Chapter Thirty-Four: Rescuing from Peril

After everything was arranged, He Zhixing prepared to set off again. Several girls chased after him, calling, “Brother, we want to go too…”

He Zhixing stopped them, “No, none of you can come. If you follow, I’ll have to look after you. Be good—no one goes!” The girls looked at him with pitiful eyes, afraid to argue as they saw the hint of anger in his expression. “Then… please be careful and stay safe…”

“I know,” he replied.

He quickly found Zeng Sumei. Sumei had already gone to the front lines, and He Zhixing took a colleague who had just returned to help find her. They left the motorcycle at the police station; it was impossible to drive to the disaster scene due to the flooding.

It took some effort to reach the area worst hit by the flood, a roadside village south of Le City on the route to S City. Many houses in the village lined the river’s edge, and when they arrived, the scene was bustling and intense.

Even the municipal party secretary, Pan Donghai, was on site directing operations. City leaders stood at the front lines, and Zeng Sumei and her father paddled a small boat through the raging river, rescuing those swept away and calling for help as the torrent surged relentlessly.

On a rooftop by the riverbank, a person placed a child in a large plastic tub used for baths, floating the child like a tiny boat. He and his wife clung with their feet to beams that barely protruded above the floodwaters, trembling with every surge, their hands protectively shielding the child in the tub from being swept away.

Sumei spotted the family in the distance and quickly paddled toward them. Judging by the swift current, the couple wouldn’t last much longer—two minutes at most.

Rescuing all three at once would be difficult, and the two adults, struggling to keep their child safe, were visibly exhausted, their legs barely holding against the relentless water, danger looming every second.

Without hesitation, He Zhixing grabbed two life rings, sprinted along the shore, and called out to Sumei, who was steering her boat toward the family, “Sumei, you focus on rescuing the child—I’ll handle the parents!”

Sumei nodded. He Zhixing calculated the distance and the boat’s trajectory, then dashed forward and jumped, approaching the family from one side as Sumei’s boat drew near from the other.

The mayor, watching from the shore, had never witnessed such swift rescue methods and stood in awe.

He Zhixing moved through the water like a nimble dragon, expertly pushing the tub carrying the child toward the middle of Sumei’s boat. Sumei quickly scooped up the child—who, over four years old, did not cry but looked at her in astonishment, impressed by how easily she had rescued him.

Meanwhile, He Zhixing worked rapidly to save the couple. He slipped one life ring over the woman’s head, donned the other himself, and then, with one arm, scooped the man—life ring and all—under his side, grabbing the man’s collar with his free hand and, using the current, propelled them toward the shore.

At last, people on the bank called out, “Quick, help! Pull them up!”

Once everyone was hauled ashore, He Zhixing took a deep breath on the muddy ground. The woman, looking around frantically, cried, “Where’s my child?”

Sumei, just then, brought her boat to shore. “Your child is here, safe and sound. Don’t worry.” She handed the boy to his mother.

He Zhixing plunged back into the water to save others. The sudden torrent caused by the dam collapse had forced many people to cling desperately to anything they could find, stranded in the river awaiting rescue. One woman, remarkably, had managed to grab onto a large tree that the flood hadn’t swept away; she clung to a two- or three-meter-long trunk, holding out against the river for an entire day.

People driven by the will to survive can summon extraordinary resolve. He Zhixing tied a rope around her, securing her arms and body as if binding her, swam over, placed a life ring, threaded the rope through it, and pulled her steadily toward the shore, her head resting safely on the life ring.

Those on shore watched, applauding in admiration. The mayor, grateful, said, “Comrade Xiao He, you’re remarkable. So are all the armed police officers—everyone has worked so hard. Let’s keep going; those who are tired, take a break and let the next group go. Safety comes first.”

For this small county-level city, it was the first time such a disaster had struck, leaving the local government’s leadership overwhelmed and anxious. The city’s drainage system had glaring flaws, and when disaster struck, chaos reigned, everyone scrambling in confusion.

After the catastrophe, the city lay desolate, mud everywhere, streets littered with debris. The flood forced many to reflect deeply on its aftermath.