Chapter 17 It's Okay If You Can't Hear It
Chapter 17
As dusk fell, Yu Pan sat at his desk revising his manuscript, which was about Shen Yanzhou teaching him how to skip stones.
A flash of white light suddenly appeared outside the window, followed by a loud "boom" that shook the windowpane.
Yu Pan was startled and almost dropped his pen. He looked up at the window and saw that the sky was pale from being struck by lightning, dark clouds were pressing down heavily, and the wind was whipping the branches in one direction, making the leaves rustle loudly.
Before long, large raindrops began to fall, initially as sparse pattering sounds, but soon turning into a dense crackling sound.
Yu Pan got up to close the window, but his fingers were soaked by the rain splashing in as soon as they touched the window frame. He closed all the windows in the house tightly, but the sound of rain still seeped in through the cracks, making him feel uneasy.
He dislikes rainy days, especially summer rainy days.
Yu Pan sat on the chair with her knees drawn up to her chest, clutching the last golden rabbit chocolate in her hand.
The foil-wrapped chocolate softened from her body heat, and the brown chocolate sauce slowly seeped out, staining Yu Pan's hand.
The fan was still running, making the manuscript paper on the table rustle, but Yu Pan didn't feel cool at all; instead, a layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.
After an unknown amount of time, another clap of thunder boomed, shaking the ground. Yu Pan jumped up, his knee slamming into the corner of the desk, making him wince in pain.
But he couldn't care less; the panic in his heart was worse than the pain in his legs. He didn't know why, but he just felt something was wrong, as if a hand was gripping his heart, tightening its grip, making his chest feel tight, and he wanted to vomit but couldn't, so he could only gasp for air in vain.
Suddenly, a commotion arose downstairs, mixed with the sounds of tables and chairs being moved. Yu Pan ran downstairs and saw an old lady helping the old man at the bookstore move books from the shelves. "Quick! The water's rising!"
The water in the courtyard was already above her ankles, and the icy chill crept up her trouser legs. Yu Pan didn't care about that and quickly ran over to help the old man move the books.
The water rose quickly, soon reaching his calves. The book was heavy and slippery, and he almost fell several times, but luckily he was against the wall and could steady himself with his elbow.
The rain was still pouring down relentlessly, and no one knew how high the water would rise. The old man stood on the ladder, passing down the top layer of hardcover books. "Move these older ones first! We'll save as many old magazines and loose books as we can!"
Yu Pan nodded, carrying the bamboo basket and wading through the water towards the bookshelf. The muddy water was already above her knees, carrying water plants and mud, and it itched as it washed over her calves, like insects crawling on her legs.
He had just filled a basket with books when a flash of lightning struck outside, causing the overhead light to flicker a few times as well.
After only a few trips, the water level rose again.
"We don't want the book anymore! Let's go!" The old man decisively climbed down the ladder and pulled Yu Pan towards the stairwell.
The water had risen up to my belly, and every step I took required a lot of effort.
As Yu Pan carried half a basket of books to the corner of the stairs, she glanced back and saw that the water on the first floor was already halfway up the wall.
The rattan chair where the old man often sat was floating in the water, along with the books that hadn't been moved yet, bobbing up and down in the muddy water.
Back on the second floor, the old lady started looking for things to carry upstairs.
Given how fast the water is rising, it's hard to say.
So the three of them started moving things up to the third floor. By the time they finished, it was already late at night. The good news was that the rain had subsided and the water level had stabilized.
The bad news is that the water level is now level with the second floor, and if the rain gets heavier, it might rise even higher.
The streets were still noisy, with the cries of children and adults mixed together.
Some people with a better attitude opened their windows and peeked out to talk loudly.
"I've never seen the water rise this high before in my entire life. What's going on?"
"Don't tell me this is the first time you've seen this; I'm fifty years old and this is the first time I've ever been in this situation!"
"My pigs and chickens were all washed away; there was no way to catch them in time."
Yu Pan leaned against the corner of the wall, trembling all over, unsure whether it was from the cold or fear.
The old lady brought over a bowl of ginger soup. "Drink it while it's hot, then quickly take a shower and change your clothes, lest you catch a cold."
Yu Pan nodded, took the ginger soup and sipped it. The spiciness made him frown, but it warmed his frozen body a little.
After taking a shower, Yu Pan lay on the bed, looking at the grid pattern on the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. She finally managed to doze off for a while around midnight.
By noon, it started raining again.
The town mayor stood on a bamboo raft, holding an umbrella and a megaphone, shouting, "Fellow villagers, the flood is because the river is blocked. We have already sent people to clear it..."
"How could the river be blocked? It's so wide!" someone shouted from the window.
"I don't know, let's go take a look after the water recedes," another voice chimed in.
In the afternoon, bamboo rafts filled with rice began to be distributed from house to house. An old lady brought back a basin of rice and scooped a bowl for Yu Pan, saying, "Eat some quickly, or you won't be able to hold on."
The old man ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice and said, "It's alright, the water will recede."
Yu Pan struggled to eat a mouthful of rice. The rice was old rice, with a strange smell, and it was very dry and hard to swallow.
Another day passed, and starting at noon, the water level dropped at a visible rate. The streets that had been flooded for two days and two nights were finally revealed, but the ground was covered with knee-high yellow mud, mixed with drowned chickens and ducks and scattered furniture, and the stench was overwhelming.
Regardless, the water level has dropped, which is a good thing.
Everyone grabbed shovels and shoveled the mud piled up inside the house out.
Yu Pan also took a shovel and scraped the mud off the wall, her mind blank.
There was still no news from Shen Yanzhou.
The neighbors chatted as they shoveled mud. One of them, who was well-informed, said, "I heard that half of the mountain on the road to the neighboring county collapsed, and the rocks rolled into the river, which blocked the water."
"No wonder, the sound I heard that night didn't sound like thunder, it was very muffled!"
"My nephew went to help with the disaster relief. I heard that several trucks were buried in the landslide..."
The person who was speaking originally thought that their house was flooded, which was bad enough. But after hearing this, they immediately felt that "thankfully only the house was flooded" and that they were still alive.
"Oh dear, this is terrible! It's not easy being a truck driver these days. What are we going to do now... Hey! What are you doing, you mute?!"
Yu Pan dropped the shovel in his hand to the ground. He walked over with a piece of cloth, grabbed the man's arm, and stared at him with bloodshot eyes.
The neighbors then remembered that Yu Pan's brother was a truck driver and hadn't shown up for the past two days. Their gazes toward Yu Pan were immediately filled with pity, and some sighed and turned their faces away.
"Xiao Pan! We won't listen to his nonsense!" The old lady threw down the shovel and came over, pulling Yu Pan back. "Your brother is lucky, he'll be fine! We won't listen to him!"
Yu Pan was pulled back into the house in a daze, her face covered in mud, looking extremely haggard.
He stood there for a while, then suddenly started gesturing to the old lady, his fingers trembling as he pointed outside, then back to himself, tears streaming down his face.
"It's alright, what do they know? Your brother will definitely be fine." The old lady didn't understand, but just assumed he was unhappy that those people were talking nonsense, and comforted him.
Yu Pan repeatedly pointed to two adjacent things.
"You said your brother went to the neighboring county?" The old lady finally realized, her voice trembling. "No...it's alright, maybe Yu Da didn't take that road."
Yu Pan shook her head, her tears falling even more fiercely. Shen Yanzhou had said he would come back soon, and he never broke his promise. Two days had passed, but there was still no news.
The mountain collapsed... another mountain collapsed.
Yu Pan inevitably recalled that nightmarish summer day: the sound of rain, the urgent knocking on the door, and Uncle and Aunt Shen lying on the straw mat covered in yellow mud, their eyes closed, never to smile at him again.
Those fears that he had deliberately hidden overwhelmed him instantly like a flood.
"Xiao Pan, where are you going!" The old lady was distracted and didn't see Yu Pan, who had already rushed out the door.
Yu Pan didn't turn back. He walked out of town through the muddy water that reached above his ankles. The road was full of mud and garbage. He fell several times, and his knees bled from hitting the stones, but he didn't stop.
He remembered which direction Linxian was in, and he also remembered the road with a small waterfall by the roadside. He was going to find Shen Yanzhou.
The area affected by the landslide was enormous, and it occurred in more than one place.
Not far from Baixi Town, Yu Pan saw a landslide site. A large crowd had already gathered there, including people in military uniforms, carrying shovels, and others anxiously inquiring about the landslide.
Unable to squeeze in, he could only stand by the roadside, craning his neck to look inside. As time passed, Yu Pan saw someone carrying out a stretcher, the person on it covered with a white sheet, and his heart sank to the bottom.
He wanted to rush over to see, but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't move them at all.
He was very scared.
Not long after, heart-wrenching cries rang out.
Having stood for too long, her legs had gone numb, and she had bitten her lips until they bled, the taste of blood spreading in her mouth, but Yu Pan's mind was completely blank.
The old lady found him and took two steamed buns out of the lunchbox. "Xiao Pan, eat something. You can't keep going like this."
Yu Pan twitched her lips. What was the point of eating if Shen Yanzhou wasn't around?
As night fell, the rescue team turned on several large lights.
"I can see the front of the car!" someone inside shouted.
Yu Pan followed the sound, her heart pounding with relief when she saw the green car, only to jump again shortly afterward.
"Xiao Pan." The old lady came again, holding a bottle of water in her hand. "If you're not eating, let's have some water. You can't go on like this."
Yu Pan shook her head, "If it doesn't work, then forget it."
Seeing that he was still like this, the old lady gritted her teeth, unscrewed the bottle cap, pinched Yu Pan's face, and poured the contents into his mouth.
The warm water rushed down her throat, mixed with the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, causing Yu Pan to gag.
"Panpan!"
A familiar voice pierced through the noisy crowd and reached Yu Pan's ears.
Yu Pan looked up abruptly, and in the light of the rescue lamp, saw Shen Yanzhou standing not far away, his arm wrapped in bandages, walking towards him.
It is Chen Yanzhou.
He's fine.
He's back.
Yu Pan opened her mouth, and it felt like something exploded in her throat.
The fear, worry, and despair that had been building up for two days and two nights suddenly found an outlet, transforming into a single word, hoarsely, brokenly, yet with unparalleled clarity, that he shouted from his throat.
"elder brother--"
Shen Yanzhou stopped in his tracks, somewhat unable to believe his ears.
The next second, a tremendous feeling of exhaustion washed over him, and Yu Pan's vision went black. He felt dizzy and disoriented. He reached out towards Chen Yanzhou, but touched nothing, and his body went limp and he collapsed.
Before he completely lost consciousness, he seemed to see Shen Yanzhou running towards him, calling his name with unprecedented panic in his voice.
...
Yu Pan was woken up by being gently shaken.
He opened his eyes and saw Shen Yanzhou's face right in front of him, his brows furrowed tightly and his lips moving rapidly as if he were saying something, but the surroundings were eerily quiet.
This was a familiar, suffocating silence to Yu Pan.
He blinked and saw Shen Yanzhou wave his hand in front of his eyes, his eyes full of worry.
Yu Panchong gave Chen Yanzhou a forced smile, slowly raised his hand, pointed to his ear, and then shook his head.
Shen Yanzhou froze for a moment. He understood what Yu Pan meant, and without saying anything more, he simply reached out and gently hugged Yu Pan.
Shen Yanzhou's embrace was as warm as ever. Yu Pan buried her face in his chest and sighed contentedly.
He could feel Shen Yanzhou's heartbeat, steady and strong, beating one beat at a time, as if saying "I'm here".
Tears fell silently, soaking Shen Yanzhou's clothes. Yu Pan thought, it doesn't matter if he can't hear, as long as Shen Yanzhou is here.
Shen Yanzhou gently patted his back, as if comforting a wronged child.
On the third day after the floodwaters receded, the sun baked the streets until they were shrouded in white smoke. In addition to the smell of yellow mud, the air was filled with the pungent odor of disinfectant.
The town mayor carried a loudspeaker and walked around the street in circles.
"Drinking raw water is strictly prohibited! Well water, river water, and tap water must all be boiled before drinking!"
"You are not allowed to eat the carcasses of drowned chickens, ducks, geese, or pigs!"
"Rice that has been flooded should not be eaten even after it has been dried!"
Yu Pan has always had a poor constitution. After experiencing such a dramatic ups and downs, she was fine for the first two days, but after taking a nap, she started to have a fever.
Upon discovering this, Shen Yanzhou immediately carried him to the clinic.
Yu Pan lay on his back, her arms wrapped tightly around him, her chin resting on his shoulder, her eyes wide open in a daze.
After losing her hearing, Yu Pan became even more reliant on her eyes.
A long queue had already formed outside the clinic, mostly children and the elderly. I don't know which child was so frightened by the sight of the doctor that they started crying, and the sound of their crying echoed from one child to ten others.
Shen Yanzhou carried Yu Pan on his back at the end of the line. He looked down at the person clinging to his shoulder. Yu Pan's eyes were half-open, refusing to close, and her face was even redder than before.
He freed one hand, touched Yu Pan's face, and whispered, "Benren, we're almost there."
As soon as he spoke, he realized that Yu Pan couldn't hear him, so Shen Yanzhou tapped the back of his hand twice with his fingers instead.
This was their secret code: one tap meant "I understand," and two taps meant "wait."
Yu Pan moved her fingers to indicate that she understood.
A note from the author:
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We need to get ready to change the map! Panpan will get better soon!
By the way, do you think my writing is boring...? QAQ
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