Chapter 45 The Rain Stops
As if what he said would come true, Chen Yun had just finished feeling relieved when trouble came knocking on his door.
"Director Chen, Zhang Guixiang's stomach is hurting again, and I think there might be amniotic fluid..."
Duan Yun pushed open the door, anxiously breaking the tranquility of the room.
Chen Yun jumped up: "Send him to the emergency room, I'll change my clothes and go." He started to walk out, but after a few steps he turned back: "Prepare a few more flashlights and hot water."
"good."
No matter how fierce the storm was outside, the group worked efficiently and in an orderly manner under Chen Yun's arrangement.
Rather than saying they were familiar with all kinds of emergencies in the hospital, it would be more accurate to say they had a pillar of support, making it seem like they could overcome any difficulty smoothly.
Candles were lit in every corner of the emergency room, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of wax.
Chen Yun served as the lead midwife, while Zuo Lingling and Duan Yun also wore rubber gloves to become midwives.
But in the emergency room, besides them and Zhang Guixiang, there were several other women who had given birth before.
Grandma Ma held flashlights in both hands. Her face, hidden behind her mask, twitched with tension. After taking several deep breaths, the flashlight beams finally stabilized.
Under their direction, Yang Juhua and Huang Lian aimed their flashlights at the lower half of the delivery bed to ensure that Chen Yun could see the cervix clearly.
Because the ultrasound machine was unusable due to the power outage, Chen Yun could only prepare based on the fetal position information from the previous month's examination.
"Your cervix is fully dilated. Prepare to breathe on my command, using the breathing technique I taught you before..."
The more urgent the situation, the calmer Chen Yun remained, exuding an unquestionable authority that instantly cut through the chaotic thoughts in everyone's minds.
"The baby is positioned slightly transversely, Dr. Zuo is holding it down."
Chen Yun's hand quickly explored Zhang Guixiang's swollen abdomen, then his expression turned cold and he made the arrangements with a resolute tone.
Zuo Lingling immediately pounced on her, using her entire body weight to press down hard on Zhang Guixiang's upper abdomen, who was writhing in pain. The screams suddenly rose in pitch, like a dull knife scraping against everyone's hearing.
Chen Yun stood at the foot of the delivery bed: "Push! Exhale forcefully... Good! I can see the baby's head... Let's do it again."
No matter how Chen Yun taught her how to breathe before giving birth, Zhang Guixiang had already forgotten it when the pain struck. She just tensed all her muscles to the limit, her fingers gripping the cold bed edge as she screamed.
“If I press on your stomach, you should press harder,” Chen Yun roared.
Zhang Guixiang finally took these words to heart and nodded, her forehead covered in sweat.
"..."
The airtight emergency room quickly filled with the stench of blood, and time seemed to stretch on endlessly, each second feeling incredibly long.
Meanwhile, across from the floodlit sports field, Gao Ming was leading a team of ten people toward Building 10, a residential building.
The factory has a total of 26 residential building areas. Except for ten residential buildings where a few families have not yet reached the designated location for evacuation, the rest have all arrived at their destinations.
Fortunately, the wind was much calmer than in the afternoon, and the group of people on the path were able to keep their distance relatively steadily.
"The security team had already notified them at noon... but two families refused to leave."
The wind had subsided a bit, but the rain showed no signs of letting up, and Li Huguo spat out every time he spoke.
"The Youth League Committee has already issued an order that all employees and their families must be evacuated to a safe location to wait for the disaster to pass. Even if they don't want to leave, they must be taken away," Gao Ming replied coldly.
This was an organizational order and had nothing to do with his personal opinion. Gao Ming didn't have much affection for the two stubborn families.
They ignored instructions and plunged into danger, yet others who had already escaped danger were forced to risk their lives to persuade them.
Of this group, apart from Li Huguo, who was the representative of the security department, the rest of them all lived in Building 10.
When Hu Gangtie heard that he had to risk going back to save people again, he immediately jumped up and cursed.
The sarcastic remarks of those people still lingered in their ears when Chen Yun led them away, but in the end, they had to endure the ridicule and cold treatment.
Even though he still had to obey the organization's assignment in the end, Hu Gangtie's face remained ashen the whole way.
"What if we try to persuade them to leave but they still won't leave?" Liu Shan asked.
"It's their fault for disobeying the organization's arrangements; we should just go back and report honestly."
During the day there is at least some natural light, but at night the visibility in the forest is less than two meters.
The group could only use flashlights to light their way, and the muddy road was slippery, making it extremely difficult to walk.
"The most annoying one is Zhang Hongmin. I wish I could tear his mouth apart right now," Hu Gangtie muttered under his breath.
"arrive……"
The joy of seeing the ten family apartment buildings was instantly dispelled by the scene before him. The mud and water had reached the bottom of the windows, and Gao Ming roughly estimated that it was at least 1.3 meters deep.
Who can float?
Although the water level is not high enough to drown people, they have to walk in the mud and water, and non-swimmers are very likely to choke on water if they trip.
“I will,” Hu Gangtie and Li Huguo stepped forward.
The Liu brothers couldn't swim, so Gao Ming told them to walk along the slope and call out to anyone who was home.
Gao Ming squatted down, retied his shoelaces, put the flashlight in his mouth, and jumped down first.
Three splashes followed, and the water just reached her lower abdomen.
“You all follow me; I know this area best.”
When the warehouse was converted into a residential area, Hu Gangtie participated in the construction planning. He could find the right path even with his eyes closed.
Led by him, the three quickly moved to the second row.
The row was completely silent, and the three of them felt a sudden jolt of fear almost simultaneously.
Could it be that the remaining two families were swept away by the flood...?
Thinking this, Hu Gangtie hurriedly went to one of the houses and looked inside through the open door.
The furniture inside the house was completely submerged and disappeared, but there was no sign of anyone. Hu Gangtie shouted several times, but no one answered.
Gao Ming, supporting himself against the wall, silently walked to the corner of the first row.
"Gao Ming, is there any light on in your house?"
Li Huguo, who was a few steps behind, looked over there and curiously pointed to the first house where a faint light was emanating.
Gao Ming nodded with a cold face.
He should know why there was no response when he called for help; the feelings were all at someone else's house...
Not only Gao Ming's family, but also Yang Juhua's family next door had their doors wide open, and there were people talking at Ma Laoniang's house as well.
"I remember we closed the door when we left!" Hu Gangtie found it strange.
Gao Ming shushed the two of them and quietly walked to his front door.
The window is broken...
The windows were smashed to pieces, but the lock on the door was still intact, indicating that the family must have jumped into his house through the window.
The faint light they had just seen came from the honeycomb briquettes used for cooking on the second floor.
The honeycomb briquettes that Chen Yun and his companion had painstakingly carried up were readily available to the family, and even through the flickering firelight, it was clear that a large area of the wall was blackened by soot.
"Mom, are the noodles ready yet?"
"Almost there, almost there! What's with the nagging nonsense?"
The two people speaking were so clever that they could tell who they were immediately. It was Zhang Hongmin's house in the second row, which meant that Zheng Wen's house collapsed because he learned from Chen Yun's family.
Not only did Zhang Hongmin fail to respond to the call to help, he also smashed someone's window and brazenly hid in their house.
"Mom, we're out of rice and flour. After you finish eating, could you go check with the Liu family across the street to see if they have any food left?"
"Have you finished taking everything from Yang Juhua's house next door?"
Hu Gangtie's expression immediately changed. If Zhang Hongmin were in front of him, he would have already clenched his fists and attacked.
Before they left, they hung all the grain in their house from the roof beams. Unexpectedly, the floodwaters didn't reach them, but that family of bastards stole and ate it all.
“They’re long gone. There are six mouths to feed in our family. We can eat two bowls of noodles in one meal if we eat our fill.” Zhang Hongmin said matter-of-factly, and then chuckled twice. “Don’t you think those people who evacuated with us were stupid? We’re here with food and drink, while they definitely can’t even get a hot meal.”
"What are we going to say when the raincoat is removed and the person comes back?" Zhang Hongmin's mother still had some conscience.
"Hehe." Zhang Hongmin's laughter became even more unpleasant.
Before long, the three people outside the window saw Zhang Hongmin standing at the top of the stairs, unzipping his pants.
"..."
That bastard actually stood on the second floor and urinated downstairs. The thought that the water he was standing in might already be mixed with a lot of feces and urine made all three of them feel nauseous.
"Before we leave, we'll hammer two holes in the wall. The house will collapse in half an hour at most, and then we'll say it was washed away by the rain... Only God knows if it was us who did it."
"It's not right to smash someone's house."
“What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you see that Zheng Wen’s house was washed away because he built a second floor? We say it was washed away by water, so it was washed away by water!”
Gao Ming exhaled through his nose.
Li Huguo wanted to sneak a peek at Gao Ming's expression, but found that his profile was hidden in the darkness and could not be seen clearly at all.
But this doesn't affect the fact that even after decades of friendship, one can tell a friend's anger just by listening to their breathing.
Gao Ming arrived at the door, took out his key from his pocket, and opened the door.
With a click, as Gao Ming pushed open the door, he shone his flashlight directly at Zhang Hongmin's pants zipper, which he hadn't bothered to zip up in his shock.
"clever!"
"Who...who are you talking about..."
There was a commotion in the house. Gao Ming heard what sounded like pots and pans falling. Then, Old Man Zhang and Old Woman Zhang came to the top of the stairs on the second floor and looked down.
Gao Ming walked up the stairs.
Chen Yun's favorite treasure cabinet was soaking in water, along with the photo frame that had been moved upstairs long ago.
The photo has disappeared, leaving only the frame.
These items, which should have been on the second floor, were now all soaking in water downstairs. It was obvious that they were mostly thrown down by Zhang Hongmin's family.
It was really crowded for six people to eat, drink, and relieve themselves on the second floor, so anything that was in their way was thrown down.
Ta-da!
Heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs, and Gao Ming's angry face slowly appeared on the second floor.
There were people in both rooms on the second floor, with the bedding piled up haphazardly on the beds, which likely included some of the belongings brought by the Zhang family.
"Brilliant...brilliant!"
"Comrade Gao, listen to me, there's nothing we can do about this situation, it's only temporary... We'll go home as soon as the rain lightens a bit."
"We're just staying here temporarily for two days."
"With such a great disaster looming, I believe you will understand."
In just one day, the honeycomb briquettes were almost completely burned, and the burnt debris was all thrown downstairs.
The sofa was covered with pots and pans, and a few potatoes that someone had left behind were scattered on it.
Chen Yun had painstakingly brought back the plush sofa from the provincial capital, and to prevent it from getting dirty, she had a tailor make a sofa cover to drape over it. But now, the sofa was covered in all sorts of marks.
Gao Ming withdrew his gaze, a storm brewing beneath his tightly pursed lips.
"Do you want to pay compensation or go to the security office on charges of theft?"
“How can you call it stealing… we’re just staying for two days.” Old Mrs. Zhang seemed to think she was in the right, and excitedly spat at Gao Ming.
"Trying to demolish my house and loitering in the heavy rain is what you call 'borrowing a place to stay'?" Gao Ming sneered.
Li Huguo cleared his throat: "I am Li Huguo from the security department. We heard what you were saying downstairs... I can send you to the county public security bureau right now on charges of deliberately damaging the factory's finances."
"Add to that theft," Gao Ming said. "My door was locked properly, but someone broke in, smashed things, and stole things. I left a lot of valuables in my house, including two gold rings that are family heirlooms... If I don't find them in a while, I'll add theft of other people's property to the list."
"Are those the gold rings passed down from your grandfather?"
"Those are the rings. They are gold rings awarded to my grandfather by the regiment for his great merit in suppressing bandits when he was a soldier."
"I remember it was also inlaid with gemstones..."
The rings the two of them were wearing were actually things they had never seen before; they were just items that appeared out of place for the occasion.
"Pay money or go to a labor camp?" Gao Ming asked.
“You’ve done a terrible job. Look what you’ve done to them. I suggest you just pay some compensation…” Hu Gangtie walked around a pot that looked like it was filled with something and sighed, “If things get too ugly, even if Zhang Hongmin isn’t sent to a labor camp, he won’t be able to keep his job.”
"If you don't want to pay compensation, then go to the security department." Gao Ming tilted his head at Li Huguo.
Li Huguo understood immediately, took off the steel handcuffs that the security department used to handcuff people, and waved them in front of Zhang Hongmin.
"I'll pay the loss... I'll pay the loss."
Without evidence, no one can do anything about him; at most, they can have a couple of arguments in private and that's it. But now he's been caught red-handed...
Zhang Hongmin knew very well that Gao Ming was not one to swallow his anger; if he really wanted revenge, he might actually send him to the county public security bureau.
At that point, you'll not only lose your job, but your entire life will be ruined.
“I have a conscience, I don’t want more… just 1,500 yuan.” Gao Ming raised an eyebrow and pointed to the sofa that had been wrecked: “You know that this plush sofa can only be found in the provincial capital, and you can’t buy it for any amount of money.”
“One thousand… how could it be worth one thousand five hundred yuan for using so little stuff?” Zhang Hongmin exclaimed.
"Whether it's worth it or not is up to me, not you. If it's not worth it..."
"Don't waste your breath on him. When he's taken to the county public security bureau, you can ask for financial compensation. The public security bureau will handle it." Li Huguo unlocked the handcuffs and approached Zhang Hongmin.
"Five thousand it is!" Zhang Hongmin shouted in terror, raising his hand and grabbing his mother anxiously, "Quick, get the money... If we go to the security office, our whole family will be finished!"
If one person loses their job, the whole family will lose their home. Everyone in the Zhang family knows very well which is more important.
Old Zhang rustled around in the house for a while, then shakily handed out a cloth bag.
Gao Ming raised his hand and shone it onto the cloth bag.
The bag contained the money they had saved up over ten years through frugal living, only to have to give it all away in one go.
How could Zhang Hongmin not be heartbroken?
Gao Ming borrowed the money and stuffed it into his shirt pocket, his voice instantly turning very harsh: "Get out of my house now!"
The six members of the Zhang family tumbled and crawled into the water.
Gao Ming looked around the house carefully and saw that his carefully arranged home had become a mess. He could only sigh deeply.
“I’m going to tell Lao Liu that his house has also been occupied.”
Hu Gangtie waded through the water toward the path.
Gao Ming saw the Zhang family of six walking ahead of Hu Gangtie, and soon the group disappeared down the path.
The second family was much more particular than Zhang Hongmin. Although they were temporarily staying on the second floor of the Liu family's house, they only laid their own quilts on the floor for their children to sleep on, and did not touch anything in the house.
Seeing this, Liu Shan didn't mention compensation, but simply told them to pack their things and leave with the group.
The family quickly packed their important belongings and finally agreed to leave with Gao Ming and the others.
"It's good that you didn't persist in your stubbornness."
When Hu Gangtie was advising the family, Gao Ming went to check the situation around the house and found that the walls of several rooms had cracks.
The cracks spread upwards from the base of the wall, which gives you an idea of how large the gap at the base of the wall must have been.
"Pack up and leave quickly, I don't think we can hold out for much longer."
Gao Ming immediately decided to go back inside to check if there were any important items left, and to take everything he could.
Fortunately, the Zhang family didn't touch the clothes in the wardrobe on the second floor, and some pots and pans stuffed under the bed in the small room also escaped unharmed.
Gao Ming stuffed all the clothes into a suitcase and handed it to Li Huguo, while he himself... carried the refrigerator.
"If we don't come back tonight, Zhang Hongmin and his family will really get their way."
Even if they didn't deliberately damage it, the house probably wouldn't have lasted long. As the house closest to the river, it was only because of the steel frame that it didn't collapse.
If this house collapses, the houses behind it will collapse in no time.
"I should be the one who saved their family."
Gao Ming hoisted the refrigerator onto his shoulder and calmly began to correct him.
"Yes, yes, yes, we saved them!"
"Houses can be rebuilt if they're gone, as long as people are safe."
Chen Yun's favorite treasure cabinet, those photos with stiff smiles, and the desk lamp he repaired himself... each one holds a sweet memory.
Feeling suffocated is inevitable, but fortunately, memories can be recreated, as long as the person who created those memories is still here!
"I wonder how things are going with Ruanqiu and the others..." Li Huguo also thought of his wife, whom he hadn't heard from for most of the day.
"Hospital……"
"Gao Ming, look!"
Liu Shan's shout made the group stop, and everyone turned around to look back.
The mudslide rolled in with the river, and in a short time it submerged the flowers, grass and trees on both sides of the river.
Everyone shone their flashlights toward the house.
Even with a small aperture, they witnessed the entire process of those two rows of houses gradually disappearing into the mudslide.
Everyone felt a wave of fear.
If it had been ten minutes later, they would have been the ones buried in the house.
Gao Ming simply turned around and said, "Let's go."
The group quickened their pace and soon caught up with the six people who were squatting by the roadside resting.
To be precise, they weren't resting; they witnessed their houses being flooded and were so frightened that their legs went weak and they couldn't walk.
"If a landslide occurs on the hillside, sitting here is just waiting to die."
Gao Ming stepped past them, leaving behind a few cold words.
Zhang Hongmin immediately jumped up and followed closely behind the group, not daring to fall behind.
***
Staff hospital.
"Auntie, the second one is a son."
Chen Yun handed the second child, whom she had just given birth to with great difficulty, to Duan Yun, and after simply announcing the good news, she immediately turned around to deal with the placenta that had not yet come out.
"Congratulations, Auntie, you now have both a son and a daughter." Yang Juhua shone her flashlight on the table where Duan Yun was washing the children, her face beaming with joy. "I also brought a can of milk powder. I'll make some for Guixiang later to help her regain her strength."
Zhang Guixiang lay exhausted and paralyzed on the delivery bed, unable to move.
Apart from the flashlight beam focused on their lower bodies, the only other light in the room was a faint candlelight. The flickering light amplified their fear, making Zhang Guixiang and Zhang Heng extremely tense.
If it weren't for Chen Yun's constant guidance, she would have long lost the motivation to continue striving.
"Thank you... thank you Dr. Chen."
At that moment, all she could think of was saying thank you; she didn't even think of looking at her newborn child.
"You should thank yourself. If it weren't for your strong will, we would have had to use forceps just now."
Chen Yun handled the follow-up work efficiently.
"Wah wah—wah wah wah—"
Two cries, rising and falling, were full of primal vitality, echoing in the small, simple, dark space.
Ma Zhigang, who had just received the news and rushed to the emergency room, collapsed to his knees at the door.
"Old Ma must be overjoyed!"
"Get up now, or you'll be kneeling before your wife someday."
The arrival of the new life seemed to temporarily dispel the gloom brought by the natural disaster, and everyone happily congratulated Ma Zhigang.
"The rain has lessened!"
Suddenly, a joyful shout exploded in the dark hall, and those who were still awake immediately rushed to the door to look outside.
It was still dark, but the sound of the raindrops made it clear that the rain had indeed lessened considerably.
Has the wind stopped?
The wind had stopped... Gao Ming and his group appeared at the hospital entrance with large and small bags, and they looked much more relaxed just by the way they walked.
"Open the door quickly, open the door quickly."
The group of people worked together to push open the nurses' station and open the door.
"The wind has stopped!"
A few of the bolder ones stepped out the door and looked up at the sky.
Not only did the wind stop, but a sliver of light seemed to shine through the clouds overhead, and the sun could already be glimpsed behind the dark clouds.
At 6:30 in the morning... the rain stopped.
As dawn broke, the heavy clouds that seemed ready to crash down at any moment were gone, leaving only a few clumps of leaden-gray clouds lingering in the blue sky, unwilling to leave.
The air was filled with a thick, suffocating stench.
Standing at the hospital entrance and looking up at the mountain, the mountain looked as if it had been ravaged and carelessly discarded into the mud by a furious giant hand.
Everywhere you look, there is devastation.
The cement road that once meandered to the top of the mountain was now covered in murky muddy water, with branches and stones flowing across the surface, broken bamboo baskets, and tattered clothes washed away.
The adobe walls of the kindergarten across the street collapsed in large sections, like melting candy, revealing the crooked and broken skeleton inside.
Most of the roof tiles of the supply and marketing cooperative were torn off, leaving only a few crooked pieces hanging on the wooden frame, which could fall off at any time.
Countless trees were blown down, and many large trees lay scattered around the house.
"All factory employees should go to their respective department offices for a meeting. The remaining employees' family members can go home to clean up. After they have finished cleaning up their own homes, we will make arrangements for the follow-up work..."
The man holding a megaphone and walking along the roadside announcing the news had a face full of numbness from exhaustion.
“Go back with Ruanqiu and check on her family situation first.” Gao Ming opened his chapped lips and gently touched Chen Yun’s forehead. “We don’t have a home for now.”
The man, who hadn't rested for two days and two nights, was unshaven, disheveled, and looked as if he had aged ten years.
"We have a new house to live in again." Chen Yun smiled, raised her hand and grasped the large, cold hand tightly: "As long as you are alright."
"Wait for me to come back."
Gao Ming smiled and nodded, then resolutely stepped back into the mud.
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