Chapter 6

The sun hung in the sky, scorching their faces red. Lü Dong and Lü Jianren had just knocked down another section of the bridge railing, and more than half of it had fallen.

Lü Jianren shouted, "Dongzi, go back! The rest is the Ma family's business, not ours!"

According to the area division, half of the bridge belonged to the Ma family village, and the people from Ma family village had already entered the water.

"Let's go!"

Lü Dong threw away the sledgehammer, joined his Uncle Seven, and the two supported each other as they walked back along the bridge.

It was only then that he noticed the needle-like pain in his legs and arms!

"What's wrong?" Lü Jianren asked.

Lü Dong grimaced, "There are leeches on the water hyacinths, they might have attached to my body."

The Qingzhao River was mostly filled with wide-bodied golden thread leeches, which didn't easily detach once they latched on.

The pain was brief, quickly fading, but this meant the leeches had started to suck blood.

For those who grew up by the river, this was no big deal. Lü Jianren laughed, "Leeches can cure your twitching eye."

Lü Dong's right eye indeed stopped twitching, "When disaster comes, it stops twitching."

"Superstition!" Lü Jianren hadn't forgotten.

On the small dam, Lü Zhenlin glanced at the new town mayor and shouted to the two in the water, "Be careful, come back quickly!"

The two didn't waste any more words and hurried to the bridgehead. People above pulled them up, and they climbed up safely to the small dam.

Yang Liewen sized up the two who had climbed up. The one in front had a somewhat youthful face, about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing the school uniform of Qingzhao No.1 High School.

His sun-tanned face had a hint of honesty.

He must be a good student with excellent character and academic performance.

Yang Liewen gave a signal, and the propaganda officer behind him picked up the camera again.

Lü Dong untied the rope around his waist, took off his school uniform, and threw it to someone nearby, shouting, "Who has a lighter?"

There was no alcohol or soap available, and he couldn't use the shoe bottom to fan, as it would be too undignified.

Yang Liewen, who was nearby, could see the leeches on Lü Dong's arms, their swollen bodies like fingertips.

The scene was a bit shocking.

"My lighter got wet!" Lü Jianren tried it but couldn't light it.

Yang Liewen searched his pockets, pulled out a plastic lighter, and handed it to Lü Dong, "Use mine?"

Hearing the Mandarin with a Quan NS District accent, Lü Dong glanced at Yang Liewen, not recognizing him. He looked refined, with his shirt tucked into his waist, dressed unlike a farmer...

"Thanks." Lü Dong lit the lighter and burned the leeches on his arm.

Sss—

He gritted his teeth, it hurt!

The leech fell to the ground with a plop.

Lü Dong burned the others.

There was a technique to it, not as scary as it looked.

For those who often went into the river, removing leeches was a common occurrence, and Lü Dong was quite skilled at it.

The people of Lü family village were used to it and didn't pay much attention.

Yang Liewen, coming from the city, remained calm on the surface but was inwardly shocked. The sturdy, honest-looking teenager was burning leeches off his body without a care, and each one that fell was the size of a fingertip.

He had seen it on TV and in books, but seeing it in real life was a different matter.

"Take a picture!" Yang Liewen instructed the propaganda officer behind him.

Earlier, he had a conversation with the old party secretary of the village and others, learning about the dangers of the previous night. The optimism and positivity of these people were unexpected.

Without active self-rescue, they wouldn't have made it this far; they might have collapsed last night.

Yang Liewen felt a lot better. The performance of the Lü family village lifted his spirits. Even in a once-in-fifty-years flood, they had to persevere!

When they were smashing the railing, he had the propaganda officer start taking photos.

Including the young man in front, they would all be excellent propaganda material after the flood.

Yang Liewen, who had just transferred from the government office, was sharp.

Click—

The camera shutter sounded.

Lü Dong looked up, saw someone taking pictures, and quickly covered his upper body, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Taking pictures in broad daylight!"

If this turned into a "Lü Dong scandal," he would lose face.

He wanted to remain a simple, honest person for life.

A brother from the Li family nearby quickly grabbed Lü Dong's arm, afraid he would act rashly, and pointed to Yang Liewen and the two people behind him, "This is Mayor Yang and the town officers."

Yang Liewen nodded slightly at Lü Dong and said in a refined manner, "You're leading the charge, showing a great sense of the bigger picture!"

Lü Zhenlin, being a seasoned old man, added fuel to the fire, "His name is Lü Dong. He discovered the danger last night and confirmed it in the water. He's a hero of the Lü family village."

Yang Liewen became even more interested.

Lü Dong, no longer a naive teenager, guessed it might be for model propaganda and quickly changed his attitude, "Do you want me to pose? No problem, any pose you want."

The propaganda officer said, "Just keep going."

Lü Dong lit the lighter and burned the leeches on his other arm. The fire wasn't hot, and it didn't hurt, so he didn't grimace.

His expression was resolute, his gaze distant...

Lü Jianren couldn't hold back, "Dongzi, take off your pants for a better shot! You won't have trouble finding a wife."

Laughter erupted around them, and Lü Dong's face, which had been tense, immediately fell.

Yang Liewen, influenced by the atmosphere, relaxed a bit. The villagers' optimism and high morale meant there was no need to worry about panic causing serious incidents.

Rescue teams from the county and town arrived soon after, mainly bringing supplies. The Qingzhao River stretched for hundreds of miles in Qingzhao County, and the Ningxiu Town section was dozens of miles long, with water levels critically high everywhere. Even with most of the county and town staff on the front lines, only a few were assigned to the Lü family village.

Several villages upstream were in no better condition than the Lü family village.

The water levels didn't recede, and the dangers didn't decrease.

Including Lü Dong, the people from the Lü family village and nearby villages continued to reinforce the riverbank.

The long-term high water levels had already weakened the old, poorly maintained riverbank, causing continuous dangers.

When one area was in trouble, help came from all sides. Many people from nearby villages rushed over, some even bringing the sand and gravel they had prepared for their own new houses.

If the river broke, more than just the Lü family village would be flooded.

Women filled sandbags, and men carried them, each individual's strength small but united, they could fight against nature's fury.

Hundreds of able-bodied men were scattered along the riverbank of the Lü family village, extinguishing one danger after another.

This was just a small part of the 1998 flood control efforts.

Storms and disasters could never defeat the people living on this land.

Yang Liewen brought good news: the higher-ups had contacted the military, and the troops from the Quan NS District were on their way!

This news instantly lifted the spirits of all the participants.

By noon, countless restaurants, eateries, and even steamed bun shops in the surrounding area sent food and drinks.

Some convenience stores also brought bread, instant noodles, sausages, and bottled water.

Lü Zhenlin called the village accountant and Li Wenyue, instructing them to record everything.

Lü Dong wiped his body, standing bare-chested by the road, while the clinic staff applied iodine to the leech bites.

Suddenly, a gong sounded from the small dam, and Li Wenyue's father shouted, "Thirty meters to the east, a breach has formed!"

Lü Zhenlin threw down his lunch box and ran, shouting, "Sandbags! Chicken wire! Hurry!"

Lü Dong quickly put on his school uniform, picked up a sandbag, and rushed over. The water-soaked sandbag was particularly heavy, and his face, which had been clean before lunch, was now covered in mud.

The clinic staff threw away the iodine swabs, grabbed another sandbag, and ran over.

Behind Lü Dong, Yang Liewen, carrying a slightly smaller sandbag, followed, his white shirt now yellow and black.

The town officer, while carrying a sandbag, shouted to the propaganda officer with the camera, "Hurry! Follow! Take more pictures!"

The brief lunch break ended abruptly, and the people gathered in the market street once again threw themselves into the rescue efforts.

The riverbank, built in the 1950s, was too old and the S-bend was naturally treacherous, with several areas in danger. There were not enough people to support this area.

The old breach hadn't been fully sealed when a new one appeared to the east.

After continuous fighting, fatigue was inevitable.

This unprepared, unplanned battle to protect their homes saw everyone rush to the scene at the first sign of danger, with no rotation for rest or reserve teams. By 2:30 PM, even those recognized for their strength, like Lü Dong, were struggling to carry the sandbags.

Many people in their forties and fifties stood by the roadside, some even sitting on the ground, not out of laziness but sheer exhaustion.

They had been working from the early morning and even the night before, using their hands and shoulders to pile hundreds of tons of materials onto the riverbank!

People from neighboring villages, the town, and the county also joined in, carrying sand and gravel.

At the sandbag stacking area, Lü Dong bent down and said to the woman filling the bags, "Auntie, pass it over!"

He no longer had the strength to lift them directly.

With the heavy bag on his shoulder, he waded through the water up to his calves and struggled forward. Many around him were the same, even with their backs bent under the weight of the sandbags, they didn't give up!

The raging floodwaters eroded the riverbank, taking away chunks of earth and leaving holes.

Keep going, and there's hope!

Give up, and the village will be destroyed!

Every joint in Lü Dong's body felt like it was rusted, and it seemed to creak with every movement. In the scorching summer, his legs, soaked in water for too long, felt cold to the bone!

Yang Liewen had already collapsed on the small dam, moved by the continuous efforts of the disaster relief.

"Old and young men!" Lü Zhenlin, who hadn't slept since the night before, shouted hoarsely but still loudly, "Hold on! The troops are coming!"

Hold on! Hold on—

Woo—Woo—

The loud horns of large trucks sounded, and one after another, green Jiefang trucks drove in from the south of the village.

Lü Dong turned to look, stopping involuntarily.

On the street, on the riverbank, everyone looked in that direction.

The military trucks stopped in the middle of the market street, and one by one, figures jumped off.

The strongest support had arrived!

A wave of olive green!

Seeing the green figures marching with powerful strides, Lü Dong smiled, relaxed, and could no longer carry the sandbag on his shoulder. He threw it into the water by the roadside and sat down, completely drained.

"This is it!" He laughed and cried, too tired and tense, and this relaxation made his emotions uncontrollable, "Damn flood, I won't let you win!"

Li Wenyue's father couldn't contain his joy, "The troops are here! The sky won't fall!"

One by one, the olive green figures picked up sandbags and rushed toward the riverbank.

They didn't walk, they ran!

Just like their ancestors who charged forward for the future of the country and the nation, they rushed forward without hesitation!

"Who's in charge here?" a military officer shouted.

Lü Dong pointed to the small dam, "The town mayor and the village party secretary are there!"

The officer strode over, and Lü Dong, catching his breath, got up, picked up a sandbag, and walked step by step toward the riverbank.

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