Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 1108. Flood (Part 1108)

On the left side of where he was standing was the river, in the middle were a bicycle lane and a pedestrian path, and on the right side was a slope that was about six or seven meters high but not too steep. There was no protective net on the slope, nor were there any text or pictures to warn people to be careful about falling rocks and landslides.

The trees on the bank danced wildly in the strong wind, and the unsteady branches were often knocked down into the river by the wind and rain, surging a few times before disappearing. The turbulent water in the river had obviously submerged the embankment at this time, but there was no flood control measure to build the embankment on the bank, and the flood rushed out of the river recklessly.

Dong Qiangqiang was holding the expensive high-end umbrella that he had bought when he rescued Lao Ding in Italy. He was watching coldly in the slanting wind and rain the men, women, old and young who were marching towards the city of Wasserbilich. There were nearly two hundred people in the silent fleeing team. No one spoke, not even a cough. All he could hear was the faint thunder above his head, the "bang bang" sound of rain hitting umbrellas, raincoats, suitcases and the ground, the sound of people wading through water, and the "hissing" sound of the suitcase wheels sliding in the water.

After the train stops running, there will definitely be buses or other means of transportation to take them to Trier. However, there are so many people wanting to go back to Trier that one bus definitely cannot take them all. I don’t know which bus I can get on, Dong Qiangqiang thought as he walked.

But no matter what, we have to enter the city first.

  Since the direction into the city is a downward slope, there is not much water on the road, but it is not a good thing for all the water from the river to rush into the city. Dong Qiangqiang has a bad feeling in his heart. He is worried that the water in the city is too big and he may not be able to send the car. If he really can't go back, he may have to find a place to stay in the city. If so many people can't leave, will there be enough beds in the hotel? Or he should ask: With such a big flood, are the hotels in the city still there?

When he walked forward about a hundred meters and gradually approached the bridge hole he saw when he got off the car, the wooden sleeper was pushed around several times by the whirlpool in the water and then got stuck firmly in the smallest entrance of the bridge hole, unable to move. It became an invisible roadblock. Soon it blocked a bunch of things, including blankets, chairs, cribs, tents, and gasoline barrels. Just as he was watching, a rubber raft that was leaking and flowing downstream was blocked by the wooden sleeper. It seems that ordinary rubber boats are not useful on this kind of water, and only thickened ones are useful.

Dong Qiangqiang walked for more than 20 minutes. He looked up and could see the traditional German spires in the distance. He knew victory was in sight and he could reach the outer edge of the town in no time. Just as he was about to speed up, he heard a muffled "boom" behind him. He turned around and found that the bridge deck on the side of the three-arch stone arch bridge he had just passed by had disappeared without a trace. So many stones fell into the water like dumplings, but there was not even a bubble on the water surface, as if nothing had happened. In more than 20 years, this was the first time that Dong Qiangqiang had felt the collapse of a bridge at such a close distance.

At this time, there was a commotion coming from the team ahead, and someone in the crowd was saying something loudly. Dong Qiangqiang turned around again and listened carefully, but got some not-so-good news: a notice had been posted at the station ahead, and due to the danger of floods, the station was ordered to stop operating. If anyone needed to go to surrounding German cities such as Trier, they had to continue walking towards the center of the town. The center was high in terrain, and there were emergency buses parked there that would take passengers to their destination.

Dong Qiangqiang sighed, with nothing to say. He could only follow the crowd and move forward.

Although he entered the city, Dong Qiangqiang was not happy at all. Just as he had guessed, the town was low-lying and a depression. The floodwaters that escaped from the river and the heavy rains that had been falling for several days were pouring down the streets of the city. After entering the city, the crowd could not move normally on the streets and had to find a possible way out by dodging and swerving. The long snake-like team quickly dispersed because of people's different views on the road. Due to the lack of a map, Dong Qiangqiang could only grope his way to the central area based on the little impression he had from his previous visit to Wasserbilich.

Dong Qiangqiang walked less than 50 meters before he discovered a fact: the flood in the city was much more powerful than the one outside the city. Although the flood outside the city was unwilling, it was still in the river channel. The flood that entered the city seemed to be the new master of the city. Wherever the flood went, mud and sand were mixed together, as if adults were teaching their own children a lesson, rolling up a lot of mud and wantonly hitting the green plants on both sides of the street, the cars parked on the street, the erected road signs and street lamps. The latter dared not even breathe, and curled up and shivered in humiliation. The tall buildings stood in the flood, but inexplicably gave people a sense of helplessness, and they could only let the flood rejoice under their feet but were powerless.

Dong Qiangqiang finally saw sandbags in some streets, but these flood prevention infrastructures, which were supposed to be used to raise the construction of flood control dams, felt like a drop in the bucket when placed in the streets. They could easily be bypassed or swallowed up by the floods.

The flood not only made the streets impassable, but also occasionally flowed into the basements along the streets, easily filling them up and then rushing out through the windows on the ground floor.

This scene reminded Dong Qiangqiang of the Hollywood blockbuster "Jumanji" from the 1990s, but the reality was far more absurd and magical than the movie. What confused him even more was: Wasserbilich and Trier were so close, why didn't they learn from the Germans how to rationally plan the town's drainage system?

After passing a street corner, the fierce momentum of the flood finally eased. Wading consumed a lot of Dong Qiangqiang's energy. He leaned on the fence next to him to rest and inadvertently noticed the bookstore across the street.

The front door of the bookstore was still firmly closed, but the window next to it was broken by a bicycle. Through the broken window, Dong Qiangqiang noticed that the bookshelves in the store were all tilted and tilted in the water. Many books of different colors, carpets, chairs, small tables, small sofas, lamp stands, iron racks for newspapers, and billboards were all soaked in water. Outside the window, several books had drifted far away with the flood.

This scene suddenly reminded him of a bookstore in Venice he had visited before. He had thought that putting books in gondolas was a performance art of the store owner, but now he understood that this was Venice, and perhaps one day the water level would rise higher than usual and the entire bookstore would be gone. The owner of that bookstore must have also encountered a flood, so he was preparing for a rainy day. If the books in this store were also placed in gondolas like that store, perhaps everything would be fine, or the loss would not be so severe.

Just as he was daydreaming, an old book covered with mud and leaves slid quickly past him. Dong Qiangqiang was quick-witted and immediately opened his umbrella to pull the book out of the water. He carefully turned a few pages and was surprised to find that the book in his hand was published in 1860.

  Isn't this a solitary book?

He looked up at the bookstore, which had been completely destroyed, and couldn't help thinking: Before it was destroyed, this must have been a very warm place, and people who love reading would easily spend a few hours here. But these books, which have been extracted by time and condensed with the wisdom and insights of their ancestors, were destroyed so easily, leaving people helpless, heartbroken and regretful.

He didn't dare throw the book back into the store. He could only wipe it as clean as possible with the only dry tissue he had. He then found a plastic bag that was not too wet and wrapped the book tightly. Finally, he put it in the interlayer of his schoolbag. He made up his mind to wait for the flood to recede and then return the book to the store.