Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang's expression faltered slightly.

This isn't like Junzi at all. Didn't he already explain everything before?
If anyone causes trouble or dares to interfere, deal with them directly and expose them without giving the locals any face.

He took the microphone without making a sound.

Then he turned to his secretary, Du Nini, who was still standing next to him, and said, "You can go out first. I need to talk to your brother about a few things."

Lu Nini was worried that Lu Yang would criticize his brother for not handling things well.

But she obediently went out and closed the door.

After Lu Nini left, Lu Yang removed his hand from the phone receiver and said into the phone, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Dajun stammered on the phone, "I don't know if I should say it, but I think, Yangzi, you probably want to know..."

He didn't refer to himself as "boss" on the phone, so it must have been a private matter.

Lu Yang furrowed his brows, his expression deepening, and immediately pressed, "Just say it, stop beating around the bush..."

"It's Commissioner Du..."

Upon hearing "Commissioner Du, she...", Lu Yang felt as if his heart had been suddenly gripped by an invisible hand, and his impatience when Da Jun stammered instantly turned into a trace of fear.

He demanded sharply, "What happened to her?!"

"Brother Yang..." Dajun's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with rare panic and lingering fear, "It's not about work... it's about Commissioner Du, she almost died!"

It turns out that the southern Jiangxi region has been suffering from continuous heavy rain and flooding.

Outside the city, in a place called Sanhe Township, a mudslide suddenly occurred behind a rural primary school that was donated by the Century Group and was still under construction.

Fortunately, it was late at night and no one was on campus, but several teachers on duty who lived in the school building were trapped.

Upon hearing the news, Du Lingling, the regional commissioner, immediately drove to the scene to direct the rescue efforts. However, she encountered another flash flood on the way, and her vehicle was swept off the road by the raging mudslide and stuck in the middle of the river, where she was trapped for a full day and night!
"...The rain was so heavy that the roads were completely destroyed, and rescue equipment couldn't get in. I took a few brothers, and we waded through waist-deep mud and water, crawling through in the dark..."

Dajun's voice trembled with relief, "Commissioner Du... along with her secretary and driver, the three of them were soaking in the cold mud, cold and hungry...Commissioner Du was already somewhat delirious at that time..."

Lu Yang's knuckles turned white as he gripped the receiver, a chill running down his spine and making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart, his voice deep and menacing: "Where is he now?"

"They're out! They're all out! They were taken to the regional hospital, the doctor checked them out and said they're fine, just a bit shaken, chilled, and exhausted. They'll keep them in the hospital for observation for a few days..."

Da Jun quickly added, trying to reassure him, "Brother Yang, don't worry too much, he's really alright, he just woke up not long ago..."

"Nothing wrong?" Lu Yang's voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth as he roared in a low voice, "You're saying you're nothing wrong after being trapped in mud and water for a whole day and night?!"

He abruptly interrupted Dajun, "Which hospital? Specific ward!"

"Gannan City First People's Hospital, third floor of the inpatient department, room 312..."

"Beep...beep...beep..."

Before Dajun could finish speaking, Lu Yang hung up the phone.

Lu Yang suddenly stood up, grabbed his suit jacket draped over the back of the chair, and moved so fast that he created a gust of wind.

He rushed to the office door and yanked it open.

Outside the door, Secretary Lu Nini stood anxiously waiting, clearly having overheard the fury in Lu Yang's voice.

Before she could ask what had happened, Lu Yang gave an unquestionable order: "Nini, book me the earliest flight to Luzhou right now!" He paused, seemingly thinking it was too slow, "Never mind, I'll go to the airport myself to coordinate. You don't need to come with me. Stay here and assist President Wei with the group's daily operations."

Before he finished speaking, he had already strode through the secretariat, leaving Lu Nini and a group of office clerks looking at each other in bewilderment, never having seen their boss so hurried and anxious.

Lu Yang sped along the way, using special channels to coordinate, and boarded the flight to Luzhou almost at the last minute before the cabin door closed.

Inside the cabin, he leaned against the porthole, watching the churning sea of ​​clouds outside, but it couldn't calm his inner anxiety.

The image of Du Lingling struggling in the icy muddy water haunted his mind like a nightmare.

He felt remorseful, guilty, and filled with an inexplicable rage—against this damned natural disaster and against himself for failing to protect her.

The plane landed in Luzhou, and Lu Yang did not linger at all.

He had already instructed the local branch office to prepare off-road vehicles.

The night was as dark as ink, and the roads in the mountainous area of ​​southern Jiangxi were muddy and difficult to travel after the heavy rain had just stopped. He drove himself, speeding along the winding mountain road, his headlights piercing the darkness like sharp swords, heading straight for the First People's Hospital of Southern Jiangxi.

In the early hours of the morning, a travel-worn Lu Yang finally arrived at the hospital.

The army, which had been waiting there, came forward with several security guards who were equally exhausted but alert.

"Brother Yang!" Dajun stepped forward to greet him.

Lu Yang had no time for pleasantries and immediately asked, "Which floor is the ward on? How is the patient?" As he asked, he tried to rush inside.

Da Jun looked troubled, rubbing his hands together, and stammered, "Um... Brother Yang... Commissioner Du... she's no longer in the ward..."

Why aren't you here?

"Um, she...she seems to have been discharged from the hospital."

"Discharged?!" Lu Yang abruptly stopped, his sharp gaze piercing Da Jun like a blade, his voice suddenly rising, "Who let her be discharged?! Didn't the doctor say she needed to be observed?!"

A surge of anger at being defied, mixed with a deeper sense of unease, arose within him.

Dajun shrank back, startled by the glare, and quickly explained, "It was...it was her own insistence on leaving, no one could stop her! She said the situation in Sanhe Township was still unclear, there were post-disaster resettlement, reconstruction, and that primary school...a whole bunch of things waiting for her to decide, she couldn't rest easy, and insisted on going back to the site to check it out herself..."

He helplessly spread his hands, "I've talked myself hoarse, but he's a government official. He's got the awareness to stay on the front lines even with minor injuries. How can we, an ordinary citizen, forcibly restrict his freedom?"

"Are you brainless?!" Lu Yang roared.

The veins on his forehead throbbed faintly.

"Can't persuade her? If you can't persuade her, why don't you go with her?! She just went through something like that, she's still weak, what if something happens to her on the way?"

Dajun felt a little wronged after being scolded, and muttered softly, "I... I was just waiting for you to come... Such a big matter, I didn't dare to make decisions on my own and keep following Commissioner Du, what if..."

"What if what if!" Lu Yang was so angry he wanted to kick him, but looking at Da Jun's bloodshot eyes and mud-covered body, he knew that he had done his best.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his turbulent emotions; now was not the time to erupt.

He turned and walked to his SUV, flung open the driver's side door, and shouted at Dajun, "Get in! Lead the way! To the scene in Sanhe Township!"

"Hey! Okay!" Dajun felt like he'd been granted a pardon and quickly jumped into the passenger seat.

With a roar of its engine, the off-road vehicle plunged back into the still-lingering night, kicking up mud as it sped towards the disaster-stricken Sanhe Township. (End of Chapter)