescue effort began only after the younger generation returned from the fields.
The Qiushan family was also here to help, so it seemed there were no casualties. After Zhao Yiming brought his men, the process sped up considerably, and they soon found the two elderly people, but it was already too late.
Zhao Yiming did not stay for long. After saying "I'm sorry" to Xiaofeng's family, he took his people to the next house. Seeing this, Qiushan followed him.
When Dashu ran all the way to the open space and handed Nini to Tian An, his eyes were bloodshot, "Sister-in-law, please, help me save Nini."
Tian An quickly asked him to place Nini on the hay she had prepared in advance. After carefully examining her, she said after a long pause, "She has no injuries, just a little frightened and short of oxygen. Fortunately, she was rescued in time and nothing is wrong. Once she recovers and regains consciousness, she'll be awake soon."
Although Dashu and Dajun beside him didn't know what hypoxia was, they were relieved when Tian An said it was okay. Then, Dajun looked in the direction of the village and asked, "Brother, where are grandpa and grandma? Why don't they come with us? Are they still in the village? Let's go pick them up!"
The tree stood there stiffly, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes red, his mouth opening and closing, and after a long while he finally uttered, "Grandma, grandma is gone."
Da Jun widened his eyes in disbelief and said, "Second brother, what do you mean by gone? How could grandpa and grandma be gone? Nini is fine, so grandpa and grandma will definitely be fine too. Where are grandpa and grandma? I'll go find them right now." As he said that, he was about to walk out.
Dashu hugged him and said, "Dajun, grandpa and grandma are gone. They protected Nini under their bodies, so Nini survived."
Looking at Nini lying on the ground covered in dirt, and thinking of his grandparents who could never scold him again, Dajun, who had been strong all day, finally burst into tears with a "wow..."
Then, the children brought out from the village school all burst into tears. They were brought back by Zhao Yiming from the very beginning, and some of them had never seen their families again, so they were already very scared.
When they heard Da Jun crying again, they couldn't help crying too. They were also afraid that their family members would be gone like Da Jun's grandparents, and then they would have no family at all.
The two brothers hugged each other and cried for a long time. Dashu raised his head and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He raised his hand and patted Dajun's shoulders twice. "Dajun, you are a man and a brother. You take good care of Nini here. I have to go to the village to help rescue people."
"Brother, I'll go with you. I can help." Da Jun raised his tear-stained little face and said.
Dashu pulled up his sleeves to wipe the tears from his face, and then placed Nini's hand in his. "Nini was scared today. She will be scared when she wakes up and can't see you. You have to stay here and protect her. Second brother will be back with parents soon."
Dajun carefully held Nini's hand and hesitated for a long time before agreeing, "Brother, I will take good care of Nini. You must come back soon!"
"Thank you for your help, sister-in-law." After saying hello to Tian An, Dashu ran back to the village.
The situation in the village was very serious. Most of the houses had collapsed. They had to rescue the survivors as soon as possible.
Zhao Yiming was busy rescuing people, and Tian An wasn't idle either. It was getting dark, and the houses were uninhabitable. There was no telling if there would be aftershocks, so even if they could, no one dared to stay. They had to be prepared to spend the night outside.
Tian An's house was built later. A lot of thought went into its construction, and the house is relatively sturdy. After the earthquake, only the tiles on the roof collapsed, and there was no problem with the overall structure.
So Tian An planned to take Deng Xue back home to see if the iron pot in the kitchen could still be used. He planned to take out the iron pot, some oil, salt, and rice and flour. No matter what, he had to make dinner.
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