The once-secure job is no longer secure, and everyone is gripped by anxiety about unemployment.
Xia Lan watched as the street split into two factions.
One group consisted mainly of small vendors who ran their own businesses. Their faces were filled with the joy of selling their goods and receiving money, and their eyes were full of anticipation for the future. They no longer envied the employees.
One group consisted mainly of employees. They looked down on the street vendors, but their eyes held a hint of envy. They couldn't shake off their pride, feeling that setting up a stall lowered their status.
As the saying goes, fortunes change every thirty years; the wheel of fortune turns.
During the most important period of reform, some people seized the opportunity and chose to go into business.
Another group remained conservative and chose to continue working hard in the factory.
Xia Lan strolled along the road, her leisurely pace a stark contrast to the others.
Suddenly, a man walked past Xia Lan and bumped into her. Xia Lan wrinkled her nose and suddenly smelled a strong gasoline odor coming from the man.
"Excuse me."
The man nodded politely to Xia Lan, then turned and quickly left.
Xia Lan looked in the direction the man had gone, which seemed to be a textile factory, and pursed her lips.
The man walked away quickly, and Xia Lan watched his retreating figure, so resolute...
Thinking about being laid off, Xia Lan felt something was wrong.
He turned around and quickly walked towards the fire station.
"Comrade, is there anything I can help you with?"
The firefighters who were tidying up the water pipes at the fire station looked at Xia Lan and asked her kindly.
I thought Xia Lan had come looking for someone.
"Comrade, I want to report a crime."
Xia Lan said earnestly to the firefighter.
"Comrade, tell me what's going on?"
The firefighter looked at Xia Lan with surprise, and seeing that she didn't seem to be joking, he said seriously.
“I just bumped into a man. He smelled strongly of gasoline. Considering the recent layoffs of many workers, I was afraid he might do something irrational.”
Xia Lan told the firefighters about the man's condition.
Do you know where he went?
Upon hearing Xia Lan's account, the firefighters also felt it was very likely.
"He went in the direction of the textile factory."
Xia Lan pointed to the location of the textile factory for the firefighters.
"Okay, we'll go take a look right away."
"good."
Xia Lan nodded, watching as the firefighters immediately ran to the office, presumably to report the situation Xia Lan had described to their superiors.
Before long, the entire fire station was bustling with activity. A bell rang, and many people changed into their firefighting gear and rushed out.
Xia Lan took two steps back and saw the firefighters from before leading a team of people into a fire truck and speeding towards the textile factory.
The sight of the firefighters immediately drew the attention of the crowd, and many people ran towards them to watch the spectacle.
Xia Lan had only taken a few steps when she saw a thick plume of smoke suddenly rise into the sky from the textile factory.
"Fire! The textile factory is on fire!"
Someone immediately shouted.
Xia Lan sighed. The man had acted impulsively after all. Just as he turned to leave, a commotion erupted behind him.
"ah!!!"
Many of the women screamed, and the crowd scattered in fright.
Xia Lan turned around and saw a man holding gasoline, sprinkling gasoline on the crowd.
"I'll fight you to the death! If you won't let me live, then we'll all die together!"
The man who had just bumped into her and apologized was now contorted with rage, attacking everyone indiscriminately.
No one could get close to him. After he poured out the gasoline, he took out a match and tried to light it.
"ah……"
Gasoline was everywhere on the ground; if he lit it, he could set people nearby on fire.
Xia Lan stood not far away, the man was still some distance away from her, but everyone was running towards her.
There were so many people rushing in that if anyone bumped into someone, they would definitely fall over.
Xia Lan glanced at the alleyway next to her and immediately slipped into it, avoiding their crowd.
Just as Xia Lan had predicted, out of panic, people didn't care whether there were people behind them and desperately tried to retreat to avoid being affected.
"Ah! Don't return it."
The panic in the crowd made their legs move uncontrollably. A woman was knocked to the ground, and the others ignored her and stepped on her.
This caused many people to trip over the woman.
The person who fell to the ground tried to get up again, but was pinned down by another group of people retreating.
"Stop! Don't be impulsive! This won't change anything, calm down first."
A righteous and awe-inspiring voice rang out, indicating that the firefighters had arrived.
The man, holding a match, yelled at them.
"You have no idea how I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise. Now that I've been laid off, how am I supposed to live? How am I supposed to survive...?"
"They didn't fire the parasites in the factory, but they fired us hard-working people! Where is the justice? Tell me, who should I turn to?!"
"Since they don't want me to have an easy time, then we'll all die together!!"
"Even if I die, I'll drag them down to hell!"
The man's face grew increasingly ferocious as he spoke, and without another word, he lit a match, intending to take everyone down with him.
The firefighters' expressions changed drastically. Several firefighters exchanged glances and immediately rushed towards the man.
Another firefighter lunged at the falling match.
Fortunately, the match was a tiny bit too close to the gasoline and didn't touch it. The firefighters immediately extinguished the flame and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The man who was tackled and pinned to the ground by the firefighters looked ashen-faced upon seeing this scene; his plan had failed.
The farce ended there, but the stampede that he caused did not.
"Ouch!"
"Help!"
"My feet, my back..."
"Help, I can't breathe..."
"..."
People who had collapsed were screaming for help in pain. Survivors nearby then realized what was happening and quickly came over to help them up.
Xia Lan escaped disaster by hiding in the alley in time.
Those who were trampled were injured to varying degrees, and firefighters immediately joined the rescue efforts.
"Quick, everyone come and help rescue them!"
"Don't just stand there, come and help!"
The firefighters' shouts brought everyone back to their senses.
Everyone immediately joined the rescue efforts, rushing the injured to the hospital.
They were so focused on saving the adults that the children were left behind.
Xia Lan came out and saw the child crying loudly, unable to find his parents, and helplessly using crying to attract the adults' attention.
"Oh dear, where did these children come from! Where are your parents?"
Someone finally noticed the child, but now there's chaos, who has time to take care of the child?
"Come, come with me, I'll take you home."
A kind-hearted woman was about to leave with several children, but Xia Lan noticed that she was leading the children into a dark alley and sensed something was wrong.
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