The next day, Xia Baozhu and Song Yaoyang carried sandbags all day, only taking a short break at lunchtime.
The next day they moved to another place, and for seven days in a row they carried sandbags. Xia Baozhu's blisters kept bursting and bursting until calluses appeared on her hands.
So that's how cocoons are formed; they're for the protection of the skin.
Xia Baozhu touched the calluses, wondering how long it would take for them to return to their fair and smooth state after she went back.
During this period, supplies from all over the country kept arriving, and the radio kept broadcasting the latest donation information, which boosted the morale of the people in the disaster area.
More than 50 days of torrential rain have caused flooding of varying degrees in more than a dozen provinces, with Jiangdong Province and the neighboring Huaixi Province being the most severely affected.
According to later statistics, the affected area of crops in the two provinces was 9.66 million hectares, accounting for 60.4% of the total sown area in the two provinces, and the area with no harvest was 1.847 million hectares, accounting for 11.5% of the total sown area.
The affected population in the two provinces reached more than 48 million and 42 million respectively, accounting for about 71% of their total population. The number of people trapped by the floods reached 12.99 million, and 1,163 people died. 3.49 million houses collapsed, and the economic loss amounted to 48.4 billion yuan.
The floods occurred during the critical period of summer grain harvest and autumn grain sowing, resulting in reduced yields for both crops.
Huaixi Province experienced a 3.5 billion kilogram reduction in summer grain production and a 5.1 billion kilogram reduction in autumn grain production due to disasters; Jiangdong Province suffered a 1.55 billion kilogram loss in summer grain production and a 3.15 billion kilogram loss in autumn grain production.
More than 12 million soldiers and civilians in the two provinces are fighting day and night on the front line of flood control and disaster relief.
Xia Baozhu and Song Yaoyang stayed in the disaster area for a month and participated in disaster relief activities after the flood control efforts.
During this period, Song Yaoyang sent another ten truckloads of supplies.
At this moment, Xia Baozhu and Song Yaoyang, dressed in camouflage uniforms covered in mud, stood in front of a pile of sandbags, with a busy crowd in the background. The two faced the camera with faint smiles on their faces.
As they prepared to leave, Song Yaoyang took out his camera and asked someone to take a group photo as a memento.
Of the twenty-five people in their team, only two were hospitalized with leg injuries; the rest have persevered until now.
After everyone took a group photo, Xia Baozhu borrowed a camera to photograph the soldiers and civilians who were still working.
She plans to start writing articles after she gets back, compiling her observations and experiences into more than a dozen pieces, which she will then publish along with the photos.
She has witnessed too many moving moments, which have made her understand what it means to be selfless, what it means for the military and civilians to be of one mind, and what it means for everyone to work together to overcome difficulties.
Song Yaoyang watched as Xia Baozhu, with a camera and pen and paper, randomly stopped someone to take photos, talk, and record.
"What are you doing?" He casually wiped the mud off Xia Baozhu's face with his hand.
"I... um?" Xia Baozhu then realized that Song Yaoyang had touched her face.
"It's on your face." Song Yaoyang, suppressing his racing heart, calmly held out his hand to show Xia Baozhu the mud on it.
"Oh, just let me know next time, I'll do it myself. Otherwise, I'll think you're going to ambush me," Xia Baozhu joked, then explained, "I'll write down these people's names to use when I write my article."
"You're still writing articles? What are you writing?" Song Yaoyang looked down at the words on her paper, which were beautiful and powerful, just like her.
"Write some short stories."
Has it been published?
“There’s a story in the magazine ‘Story Collection’ about Hua Baoshi, which is my pen name.”
Xia Baozhu didn't hide anything. After a month of getting along, she trusted all her comrades, especially Song Yaoyang.
They became one of those more than 12 million heroic figures, doing their utmost to fully demonstrate the kindest, bravest, and strongest aspects of humanity.
In order to firmly guard the breached dam, they jumped into the raging floodwaters filled with filth without the slightest hesitation.
They once worked together to lift a heavy roof beam made of more than a dozen thick logs in order to rescue people who had been trapped under it.
They took turns carrying soldiers who were dehydrated from dysentery, rushing at breakneck speed towards the makeshift clinic.
They once tied themselves tightly to trees to help people trapped on rooftops and deliver essential supplies, in order to prevent them from being swept away by the raging flood.
They are a vivid microcosm of millions of soldiers and civilians, and there are countless others doing the same great things alongside them.
Whenever Xia Baozhu saw people whose physical abilities were even worse than hers gritting their teeth and persevering, she would postpone her return time again and again.
The clothes she brought had long been torn by broken branches in the water and worn out by heavy sandbags. Now she was wearing camouflage clothing, which Song Yaoyang had sent as supplies later.
The other people were dressed exactly the same way she was.
Their perseverance was as unwavering as hers.
On this land once ravaged by disaster, they have written an indomitable chapter with their resilience and perseverance.
Their figures moved through the ruins like shining lights, illuminating the darkness and giving people hope.
Today, the people in the disaster area are facing a long and arduous post-disaster reconstruction effort.
Fortunately, thanks to the generous donations and large amounts of supplies from all sectors of society, the reconstruction work has been relatively easier.
Xia Baozhu got into the car and waved goodbye to the disaster victims who had come to see her off.
They moved around to many places in a month; this was the last one, Huxi Village in Yuhu County.
"Come visit when you have time," a tanned old man called out loudly.
"Yes, we will," the people in the car answered in unison.
A thousand words were condensed into a forceful wave goodbye.
Watching the figure gradually shrink, Xia Baozhu withdrew her waving hand.
After leaving Jiangdong territory, Song Yaoyang left the car in front of a high-end hotel.
"We'll rest here today. We'll meet in the lobby at 6:30 pm to go out for dinner together."
Song Yaoyang's decision caused a roar of excitement among the crowd, who jumped out of the car and rushed into the hotel.
Xia Baozhu followed happily inside. She easily squeezed to the front desk and booked a single room first.
"Where are you from?" The receptionist asked curiously, looking at the twenty-odd people in camouflage uniforms.
Although their clothes were dirty and their necks and faces were reddish-black, their smiles were unusually cheerful.
"Jiangdong. Comrade, please give us a double room."
Although Manager Song was in charge of the room fees, we tried to save money wherever possible.
"Do you have any triple rooms? Please arrange one for us," someone said to the front desk, one on each side.
“I don’t want to share a room with you, your snoring is too loud.” The person he was holding broke free and switched to another companion, “I’ll share a room with Xiao Wang.”
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