Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 562 Aftershocks and Returning Home

In the face of every disaster, soldiers and warriors are always at the forefront.

Therefore, after the filters of the sacred professions that we thought of as doctors, teachers, policemen, etc. in our childhood were somewhat shattered, soldiers are still everyone’s last soft spot and the people that everyone has always believed in.

They can always be seen in the most dangerous places.

On the screen, just as Zhang Yi and other soldiers were holding back their grief and continuing to dig through the rubble to rescue people, a jeep suddenly came speeding over.

It was their company commander who got off the car and shouted as soon as he got off:
"Company assemble! Company assemble!"

Zhang Yi and others gathered immediately as if it was a conditioned reflex. Although they were covered in dirt, they still stood straight.

The company commander said solemnly:
"Comrades, our superiors have just assigned us a task. The dam of the upstream reservoir has sunk, and with heavy rain, the dam is now in danger. Once it breaks, Tangshan will suffer even more disasters.

Our superiors ordered us to rush to the reservoir immediately and open the gates to release water within five hours.

I know everyone is very tired now, but we are soldiers and this also concerns the life safety of the people of Tangshan. Our mission is to protect the integrity of the country and the lives and safety of the people.

So without further ado, everyone follow me now."

The camera then turned to Miss Zhou. After she and her daughter got off at Sanhe Station, they learned that the bus going forward had stopped running, so they had no choice but to walk along the road to Tangshan.

There were many people on the road who were heading to Tangshan like them. After walking for a while, Miss Zhou suddenly saw a group of military vehicles parked on the side of the road. She couldn't help but walk up to a soldier who was driving and said:

"Comrade, are you going to Tangshan? Can you give us a ride?"

After that, she revealed her identity as a military family member. Her husband was a retired soldier, and her brother-in-law was still in the army.

The soldier looked embarrassed:

"I'm sorry, we have a mission and we are not allowed to bring anyone with us."

Master Zhou also understood the military discipline and did not want to make things difficult for the other side, so he could only continue on his way.

On the way, the two men simply ate two steamed buns at noon. When they arrived at the river, they found that it was blocked. It turned out that the bridge on the river was cracked and the pontoon bridge troops were repairing it.

Suddenly, Miss Zhou saw a Tangshan Iron and Steel Yellow River heavy truck. Her husband was a worker at Tangshan Iron and Steel, so Miss Zhou couldn't help but walk forward.

When she got closer, she found that the driver was her husband's comrade-in-arms, Hu Jun.

Of course, the two knew each other. Hu Jun immediately brought them into the cab and gave them some water and steamed buns to fill their stomachs.

After a brief chat, they understood each other's situation. One was returning to his parents' home to visit relatives, and the other was on a mission. Fortunately, they both escaped the earthquake, but now they were both worried about the safety of their families and were anxious to rush back.

However, the bridge has not been repaired yet, so no matter how anxious I am, I can only wait here.

The camera zoomed in to the air, and saw a convoy of green Jiefang trucks that stretched as far as the eye could see. From time to time, jeep command vehicles with antennas passed by, and the scene was quite spectacular.

At the end of the road, the bridge had collapsed and the pontoon bridge troops were building a temporary bridge.

The camera then moved to Tangshan City. At this time, everyone had been organized. People in various places were shouting with loudspeakers made of paper:
"The members should play a leading role as role models in the charge..."

Liu Yifei and Dou Xiao were still digging in the ruins when suddenly Dou Xiao dug out a photo frame. Inside was a photo of a family of five, and everyone in the photo was smiling happily.

Liu Yifei recognized at a glance that this was her former neighbor. Except for the father who was staying downstairs to cool off because it was too hot, his wife and three children were all buried in the building.

The father took the photo Liu Yifei handed over, wiped the dust off it with his hand, then put it in his arms and said calmly:

"Save the living first."

At this moment, there was a sudden buzzing sound. Everyone looked up and found that there were several planes circling in the air. The planes dropped parachutes and leaflets, and the leaflets were flying in the sky like snowflakes.

Dou Xiao picked up a flyer, took a look at it, and said to Liu Yifei:
"The flyer said that troops and medical teams had been sent to Tangshan."

After listening to this, Liu Yifei sighed and said:

"My second brother's unit is near Tangshan. I don't know where he is now or whether he has arrived in Tangshan."

At this time, Liu Yifei's second brother Zhang Yi was at the edge of the Douhe Reservoir. Their company had just arrived here and was shocked when they saw the huge crack on it.

Coupled with heavy rain and rising water levels, the dam is facing tremendous pressure. If the gates are not opened to release water, it is only a matter of time before the dam is destroyed. By then, Tangshan may really suffer a devastating disaster.

However, the motor was damaged by the earthquake and could not be used. The only way was to use a winch pushed by people to lift the gate.

You know, the gate weighs more than 40 tons.

But no matter how difficult it was, we had to bite the bullet. The winch room was just above the spillway and the huge gate was just below.

When everyone turned their eyes to the winch room, their expressions became solemn again, because it was also cracked by the earthquake and looked shaky.

If the winch room collapsed, the people inside would not only be crushed to death, but would also fall into an abyss of dozens of meters.

The audience in front of the screen also looked solemn. They knew that the Douhe Reservoir did not collapse in the end, but they still looked nervous when they saw the scenes in the movie.

Although it was dangerous, the soldiers did not hesitate at all, and the company commander led the way in rushing in.

However, due to limited space, the company commander could only arrange a group of four people, working in shifts of ten minutes, to use the strength of their arms to shake the winch and activate the gate weighing more than 40 tons.

This task is not easy, because the gate may only rise one centimeter when the car rotates a hundred times.

It was almost six o'clock, and Dou Xiao and Liu Yifei, who had been tired all day in Tangshan City, were ready to go back home and take out the pots and pans to cook.

Because their building was newly built not long ago, although it cracked, it did not collapse. Not only did the residents living in the building survive, they were also able to move their belongings out.

Dou Xiao asked Liu Yifei to stay outside and went into the building towards home.

The camera switches to Mr. Zhou's side again. At this time, the bridge has been successfully repaired and is barely passable.

Two soldiers stood at the bridge head holding small red flags, directing the vehicles forward. Hu Jun finally drove the Yellow River heavy truck slowly onto the bridge.

Mr. Hu and Mr. Zhou couldn't help but lean out of the car window to take a look. They felt dizzy and could see obvious holes and cracks. The bridge could collapse at any time.

And at this moment, the most powerful aftershock with a magnitude of 7.1 suddenly arrived.

It gets dark later in the summer, so the impact of this devastating aftershock appeared clear on the screen.

The ground of the entire city was heaving. Buildings that had not completely collapsed quickly collapsed and fell to the ground amid the violent shaking.

The bridge, which was about to collapse, began to break, and the soldier commanding at the bridgehead was thrown directly into the river. Hu Jun noticed that the vehicles behind him also fell into the river one by one.

At this moment, he didn't care about anything else and stepped on the accelerator frantically. The car roared forward and finally rushed to the other side before the bridge collapsed completely.

Hu Jun and Zhou Gongzi both breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like they had survived a disaster. The camera turned again, and Liu Yifei watched Dou Xiao enter the building. She just breathed a sigh of relief when she suddenly felt the ground shaking.

Liu Yifei immediately shouted:
"Jianguo, come out quickly, come out quickly!"

At this time, Dou Xiao also appeared at the window on the second floor and was about to jump down in panic, but suddenly a large piece of concrete slab fell down and hit him heavily on the back.

Dou Xiao fell heavily to the ground like a fallen leaf.

Liu Yifei rushed over like crazy, hugged Dou Xiao in her arms, and cried out:

"Build a nation! Build a nation!"

Dou Xiao raised his head with difficulty and was about to speak but suddenly he spat out a mouthful of blood, and then he was silent after a while.

Liu Yifei couldn't stop crying at this time, she just hugged Dou Xiao tightly, without moving.

To be honest, in this shot, Liu Yifei contributed her best acting skills since she started her career, and it was very contagious.

At this moment, a silent shot of her back can allow the audience to clearly feel her sadness.

When shooting this scene, there were many NGs and her performance could not satisfy Liu Zhou. Even with Liu Zhou's personal guidance, the results were still unsatisfactory.

In the end, Liu Zhou felt that she might know too little about the disaster and did not have an overall construction for this role.

Therefore, this shot had to be postponed. Liu Zhou gave her the materials of Liu Heng's field trip and also invited some eyewitnesses at that time to tell her about some of the events that happened back then.

The effect of this was acceptable. Liu Yifei was obviously able to get into the role more easily. Not only did she pass this shot smoothly, but all the subsequent scenes also went much more smoothly.

After she finished filming and went back, she rested for a long time before she recovered.

With her performance in this movie, Liu Zhou felt that she deserved a Best Supporting Actress award.

The camera on the screen turned to the dam, where the company commander was pushing the winch with three soldiers in the winch room. Suddenly, there was a shock, and the already cracked winch room finally collapsed.

Fortunately, it did not collapse completely. However, when Zhang Yi rushed into the winch room, he saw that the other three soldiers were killed on the spot. Only the company commander was still alive, but he was also seriously injured.

Zhang Yi called three soldiers to carry out the bodies of the fallen comrades, and then tried to replace the company commander, but was pushed away by the company commander. He shouted:
"Don't worry about me, the gate should be up soon, pull the winch."

Zhang Yi immediately took over with the other two soldiers and pushed the winch together.

At this point they had been taking turns rocking for nearly six hours and were already exhausted, relying entirely on willpower to keep going.

Suddenly, the winch stopped moving.

After a while, workers from the Douhe Reservoir came running over and shouted:

"The gate has been lifted to the top, you can let go now."

Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the news, and then he and the two soldiers collapsed under the winch at the same time, gasping for breath.

The company commander was still standing with a smile on his face, then he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily to the ground.

Zhang Yi was stunned. Regardless of his fatigue, he stood up and rushed to the company commander, shouting:
"Company commander!"

The scene changed again, and Hu Jun was driving Zhou Gongzi and her daughter slowly towards Tangshan. At this time, there were not only them in the car, but the carriage was also full of people.

They all want to go back to Tangshan, to go home.

Along the way, there were also a lot of refugees of all kinds, who were walking forward silently or numbly, heading towards the same direction as them, Tangshan.

They all want to go home!

In the early hours of the evening, Zhang Yi's troops returned to their base with the bodies of the fallen company commander and three soldiers.

All of them were dishevelled and too tired. Coupled with the sacrifice of possession, it was a double blow to their physical and emotional health. When they returned to the base, they lay down on the ground and didn't want to get up.

But at this moment the battalion commander came over and shouted:

"Comrades, we must eat. If we don't eat, how can we have the energy to save people tomorrow? I know that everyone is very concerned about the sacrifice of their comrades and has been busy from morning till now.

But other troops couldn't arrive so quickly, so we had to go first. The first two days after the earthquake were the golden period for rescuing lives, and those buried under the rubble were counting on us.

So everyone go eat and eat more! ”

The battalion commander was also in a bad mood at the moment. More than twenty soldiers from his battalion had died in the day.

Many of them are young men in their twenties, and they are also his comrades-in-arms who have been with him day and night. They were training together yesterday, but today they are separated from each other.

Especially the company commander of the first company, who has been following me since he was a recruit, and it has been ten years now. The relationship between the two is not just as simple as superiors and subordinates, but also as close as brothers.

Therefore, the battalion commander was also deeply saddened by his sacrifice.

But now is not the time to be sad. Disaster relief is the top priority, and as the battalion commander, he cannot show any weakness.

If he falls, the morale of the soldiers below will be greatly affected.

When the soldiers heard what the battalion commander said, they forced themselves to drink a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns despite their fatigue. Then they could no longer bear it and fell to the ground and fell asleep.

Although Zhang Yi was very tired at this time, he couldn't sleep. He asked for leave from the battalion commander and walked towards home.

The base is not far from his home. He has been worried about the safety of his family all day today. Now that he has some free time, he has to go and see them no matter what.

However, when he arrived at the destination, what he saw was a collapsed ruin. At this time, he also met a familiar neighbor, who was the father in the family photo that Dou Xiao had dug out.

The news he got from him made his heart sink. Although the bodies of his family members had not been excavated yet, it seemed that they were in great danger.

He really wanted to rush over and dig through the rubble, but he couldn't do it alone now.

Then, under the guidance of the father, he came to his brother-in-law Dou Xiao's house.

Looking around, I saw my sister under a makeshift shed.

"Xiao Qian!"

When Liu Yifei heard the voice, she thought she was hallucinating, but she couldn't help but turn her head. When she saw that it was really Zhang Yi, she burst into tears.

Liu Yifei, who had been suppressing her sadness, finally relaxed after seeing her relatives. She called out "Second Brother" and cried while hugging Zhang Yi.

Liu Yifei on the screen was crying, and many audience members outside the screen were also crying. Even some of the leaders had tears in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)