roccoschili Chapter 218 Heavy Rain
Chapter 218 Heavy Rain
Time flows like water, passing by quietly.
July weather is unpredictable. Yesterday it was unbearably hot, but today there's a raging storm with thunder.
It was pitch black outside. Sha Zhu checked the time; it was already 7:30 in the morning.
At this time of day, the outside would normally be bustling with activity, people going to work or school! At least I don't need to go to school.
Two days earlier, the rain had been mercilessly delivered to the master's house by Sha Zhu. Even though the little girl wanted to stay at home for a couple more days, Sha Zhu didn't give in at all.
Just kidding, if I stay home for two days without anyone watching me, I'll probably go crazy again!
I learned from my master that Fengzeyuan and Quanjude, as privately owned industrial and commercial enterprises, operated under the socio-economic conditions of the time.
Facing difficulties such as cash flow problems, rising prices, and insufficient production, the company overcame these challenges with the government's assistance and pioneered the public-private partnership!
Two days after the rain stopped, Sha Zhu was still a little unaccustomed to it. The house was much quieter, and the chattering noise seemed to still echo in his ears.
The rain was delivered to her master's house by Sha Zhu, and her friend was probably the most unhappy.
There's no longer any reason to visit Brother Zhu's house during the holidays.
The occasional delicious food that could fill my stomach seems to be gone forever with the rain, and it would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed.
Sha Zhu is now worried about whether he should go to work today, as it's almost eight o'clock.
I just ran to the door in the rain to check, and although my house is on higher ground, there was no water accumulation.
Outside, in the alleys and on the main streets, the water had already reached above ankle level, and only a few people were struggling to walk through the scalding river.
The wind howled, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and torrential rain poured down, all under a pitch-black sky.
Why bother going to work? The factory's probably flooded. Time to sleep!
Just as Sha Zhu was about to lie back down on the heated kang to rest, he faintly heard a knocking sound outside.
Through mental scanning, Li Jianguo from the neighborhood committee was vigorously pounding on the courtyard gate.
In the living room, Second Uncle Cai Quanwu, who was resting on a recliner, was about to get up when Sha Zhu hurriedly stopped him, "Second Uncle, let me go!"
Before Cai Quanwu could react, Sha Zhu had already put on his raincoat and run out of the living room.
Upon opening the courtyard gate, even though it was dark, Sha Zhu could still see that Li Jianguo's clothes were soaked through and clinging to his body.
Upon entering the living room, Sha Zhu first handed a towel to Li Jianguo, and then immediately lit the candles in the living room.
"Zhu Zi, your home is still the best! There's no standing water in the yard, and no drizzle inside!" Li Jianguo said while wiping himself down.
Sha Zhu disagreed, as if there was standing water in your house.
"What's wrong, Brother Li? Your house doesn't have any standing water either. When you were building your new house, I was the one who reminded you to raise the yard a bit."
Li Jianguo quickly waved his hand, "I was talking about our subdistrict office. The water in the courtyard can't flow out, it's all flowing into the offices, it's really unbearable to stay here."
Anyway, we can't work today; the power company has cut off the electricity, so your factory can't operate either.
Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu immediately became happy.
"I was just debating whether or not to go to work, but I guess I can take a day off today."
Brother Li, do you want to go back to the neighborhood office? If not, go take a shower and I'll get you some clothes to change into, so you don't catch a cold!
Li Jianguo didn't stand on ceremony. He took off his shirt, ran to the eaves by the door, and wrung out his clothes.
Just as I was about to follow Sha Zhu's advice and go to the bathroom to take a shower, a low rumbling sound suddenly came from outside.
Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat; it was all over.
Looking into the dark distance, the patter of raindrops and the crashing sound of collapsing houses mingled together.
Li Jianguo didn't bother to wring out his shirt, hastily put it on, and, ignoring the torrential rain outside, plunged straight in.
Sha Zhu was speechless; his good mood vanished instantly. It was pitch black outside, and he couldn't see anything. Even if he did manage to save someone, how the hell could he do it? Going there would be completely useless!
Sha Zhu wanted to lie down and rest, but he was utterly exasperated; he had been too optimistic.
I thought I could finally rest, but there are so many old and dilapidated houses outside. If I don't go out to help, what if something happens to my good friend?
Sha Zhu made up a reason for himself and plunged headlong into the raging storm.
The common people were helpless. In the distance, they could faintly hear crying and shouting. Sha Zhu followed closely behind Li Jianguo and ran towards the direction of the sound, without even bothering to put on his raincoat.
It was getting dark, and Li Jianguo couldn't run fast at all. He had just left the alley when he accidentally...
He fell directly to the ground, and the flowing rainwater gathered into a river, completely submerging Li Jianguo's body.
Silly Zhu was speechless. The road was dirt, slippery from the rain, and running so fast was dangerous. He quickly ran over and pulled Li Jianguo up.
If you can't even see a person a meter away, is it really that hard to save them?
Sha Zhu didn't know either, unless he wasn't directly killed by the smash.
Without pausing for even a moment, the two ran across the river towards the alley on the other side.
I could vaguely hear someone coming from the direction of the neighborhood committee office.
A mental scan revealed that a house facing the street in Gulou Hutong had collapsed.
In front of the collapsed house, an old woman sat in the water, wailing loudly. Underneath the collapsed house, a couple was trapped.
The man was hit in the leg by a falling roof beam. Both men were trapped in a corner, but thankfully neither was in life-threatening danger.
Sha Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. He had to find a way to rescue her as soon as possible, otherwise she would bleed too much if it went on for too long.
Fortunately, the front door of the collapsed house was not far from where the couple was hiding, and it was not completely blocked.
It was dark, the man couldn't move, and there were small obstacles in the way that he couldn't see, so neither of them dared to move.
Sha Zhu pulled Li Jianguo to the old lady's side, and the two of them worked together to pull the old lady, who was crying in the water, out of the water.
"Zhu Zi, my son. My son." The old woman cried out in heartbreak, and upon closer inspection, she finally recognized him as Sha Zhu.
As if grasping at a straw, she pointed to the collapsed house. Rainwater flowed into her mouth as she opened it!
My goodness, I'm not your son.
"Auntie, your son is alright, don't worry, I'll figure something out!"
Sha Zhu didn't care about anything else at the moment. He quickly helped the old lady to the eaves. He scanned the area with his mind and saw many people coming from all directions, but he didn't know how to help them.
In order to rescue the person as quickly as possible, Sha Zhu had no choice but to cheat a little.
While calling out the names of the old lady's son and daughter-in-law, they slowly moved towards the gap in the collapsed house.
"Brother Zhang Jian", "Sister Li Hong", "Zhang Jian", "Li Hong"
Sha Zhu's voice was so loud that it attracted the attention of everyone nearby.
"Can you hear that sound inside?!" Director Wang heard Sha Zhu's voice, ran over in the direction of the sound, and shouted at Sha Zhu!
"I heard it, there's a noise," Sha Zhu said casually, then continued moving towards the gate.
"Zhang Jian," "Li Hong,"
"Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi," Director Wang finally heard Zhang Jian's voice coming from inside.
Sha Zhu groped his way to the edge of the gate, moved the fallen obstruction aside, and the sounds inside became clearer and clearer.
Fortunately, there was visibility within a meter. The group of people who ran to Sha Zhu's side worked together to move away the fallen stones, bricks, and other obstructions near the gate, revealing a large, dark hole.
"Zhu Zi, I can't move. My leg is trapped under the roof beam. Please, get my wife out of here first!" Zhang Jian said urgently in the darkness.
Beside Zhang Jian, his wife stood with tears streaming down her face, her voice almost hoarse from crying.
"Director Wang, please meet me at the door," Sha Zhu said, then bent down and crawled inside.
The space inside was cramped, but luckily Sha Zhu had the ability to scan with his mind, so he directly reached out to her, grabbed Li Hong's clothes, and pulled her outside.
Li Hong clung to her man, refusing to let go. She cried and sobbed, infuriating Sha Zhu!
There's no time for you to waste now. If this drags on any longer, your husband will bleed to death.
Sha Zhu used brute force to drag Li Hong outside.
"Husband! Husband!..." The wailing and crying made Sha Zhu's eardrums hurt! This melodramatic scene made him want to chop him up with his hand.
They pulled the crying Li Hong outside. Luckily, Sha Zhu was dragged out; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stand up straight in such a small hole. After handing Li Hong over to Director Wang, Sha Zhu turned around and crawled back inside.
Anyway, Sha Zhu doesn't care. He won't be crushed to death. At worst, if he falls down the roof beam, he can just store the space inside. It's pitch black inside, so he can't see anything.
He groped his way to Zhang Jian's side, pretending to touch Zhang Jian's body, searching for the beam pressing against his thigh. A moment later, he found his calf.
"Brother Zhang Jian, can you still move?" Sha Zhu asked.
"Yes, both my hands are fine."
"Okay, I'll try to lift the roof beam a bit later. You put your hands on the ground and quickly back up!" Sha Zhu instructed.
“Okay, I understand, Zhu Zi. I’m ready. Just get started,” Zhang Jian said, placing his hands on the ground and getting into position.
Upon seeing this, Sha Zhu shouted loudly and forcefully raised the beam that was pressing on Zhang Jian's calf by ten centimeters.
He shouted with all his might, "Hurry up!"
Damn it, acting takes effort!
After Zhang Jian moved back to a safe position, Sha Zhu slowly lowered the roof beam to the ground.
Without even catching her breath, she dragged Zhang Jian out. The opening was too small to hold on to or carry him, so she could only pull him along.
The sky outside gradually brightened, and the downpour began to turn into a heavy rain.
"Director Wang, Zhang Jian's calf is crushed and bleeding. We need to find a doctor quickly. I'll find some clothes to cover the wound first," Sha Zhu said anxiously.
Director Wang took off his raincoat and handed it to Li Gang, who was standing next to him. "Go and quickly invite the doctor from the clinic over to put the raincoat on the old man!"
After Li Gang left, Director Wang instructed several people to carry Zhang Jian to his mother's room.
Just as the group breathed a sigh of relief, a loud boom followed by a crashing sound rang out not far away.
Sha Zhu was on the verge of tears. "God, can't you just let me rest for a bit?"
Ignoring everything else, they could only hurriedly follow behind Director Wang and run in the direction of the collapsed building!
The dim sky gradually brightened!
……
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Sha Zhu dragged his tired body back to his home.
The heavy rain had long since stopped, and the yard had once again become a playground for the children.
These children had nowhere to go, except for Sha Zhu's yard, which was somewhat better.
There was no standing water, no muddy, slippery ground, and all sorts of toys. They spontaneously ran to Sha Zhu's house and ran around having fun!
Sha Zhu hadn't eaten all day and was so hungry he didn't want to move. He shooed the children away from the recliner and lay down himself.
"Brother Zhu, when is Yushui coming back?" Xiaofang climbed down from the rocking horse and ran to Shazhu's side to ask.
Sha Zhu chuckled twice, "I just sent her away two days ago, and you already miss her."
"Yes, I miss her so much!" Xiao Fang said innocently!
"Then we'll probably have to wait until school starts!"
"Oh," Xiaofang said, pouting in disappointment at the answer, and ran off to play again.
It's unclear how many houses collapsed in Nanluoguxiang; the officials from the neighborhood committee are still out and haven't returned.
In any case, almost every house leaked during this torrential rain!
Even some tiles fell off the roof of their own house.
Before the residents could even repair their houses, it rained heavily again the next day. The neighborhood committee went door-to-door to inform them that there would be no power outage and they didn't have to go to work. Fortunately, there were no strong winds today.
It rained heavily for three days in a row. On the fourth day, the factory could not start work because the factory was flooded, the roads were muddy, and the sewers were blocked.
Until the sun rises again on the weekend and shines on the earth!
It was a rare day off, and most of the neighbors were looking for someone to repair their houses. While his second uncle was out at a small restaurant, Sha Zhu, with a thought, sent the tiles back to their original positions.
There's nothing much to do today. It's been raining heavily, and I haven't received any invitations to a banquet!
Sha Zhu started cultivating the land near the kitchen to grow more vegetables; otherwise, it would be hard to explain having vegetables on the table every day.
If the neighbors find out, they'll definitely give Sha Zhu a piece of their mind. We don't even have enough room to live, and you're eating vegetables you grow yourself every day.
If Sha Zhu knew what they were thinking, he'd spit in their faces. "Young master, I'll set up greenhouses in winter so we'll have vegetables to eat then! I'll make you all furious!"
Yes, we'll have to prepare for it then. It'll be right in our own little courtyard. Anyway, when Sha Zhu goes to Haidian to prepare the banquet...
In Yangfangdian Village, Sijiqing Township, Haidian District, they started using greenhouses to grow vegetables, producing not only cucumbers and tomatoes, which are rare in winter, but also sending these vegetables to Zhongnanhai.
Their cooperative was later renamed "Sijiqing Vegetable Production Cooperative," becoming one of the earliest pioneers of Beijing's "vegetable basket project." By this time, greenhouse cultivation technology had already been introduced to Beijing.
I often go to the countryside, so setting up a simple greenhouse in my small courtyard doesn't seem too out of place.
After finishing with Sha Zhu Ya Ya, he continued his planting business!
Second Uncle Cai Quanwu basically ignored whatever Sha Zhu did, leaving early and returning late every day, and never eating at home.
While Sha Zhu was busy in the yard, his neighbor, Aunt Hu, walked in carrying a basket.
"Pillar, what are you doing!"
"I'm just bored, so I'll grow some vegetables," Sha Zhu said without looking up.
"Don't you grow tomatoes and cucumbers by the east wall of your yard?" Aunt Hu asked in confusion.
"Ugh, don't even mention it. The rain and her friends ruined everything. I didn't even get to eat a single tomato or a cucumber."
Aunt Hu chuckled.
"Didn't you spoil him? You said you could eat whatever you wanted since it didn't cost any money, but those kids ruined it all, and now you're complaining!"
"Didn't Aunt Hu come to work at the restaurant today?"
"No. My daughter Xiaocui is covering for me. I just went back to the countryside and picked some vegetables for you to try!"
"Thank you, Aunt Hu! By the way, how's Da Niu doing at the lumber mill?" Sha Zhu asked.
"Fortunately, I was working there as an apprentice and was assigned to the workshop for storage lockers and new-style wardrobes."
"Thank you so much, Zhuzi. If you hadn't said a few more words, Da Niu would probably still be looking for temporary work," Aunt Hu said sincerely.