Chapter 114 Little Red Riding Hood and Green Uniform
Although Su Yun's return to her homeland this time was approved by borrowing the relationship with Nintendo and using the excuse of being a foreign tourist, if you think about it carefully, it was actually a "sneak peek".
After all, this was a period when China temporarily closed itself off due to unavoidable internal factors. Although this period is about to end, it has not yet ended.
Not only are the inland areas strictly controlled, but the various external forces also have more or less extremely complicated thoughts about China today, so they have adopted the maximum possible closure when facing it.
Previously, Su Yun either developed in an island country across a body of water or in a continent half a world away, and therefore faced no more restrictions than in Hong Kong; but now that she has begun to shift the focus of her work back, this sneaking away is no less than choosing the path that is closest to self-destruction.
The Hong Kong film industry has not yet grown in size - but even if it does, Hong Kong's box office revenue is still not enough to compare with the revenue from foreign markets in surrounding areas.
Moreover, Su Yun had already offended the Taiwanese side once because of her closeness to her motherland when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. This time she secretly returned to her motherland. One does not need to think too much about what will happen next, as one knows it will be very tricky.
The best outcome is that the film will be put on ice temporarily and disappear from the limelight for a while; the worst outcome is that it will lose the Taiwanese market and become a box office poison that naturally lacks a major sales market before filming even begins.
So in Hong Kong, apart from making a long-distance call to Grandma Su to explain the situation and calling the Wang family to place a batch of spot orders and requesting that they be transferred to Guangzhou, she did not even tell her master Lu Shaolong and her adopted grandfather Xu Gujie.
Of course, Xu Gujie has been busy filming a movie with his brothers recently, so it is easier to fool him.
But Lu Shaolong is still recovering from his illness. Although it is not convenient for him to walk, his mind is very clear. Once Su Yun tells him the truth, she is not afraid that Lu Shaolong will blame her for it. On the contrary, judging from Lu Shaolong's personality, he may even strongly agree with and support her choice...
This is the problem. After Lu Shaolong knows about this, he will definitely support her choice, so he will naturally mobilize his connections to help her in private. In this way, Zou Yunhua will most likely also know about this.
Chia Ho's cooperation with Taiwan is deeper than that of other film companies such as Zhao's, and the bulk of the movie box office usually comes from Taiwan. In short, in this era, as long as you can get back enough capital in Taiwan, then all other markets will gradually open up to you.
Correspondingly, if the box office in Taiwan fails, even if you make money elsewhere, people will still be concerned about the failure in Taiwan, thinking that you can't handle the box office and won't make much, thus creating a vicious cycle of no investment, no job, and no reputation, which affect each other.
Therefore, if Zou Yunhua knew, he would never allow one of his few capable men to ruin his own future. This is also the mentality of taking chances that Su Yun and Zhuang Long mentioned before: earthquake predictions are not necessarily accurate, what if?
Zou Yunhua of Jiahe is not the only one who has such a mentality. People in the earthquake-stricken areas and those who have received the forecast are probably mostly so lucky - Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan and their surrounding areas are important industrial bases in the north. Even a one-day suspension of work will result in incalculable economic losses. When the earthquake forecast is not 100% certain, who dares to take the risk?
The people above had no intention of organizing an earthquake relief effort, so the people below naturally just kept their doubts in mind but did not dare to speak out: During this period, you cannot talk nonsense, you cannot say too much or you will be wrong, but saying less will definitely be right.
However, are those various abnormal situations that appear before people's eyes really warnings before major disasters as the elders say, or are they just pure coincidences?
The fish floated up like crazy, turning white, which became a rare good harvest for the fishermen; the birds and insects flew around without reason, and even bats flew all over the yard in broad daylight; groups of rats ran through the streets and alleys as if fleeing, and cats and dogs kept barking and dragging their owners out; the water levels of wells and rivers rose and fell, and steam was emitted "hissing". In the middle of the night, a gorgeous light band like a golden dragon suddenly appeared in the sky, illuminating the earth and disappearing in a flash; the light yellow mist with a sulfur smell blinded people's eyes, as if a shocking tragedy was brewing...
Nature is warning!
If these were not warnings, then the electromagnetic anomalies were already hinting to people that this was an unpredictable and unstoppable catastrophe.
So many microammeters used for monitoring earthquakes had been burned out that the earth's resistivity, which had been stable until then, suddenly dropped rapidly. Engineer Ma, who was in charge of the Tangcheng earthquake monitoring network, was extremely anxious. After stepping up his observations and calculations and carefully communicating with other seismic stations to confirm that the monitoring results were correct, he finally issued an emergency forecast to the Earthquake Bureau that a strong earthquake might occur in the short term.
However, talking about those rebuttals, Engineer Ma became very emotional: "They said that the northern part of Sichuan was in a mess due to earthquake preparedness, and it would be unacceptable if we were to cause more chaos here. They warned us to be cautious in forecasting in the capital..."
It's the worst thing that all your efforts ended up with nothing in the end. What if an earthquake more serious than the one in Haicheng really occurs, with so many people in the entire Tang City...what should you do?
Su Yun, who played the role of a patriotic Hong Kong businessman, sighed: "I encountered an earthquake in Japan, so I went to check the data of the earthquake bureau there and found that the movement of the earth's crust extended to Tang City, so I overcame all difficulties and came here..."
"Since the official route is blocked, do you dare to give it a try?" Su Yun opened the suitcase she brought with her, letting the people in the office see that except for a set of clothes, the rest of the suitcase was filled with banknotes. "I don't have any staff here, so I just contacted people I know to prepare clothes and medicines to be sent here at the end of the month - if there is a big earthquake."
Her current power is not enough to reach the ears of God and change the arrival of natural disasters and the decisions made; but at least, if rescue comes at the first moment after the occurrence, it can at least minimize the spread and development of the tragedy.
“It’s very likely!” Although Su Yun was young, Engineer Ma was very moved by her willingness to come back to warn people despite all odds and the money and materials she had prepared. So he explained seriously, “The rapid change in the earth’s resistivity reflects the change in the earth’s crust medium. Once it turns from a micro-fracture to a large fracture, an earthquake more terrible than the 7.3-magnitude Haicheng earthquake could happen at any time!”
"But the only person who believes our forecast is Mayor Ran of nearby Qinglong County." Engineer Ma smiled bitterly. "They have already notified the entire county of the impending major earthquake, and everyone is on earthquake preparedness."
The reason why the people of Qinglong County chose to believe and prepare was that they thought that if there was no earthquake, it would at most be just a drill; but if a big earthquake really occurred, then everyone in the county would be able to escape.
"Very good, then we now have a relatively stable and safe rear base as support." After confirming that there was a stable rear base, Su Yun began to make various moves, "Whether it is a surprise rehearsal, a drill or something else, in short, we will try our best to 'trick' as many people out of the house as possible in these few days!"
Even though the monitoring team had only a few staff members, the connections during this period were the most effective way to spread the news as quickly as possible.
Within just a few days, the rumor that the previous abnormal phenomenon was actually an earthquake warning spread like wildfire. And because Su Yun specifically emphasized that the late night was the most vulnerable time, some people who were willing to believe it and were prepared for danger in times of peace brought mats and started laying out on the open space outside.
It is an extremely hot summer now. Even if you don't believe the rumors, there are still many people who, seeking coolness, will gather together and sleep on the ground in an open space.
Since even earthquake rumors could be reported, all sorts of random news, such as meteors at the end of the month, events organized by Hong Kong businessmen and wealthy people, and film crews coming to shoot movies, were also released.
The purpose is just that: if one more person believes the news and is willing to go out of the house, the danger of an earthquake can be reduced as much as possible.
Su Yun, who was carrying a camera and leading a group of people who had changed their clothes and running around pretending to be a film crew, suddenly recalled a short story she had seen before: a child at the beach was tirelessly picking up small fish that were stranded on the beach and throwing them back into the sea, just to save one more life, so he saved one more life.
She didn't know how many people in Tangcheng had been "tricked" by them; but as long as she could save even one more life from the natural disaster, she would be willing to pretend to be a god and do all kinds of tricks.
On the afternoon of the 27th, Su Yun woke up from a nap and looked at the time. It was already past 2pm.
At this time, there were still less than 13 hours left before the terrible natural disaster.
And tonight was a night they all "thought" was more likely to see a natural disaster, so after washing up, Su Yun put on the little red hat she had brought with her, walked to a high place, and dressed up as the host of the event to give a speech.
This is the place closest to the edge of Qinglong County, and if any accident occurs, they can get the greatest support.
In a sea of blue, gray, green and black, the brightly colored Little Red Riding Hood and the spirit and energy that were different from the people in this area were very eye-catching. Su Yun read from the script in her hand with great enthusiasm, and every time she read about the free gifts for the event, she would always get applause.
In an era and region where resources were scarce, a small free gift from outside the area, whether it was a headscarf, handkerchief, or hat, was enough to attract many people to gather and wait to receive it.
Although many people shook their heads and left when they heard that the event would last all night until tomorrow morning, there were definitely quite a few people who stayed - there was no need to work just by sitting in an open space, and just by having someone shine a big machine at them, they could get foreign goods that were hard to buy even if they spent money. Many people were attracted by this.
In order to soothe everyone's emotions and cheer them up, Su Yun would occasionally give out some gifts in the name of a lottery, and would also specifically state that these were extra gifts and would not take up the final gift quota for everyone.
It has to be said that this operation perked up many sleepy people, for fear that they would accidentally miss their names and numbers: Su Yun said that if there was no response after being called three times, it would be considered as voluntarily giving up the prize gift.
"Oh, this handkerchief is so beautiful!" An old lady waved the handkerchief carefully, and then her eyes wandered, "Maybe you didn't sleep well, so you walk unsteadily. After all, it's so late now..."
"No!" Su Yun knew what was coming as soon as she heard it. She asked the staff who were distributing gifts with her to raise the loudspeaker and shouted, "Everyone, take cover! There's an earthquake!"
As the warnings were sounded, a natural disaster that would become an unforgettable mark for people in this century finally revealed its ferocious fangs under the cover of 3 a.m.
"There's an earthquake! Everyone run!"
"Quick! Hide over here!"
"Someone was buried by the collapsed building!"
"Everyone come over here to rescue people...someone is trapped here!"
In just 23 seconds, a horrific catastrophe occurred that turned the world upside down.
From 3 p.m. on the 27th to 3 a.m. on the 29th, Su Yun, who was busy with disaster relief, finally couldn't hold on any longer and began to experience black spots in front of her eyes.
A strong feeling of fatigue and weakness came over him like a tidal wave. Su Yun steady himself by holding onto a piece of gravel, and with difficulty raised his hand and pointed again in the direction of the underground life signs revealed by the system scan.
"Child! Go and take a rest!" After the adults following Su Yun's direction to dig, the eldest mother, who found that something was wrong with Su Yun, immediately reached out to support Su Yun who was about to fall.
"I, I'm still fine..." Su Yun coughed and said in a hoarse voice.
"What are you doing! Come here with me and have some rest!" Seeing that Su Yun was still insisting, the mother was so anxious that she picked up Su Yun, who was too tired and unable to resist, and forcibly dragged her to an open space full of people sleeping.
It was probably cleaned up in advance to allow people to rest. Although there are many small potholes here, it still looks much flatter than those messy ruins.
Unable to find a mat, and feeling sorry for Su Yun, the little girl, who had to sleep on the ground like the big men who had no mats, the grandmother took off her headscarf, spread it out until it was barely flat enough for Su Yun to lie half of her body on it, and then forced Su Yun to lie on it.
Seeing that Su Yun fell into a daze and half asleep immediately after lying down, the eldest lady gave some instructions to the person guarding the open space, and then hurried back to the ruins to help rescue people.
I don't know how long I slept, but when Su Yun woke up, the sky was no longer as dark as ink, but began to glow.
In the distance, the lights of lamps and flashlights were still flickering, and people were constantly coming and going around me. Occasionally, a white flash from a camera would flash by, and the morning light seemed to be brighter.
As Su Yun struggled to half sit up, many people carrying large and small bags followed the rescue workers to the ruins - they dared to risk their lives to go to the disaster area to shoot and organize first-hand information. These were no longer paparazzi who died for entertainment, but real reporters.
Those who went there on their own initiative walked hurriedly without saying a word, while those who were forced to come back here staggered and weakly shouted "I can still hold on"...
Disaster relief is not over yet.
"I still have strength! Still have..." When several soldiers, whose green uniforms and faces and limbs were completely covered with mud, were escorted back, they looked exhausted and their eyes were bloodshot, but they still couldn't help turning their heads to look towards the ruins.
"The reason for resting now is so that you can have more strength to save more people later!" the escort said firmly, and increased the strength in his hands - in fact, it didn't matter if he didn't increase the strength. If those soldiers really still had the strength to save people, they would not be shouting but would turn around and go back.
After just a few minutes of stretching, Su Yun managed to move his legs. He trembled and supported himself on the ground with his hands, trying to stand up.
Last night she collapsed suddenly. No matter how blessed she was with a beautiful appearance, she was not much better than other people. Besides being a spotted cat, most of her body was covered with mud and dust that kept falling off as she moved.
The only thing was the slightly crooked little red hat on her head, which was stuck in her ponytail, becoming the only bright spot rising slowly in this gray and black world.
Seeing this familiar red color, several soldiers stopped.
Thinking back to yesterday when they arrived with the team, this bit of red was already leading people to dig everywhere to rescue people; now that they have been sent back to rest, this bit of red, who has had a short rest, is once again preparing to set off.
Thinking of this, they all raised their arms, which were already weak and slightly trembling, and saluted in the direction of Su Yun.
Su Yun was startled at once, and subconsciously stood at attention. After raising his hand to salute them in return, he quickly walked past them and rushed to the "battlefield" between man and nature again.
This little episode took only a few seconds. The scene of the two sides saluting each other and then passing each other happens all the time in this place where people are trying their best to rescue despite the severe disaster.
But at this moment, because of the sharp contrast of colors and identities and the common goal, one can't help but sigh in amazement.
A foreign reporter named Ulevich caught this scene in the darkness and immediately filmed it.
In the scene full of ruins and potholes, a little girl wearing a little red hat and a soldier in a green military uniform stood facing each other. On their dusty faces, they had determined smiles with tears in their eyes.
The reason why they had tears in their eyes was because of this natural disaster that had shocked the world; and the reason why they smiled resolutely was because they all knew that this natural disaster would eventually be successfully resisted by the manpower supported by all sides.
This photo shocked the world, became a historical witness, and represented two different classes coming together for the same goal. Later, people respectfully called it "Little Red Riding Hood and Green Uniform".