Chapter 56

Chapter 12: The Provincial Party Secretary's Tears

Ding Jinqian cursed, "Motherfucker! A war is about to break out, and you're giving me a hard time! I'll give you three minutes!"

The technicians had already started repairs. Three minutes later, the military aircraft and armed helicopters, loaded with bombs, took off one after another, heading for the sky above Sanjiang City.

Li Yi's wet clothes were almost dried by his body heat. After making two phone calls, he found it hard to calm down. In his mind, he was unwilling to have too much contact with the Li family in the capital. For one, he had a grudge against Li Yi, and for another, he was a proud man who did not want to join the Li family in the capital as a commoner before achieving something significant. However, things did not go as he wished, and several times he had to trouble the Li family in the capital!

If he knew that even this job as an advisor was arranged by Old Mr. Li, he would probably be even more speechless.

Li Yi said to Gu Heng, "Secretary Gu, I estimate the military aircraft will arrive within half an hour. I want to go to Malin Dam again. You should stay and command from the central command post."

"Li Yi, the current situation at Malin Reservoir is extremely dangerous!" Gu Heng reminded him.

"Secretary Gu, if it benefits the country, I will not shirk responsibility for life or death. Don't worry!" Li Yi said and turned to leave.

Gu Heng was taken aback and called out, "Li Yi, I'll go too! Do you think you're the only one who understands national righteousness, and I'm a coward? Old Fan, you stay and command from the city!" He hurried after them. Fan Yao had just shouted when Gu Heng and Li Yi were already downstairs.

Sitting in the car provided by the city for the research team, Li Yi kept urging the driver to go faster. The driver smiled bitterly, "The road is too flooded; it's hard to go fast even if I want to!"

When they arrived at the foot of Malin Reservoir, a landslide blocked the road ahead, and the car could not go any further. Li Yi said, "Old Gu, you don't need to get wet and muddy. You should turn the car around and go back to the city immediately!"

Gu Heng looked at the complex road conditions ahead and did not insist. He instructed, "Be careful! We'll wait for you in the city!"

Li Yi nodded, put on his raincoat, and ran up the dam in the wind and rain.

By this time, the rain had lessened, and the sky showed signs of brightening.

At an observation point near the dam, the relevant technical personnel from the reservoir management bureau and the water conservancy bureau were explaining the dangerous situation to the leaders. Li Yi walked over, looked at the dam, and became deeply worried.

"Is it that serious?" Meng Di was shocked. He knew better than anyone the dangers of a dam breach. He had previously served in Zhongyuan Province and experienced a major dam breach, where the floodwaters, like a death sentence, claimed over 20,000 lives! The memory still made him shudder.

At this moment, a party member's awareness and an official's responsibility surged in his heart. Meng Di instantly put aside the political intrigue and unpleasantness from the standing committee meeting and looked at Xiong Xilai, saying, "Old Xiong, this is no joke! We must do everything in our power to prevent the dam from collapsing. Otherwise, we will be historical sinners of Sanjiang City!"

Xiong Xilai was also shocked. He never imagined that the supposedly impregnable Malin Dam could be so vulnerable. If something really happened, as the mayor of Sanjiang City, he would bear the primary and inescapable responsibility. Not only would he lose his position, but his safety for the rest of his life would be in question.

Thinking about how he had confidently guaranteed there would be no problems and rejected Meng Di's proposal to repair the water conservancy project at the standing committee meeting, he felt a wave of panic. If this news reached the provincial leaders, they would surely have a poor opinion of him!

Xiong Xilai scowled at the reservoir management bureau personnel, "How do you manage the reservoir? Only three out of sixteen gates can be opened! What have you been doing all this time? Don't you check every year? You scoundrels! You are the sinners of Sanjiang!"

The reservoir management bureau personnel all lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Meng Di frowned, "This is not the time to assign blame! We must first find a way to save the dam."

"Meng Secretary, you are the leader; we will follow your instructions!" Xiong Xilai immediately lowered his head and submitted, pushing all the power and responsibility onto Meng Di, thinking to himself, I have made my stance clear; I am following your orders. If the reservoir is not saved, it will be due to your poor command!

Meng Di secretly cursed him as a sly old fox! He pushed away his secretary's umbrella and stood in the rain, looking at the villages below, worried, "There are so many people below; they must be evacuated immediately!"

Li Yi stepped forward, "Meng Secretary, the villagers in low-lying areas have already been moved to higher ground! The most important thing now is to send people to blow up the secondary flood discharge channel to lower the water level and reduce the pressure on the dam. Once we get through this, we can repair the dam to ensure safety."

Meng Di looked at the accompanying water experts, who all nodded, confirming that Li Yi's plan was feasible.

Meng Di immediately said, "Notify the armed forces and the public security bureau immediately and ask them to find a way."

Li Yi said, "This is a massive project, and the city may not be able to complete it safely. I have already requested support from the provincial military district. The planes should arrive soon!"

This made everyone look at him with new respect.

Meng Di gave him a deep look. This time, he no longer saw Li Yi as a naive young man. This young man was down-to-earth, passionate, and righteous, with a clear mind and foresight. He had the courage to wake up the sleeping masses at the standing committee meeting and the audacity to call for military support behind the scenes. His bravery and insight were such that even Meng Di, in his youth, would have been impressed.

Relevant personnel immediately arranged for people to mark the areas of the secondary flood discharge dam that needed to be blown up with red paint to ensure the planes could drop their bombs more accurately.

"Boom!" A deafening sound echoed as a large breach appeared in the dam, and the muddy floodwaters rushed out with the force of a mountain, instantly swallowing dozens of acres of farmland and sweeping away a mud-brick house in a matter of seconds.

The officials watching from a higher ground were terrified. Meng Di wiped his forehead, unsure if it was rain or nervous sweat, and sighed, "They say floods are fiercer than tigers, but they are even fiercer than tigers! Fortunately, Advisor Li had the foresight to evacuate the villagers in time!"

Li Yi worried, "If the planes don't arrive soon, the dam might not hold! If that happens, Sanjiang City will be in danger!"

Everyone was startled and looked toward Sanjiang City, where the sky was clearing, and the high-rise buildings were faintly visible in the distance.

In the sky, two black dots were getting closer...

"Planes are here!" someone shouted.

The crowd immediately cheered.

All the firemen, armed police, and public security officers in Sanjiang City who could be mobilized were already working on evacuation along the flood discharge channel.

As the planes approached, Wen Yuxi saw the vast floodwaters and the large breach in the dam and became anxious. Thinking of the possible dangers, his eyes welled up, and he shouted to the people on the ground, "Did we come too late?"

Ding Jinqian cursed, "Motherfucker, blame those bastards for delaying for three minutes! If this causes a major disaster, I'll skin them alive when we get back!"

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