Back to the teenage years

Chapter 613 The Bear Who Goes Against the Tide
Ma Rulong and He Lin grew up in the city, so it's understandable that they lack proper knowledge about the deep mountains and forests. But it's also quite bizarre that they would mistake a hornet's nest for a beehive.

Their purpose was simple: after mistaking a hornet's nest for a beehive, they suddenly had the idea to see if they could extract any honey to show off to the girls.

So they found a long branch to try and put the beehive down, but as soon as the branch poked it in, the beehive exploded like a powder keg, instantly spewing out thousands of wasps. Then, like nesting dolls, it triggered a series of tragedies.

Standing on the shore, Zhang Yunqi could no longer see how many places were on fire amidst the billowing smoke. Although it was only in the initial stage, the pine needles were rich in oil, so the fire spread very quickly. Although the wind direction was stable, there were often updrafts in the valley in the afternoon. The flames licked at the low bushes and, in just a few minutes, burned into the depths of the forest on the right.

Logically speaking, this fire was started by Lu Yuanzhou, the eldest son of the family. This would have been a golden opportunity to send him to jail to work as a sewing machine operator and contribute to the development of the country's manufacturing industry. The problem is, everyone is now trapped in the fire, and even if it's a matter of life and death, he needs to survive too.

Zhang Yunqi never imagined that one day he and Lu Yuanzhou would be in the same boat.

Life is full of wonders; even a gust of wind can cause chicken feathers to fall from your crotch.

Although the wildfire has just started and is far from spreading, thick smoke is billowing up, the crackling sound of burning pine needles is dense like rain, and the flames are greedily devouring every inch of dry vegetation with the help of the rising air currents in the valley. The burned edges are expanding outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The air temperature is rising rapidly!

The head of the event, Li Xiaoman, was already in a daze. She looked at the chaotic scene in front of her and the painful expressions of the injured students, her face turning pale.

She organized the event, and now that such a big incident has left this usually very opinionated girl in a state of turmoil. But at least she can still realize that things are now extremely urgent.

She forced herself to calm down, jumped onto a large rock on the shore, and loudly gave orders: "Everyone, quiet down! Girls, help move the injured to a safe area! Boys who can still move, come with me! Find a suitable place down below and clear a firebreak to stop the wildfire!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunqi immediately voiced his objection, his third objection of the day: "I advise you to stop digging any firebreaks. It's too late. Escaping is the priority now."

In such an urgent situation, it seemed inappropriate for him to make desertion remarks, and several passionate male students from the university cast disapproving glances at him.

The most vehement reaction came from Lu Yuanzhou, who stared at Zhang Yunqi and said directly, "Nonsense!"

He started the fire today, so how could he not know the consequences? He was even somewhat convinced that Zhang Yunqi maliciously prevented everyone from putting out the fire in order to escalate the situation and completely destroy him!
With a face stung by wasps, he calmly analyzed, "Everyone, the fire has only just started, there's plenty of time to dig firebreaks! Don't listen to his alarmist talk, the most urgent thing is to put out the fire as quickly as possible!"

Seeing that the vast majority of people supported her idea, Li Xiaoman no longer hesitated. She had to make a decisive decision right now. She even ignored Zhang Yunqi, who still wanted to persuade her, and immediately organized a manpower to dig firebreaks and put out the fire.

Of the thirty or so people, a small portion were injured and unable to move due to wasp stings, and another small portion were girls. Currently, only about ten people were truly capable of fighting.

Zhou Dingchuan, bursting with a sense of responsibility, led Jin Shengze and Song Junxian to the front lines. However, they lacked tools and relied mainly on their bare hands and rough branches they picked up at random. Their efficiency in clearing the isolation zone was appallingly low.

Zhang Yunqi did not go.

He was quite certain that the wildfire was now ignited and, unless the heavens intervened with a torrential downpour, there was no way to reverse it.

Of course, he wasn't idle either. He found a spark that flew by, lit a cigarette, and while he and the girls moved the injured Ma Rulong, He Lin, and others to a temporarily safe area by the river, he watched the amazing performance of the group of idiots digging the isolation barrier.

He had seen wildfires countless times since he was a child.

The sheer power of watching flames burn before your eyes is truly unparalleled.

The scorching heat distorted the air, the trees groaned in the flames, and sparks and ash, like dark red snowflakes, were swept up by the rising air currents and swirled in the air.

Li Yufei, like the other girls, helped take care of the wounded and tidy up the scattered items. However, seeing the fire getting closer and closer to the isolation zone planned by Li Xiaoman, while the cleanup speed was far from keeping up, she thought for a moment and got up to brave the thick smoke to help clean up the isolation zone.

Seeing Li Yufei's actions, Zhang Yunqi immediately realized what the girl was about to do and quickly pulled her back, saying, "Don't go."

Li Yufei looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Zhang Yunqi sighed, but still patiently explained, "Once a wildfire like this starts, there's no way we can put it out with just a few people! Not only will you not be able to help, but you'll also be in danger. Look at the flames in the main fire zone ahead; the surface fire is at least 4 meters high. Do you know what that means? The firebreak needs to be at least 1.5 times that height, so a 6-meter firebreak is needed to potentially stop the fire! With just a few people, it would be difficult to clear even one meter of firebreak!"

Li Yufei's face paled. Zhang Yunqi's words meant that Li Xiaoman and the others were risking their lives for nothing. She said, "You should have told Xiaoman these things."

Zhang Yunqi asked, "Will they believe me? If they believed I immediately jumped into the water to avoid the wasps, how could so many things have happened? If they believed I didn't light a fire to smoke out the wasps, how could a wildfire have started? They are the ones responsible for the accident, and now they're completely disoriented! They wouldn't even listen to me just now. Of course, everyone's understanding is different, and tuition fees vary, but this kind of thing can result in death, and someone could go to jail!"

Li Yufei was silent for a while, then said, "I believe you. But what do we do now?"

"Run for your life."

"Then why didn't you run away?"

"Wait for you."

Thick smoke billowed up, and sparks flew everywhere.

The blast from the wildfire distorted the air, and the surrounding heat was rising steadily, but it seemed that even the hottest heat couldn't beat the girl's rapidly beating heart. She looked at his profile and smiled slightly: "Okay!"

Unlike ordinary streams, the streams in the old forests of Black Elk Peak have abundant water in the upper reaches, and the banks are covered with warm pebbles. The water is only ankle-deep, but the middle section is a bottomless expanse of water.

Zhang Yunqi threw away his cigarette butt and led Li Yufei toward the stream: "Can you swim? When they were putting out the fire, I checked the surrounding terrain. The fire is mainly affected by the wind direction and the terrain. If the wind direction doesn't change, it will most likely burn westward along the hillside, and it will be very steady. It won't directly cover the opposite bank of the valley unless it forms flying embers. So right now, this river is the best way to survive, but I'm not sure how deep it is."

"I can not swim."

"It's okay, just don't move after the water gets in."

What about the other students?

“They are all adults, almost twenty years old, and they need to be responsible for their actions. If they want to live, there is still time. The fire will not reach the riverbank, but if it drags on, it will become flying embers. The heat radiation, carbon monoxide, and smoke will also kill people. As for how they will escape, they will escape like this.”

Zhang Yunqi had already pulled Li Yufei to the deep water area, where the water was almost up to their chests. He went around Li Yufei's hands from the front, hugged her soft body, and dived into the water. The deep water area in the center was not wide, about seven or eight meters deep. He splashed around a few times and crossed it directly. After walking about ten more steps, he got ashore.

Zhang Yunqi's guesses were always accurate. Someone saw him take Li Yufei to a safe area on the other side of the river and immediately followed suit, diving into the water and swimming over.

Zhang Yunqi told Li Yufei to wait on the shore, then plunged back into the water and, together with the other comrades who could swim, brought the injured over one by one.

Ma Rulong and He Lin were stung the most by wasps. Perhaps because they were in such good physical condition, they were still awake, but the places where they were stung were swollen like steamed buns, and they were grimacing in pain.

Across the river, amidst billowing smoke, only a dozen or so students remained, braving the heat to dig out firebreaks.

The group worked frantically for a while, but the isolation strip they cleared still didn't meet the standard of one meter, and its length was estimated to be less than one-tenth of the fire line! In most places, they only dug out 5-10 centimeters of the surface layer, and the underlying humus was still there, discontinuous and like a dotted line.

At this point, the fire was burning even more fiercely. As they approached, the crooked firebreaks not only did not help to stop the wildfire, but also created new embers as they patted them. The fire jumped over the firebreaks and spread to the left and right!
As everyone was digging the firebreak, they realized that it was not very useful. It was just a last effort to ensure their own safety before the main fire reached them. However, the feeling of powerless struggle lingered in everyone's hearts and became stronger and stronger.

Lu Yuanzhou wiped the soot off his face, his eyes filled with resentment, but what could he do? The main fire was rapidly approaching, waves of heat rolling in; if they didn't leave now, it might really be too late! He could only grit his teeth and shout at Li Xiaoman, "Tell everyone to give up! At this rate, it might take 50 people and shovels to get there in time." No one responded to him.

Everyone threw down the thick tree branches and ran towards the riverbank!

This group of people were the main force of the work, and most of them could swim. Soon, they crossed the river one after another. They were all disheveled and dirty, and the river water could not wash away the black stains on their faces. As soon as they got ashore, they lay on the ground panting heavily. It seemed that the escape and desperate digging of the isolation line had exhausted all their strength. Fortunately, no one was missing.

Li Xiaoman slumped on the shore, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat and ash, her eyes reflecting the raging fire somewhat unfocused. But her sense of responsibility as the organizer forced her to stand up and walk towards Zhang Yunqi: "What do we do now?"

She had wasted a lot of time on her and Lu Yuanzhou's decisions, and now she finally thought to ask Zhang Yunqi. The problem was, what could Zhang Yunqi say in the current situation?

He said, "Let's go back to the reservoir first. Most of the people have been stung by wasps and we need to find a way to get them to the hospital down the mountain. If we delay, things might get complicated. Next, we should contact the village committee. The cell phone signal is bad in the mountains, so we should use the village committee's phone to call the fire department for help. Also, we should organize the villagers to form a fire brigade to put out the fire."

This opinion was conventional, and since everyone thought the same way, no one objected. Li Xiaoman immediately arranged for people to take a headcount, and the lightly injured helped the seriously injured to evacuate along the riverbank towards the upstream reservoir. Meanwhile, on the other side of the riverbank, raging fires were still raging wildly through the mountains and forests.

The firelight had already dyed half the sky orange-red.

Li Yufei had been walking with Zhang Yunqi the whole time, and nothing seemed amiss until she suddenly remembered something. She turned her head and looked down towards the pine-covered slope, her face instantly turning pale: "Shanwa is still over at the sheep pen! The fire is burning that way!"

Everyone stopped and looked in the direction Li Yufei was pointing.

That was the direction the fire was spreading; thick smoke blotted out the sky, making it impossible to see the exact location of the sheep pen.

At that moment, the air was deathly still.

No one spoke.

Everyone knows that turning back now would mean certain death!

But if we don't rescue her, that cute and pitiful little girl is doomed!
Lu Yuanzhou stepped forward, wiping the sweat and ash from his eyes. His gaze swept quickly between Li Yufei's pale face and the distant fire. Despite his inner struggle, he calmly analyzed, "Everyone's in terrible condition right now. Going in directly would be suicide. Yufei, we need to go to the village committee right now and call the fire department. Before the fire department arrives, have the village committee organize the villagers to put out the fire together. Maybe that mountain boy still has..."

Plop.

A ring of water splashed up on the surface below!
Li Yufei immediately realized something, turned her head, and found that Zhang Yunqi had already disappeared.

When he reappeared, his figure was already on the other side.

His years of consistent running have given him excellent cardiopulmonary function and super short-distance sprinting ability. Instead of going along the river, he chose the edge of a black passage that had just been swept by flying fire and whose main fuel had been burned to ashes. With his water-soaked jacket tied around his head, he ran wildly towards the sheep pen amidst thick smoke and the occasional licking flames!

The heatwave distorted the air.

Flames are engulfing the pine forest.

Burning leaves fell like raindrops.

Countless new sparks, carried by updrafts, soared into the sky like a reverse meteor shower, dancing, scattering, and falling in the air... igniting a prairie fire and billowing thick smoke. However, just as the young man's figure disappeared into the smoke, his voice came from the other side of the shore: "The main fire is currently in the southeast, the wind direction is stable, there's still a chance! But if the fire suddenly accelerates and blocks the road, don't send anyone down to find me!"

Li Yufei opened her mouth.

In that instant, her ears rang loudly, and then her mind went blank.

She seemed to remember nothing, and she dared not think of anything. She silently squatted on the ground, hugging her knees, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

For most of her eighteen years, she was happy, blissful, and fulfilled. It seemed like she could get whatever she wanted. In her classmates' eyes, she was a carefree and high-class princess. The few times she felt wronged, sad, or upset, and secretly shed tears, were all caused by this annoying boy. But she doesn't blame him now, and she won't blame him in the future. She will never blame him again. Yet he still bullies her and tries to fill her heart with despair!

The girl looked up.

Tears welled up in my eyes!
Lu Yuanzhou took a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed it to Li Yufei: "President Zhang is very brave, Yufei. I believe he will be blessed with good fortune. However, many of our classmates who are seriously injured need medical treatment right now, and we..."

"Get away!"

Li Yufei's voice was as cold as a knife.

Lu Yuanzhou's face turned bright red, but no one would notice at this point. Li Yufei didn't even look up at him, her nails digging into her flesh.

Time passed by, second by second.

It stretched endlessly, like being cut by a knife!
It felt like an eternity, yet also like a mere instant. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed girl shouted, "Zhang Yunqi has broken out!"

Li Yufei's wide eyes saw the edge of the thick smoke on the opposite bank suddenly shake, and the young man almost stumbled out.

His coat, soaked through and half-dried by the sun, was tattered, and his face and hands were covered in soot and scratches. But on his back, he carried a small, curled-up little girl steadily.

On this side of the shore, enthusiastic applause immediately erupted!
Even the injured student struggled to his feet, waving his arms excitedly and shouting his name!

Zhang Yunqi, standing on the opposite bank, was stunned by the scene for a moment before realizing that the cheers were for him.

He felt inexplicably strange.

He accurately located a black passage that had been burned to ashes, broke through the smoke blockade, and rushed all the way to the sheep pen. Fortunately, the wind direction was still stable, and the main fire area was probably still about fifty meters away from the sheep pen.

The wildfire spreads at a rate of about one or two meters per second in flat areas, but in reality, due to wind, terrain, and fuel, the actual danger arrives at least two minutes later. There's also a dry area between the pine forest and the sheep pen where Shanwa's grandfather grows peanuts, which largely avoids the radiation from the fire. Therefore, if the rescue of Shanwa follows the correct route and is carried out properly, he isn't actually in great danger, but the remaining radiant heat is still difficult to withstand; his skin is burning, he has difficulty breathing, and he inhales a lot of smoke, leaving him covered in soot.

Thinking about all this, Zhang Yunqi didn't feel like he had just escaped a disaster. Saving Yan Shi back then was a life-threatening ordeal, but that happened in an instant. This time, he had some time to think and choose the best path and strategy. He carried Shanwa across the water and soon reached this side of the riverbank.

At this moment, the students' applause became even more enthusiastic.

Looking at his thin figure, everyone felt as if the black ash covering his body was a supreme medal, and his hair, licked by flames, exuded masculine charm!

Some of the female students were so excited that they cried!
When Zhang Yunqi got closer, he had just put Shanwa down and hadn't even had a chance to speak when a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and a girl with a faint fragrance threw herself into his arms.

It is exceptionally soft.

Zhang Yunqi looked down.

This is a ball that is 1.6 meters long and weighs 160 pounds. It is lying on him, crying with snot and tears streaming down its face, as if its father had been brought back to life.

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