After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

"Slow down! Slow down!"

"Wait, let me check again!"

Though it was urgent, when it was finally time to start digging, Fang Huai wished he could sit inside the bucket of the excavator.

With each scoop, Fang Huai had to lie on the ground, raising his hand to block the dust, taking a close look.

An hour passed, and his knees were already stained with the deep yellow of the earth.

His body was also whitened by the dust.

It had to be said, the speed of the excavator far surpassed their own, having dug a hole several times larger than what they had managed in half a day, within merely an hour.

Several swollen corpses surfaced.

But a crevice also appeared, revealing the outline of a room.

"Stop!" Fang Huai quickly raised his hand and then crouched down in the pit.

Looking closely, this didn’t seem to be a shop belonging to the vegetable market but rather a room from the neighboring building that had collapsed.

In that gap, Fang Huai also spotted the figure of an elderly woman.

You couldn’t see the whole body as it was partially buried, and it was buried quite deep indeed.

No wonder they hadn’t found anything no matter how much they dug; it was all under this solid slab of concrete!

The excavator had collapsed the entire stair structure above, only then revealing this space!

During the earthquake, the surrounding floors had buckled here, causing collisions, collapses, alternating concealments, and even fissures in the earth which had swallowed some of the remains, making it impossible to guess from one spot where beneath lay.

There was a floor below, so some of the shops in the vegetable market might be even further down.

"There’s an old lady inside! It looks like there’s a building pressed below that hasn’t fully collapsed. Bring all the life detection equipment over to check!"

Fang Huai’s voice energized everyone at the scene.

"There really is still someone, there really is!!" Captain Zhang shouted excitedly, "Bring all life detection equipment over! Everyone else, prepare for the rescue!"

"Yes!"

The voices of the soldiers around surged.

The excavator driver also took a long breath of relief.

He had dug up corpses all day long, until his eyes had reddened; at last, at last, they found someone alive!

They began searching everywhere.

"Nothing here!"

"No signal on my side either!"

There was a fully-equipped Earthquake Rescue Team and equipment from the Second Squadron present; there were quite a few detectors, each soldier holding life detection devices of various workings, searching all around, but they received mostly negative answers.

But now, they weren’t as desperate as when they had initially found no signals, because they had also previously searched here and found nothing.

But as they dug deeper, they found something.

Soon, a rescue team member standing on the edge of the pit with a camera-enabled detector waved his hand.

"Over here... come and see! There’s a lateral space, the probe went in! Looks like there’s a signal! Look at this thermal image, should be a person, right?"

An infrared life detection device works by emitting infrared radiation, transforming it into an electrical signal to detect the amount of radiation returning and hence sense temperature.

This device was the least useful because, with the current technology, it can barely penetrate walls, let alone glass. But if it detected something, that was a sure sign of life!

Moreover, at this point, the thermal imaging had some distinct advantages that other detectors did not possess.

Fang Huai rushed over in three steps, scrutinized the display, and then pointed to the faint figure on the screen, his voice filled with passion:

"Yes, that’s a person! His legs must be blocked or pressed down! There’s no heat signal there, but his upper body is all outside radiating heat, there’s a good chance he’s alive! The heat signal isn’t strong, it’s far from here, but as the signal is passing through without obstruction, there are blurred images on both sides, there must be a rectangular space. Start digging in that spot first, and let’s see if there’s a wall panel that we can lift as a whole!"

The rescue team member holding the display was dumbfounded.

How could one thermal imaging signal lead to such a precise evaluation in such a short time? Did he have a computer for a brain?

Yet everyone present was getting more and more exhilarated as they listened.

"Quick, rescue! Once that’s done, position the excavator bucket!"

...

Fang Huai didn’t have a computer in his head; he was just incredibly excited.

The old lady was likely "Li Mingcui, the last survivor of Beichuan", and the thought of "the last survivor of Beichuan" no longer being "the last survivor" filled him with hope.

Plus, a night’s forced sleep had relaxed his body, putting his brain into a state of high-speed operation.

Moreover, since arriving in Beichuan, he had been extremely cautious, subconsciously afraid that some decision of his could result in a person who had survived in the previous life losing their life.

But now, with no new survivor information in Beichuan, he let go, he became bold.

From now on, to save one was to gain one.

Forget other concerns; not to save was to condemn to death.

The soldiers outside had never seen such good news; the news of four people found alive rapidly spread, and within 20 minutes, two rescue teams had arrived on the scene, bringing another excavator with them.

Fang Huai lay next to the excavator, closely observing and directing the rescue, setting an example, and they followed suit, opening a passage from the side and started unearthing the vegetable market from both ends.

...

In one afternoon, six living people were found in the vegetable market.

In these somber days, this was undoubtedly a miracle from the earth, and many people stopped by to watch.

They were so eager to witness a miracle; even when an utterly unrecognizable face was carried out alive, many would shed tears and exclaim, "So great, so great."

Among those who came out, two had passed away.

One was one of the two men from the start, quite intact except for several swollen areas and no apparent external injuries. However, shortly after being carried out, he passed away; the doctor suggested it was likely internal bleeding leading to organ failure.

There was another man.

Already barely clinging to life, hearing the sound of the excavator, he used the last of his strength to pick up a rock and hit the floorboard. After being rescued, it seemed as if he knew he wasn’t going to make it. He gave a disjointed final statement, mentioning where his bank card was along with the PIN, asking the rescuers to inform his wife and daughter, and he passed away within minutes.

In the end, he said he wanted to see the sunlight one last time, and Fang Huai opened the cloth that had been covering his eyes.

A few minutes later, he was gone.

Actually, at that time, he should have mentioned something else, because the state would transfer the deceased’s bank assets to the surviving direct relatives without the need for a bank card or password. Only if there were no living direct relatives would the funds revert to the state treasury for post-disaster reconstruction.

But perhaps, he felt that whatever he said could not be as important as leaving some money for his wife and daughter. He no longer had time to think.

Those present did not grieve his passing, because compared to others, his departure was relatively fortunate. After all, he was able to say his piece and see the light.

The soldier acting as a government staff member took down his words on paper. With many wounded being treated outside, if his wife and daughter were found alive after the disaster, they would receive it.

Before sealing the paper in the envelope, Fang Huai thought for a moment, then took the pen and added a line:

"I am very blessed to have met you all in life, I love you, keep living well."

He wasn’t expanding his will but rather filling in the unsaid words based on the man’s last message.

The soldier took the note, and unable to control his emotions for a moment, a tear fell onto the paper. He carefully dried the tear with his hand and solemnly sealed it in the envelope, choking out:

"I truly hope they get to see this."

Fang Huai didn’t say anything and continued walking toward the vegetable market.

Only his shadow, under the sunlight, was trembling slightly.

...

May, the nineteenth.

PM, 2:20.

Two days had passed.

Fang Huai hadn’t slept for two days.

It had rained.

Then it cleared up.

The rain had washed the land and buildings, carrying away some of the scent of decay and disinfectant.

But what couldn’t be diluted were the memories.

As the bodies were all buried in a large platform next to Beichuan Middle School, countless candles, incense, and paper offerings were gathered here.

There were also many fresh flowers sent by volunteers. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Standing there, Fang Huai thought it was also a suitable place to plant trees, letting the trees inherit their lives, to bathe in the sunlight in their stead.

The people here must have yearned to bathe in the sunlight when they were alive.

In those two days, no large-scale miracles happened again; in the vegetable market, another person was rescued, and in other places, three more people were saved sporadically.

This morning, as everyone prepared for the memorial service, a building near the vegetable market saw another rescue—an old lady. What Fang Huai hadn’t expected was that when the old lady emerged, her son recognized her instantly, rushed forward in tears, and told the medical personnel her name.

"My mother is named Li Mingcui!"

At that moment, Fang Huai’s pupils quaked.

She was Li Mingcui!

Not in the vegetable market, but in a collapsed building next to it!

The last survivor remained the last survivor.

The will of Heaven is hard to defy.

Yet, due to the appearance of that old lady, Fang Huai firmly believed that there were no more survivors left in the market. He boldly ordered the entire vegetable market to be dug up, and they rescued several people.

The will of Heaven can also be defied.

The success is in human effort.

The day of the public mourning had come, but Fang Huai, looking at those behind him crying, who were prevented from disturbing the large public cemetery and were kept outside the red line, really wanted to shout to them:

The rescue isn’t over! We are only mourning the people underground for a moment. We will continue rescuing afterward!

Yes, the rescue isn’t over.

In the previous life, after the day of the public mourning ended, the people of Beichuan evacuated in large numbers due to the flood threat from Tangjia Mountain. But in this life, the rescue would go on.

Thousands of soldiers vowed to dig into the land to the very end, like in Hanwang, extracting all the bodies from the darkness that once terrified the living.

Even Wangjiayan, which buried the old county town, and Jingjia Mountain behind the school, where the new town lay buried, had many large excavators digging.

This site, dubbed the most terrifying in the aftermath, will no longer exist. The deceased will see the light of day again, the ruins will be excavated flat, leaving only the remains already buried underground. After fruitless searches, they too will be buried.

The souls will all be laid to rest.

Behind the public cemetery, a flagpole was holding up a great red flag, unfurled halfway up the flagpole in the wind.

The flag was red, symbolizing revolution; the stars were yellow, shining brightly upon the red land. The large star represented the Party, and the four small stars represented the workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie, and national bourgeoisie. The five stars together represented the unity of the entire nation.

At this moment, the entire nation was at a standstill, waiting on the roadside, at home, in cars, conference rooms, in front of TV sets...

At 2:27 PM, all traffic came to a halt, websites turned to black and white, TV station logos were in black and white, flags were lowered to half-mast at home and abroad, awaiting the next minute.

The mournful 2:28 arrived.

Suddenly, air raid sirens sounded in the distance.

Division Commander Wang stood at the side of all the officers and soldiers and commanded with authority:

"Remove hats! Honk your horns!! Observing silence, three minutes!"

The soldiers all stood at attention, removed their hats, and held them in their left hands.

"Woo..."

"Beep..."

"Honk..."

The car horns sounded, persisted, and blared for 10 straight minutes.