Chapter 147: Fire Fighting and Being Wronged
Gu Jiayue was extremely anxious and ran all the way to the village chief's house.
When she arrived, she saw Jiang Luli and a strange man hurriedly carrying a child and a girl out of the house filled with smoke.
Gu Jiayue took a closer look and recognized the little girl. She was the village chief's daughter, Gu Ru. And the child must be the village chief's grandson.
At this time, the adults should all be working in the fields, leaving Gu Ru at home to look after the children.
Perhaps because of Gu Ru's comprehensive protection, the child was just coughing violently and crying loudly, but did not faint.
But Gu Ru's eyes were closed, her face was as pale as paper, and her life or death was uncertain.
Seeing this, Gu Jiayue quickly stepped forward and said to the strange man holding Gu Ru, "Please put her in an open and smoke-free place."
Ji Chun reached out her hand and cautiously probed under Gu Ru's nose. Then her face suddenly changed, and her voice trembled. "Miss, she's not breathing!"
As soon as these words came out, they were heard by the village head's wife Duan who had hurried back.
When Duan heard this, her eyes widened instantly, filled with fear and despair. She opened her mouth and let out a heartbreaking cry: "My daughter!"
She staggered and rushed towards Gu Ru desperately.
Gu Jiayue was quick to reach out and grab Duan, saying in an urgent but soothing tone, "Auntie, don't cry. It's okay. We can still save her. Please step back first."
After saying that, without waiting for Duan's reaction, he forcefully asked Ji Chun to pull her away.
Then Gu Jiayue squatted in front of Gu Ru with a serious expression, stretched out his hand and carefully probed her carotid artery.
After a moment, her heart sank as she discovered that the pulsation in her carotid artery had disappeared.
She tried several other methods, anxiously testing repeatedly, and finally detected a faint, extremely weak breath.
Gu Jiayue was delighted and secretly determined that this was cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be performed immediately.
She didn't dare to delay for a moment and quickly adjusted Gu Ru's position so that she lay flat on the solid ground.
Then she knelt beside Gu Ru, her hands folded, her expression focused and determined, and with the base of her palms, she pressed precisely at the midpoint of the line connecting Gu Ru's nipples. With each press, she exerted all her strength, ensuring a depth of at least 5 centimeters but never more than 6 centimeters, maintaining a frequency of 100-120 compressions per minute, as if racing against death.
After performing 30 chest compressions, Gu Jiayue nervously opened Gu Ru's mouth and carefully checked whether there was any visible foreign object inside.
After cleaning the foreign object, she held Gu Ru's forehead firmly with one hand and gently lifted her chin with the other hand, so that Gu Ru's head tilted back to ensure that her airway was unobstructed.
Then she pinched Gu Ru's nose, leaned over slightly, and blew air into her mouth, each time lasting more than 1 second.
After repeating this several times, she observed nervously and finally found that Gu Ru's chest was slightly rising and falling.
"It works!" Gu Jiayue exclaimed in surprise, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and then continued to devote herself to the intense chest compressions.
After repeating this operation for a long time, Gu Ru's chest finally began to rise and fall on its own, and her breathing and heartbeat resumed.
Seeing this, Gu Jiayue's tense nerves relaxed instantly and she slumped to the ground, as if she had exhausted all her strength.
She raised her hand weakly, gesturing to Ji Chun to let go of Duan. "Aunt, when I was helping Ru'er recover her breathing, I might have accidentally injured her chest. You'd better take her to the county town for a proper checkup."
Duan saw that her daughter had not yet woken up but her breathing was already steady, and she felt grateful and distressed.
His emotions surged for a moment, and he even wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Gu Jiayue.
Gu Jiayue, who was already exhausted and powerless, seemed to be injected with strength. She jumped up from the ground in an instant and grabbed Duan, "Aunt, what are you doing? This is really irritating me. You can't do this. You are my elder!"
After hearing this, Duan was moved and relieved. Her face showed an expression of wanting to cry and laugh at the same time. For a moment, she didn't know what to do.
"Okay, okay, there are too many people and it's too noisy here. It's not a good idea to let Ru'er lie like this. Why don't we send her to the neighbor's house first?" Gu Jiayue calmed down and suggested.
"Okay." Duan also understood at this moment that now was not the time to express gratitude blindly. The most urgent task was to put out the fire first.
After the two men settled Gu Ru down, they came out of the neighbor's house and found that the fire had been brought under control.
But most of the village chief's house had been burned down and was in ruins.
The three chickens at home were not spared, and the clothes, quilts and other items were reduced to ashes, leaving only a pile of black residue.
The village chief sat on the ground with a lonely look on his face, his head lowered, making it impossible to see the expression on his face.
Duan Shi walked towards the ruins, her body trembling. When she reached the wreckage, her legs gave way, and she fell to her knees with a plop, as if she had lost all her strength. She cried out in despair, "Ah, ah, ah... God, our house is gone! How can we live like this?"
The aunties and grandmas who were helping came forward to comfort her: "Meihua, it's a great blessing that she's alright."
"Yes, if the house is destroyed, we can rebuild it. As long as the people are safe, that's good."
But everyone knows that it is easier said than done.
Which house in the village was not built brick by brick, day by day?
How much money would it cost to rebuild such a large house?
Although the village chief's eldest son and his family all work in the county town, he also has a grandson who is studying in the county town, so he needs money everywhere.
At this time, everyone who helped to put out the fire took a short break and recovered.
Some people couldn't help but ask: "Why did it suddenly catch fire? It's not even time to cook."
Duan wiped the tears from her face and choked up, saying, "I can't figure it out either. I checked before I left, and the fire in the stove was already out."
An old lady nearby speculated, "Could it be that your Zhoushu lit the fire himself for fun?"
Everyone felt that it was somewhat possible. After all, children's minds are unpredictable and they often do things that are unexpected.
The aunt holding Gu Zhoushu coaxed him softly, wiped his tears, and asked, "Little Zhoushu, what were you doing when the fire started?"
Everyone's eyes instantly turned to Gu Zhoushu.
Gu Zhoushu was so frightened by the fire that his small body was still trembling.
He was still young and had experienced such a terrible thing. If he was not properly comforted, it would probably leave a lifelong shadow.
Duan walked over distressedly, hugged Gu Zhoushu in her arms, and comforted him softly: "Zhoushu, be good, tell grandma, what did you and your aunt do at home this afternoon?"
Gu Zhoushu hugged Duan's neck tightly, buried his head and refused to speak.
Just when everyone was at a loss, a man slowly stood up and said hesitantly: "I...I know."
Hearing the sound, everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a strange man they had never seen before standing there.
The villagers suddenly became alert, their eyes filled with suspicion. A stranger? The fire in the village chief's house? Could this person have set the fire?
The suspicion and vigilance in everyone's eyes were too obvious, and it was difficult for Huo Junyu to pretend not to see it.
He quickly waved his hands and explained, "I didn't set the fire. I just entered the village and saw a man stealthily carrying something towards us. I was curious and followed him. I didn't dare get too close, so by the time I noticed the fire, it was too late."
At this moment, he was filled with regret. He should not have been so curious.
What did it have to do with him if someone else was sneaking around? He had to follow and see what was going on. If these villagers were unreasonable and insisted on pinning the accusation of arson on him, he wouldn't be able to explain himself even if he had a hundred mouths.
Although the village chief was immersed in great grief at this time, he still remembered his duties as the head of the village.
A stranger suddenly came to the village, and it happened to be when my house was on fire. It was hard not to think too much.
He forced himself to stand up and asked seriously, "Who are you? What are you doing in our village?"
Seeing that no one came up to grab him or hit him, and that the owner of the house even politely asked about his identity, Huo Junyu breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he would not be wrongly accused today.
He quickly pulled an envelope from his lapel and said, "My name is Huo Junyu, from Juzhou. Principal Min of Wutong Academy recommended me to be a teacher at Qiushi Academy."
The village chief took the envelope and saw that it was indeed written with the words "Personally addressed to Mr. Gu."
Gu Jiayue happened to be there, so the village chief handed the envelope to her.
In fact, before Huo Junyu took out the envelope, Gu Jiayue had already believed what he said.
Because she noticed that when Huo Junyu carried Gu Ru out, his hands were clenched into fists and he did not touch Gu Ru's body.
In such an emergency situation where every second counts, he still managed to maintain his gentlemanly conduct. Such a prudish and polite person would not do such a heinous act as traveling thousands of miles to set fire to someone else's house.
However, to be cautious, she opened the envelope and read it carefully.
The content of the letter was not long. It mainly introduced Huo Junyu's identity, and also mentioned his basic situation, knowledge and character.
After reading it, Gu Jiayue handed the letter to Jiang Luli who was standing beside her.
Jiang Luli took the letter and glanced at it quickly. "Yes, it is indeed the handwriting of Principal Min."
After getting confirmation, Gu Jiayue looked at the village chief and said, "Mr. Huo is indeed the teacher introduced by Principal Min of the Wutong Academy in Juzhou. In the letter, Principal Min praised Mr. Huo's character highly. I don't think he would do something as evil as arson."
The village chief also knew Shanzhang Min, so he naturally trusted the person he recommended. Besides, he was a scholar, new to the village, so he certainly wouldn't set fire to someone's house.
The village chief quickly stepped forward, bowed, and apologized: "I'm sorry, Mr. Huo, our words were offensive just now. I hope you will forgive us."
Huo Junyu quickly waved his hands. "It's okay, it's okay. The village chief is also anxious. I understand."
In this situation, anyone would be suspicious.
The village chief breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Mr. Huo, can you tell me what the person you saw looked like?"
Huo Junyu frowned, trying to recall. "It was a man, probably in his twenties, about five feet four inches tall, and very thin. I didn't pay much attention to his appearance, but when he turned around, I saw he had a mole here." He pointed to the left side of his chin.
The crowd suddenly quieted down, and in the midst of the silence, someone suddenly exclaimed, "Oh!" "Isn't that Li Ergou?"
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