An hour ago, torrential rain turned the dirt road leading to the feed processing plant into a muddy stream.
Wearing a raincoat, Guan Wenru pedaled her bicycle with all her might, the wheels struggling to move forward through the mud and water.
The sound of wind and rain was deafening.
Guan Wenru gritted his teeth and braved the wind and rain, his heart filled with anxiety.
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry came from the turbulent, muddy river ahead!
A woman's voice, filled with terror and despair, came in fits and starts:
"Help! Help! Save my child! Dazhu, hold on tight!"
Upon hearing the sound, Guan Wenru slammed on the brakes!
Looking in the direction of the sound, one could see a woman clinging tightly to a boy in the turbid torrent, the two of them being swept downstream by the rushing current!
The woman's head was sometimes submerged in water, and the boy cried loudly in fear!
Upon seeing this, Guan Wenru's heart clenched, and she instantly forgot her destination.
Without any hesitation, she shoved the bicycle into the muddy ground beside her, and the bicycle was instantly half-submerged in the mud and water.
She stumbled and crawled, almost rolling, towards the nearest riverbank!
"Hold on!" she shouted as she rushed through the water to the mother and child struggling in the water, her voice torn apart by the wind and rain, "Don't let go!"
She seized the opportunity and, the instant the mother and child were swept relatively close to the shore, risked her life to plunge into the water and stretch out her arms!
Guan Wenru grabbed the boy's waving hand with all her might, "I caught him! Quick! Hand the child over to me!"
The woman choked on water, her eyes flashing with a final light, and with all her remaining strength pushed the child in her arms toward Guan Wenru, pleading, "Please...please...save him."
Using this force, Guan Wenru finally managed to pull the slippery, struggling boy into her arms!
Guan Wenru clung tightly to the boy, searching for footholds on the muddy, slippery bank, trying to back away.
But it was precisely at this moment!
The boy looked in the direction of his mother with fear.
The woman couldn't swim and was instantly swept away by the current.
The boy cried out in anguish, "Mother! Mother! I want my mother!"
Being so young, he had no idea how dangerous his situation was.
In his desperate search for his mother, he struggled violently, his little hands shoving Guan Wenru wildly!
"Depend on!"
Caught off guard, Guan Wenru, who was already unsteady on her feet, was suddenly and violently pulled by the boy!
She instantly lost her balance and her foot slipped!
Along with the boy in her arms, the two of them fell backward, irrevocably plunging into the surging, bottomless, murky torrent behind them!
Engulfed in an instant!
The woman, on the distant water, only had time to let out a desperate, heart-wrenching cry!
"No! My...Dazhu!"
On the murky river surface, only rolling waves and floating debris remained; the figures of the two large and one small were nowhere to be seen.
The torrential rain continued to pelt down relentlessly.
......
After leaving the family compound, He Yanzhi left in a panic, and immediately organized all the soldiers to come out and rescue people.
Every production brigade damaged by the flood had to be rescued, and He Yanzhi would look for Guan Wenru in every place he went.
He would visit every village along the river, bringing Guan Wenru's photo with him to ask questions.
At this moment, in a village ravaged by the flood, there are broken walls and muddy ruins.
Covered in mud and with his military uniform soaked, He Yanzhi led a team of equally exhausted but determined soldiers as they helped villagers clean up and relocate.
His sharp gaze swept across every corner and the crowd.
But he didn't see the person he was looking for.
Once things were mostly settled, He Yanzhi grabbed an elderly man being helped out by soldiers, his voice hoarse and urgent:
"Sir! Have you seen a woman? About this tall, with long hair, wearing blue overalls?"
He quickly pulled a black-and-white photograph, its edges blurred by moisture, from his soaked shirt pocket.
It's a photo of Guan Wenru.
The old man squinted, leaned closer to look at the photo, and shook his head blankly. "Never...never seen...such a huge flood...people were swept away..."
As he spoke, his eyes reddened.
Several of his family members have already been swept away, and it's unknown whether they are still alive!
This is a natural disaster!
This is deadly!
He Yanzhi's eyes darkened, and he immediately turned to the still-shaken woman beside him with the photo, "Sister-in-law! Have you seen this woman in the photo today? She might have come this way!"
The woman, holding her child, looked at the photo and shook her head. "No...I don't remember. The water came too fast, and we were just trying to run..."
"..." He Yanzhi was exhausted and didn't ask any more questions. He immediately waved to signal the soldiers to follow and strode towards the next gathering point.
This scene repeated itself for the next several dozen hours.
In front of makeshift shelters, beside collapsed houses, on muddy field ridges…
He Yanzhi has been searching for his wife!
...
Two days later, He Yanzhi, who had arrived at the new village, stopped a village official who was distributing rations:
"Comrade! I am He Yanzhi from the military region's rescue team! Have you received or found any lone female comrades in your village today? She looks like this!"
He showed the photo again, his fingers turning white from the force he applied.
The village official looked carefully, frowned and tried to recall, but finally shook his head. "Commander He, I'm so sorry, I didn't see him. We haven't even found all of our own people yet... And who is this?"
He Yanzhi didn't answer, but said hurriedly, "Thank you! If you see it, please let us know immediately!"
He turned and left, ordering the soldiers behind him, "Squad leader! Quickly take a few men and go check that woods downstream again! Search carefully!"
"Okay!" The squad leader looked worriedly at his commander's bloodshot eyes and tense jawline, and couldn't help but urge, "Commander! Why don't you take a break? You haven't slept a wink since yesterday! Your wife... she's a lucky person, maybe..."
"Follow orders first! I'm fine!" He Yanzhi waved his hand, seemingly unfazed by fatigue, his voice deep yet carrying a thunderous pressure:
"Everyone, search every corner! Every place that might have been washed ashore! Search them thoroughly! Ask everyone! Find them alive! Dead..."
He choked on his words, then abruptly turned and strode toward the riverbank, where the current was still swift and turbid, carrying with it broken branches and logs.
He stood on the muddy bank, gazing at the surging, turbid current, rainwater mixed with mud streaming down his resolute face.
He took out the wet photo again, rubbing his fingertips hard on Guan Wenru's smiling face in the photo, as if to confirm her existence.
Wenru!
Where are you?!
Why can't I find you anywhere?!
Why has no one ever seen you?!
My children and I are still waiting for you!
You'll be alright, right?
Grandma will definitely protect you, right?!
He clenched his fist tightly, pressed the photo against his chest, and faced the surging river.
try to find!
He had no choice but to keep searching!
Along the river!
All villages downstream!
Ask from house to house!
Whether she's dead or alive... we must find her!
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