The three of them paddled the bamboo raft hard towards the tree branch where Director Zheng was standing. Bi Guoguang shouted at him at the top of his voice:
"Director Zheng! Hold on! We're here to save you!"
When Director Zheng heard the shouting, he opened his mouth excitedly to answer, but he choked on water several times. His struggle scared Bi Guoguang and others so much that their men moved quickly.
It took Shitou several attempts to finally tie the other end of the rope tied to the bamboo raft to a thick branch. Then, several people pulled the rope and finally managed to stabilize the bamboo raft in the upstream current.
Seeing that they were still some distance away from the target tree branch, for safety reasons, Bi Guoguang threw another rope to Director Zheng and shouted to him:
"Tie this rope around your waist and we'll pull you over!"
After trying several times, the trembling Director Zheng finally grabbed the rope he had thrown over, but the next second he tied the rope around the pig's waist and waved to Bi Guoguang and the others:
"Save it! Save it first!"
Bi Guoguang was so anxious that his eyes became bloodshot. The water flow was so strong and fast that the tree branches might be broken at any time, but this man was still thinking about saving the pigs.
But at this time they couldn't do anything to Director Zheng, as he had already tied the rope to the pig. They could only pull the pig back quickly and then throw the rope back to him.
"Hurry up!"
With a few efforts, the pig that was originally stuck on the tree branch was pulled into the water and struggled in panic in the water. The instant burst of survival strength and the effect of the water flow directly pulled the first stone that was holding the rope, causing it to stagger and almost fall into the water.
Fortunately, Bi Guoguang behind him was quick-witted and grabbed his belt, and pulled him back in a flash, which scared Shi Tou to death.
It was only when Bi Guoguang shouted "Hurry up" that he came to his senses and tried his best to pull it back.
The three of them took great pains to pull the pig, which was struggling desperately in the flood, onto the bamboo raft. Suddenly, the space for people on the raft, which was already small, became even smaller. In addition, the pig was frightened and kept getting restless uncontrollably, and from time to time there was a danger of it almost knocking people into the water.
In this situation, the three people on the bamboo raft couldn't even stand steadily, so how could they pull Director Zheng who was on the tree branch over?
Feeling the water flow getting faster and faster, another little soldier said anxiously:
"Captain, throw this pig down! Rescue the people first!"
When Director Zheng, who was perched on the tree branch, heard that his pig was going to be thrown down, he immediately shouted at the top of his voice:
"Don't throw it! Don't throw my pig! Leave me alone, just go! Take the pig back!"
While shouting, he pretended to let go, fearing that Bi Guoguang and his men would throw the pig down again in order to save him.
Bi Guoguang's pupils dilated for a moment, and he shouted:
"Director Zheng! Don't move! If we don't throw your pigs away, we can rescue you all together!"
After hearing his words, Director Zheng subconsciously grabbed the tree branch again out of his survival instinct. Who would be willing to die if they could live?
At this time, Director Zheng felt more bitter than coptis chinensis.
As early as five years ago, this slaughterhouse was a run-down unit on the verge of disbanding. He sold his house in his hometown, dragged his family of three to build a straw hut next to it, and wore straw sandals every day to walk the streets to collect live pigs. He visited all the villages within a radius of dozens of kilometers, begged for help from various communes, and collected the live pigs one by one, finally saving the slaughterhouse and its workers.
After finally surviving those turbulent years, Director Zheng, who had suffered losses, was prepared for danger in times of peace and actively learned new technologies. He opened a farm in the factory and raised some of the piglets that were occasionally collected there.
In order to raise these pigs well, he gets up early and goes to bed late every day to take care of them. He doesn't care even when his wife scolds him for caring more about the pigs than his own children.
After a year of hard work, all the pigs were fat and ready by the end of the year. Not only did they meet the slaughterhouse's pig slaughtering target, most of the excess pork was sold to various supply and marketing cooperatives, and some of the remaining fat pork was distributed to the slaughterhouse employees as year-end benefits, allowing the employees to have a happy new year and making people from other units in Anfeng Town envious.
With this successful experience and adult breeding pigs, the slaughterhouse developed more prosperously under his leadership in the second year, the employees' pockets became fatter and they had more smiles on their faces.
Director Zheng couldn't understand why, when things seemed to be getting better day by day, we would encounter a torrential rainstorm that only happens once in a century?
On the first night of the heavy rain, Director Zheng, who had already returned home from the factory, was worried all night. He was worried that the heavy rain that had lasted for a day and a night would flood the slaughterhouse located in the low-lying area of Anfeng Town.
Early the next morning, he waded through ankle-deep water and braved the pouring rain to rush to the slaughterhouse, only to find that the water in the slaughterhouse had already reached his knees, and he suddenly felt cold all over.
Hearing the howling coming from the direction of the pigpen, he stumbled and treaded through the water in a hurry to run to the pigpen. His eyes immediately turned red. More than a dozen newly born piglets were all floating on the water, drowned in the pigpen.
Without time to feel sad, he and other employees who arrived later hurriedly drove the big pig, which was still safe and sound, to the rooftop of the two-story building next to the pigpen.
By then, Director Zheng had not yet fallen into despair. The dozen or so pigs in the pigpen were still alive, and several of the surviving pigs were pregnant. After the water receded, although the losses were not small, there was still hope for recovery.
But no one expected that the rain showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it got heavier and heavier, as if there was a hole in the sky and it was out of control.
At first, Director Zheng and the workers in the factory found a tarpaulin and stood on the roof to protect the pigs from the rain. Later, a strong wind blew and the tarpaulin in their hands could not be held on at all. It was blown away and disappeared without a trace.
Watching the heavy rain falling day and night, the first floor of the office building was already half submerged in water. Director Zheng began to feel uneasy, and the employees of the slaughterhouse did not dare to leave.
But the rain did not stop as they all hoped. Instead, it kept falling, and the water level at the slaughterhouse kept rising, soon completely submerging the first floor.
After everyone had been drenched in heavy rain, freezing and starving for a whole day, someone was horrified to find that the water level had risen to the stairs leading to the rooftop from the second floor.
Everyone had to find ways to drive the pigs from the rooftop to the higher roof of the factory shed next to it, but the roof was a slope. In the process of driving them up, a pregnant sow accidentally fell down and was immediately washed away by the rushing flood.
Director Zheng and others were heartbroken, but they could not protect themselves and there was no other way.
As the water level continued to rise, the living space left for them became smaller and smaller. In order to survive, the slaughterhouse workers climbed to the top of the highest beam.
However, the slope of the top of the beam was too steep, and more and more big pigs accidentally rolled down and could not escape the fate of being washed away by the water.
Director Zheng's heart was bleeding as he watched the pigs he had raised with great effort disappear in the flood.
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