Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapter 233 232. Life or death uncertain
"Crash..."

The rainstorm continued to be fierce, making a deafening noise, so that Lin Xiao could not hear the voice on the phone clearly.

"What did you say, Brother Hui?"

"Something happened to Qin Zhen. I just received a call!"

Tu Hui said nervously.

As a veteran in Chaobai Town, he is the person with the best temper in the town.

Tu Hui's calmness, whether it was due to his hopeless career or his detachment from the world after he was forty, lasted for many years and formed a stereotype of him in the whole town.

This was the first time that Lin Xiao heard him speak so unsteadily.

But it’s not Tu Hui’s fault.

When Lin Xiao understood what he said, his heart skipped a beat. After hesitating for two seconds, he suddenly jumped up from his chair.

"What happened? Brother Hui, please explain clearly!"

"I don't know the details, but they said there was a dangerous situation at Zengjia Bridge, Qin Zhen took the lead in disaster relief, and then people were washed into the river... and their whereabouts are unknown now!"

"..."

Lin Xiao heard Tu Hui's words clearly, but he didn't know how to respond for a moment. He inexplicably felt like he was in a dream.

Speechless for a moment.

There was a crackling sound of rain outside the window, even accompanied by the rumble of thunder.

"Lin Xiao?!" Tu Hui called out to him.

Lin Xiao finally woke up from his dream, and without saying a word, he rushed out.

When he reached the door, he braked urgently and said to the confused village director in the meeting room: "Lao Li, I'm going back to the town. You hold on!!"

The village chief observed the man's expression and knew that something big must have happened, so he nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, okay, don't worry, Lin Zhen, I..."

Lin Xiao couldn't hear the rest of the words and ran downstairs.

I rushed into the car in the rain without hanging up the phone.

"Brother Hui, is... is there a dangerous situation at Zengjiaqiao Reservoir?" Lin Xiao had calmed down a little, but was still panicking and incoherent.

"It's not a reservoir, it's a dike!"

"Dike?"

"Yes, I'm not sure about the details... Are you driving?"

Tu Hui asked seriously.

Lin Xiao started the car, took a deep breath and said: "Yes... I'll go to the scene now!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

In the end, Tu Hui did not say anything to dissuade him, but said: "Go ahead... It's raining too hard, you must pay attention to safety when driving!"

"it is good!"

"Qiao Xuyang is at the scene, so I won't go over there. Someone in the town has to be on guard!"

"okay!"

"… You must pay attention to safety!"

"……rest assured!"

There was a long silence before the other end hung up the phone.

Lin Xiao looked straight ahead, holding the steering wheel tightly in the dark car. The heavy rain hit the car body like hail, making crackling sounds.

The car drove smoothly on the country concrete road and soon arrived at the slightly wider national highway.

There are few vehicles on the road.

Even the street lights were out. I don’t know where the circuit failure occurred.

On such a rainy night, it would be difficult to repair the equipment.

Lin Xiao turned on the high beam and was completely unaware of the changes in the outside world. His mind was in a mess, yet he was surprisingly calm.

He had no time to think about Qin Zhenggang's safety, nor did he have the energy to guess what had happened.

After learning the shocking and horrifying news.

His mind seemed to be kidnapped, with thoughts popping up one after another without any connection.

The latest thought was that Qin Zhenggang, as the head of a town, was a high-ranking official. He wanted to get his son who was in high school into the best class, and his son had caused trouble at school and wanted to be expelled. Such "small matters" had to be handled by the county leaders and the third-party companies.

Lin Xiao found it unbelievable when he thought about it. This mayor was too cowardly.

But then he realized.

There are so many smart people in this world that all walks of life are full of fraud and deception. What people eat, drink, wear and use are all the result of technology and hard work created by their compatriots using their intelligence and talents.

This era is too smart.

This makes a cowardly fool like Qin Zhenggang seem particularly valuable.

Putting aside his various identities as friend, colleague, etc., Lin Xiao still hopes that there will be more people like him and hopes that Qin Zhenggang can live longer.

"It's okay, it's okay..."

"The current flood situation is not yet at flood level. Even if you fall into the river, it's okay..."

"It's fine……"

Lin Xiao's mind was in a mess and he didn't even know what he was thinking.

The car sped along, its headlights tearing through the darkness and penetrating the rain curtain, then ruthlessly leaving the darkness and rainstorm behind.

At this moment, the world is in a downpour, but it seems silent.

……

Wait for Lin Xiao to follow the navigation and arrive at Zengjia Village.

On the high embankment, the light of the flashlights formed a fire dragon, which was extremely conspicuous in the dark night of heavy rain.

The dike is at the innermost part of Zengjia Village.

To get there, you first have to cross the village cement road, then cross the rice field dirt road, and finally use your feet to pedal to climb up.

Below the dike is the Chaoshui River.

The dike was built with government funding ten years ago. Its function is to prevent waterlogging and protect farmland, ensuring that contiguous paddy fields are not affected by floods.

Because of this function, the dike is built two to three meters higher than the paddy field, and five to ten meters higher than the water surface on the other side.

Before the dike was built.

The villages along the river can directly reach the river bank. Often, at the end of the farmland is grassland or woods, which are used for grazing cattle or planting trees. Naturally, the grassland and woods also belong to the village collective.

Later, the country strengthened environmental protection and strictly prohibited farmers from raising cattle and pigs.

Overnight, the traditional lifestyle of every household raising cattle and pigs changed abruptly. Cattle and pigs were sold and the cow pens and pig sheds were converted to other uses.

Private cattle raising was no longer allowed, so the grasslands and woods along the river banks became vacant.

Immediately following a document from the provincial government, a high dike was erected between the farmland and the river bank, which not only represented the end of a traditional era, but also provided an additional guarantee for the harvest for the farmers who depended on the weather for their livelihood.

Although the dike is made of earth, it is three or four meters wide and can be walked or cycled on, and it connects all the way to the town.

Below the dike, there is still a distance of several meters or even longer from the river bank.

This thing is supposed to be strong and safe enough for flood prevention, and there is no flood yet...

No matter how Lin Xiao thought about it, he felt that there should be no danger.

But Tu Hui’s phone call cannot be fake.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. He drove the car to the end of the cement road in Zengjia Village, and further ahead was a dirt road.

Due to heavy rain for several days, the dirt road was already muddy and his car could not pass at all.

So he had no choice but to stop the car, put on his raincoat, turn on the flashlight, and run towards the fire dragon on the dike.

The heavy raindrops hit my face painfully.

But he didn't feel anything at all. He walked through the mud and waded through the sewage, and it took him only ten minutes to reach the destination on the two-kilometer journey.

During this period, the fire dragon on the dike moved eastward several dozen meters.

The sound in my ears became increasingly noisy: the sound of rain, shouting, and the roar of excavators formed a solemn stage play on the high embankment.

Lin Xiao walked on the slope and climbed up the dike with difficulty.

No one noticed him.

The excavator was working on the slope of the dike on the Chaoshui River side, digging out the mud and sand on the side and filling up a culvert with fast-flowing water.

This duct is very strange.

The turbulent water overflowed from the Chaoshui River, hit the dike, and headed towards the hundreds of acres of paddy fields on the other side.

Instead, it gurgles down from the canal on the paddy field side, passes through the sluice gate under the dike, and rushes towards the Chaoshu River.

In theory, the purpose of building dikes is to prevent floods, and they are the last barrier to protect farmland and villages when floods occur.

Therefore, whenever a dangerous situation occurs, it should be the water from the tidal river that overflows the dike.

But now, the water in the paddy fields flows through the culvert under the dike and flows into the Chaoshu River.

Lin Xiao was very puzzled.

Looking left and right, I found that on both sides of the dike, the water levels of the paddy fields and the river, which should have had a difference of three or four meters in height, were now almost the same.

Of course, the water level on the paddy field side is slightly higher.

That is why the water here flows through the culvert and into the river.

But the water level difference on both sides is very close.

In other words, after days of heavy rain, the water level of Chaoshui River has risen a lot, and has even overflowed the original river channel.

This can actually be regarded as a sign of a flood.

Realizing this, Lin Xiao also understood why the excavator was digging the soil desperately to block the culverts and sluice gates under the dike.

Because if we don't block the gate quickly.

Once the water level of the Chaoshui River continues to rise, the turbulent flood will immediately flow backwards and rush towards the paddy fields.

If the flood was more severe, it would not be impossible for the dike to be breached and the flood to destroy hundreds of acres of paddy fields or even directly submerge the village.

After all, the dam of Zengjiaqiao Reservoir is made of concrete, and there is a risk of pipe burst and dam destruction.

This dike is made of just earth. Once a flood comes, the possibility of the dike being destroyed and the fields being flooded will be even higher.

No wonder the construction team was repairing the situation in the rain; the situation looked very dangerous.

However, after Lin Xiao briefly understood it, he quickly discovered that something was wrong.

The culvert under the dike is not caused by water erosion, but is deliberately left when the dike was built. The culvert is constructed of concrete pipes with gates at both ends, which can be manually controlled to open and close, so as to discharge flood water flexibly and prevent flooding as the flood situation changes.

If the water level of Chaoshui River rises sharply and triggers a flood risk, we can just close the gate of the culvert.

Why would excavators have to work overnight to repair the hole and dig up soil to fill it?
Lin Xiao became more alert and realized that things were not simple.

Qin Zhenggang's disappearance into the water was probably closely related to this incident. He looked around, trying to find Qin Zhen in the crowd to confirm that Tu Hui's news was just a mishearing in a hurry, a beautiful and stupid rumor, and a close call.

But under the cover of night when heavy rain caused the building to collapse.

People were coming and going on the dike, all in a hurry, and all wearing raincoats of similar style, so it was impossible to tell who was who.

Towards the east of the dike, every few meters there was a figure and a flashlight, shouting something desperately towards the vast water.

"Qin Town..."

"Qin Zhenggang..."

"Old Qin..."

The voice is hoarse and full of tragedy.

Because the searching crowd had gone far away, Lin Xiao couldn't hear it clearly.

It was not until he realized that this was a purely spontaneous search and rescue team, and they were looking for Qin Zhenggang, that his heart, which had been anxious all along, finally felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar, and he shivered with cold.

The heavy rain continued to fall like the sky falling.

In the distance, in Zengjia Village, lights are twinkling in the messy houses.

Lin Xiao was a little confused for a moment, not knowing what to do. After being stunned for several seconds, he ran towards the search and rescue crowd, wanting to help.

I had just run two steps when I bumped into someone, and my raincoat, which was soaked with rain, suddenly started to rain due to the collision.

Lin Xiao stood firm and was about to move forward.

At a glance, I could see clearly with the help of the light from the excavator that the man was actually Qiao Xuyang.

Qiao Xuyang looked numb, as if he was suffering from dementia.

He didn't even notice someone bumped into him, and he just kept walking forward without even raising his eyelids.

"Qiao Xuyang?!"

Lin Xiao held him back.

When he heard his name being called, Qiao Xuyang raised his eyelids slightly. After seeing the person in front of him clearly, he took another three seconds to digest the information. Then a light flashed in his eyes.

He moved his mouth, but in the end nothing came out.

But on this hopeless rainy night, the joy of seeing an acquaintance still brought a little comfort to his icy heart - even though this acquaintance was his mortal enemy at work whom he had always disliked.

"What happened? Where are the people from Qin Town?" Lin Xiao asked hurriedly.

Qiao Xuyang was stunned for several seconds.

Then he turned around and stammered out everything that had happened an hour ago.

This evening, after the county’s emergency dispatch meeting ended.

Qin Zhenggang realized the crisis of flood outbreak, and immediately took the flood prevention team to visit key points in the town.

Because Zengjiaqiao Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the town, a pipe burst occurred just two days ago.

Qin Zhenggang naturally focused his attention here.

He took Qiao Xuyang, the village director and several cadres and went straight to the reservoir. After a round of inspection, they found nothing unexpected and felt relieved.

Because the inspection was so detailed, it took three hours to check around the reservoir.

Qin Zhenggang did not dare to relax. After getting off the dike, he planned to patrol along the dike all the way to the town.

This trip is nearly ten kilometers.

Although the entourage was reluctant, they knew that it was difficult to disobey the emperor's orders during special times, so they had to follow.

As a result, before they had walked a hundred meters, the sound of rushing water under the dike attracted everyone's attention.

Qin Zhenggang was the first to discover the situation.

The sluice gate under the dike, which should have been tightly closed, was opened at some point.

You should know that Zengjia Village is a key location during the flood season.

During the days when heavy rain occurred, Qin Zhenggang came here almost every day, inspecting the reservoir and the dike, and he did not dare to slack off at all.

Yesterday, the culvert was still closed.

When Qin Zhenggang saw the rushing canal water gurgling toward the Chaoshu River through the wide-open culvert, he immediately became angry and asked the village director what was going on.

How would the village director know about this?

However, if you walk down the dike and take a quick look along the ridge of the field, you will find a clue.

It was already early August.

The second-season rice in the paddy fields has grown lush and strong like leeks after more than half a month of nourishment from water and soil.

According to the weather in previous years, the flood season should have passed by now.

The water level in the fields has dropped, making it more suitable for the growth of rice seedlings. Farmers only need to draw water from the canals for irrigation in time according to the water level in the fields.

However, the weather this year is abnormal, with continuous rain and now heavy rain for several days in a row.

The paddy fields, which should have been covered in mud long ago, are now soaked with water, almost covering the seven or eight-inch tall rice seedlings.

If this continues, this season's rice seedlings will be ruined.

Farmers are supposed to release water into the canals.

But the problem is that there have been heavy rains for days and the canals have been filled up.

Hoing the ridges will cause water to flow back into the fields, dealing a fatal blow to the paddy fields that are about to be flooded.

The rice seedlings were about to be flooded.

The villagers were extremely worried and came up with a bad plan. They secretly opened the gate of the culvert that passed through the dike and drained the water in the canal into the Chaoshui River.

This speculation can be supported by the holes dug in the ridges of the fields and the water flowing continuously from the fields into the canals.

In theory, this is a good way to drain water when there is continuous heavy rain and the water level in the fields and canals rises.

This is the original intention of building culverts during dike construction.

But the problem is that the water level of Chaoshui River has now risen sharply, and it is the prelude to a flood.

The water level in the river is now on the same level as that of the paddy fields. Only by relying on the protection of the dike can we temporarily avoid the risk of flooding.

Even more terrifying.

A sudden earthquake occurred in Niushan Town upstream, and a violent mountain torrent was about to flow down the river.

It is certain that the water level will rise again and even a major flood will break out by then.

Refers to today and tomorrow.

Compared with the safety of thousands of people in Zengjia Village and several villages downstream, the life and death of a few acres of paddy fields seems insignificant.

What's more, people who grew up in the south know that rice is like a water buffalo. It can barely survive for a while regardless of the amount of water. Even if it is submerged in water for three to five days, it can mostly survive after the water drains away.

Therefore, the rising water level in the fields is not a problem at all.

Qin Zhenggang was furious because the villagers opened the gate without permission, but now was not the time to hold them accountable. The most urgent task was to close the gate quickly. This was the most important thing.

However, several people searched around both sides of the culvert and fished the bottom of the canal, but they couldn't find the gate.

Everyone guessed that it must have been stolen by a passing villager.

Qin Zhenggang cursed and swore, but he could only dispatch an excavator to dig soil to fill the culvert, ask the village director to go to the village to bring sandbags, and find large rocks nearby to fill the culvert.

The more the merrier.

With everyone's efforts, they quickly found a few large rocks and blocked the culvert on this side of the paddy field, reducing the water flow a lot.

All that remains is to wait for the excavator to come and completely block the culvert.

The crisis was not serious.

But at this time, Qiao Xuyang suddenly tried to commit suicide and insisted on going down the other side of the ramp by himself, holding stones to fill the other end of the culvert.

The water level of the Chaoshui River has risen significantly at this time.

The location of the culvert was intentionally chosen close to the river, where the dike is only two or three meters away from the water surface.

If you lose your balance, you will fall directly into the rushing river.

Everyone knows the situation is critical.

So after discovering that Deputy Mayor Qiao was addicted to acting and was doing stupid things again, Qin Zhenggang quickly ordered him to come up.

Qiao Xuyang did not listen, thinking that his feat of filling the hole with rocks would surpass Qin Zhenggang and make him the most watched "advanced individual" in this flood season. After the flood season ends, he will publish a positive typical publicity report of at least 3,000 words in the "Flood Prevention Pioneer" column of the Chaobai Window public account.

Thinking of this, Qiao Xuyang's face was about to bloom with smiles.

I am also prepared to shout out some bold words like "Don't worry about me, everything is for the people."

As a result, before he could open his mouth, his feet slipped and he fell into the rushing river.

It's too late to say.

Qin Zhenggang was nearby and quickly reached out and grabbed him.

However, Qiao Xuyang was already on the slope, and in panic he exerted brute force.

The result of this series of tricks was that he dragged Qin Zhenggang into the ferocious river together.

There were two consecutive "thump" sounds.

The two of them were simultaneously submerged in the turbulent water and began to struggle and surge...

Lin Xiao heard about the part about falling into the water from other people later.

The incident happened on the spot.

Facing Lin Xiao's questioning, even though Qiao Xuyang was numb, he still deliberately kept it vague when talking about this part. He just said that he accidentally fell into the water, and then Qin Zhenggang reached out to rescue him.

Even in the water, Qin Zhenggang tried his best to lift him up, allowing him to be pulled up first by people on the shore.

When they tried to pull Qin Zhenggang back, he had already been swept away from the shore by the current, and he had no strength left, so the people on the shore watched him drift further and further away, floating up and down in the water...

After hearing the whole story, Lin Xiao's temples started pounding and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

Even at that time, he didn't know that Qin Zhen fell into the river because of Qiao Xuyang's suicide, but he only heard that in order to save this idiot, Qin Zhenggang, a man who could swim, missed the golden opportunity to be rescued, and was swept to the center of the river by the flood because he ran out of strength.

Lin Xiao was so angry that he wanted to kill the idiot in front of him.

But now is not the time to vent your anger.

Less than an hour had passed since Qin Zhenggang fell into the water, and his life was in danger, with his fate uncertain.

The water in the river is fast but not violent. For a southerner who grew up by the water, there is still hope.

Lin Xiao did not respond to Qiao Xuyang. He turned around and ran along the dike towards the search and rescue team.

I don't know how long it took.

The search and rescue boat sent by the county appeared on the river. County magistrate Liu Wang, who came upon hearing the news, also stood on the dike with a look of deep worry on his face.

Lin Xiao did not give up the search and rescue, and he and dozens of cadres and villagers who arrived one after another kept shouting loudly along the dike.

Qin Zhenggang's name rose and fell in the dark rainy night, carrying endless hope.

But the only response was the violent and merciless sound of rapid rain.

"Crash..."

(End of this chapter)