A light rain began to fall again, and the mandarin ducks that had been playing in the water had to return home.
Zhao Honghui escorted Xie Yuyao back to the educated youth compound. When the other educated youth saw the sweet smile on Xie Yuyao's face and her tender gaze, it was obvious that they were together again.
Yang Shumei smiled like an aunt, while Li Weidong swallowed his bitterness and looked dejected.
After a reluctant farewell, Zhao Honghui returned home and the first thing he did was to take a hot shower.
Yang Chunhua said with concern, "Has your leg injury flared up again? I told you not to go out, but you insisted on going out anyway..."
"Oh no! It's leaking!"
Around 3 a.m., a scream woke all the female educated youth from their sleep.
The candles were lit, and everyone was stunned.
Rainwater was leaking from many places in the roof, and the kang (a heated brick bed), the floor, and the table were all wet.
A torrential downpour was pouring down from the sky, with large raindrops pounding against the windowpane, making a pattering sound.
"Quick! Get basins and buckets to collect the water!"
Soon, the cramped east room was filled with basins and buckets of water. When there weren't enough containers, Wu Lihong even brought over a large bowl used for soup to collect the water.
Exhausted, Xie Yuyao carried out a basin full of rainwater, looked helplessly at the cramped house, and sighed sadly.
It's raining heavily outside, and drizzling inside. Judging by this, I'm not going to get any sleep tonight.
She turned around and saw the old educated youths collecting rainwater in an orderly manner. They quickly accepted reality and couldn't help but sigh: Have they experienced many such scenes?
He put the basin back in the leaky area to continue collecting water, and then asked the question.
Wu Lihong, who was holding a bowl to collect water, said, "Yes! Especially in the summer when there is a lot of rain, I can't sleep when it rains heavily."
"Back then it was hot, so we could just bear the wet bedding," Yang Shumei said with a pained expression as she carried a bucket to empty it. "What are we going to do now that it's so cold? Are we all supposed to buy new bedding?"
Ren Fei, who was passing the containers, said, "With this much rain, even the bedding we bought will get wet. How can it be raining so heavily in winter!"
Xie Yuyao felt even more heartbroken after hearing what they said.
She carefully navigated around the containers scattered on the ground and continued to pour out the rainwater with a sense of helplessness.
When will this rain stop?!
"Ah! The roof flew off!"
Ren Fei screamed in shock, drawing everyone's attention. They looked up at the hole in the ceiling of the kang (a heated brick bed) that resembled a monster's gaping maw, through which the heavy rain poured down, leaving no room for defense.
As Ren Fei cried her heart out, a huge uproar erupted inside the room.
"Oh my god! Why is there such a big gash? What are we going to do?"
"We need to find someone to patch the loopholes quickly, otherwise things will only get worse!"
"How can we repair it after such a strong wind and rain?"
......
The situation was no less dire in the male educated youth's rooms.
Li Weidong listened to the people arguing about fixing the roof with a sense of unease. He thought to himself: It seems this house is no longer habitable.
As the leader of the educated youth team, Li Weidong asked everyone to go to the main room.
Looking at all the worried and anxious educated youth, he said, "It's already past three in the morning, everyone hang in there a little longer. Tomorrow morning I'll go talk to the brigade leader about moving out to stay with some villagers first, and then moving back in once the rain stops and things are repaired."
"That's the only way. I see the exterior walls of this house have huge cracks; they need to be repaired before we can live in it," Wu Lihong, who had been busy carrying basins and pouring water, agreed with a pained expression.
As they were talking, they heard the sound of something falling from the east, and the sound grew louder and louder.
Snap! Bang!
A loud noise came, causing the educated youth in the main room to tremble with fear. What was that sound?
Xie Yuyao came to her senses and walked step by step toward the source of the sound.
The east room where the female educated youth lived... collapsed.
The others also saw the terrible state of the east room and cried out in shock!
"The house collapsed!"
Li Weidong's booming voice drowned out everyone else's: "Everyone, run! Get out of the house!"
People rushed out of the main room and into the courtyard when they heard a loud "Bang! Crack!" sound behind them.
Everyone stopped and turned around, standing there dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the main hall and the men's dormitory swayed precariously, on the verge of collapse.
"I need to move some things!"
"Danger! Don't go!"
Ignoring the advice of others, Yu Wenbo rushed into the west room to move the grain, which was his only remaining food ration!
Seeing this, Chen Kai also wanted to rush in, but Xie Yuyao, who was quick-witted and agile, grabbed his arm, "Don't go!"
No sooner had the words been spoken than the main hall collapsed with a crash.
"Yu Wenbo! Hurry up and get out!" All the educated youth shouted anxiously, and Wu Lihong even burst into tears.
Yu Wenbo, who had just rushed into the west room, heard a loud noise in his ear. Looking at the grain sacks a few steps away, he gritted his teeth and continued running into the room. As soon as he reached for the grain sacks, he heard a "creak, creak" sound as they broke from the top.
He suddenly looked up, and the molten wood poured down.
"ah!"
With the screams of the girl from the west wing, the only house collapsed, and the people in the yard wept with grief.
Xie Yuyao, who always used a spatial perspective, knew Yu Wenbo's location clearly. "Quickly, call people to dig him out and rescue him!"
Li Weidong took off running, shouting, "I'm going to find someone!"
"I'm going to find the brigade leader!" Wu Lihong suppressed her grief and ran out as well.
The remaining people ran over and dug through the rubble with their bare hands.
Xie Yuyao pointed to the exact location and said, "He just ran close to the house, he must be in this area, dig quickly!"
As nearby residents heard Li Weidong's cries for help, they joined the search and rescue team with tools such as shovels and hoes, and Yu Wenbo was finally found.
His body was buried in the mud and tiles, pressed down by the beams, his eyes were closed, and his body was covered in blood. It was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
Xie Yuyao immediately knelt down, lifted his head, and repeatedly patted his face, saying, "Yu Wenbo, pull yourself together, Yu Wenbo..."
Using the rain as cover, she immediately fed him the spring water.
Perhaps it was the human instinct for survival, but his mouth moved slightly, allowing him to drink the spiritual spring water.
*
Unlike Li Weidong, who called out to his neighbors, Wu Lihong held her breath and ran to the brigade leader's house.
She pounded on the gate of the brigade leader's courtyard, screaming desperately for help: "Brigade Leader! The educated youth compound has collapsed! People are trapped! Help! People are dying!!!"
Hearing the commotion, the brigade leader and Aunt Tian jumped up with renewed vigor. Without even grabbing their umbrellas, they rushed out of the yard in the rain and opened the door. "Wu Lihong, what happened at the educated youth compound?"
Wu Lihong grabbed their hands, sobbing uncontrollably: "Quickly save them! The wall collapsed...the people are inside...buried!"
Zhao Honghui, who was sleeping lightly next door, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing the noise.
Amidst the muffled cries washed away by the torrential rain, only the final, high-pitched and heartbreaking cry of "Someone's dead!" reached his ears clearly, surpassing even the sound of the rain.
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