The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 446: All Around
With the earthquake in Qiaotou in the early morning of the 28th, people all felt an unusual shake from Harbin in the north to Qinghe in the south, from Wuzhong in the west to the islands of Bohai Bay in the east and the northeastern border.

Powerful seismic waves spread across the entire blue planet at a speed and in a way that people cannot feel.

The ground of the old capital was shaking, the monuments were trembling, and the thick beams and pillars on the Tiananmen Gate Tower were making "creaking" sounds as if they were breaking.

The common people of Xiadu woke up from their dreams. After a moment of confusion, they shouted in panic, "Earthquake!" and then rushed out of the room like a celestial body.

That day, the two brothers Liu Wen and Liu Wu were woken up by their beds being moved, and they ran out of the house with their family members.

More than a dozen people from Lao Liu's family and many villagers gathered in the open space.

Waking up, panicking, terrified, and at a loss, but there seemed to be one thing that everyone agreed on - they must not go back into the house.

Gan Ning just said, "I'll go back..." and disappeared in the blink of an eye. She risked aftershocks and her own life to rush back to the room to retrieve food, clothes and money for her family. She even took out raincoats and umbrellas out of foresight because it was her responsibility.

The family of more than a dozen people stayed together for less than half an hour before a car came to pick Gan Ning up.

Gan Ning gave her family a few simple instructions and then hurried to her workplace, because she had to direct the unit's earthquake relief efforts, arrange production, and had many other responsibilities...

After the aftershocks ended, Gan Ning, Liu Fusheng, Liu Yuanhai and other street office cadres organized militia villagers to start their own...

Deng Ru was worried and said with a trembling voice: "Zhiye and Zhitai are not at home. I should go home and call them to ask about the situation. This way I can feel more at ease."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jingzhai quickly dissuaded him, saying, "Don't rush back. What if there's another earthquake at this time? That would be very dangerous!"

Deng Ru frowned, her worry evident in her words: "I just can't let them go. I feel very uneasy and uneasy."

Liu Jingzhai sighed helplessly and comforted her, "Don't worry, their workplace is a place where safety measures are definitely much better than ours, nothing will happen."

The old man at the side seemed particularly calm. He had been through a lot in his life and had seen too many storms. At this moment, he remained calm and said calmly, "Don't panic. We can only help to a limited extent now. Don't do something bad with good intentions and cause more trouble for them. Our most important task now is to take good care of these little guys and make sure they are safe!"

A few hours later, Liu Zhiye called the Liujiazhuang office and his home respectively.

He said calmly and firmly that he was currently fully involved in the earthquake relief mission and might not be able to go home in the short term. He hoped that his family would not worry too much and that he would take good care of himself.

Afterwards, Liu Zhiye specifically instructed the companies in Liujiazhuang to act quickly and organize forces to transport relief supplies to the disaster area.

The disaster-stricken areas are currently extremely short of various supplies, whether it is medicine, clothing, food, or clean water, all of which are urgently needed by the people in the disaster-stricken areas.

Even some daily necessities, such as pots, pans, and utensils, have become extremely precious and urgently needed.

…………

That night, dozens of families in the courtyards of Nanluoguxiang settled down in the large bicycle shed of a nearby school.

The so-called settling down actually meant laying out a cool mat on the ground, and the neighbor brought out a gas stove and a few simple pots and pans.

At the beginning, after living in the bicycle shed for a while, some people thought that it might be dangerous in case of aftershocks.

Like every other family, Sha Zhu got some plastic sheeting and some wooden or iron sticks from the playground and built a simple triangular shed, which was the predecessor of people's later "luxury" earthquake-resistant sheds.

He Qiu felt that this place was so warm and safe, but as a teenager, it was more of a novelty.

After living in this simple shed for less than a week, Sha Zhu's three better neighbors, Yan Bugui's family, Yi Zhonghai's family, and the deaf old lady discussed together and decided to build a big shed and live together.

After the earthquake, each unit distributed earthquake-resistant supplies to its employees, so the three companies pooled their money together.

They found some wood, made their own bricks, and after a few days of preparation, they built their big house, which was more than 50 square meters, on a Sunday.

The room was decorated with plywood curtains, which was inconvenient for women.

The first Kunlun brand 95-inch black-and-white TV in Yard 9 was produced in the earthquake-resistant shed.

These days, having a TV at home is very eye-catching, but no one dares to show it off.

At night, the curtains were drawn tightly, and the three families sat together, enjoying the food of the three families and enjoying such a wonderful life.

So cool!
A month later, when Sha Zhu and others were really about to move back to their own home, they were still reluctant to leave. This "luxurious" earthquake-resistant shed had become a part of their lives and was their home.

After this experience, the people in the courtyard became more harmonious and friendly.

The children in the yard seemed to have grown several years older in an instant.

I learned to help buy groceries, cook, and take care of younger brothers and sisters at home.

Neighbors help each other and get along well with each other, and there are very few disputes. Everyone trusts each other and sticks together through thick and thin.

-

The day after the earthquake.

At six in the morning, Yan Jiekuang and the team leader drove three large Jiefang trucks loaded with disaster relief medicines to Qiaotou area.

This batch of medicines was transported from Hangzhou to Jingang Station by the passenger train on the Tianjin-Shanghai Line and prepared for transfer to Qiaotou.

However, train services have been suspended due to rail disruptions caused by the earthquake.

The station party committee urgently decided to send a special person and a special car to transport this batch of medicines to Qiaotou area as soon as possible to relieve the urgent disaster relief needs. This glorious and arduous task fell on the Nanhe Independent Second Division.

Yan Jiekuang joined the army in 1971. With his solid foundation in high school education, he quickly stood out in the army and eventually became an indispensable clerk in the company.

This time, when carrying out the escort mission, the company commander decided, after careful consideration, to let Yan Jiekuang lead a squad. This was not only a high level of attention to the mission, but also a practical training of Yan Jiekuang's abilities, intended to allow him to further hone himself in actual combat and grow into a more outstanding cadre.

Before setting off, Yan Jiekuang had already learned about the disaster situation in the earthquake-stricken areas and on the roads along the way, and made some preparations in advance.

Bring food, water, alcohol for disinfection, masks and other supplies. The car drove out of the northeast of the city and entered Ninghe County, which was affected by the earthquake. The road ahead was bumpy and difficult to walk on.

Fortunately, they were driving a new domestically produced Jiefang vehicle, which has a high chassis, large tires and good off-road performance.

When Yan Jiekuang and others drove into Lutai, the seat of Ning County government, they saw that the earthquake there was quite serious. Many houses had collapsed, and the tall and majestic Lutai Bridge that had been built on the Ji Canal had been collapsed by the earthquake.

On the river near the bridge, the PLA disaster relief team temporarily built a pontoon bridge.

All vehicles crossing the river can only line up and pass slowly one by one.

After all, a pontoon bridge is not as stable as a fixed bridge. Squad Leader Li drove the car extremely carefully, crossed the wide river, and continued to advance into the Beihe Province.

Along the way, many villages had collapsed houses, leaving only broken walls. We also saw dead animals on some rural dirt roads and broken roads.

Yan Jiekuang and Squad Leader Li took turns driving the car, which was bumpy and swaying all the way. They couldn't tell whether it was the uneven road surface or the aftershocks that were causing the problem.

Before this, Squad Leader Li had driven to Qiaotou many times, but the feeling of driving this time was very different from before.

Before noon, they finally entered the city of Qiaotou.

All that came into view were broken walls and collapsed houses. This famous "coal capital" in the north of Xia State had turned into a shaking city.

The originally spacious road was squeezed and narrowed by the ruins, and the original alleys were buried; the collapsed buildings were reduced to the height of bungalows, and the collapsed bungalows were only as high as the windowsills. Broken bricks and tiles and scattered debris were everywhere.

Yan Jiekuang and his companions asked as they walked, and after some twists and turns, they finally found the earthquake relief command center.

In a tent next to the office building that had been "cut off" by the earthquake in half, Yan Jiekuang handed over the disaster relief medicines and list of receipts to the head of the command center.

They wrote receipts and thanked him repeatedly. When Yan Jiekuang arrived here, he learned that the deputy commander-in-chief of the earthquake relief front was actually his good brother in the hospital - Liu Zhiye.

This made Yan Jiekuang a little excited as he could actually meet an acquaintance here.

Since he responded to the call to "go to the countryside" and later joined the army, in the past six years or so, he has had very few opportunities to go home, and the possibility of meeting Liu Zhiye is even slimmer.

Yan Jiekuang suddenly decided to go and meet Liu Zhiye, so he stepped forward and said politely: "Comrade, could you please inform Deputy Commander Liu that Yan Jiekuang is here to report."

A young soldier was standing at the door of the tent. When he saw Yan Jiekuang wearing a neat cadre uniform, he naturally thought that he was a cadre who came to report to the leader.

The young soldier immediately straightened up and saluted Yan Jiekuang with a standard military salute, and then said politely and respectfully: "Okay, comrade, please wait a moment!"

Inside the headquarters, Liu Zhiye was talking to a certain unit, his face gloomy and furious. It turned out that the unit failed to arrive at the designated location on time. "I don't care what went wrong," he said sternly, "even if we have to crawl on foot, you must arrive on time before 11 o'clock. This is an order!"

The young soldier saw that Chief Liu Zhiye was very angry, and he was secretly worried, fearing that his words would add fuel to the fire, so he chose to stand aside quietly, not daring to disturb him in the slightest.

Liu Zhiye just hung up the phone, and his emotions seemed to have not yet completely calmed down. He casually rolled up his sleeves, picked up the teacup on the table, raised his head, and drank a few big mouthfuls of it, as if he wanted to calm the waves in his heart. When he put down the teacup and raised his head, he noticed the little soldier standing quietly beside him.

"Tell me, what's going on?" There was a hint of unquestionable majesty in Liu Zhiye's voice.

Upon hearing this, the young soldier straightened his back and reported loudly: "Report to the commander! There is a comrade named Yan Jiekuang outside. He said he came to report."

When Liu Zhiye heard that it was Yan Jiekuang, a rare smile appeared on his face, "Oh, it's this kid, let him in!"

"Yes!" the little soldier answered loudly, then stood at attention in a standard posture, turned around and walked out with firm steps.

Not long after, Yan Jiekuang strode in. He also stood at attention and saluted, then reported loudly: "Report! Yan Jiekuang, the clerk of the Sixth Company of the Motor Vehicle Regiment of the Second Nanhe Independent Division, is reporting in!"

Liu Zhiye looked up and saw that it was indeed him. He immediately laughed: "Haha, it's Jie Kuang! Come on, come and sit down!"

Seeing that Liu Zhiye was still as friendly as before, Yan Jiekuang couldn't help but relax. He said gratefully: "Thank you, Chief! I'm not tired, I can just stand."

Liu Zhiye smiled and nodded, looking Yan Jiekuang up and down, and commented with satisfaction: "Well, not bad, you have made progress and become stronger. It seems that our army is really good at training people!"

A warm feeling welled up in Yan Jiekuang's heart, and he said sincerely: "This is all the result of your cultivation, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today."

Liu Zhiye smiled and said, "Jie Kuang, I don't remember your Nanhe Independent Second Division being in the rescue team! How did you get here?"

Yan Jiekuang nodded slightly and explained, "Indeed, our division was not originally included. But unfortunately, the railway transportation was interrupted due to the disaster, and the disaster area urgently needs a batch of medicines at this moment. At this critical juncture, the superiors gave the important task of transporting this batch of medicines to our transportation group."

"I thought so!" Liu Zhiye suddenly realized, and then took out a pack of cigarettes, "You learned to smoke in the army, right? Want one?"

Yan Jiekuang seemed a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and said in a low voice: "No, actually I haven't learned it yet..." As he spoke, his voice became smaller and smaller, and he seemed to lack confidence.

Liu Zhiye smiled and shook his head, saying: "Don't pretend! Just smoke if you can. Do you think I can't see it? Look, there is a huge difference between the fingers of a smoker and a non-smoker..." His eyes were sharp and he saw through Yan Jiekuang's little thoughts at a glance.

Yan Jiekuang scratched his head unconsciously, and no longer concealed it. He simply picked up the cigarette box, lit a cigarette for Liu Zhiye first, and then took out one for himself and lit it leisurely.

"Hiss! Whoosh..."

"Hey! Your cigarettes are really tasty! I'll accept this box without hesitation!" He said with a smile, a bit of pride in his eyes.

Hearing this, Liu Zhiye smiled and shook his head gently. Then he took out two boxes of cigarettes from the drawer and threw them to Yan Jiekuang, "Take them if you like. You're welcome!"

Upon seeing this, Yan Jiekuang's face suddenly broke into a bright smile, "Hey, thank you, Chief!"

At this moment, Yi Yuanchao suddenly opened the door curtain and walked in with big strides.

Yan Jiekuang had his back to the door, so he did not immediately notice Yi Yuanchao's arrival.

As soon as Yi Yuanchao entered the room, he saluted Liu Zhiye with a standard military salute, and then shouted in a loud voice: "Report to the commander! My body has fully recovered. I request your permission to return immediately and continue to participate in the rescue mission!"

Yan Jiekuang was suddenly awakened by this familiar and firm voice. He turned around quickly, his eyes full of surprise: "Hey! Yuan Chao? Why is it you?"

Yi Yuanchao was stunned when he saw this. He quickly stepped forward and asked in confusion, "Jie Kuang, why are you here... Are you also involved in this rescue mission?"

"Yes!" Yan Jiekuang immediately said excitedly and hugged Yi Yuanchao, "Yuanchao, I haven't seen you for so many years. Are you okay? I didn't expect to see you here..."

Yi Yuanchao was also excited to see his childhood friend whom he hadn't seen for many years. He smiled and said, "Not only am I here, Ge Xiaohu and the others are here too..."

…………

In mid-July, the wired company of the independent communications battalion where Ge Xiaohu was stationed participated in a military exercise in the Wei County area.

After the earthquake, they were ordered to rush to Qiaotou Mountain in all weather to participate in earthquake relief efforts.

The day before the earthquake, when the troops were about to return to the barracks after their exercise, their quartermaster and several soldiers went to the surrounding villages to buy live chickens.

At that time, Ge Xiaohu had people connect the purchased live chickens with old telephone lines and put them into the "Liberation" military vehicle.

Who would have thought that flocks of chickens would panic like a camp explosion. However, no one paid attention to it, as this was a precursor to an earthquake!
After Ge Xiaohu and his company were awakened by the shock in their field base, they immediately received an order to return to their troops.

The convoy was bumping along the winding mountain road, and the soldiers' moods were also fluctuating. They wondered where the big earthquake had occurred.
Fortunately, there was a radio in their company car for everyone in the company to listen to the radio every day.

When the car was traveling on the "Eighteen Bends" road in Zijingguan, Ge Xiaohu suddenly thought of the radio.

When he turned on the radio with shaking hands, it was playing "a message of condolence from ......"
I just learned that a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 occurred in Qiaotou area of ​​Beihe Province.

The earthquake touched the hearts of people across the country, and also touched the hearts of these young and energetic soldiers.

Although Ge Xiaohu didn't know they were going to the front line of earthquake relief, they all had a premonition that "the disaster situation is an order, and the soldiers are there to rescue!"

As expected, after Ge Xiaohu and his colleagues returned to the barracks, they received an order from the division headquarters to rush to the earthquake-stricken area overnight.

The regiment headquarters ordered them to quickly notify each squad and platoon to check their equipment, spare food and other items, and be ready to set off at any time.

It was a rainy day. Ge Xiaohu and his team prepared in the rain and waited quietly on the rainy night. They did not receive the "departure" order until the next morning.

Later, Ge Xiaohu learned that the left-behind troops who did not participate in the drill rushed to the earthquake-stricken area on the day of the earthquake and became the vanguard troops, while they who participated in the drill became the follow-up troops.

As the situation ahead was unclear, the troops could not act rashly. The next day, at the order given, the soldiers were like tigers descending the mountain and the convoy was like dragons going out to sea. They braved wind and rain, and galloped all the way, speeding on the road of earthquake relief.

Along the way, some cars broke down or overturned, but the rescue team ignored them and just rushed forward against every second.

Unexpectedly, when the troops reached He County, Jingang, the He County Bridge was broken by an earthquake, and the convoy was stranded there like a long dragon and unable to move forward.

He County is located in the middle of Beijing, Tianjin and Qiaocheng, only 45 kilometers away from Qiaocheng, but the vehicle slowly detoured until the afternoon before reaching Feng County.

All the relief forces advanced towards Qiaotou as quickly as possible. The haste, chaos and congestion made it impossible for vehicles to move forward quickly. Ge Xiaohu and his convoy drove to Fengxian County, 8 kilometers away from the city, to assemble and wait.

As their progress was blocked, everyone could only watch anxiously as wave after wave of panicked people fled the ruined city.

There is danger ahead and anxiety behind, time is life!

We could only ask the people who had fled from the city about the earthquake situation, and they all said in unison: "It's over, Qiao Tou is finished!"

At this time, everyone was extremely anxious, rubbing their hands, and shouting, "Let's run forward!" Sure enough, an order came: "Vehicles stay where they are, and personnel go lightly!"

(End of this chapter)