After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

If the rain were to suddenly stop at this moment, the scene here would probably be enough to inspire poets like Li Mengdu, who enjoy writing about water, to pen a poem.

Or perhaps someone with entrepreneurial ideas might pass by and decide to lease this area to create a fish pond or a fishing spot.

But unfortunately, it shouldn’t be a village inhabited by people.

The entire village had become a singular pond surface, with the second floors peeking out from the water like pavilions, while the relentless rain helped to raise the water level even higher.

It was said that the rain in Wangmo had started only since yesterday afternoon. In less than 30 hours, it had already risen so high that there was no doubt—if it continued for another day, the entire village would suffer the same tragedy as Luanping Town beneath Tangjia Mountain in Beichuan.

No, if this place hadn’t been a low-lying area in Wangmo, what could have been submerged might have been the entire county.

The term "flood ravage" didn’t quite fit the situation here. A more appropriate description would be "growth of the waters."

"Hey! Help!"

Not far away, several villagers were on the rooftop platform of a second-floor building, holding up a large tarp. They sheltered from the rain while frantically calling out for help.

Waves continually rolled beneath their feet. It was unclear if the water was moving toward the distance or swirling back and forth, but it never ceased. The villagers shivered in the cold wind, a picture of despair.

One could imagine how much more despair would have been added to the darkness had their four vehicles’ lights not arrived at the scene.

"Bang! Crack!!"

"Rumble..."

A distant streak of lightning illuminated the rolling dark clouds, as if a deity were lighting a cigarette above them, emitting three loud booms.

Fang Huai quickly waved at them to show that he had seen them, and then he yelled:

"Get inside! Wait for us to come over!"

The villagers, already startled by the thunder, upon hearing Fang Huai’s voice, immediately took shelter under the tarp and headed down the stairs into the building. They didn’t dare stray too far, and their heads kept moving around the stairwell on the rooftop.

Cao Yi observed the situation from inside the vehicle and coordinated the tasks for the team members through the two-way radio.

Once Cao Yi finished his arrangements, the personnel in each car ended their last moments of respite, exited the vehicles in unison, and began to merge with the rain as if they were dumplings dropped into boiling water.

"Clang, clang!"

Amidst the wind and rain, it was too cold. When everyone got out of the car, they slammed the car doors hard, making grand, forceful gestures to maintain some warmth in their spirits.

But it didn’t seem to help much, and soon there was a chorus of manly screams.

"Ao!"

"Eeee..."

"Crap! Crap, crap..."

It was like the hot water suddenly ran out in the shower.

Fang Huai at the bottom of the vehicle didn’t know how Cao Yi had arranged it, but everyone was already climbing on top of the vehicles, transporting kayaks amid their callouts.

The squad leaders from each vehicle also started handing out life jackets.

"Who can swim! Who’s good in the water! Raise your hands!"

As Cao Yi shouted, he walked over to the front vehicle, ready to appoint people for the task.

Nearly twenty people raised their hands.

Those who could flail a bit in the water had all raised their hands.

The rest were all non-swimmers, like Zhao Jinchen. The first time Fang Huai went on a rescue, Zhao stood ashore because he really couldn’t swim. If he had even the slightest ability to dog-paddle, he would have dared to jump in.

Other people aside, Cao Yi was aware of how well Fang was at swimming—he had managed to pull a fat old man out of the reservoir, and that took skill.

"Two kayaks, split up for the search and rescue, eight people get into the water, others stay on the shore to pull the safety ropes! Fang Huai, you lead..."

Cao Yi was about to give instructions.

Fang Huai raised his hand to wipe the rain off his face and interrupted, "Instructor Cao! I will swim over. There are too many houses, at least twenty or thirty. And there are people on the first floor. Two teams aren’t enough for the search and rescue. I’ll swim over and search the houses to the right! If there are people, the kayak can come support me later!"

Cao Yi immediately shouted, "Swim over? In such cold, flowing water, do you have no regard for your life?"

Fang Huai shook his head and raised his voice, "It can’t be colder than when I first joined the team and went on a police dispatch, right? There is no wind in the water; swimming actually feels warmer than being on a boat!"

At this moment, Fang Hongliang, who was quite a swimmer, stood up, "Indeed, it’s warmer to be in the water than on the shore! Since most are staying onshore for protection, a 50-meter rope for him should do! Just make sure to warm up first to avoid cramps. Wear a life jacket! And take two extra ones tied to your body!"

Fang Hongliang wasn’t just a driver; he was also the leader of the Rescue Team and had extensive experience in emergency rescue.

Fang Huai, listening, nodded in agreement as well.

Although the life jacket impeded swimming, it made it easier for his comrades onshore to spot him and manage the rope.

And the locals needed them as well.

Fang Huai thought about it and then looked over the water again, "The water level here is quite high, and the area is large! We could mount the outboard motor; that would speed things up!"

Cao Yi didn’t waste words, "Then, get ready, Hao Chengbin will cover you! You and your apprentice should work well together!"

But Hao Chengbin glanced around, for once shook his head, walked up to Fang Huai, put his arm around his shoulder, and said:

"Let Zhao Jinchen cover him! I need to steer the boat if we are using the outboard motor. The kid doesn’t need me to lead him anymore!"

Fang Huai too smiled, "Right, it would be a waste of combat power to have our squad leader covering me. Besides, Squad Leader Zhao can’t swim, so let him cover me! By the way, Instructor Cao, can you swim?"

At that remark, Zhao Jinchen’s face turned dark, as did Cao Yi’s.

Sensing their reactions, Fang Huai looked surprised and exclaimed loudly:

"Yo! Instructor Cao, don’t tell me you’re a non-swimmer too?! Tsk tsk, I grew up in natural rivers! You have an area of more than 120,000 square kilometers of sea in Zhejiang, which is twice the size of Chongqing. Didn’t you play in the water when you were a kid? Eh, it must be because your family was too well off! The ’landlord’s son’ really is different!"

The people around all turned to look, each holding back their laughter.

Cao Yi’s face twitched so fast that the raindrops couldn’t even settle on his skin. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Fuck, this kid never waits for the next day to get revenge.

It was only recently during a chat with Squad Leader Hao that Fang Huai found out Old Cao was actually from Zhejiang, and his family was fairly well-off. Seeing his tough guy demeanor and his very standard Mandarin, not to mention his ability to eat anything, he’d always thought Old Cao was from the north.

Old Cao turned around and walked away, cursing under his breath.

At that moment, he felt whether Fang Huai was tied up with a safety rope or not didn’t matter—it’d be best if he drifted away with the current, then he could dispatch someone to save him, taking a hit to his own reputation.

...

The search and rescue quickly commenced.

The team split into groups.

One kayak went to rescue those standing on the rooftop, another for search and rescue; Fang Huai and Qin Tiannu, both confident in their swimming abilities, swam over, searching from house to house.

Everyone’s mood was far less grave than in the earthquake-stricken areas.

Because most of the shouts of "Is anyone there?" were met with responses.

Those without a response, house after house was forcibly entered only to find that indeed, no one was inside.

People aren’t stupid. Those who only had a single-story house had long since run away or stayed at a neighbor’s place with taller buildings when the water came.

The air was truly cold, the water was freezing, and the houses in front of them were in a dire state, submerged. But having experienced a major earthquake before, the soldiers felt that the flooding wasn’t frightening. As long as people and their families were safe, there was hope.

Even if no one was inside, the soldiers wouldn’t just leave. If they found something valuable, they’d wade through the water and try to move it to the second floor. The water was currently around one and a half to two meters deep and looked like it could rise further. There wasn’t much that could be done for those only on the first floor; most were submerged.

The civilians standing on the rooftops were reached by the soldiers who helped them into life jackets, moved them to the kayaks, and transported them to a fire truck for warming up.

The heat from the fire truck’s air conditioning was turned up to the max. Although it was still cold with the wind blowing, it was not the same as the cold outside.

Over on Fang Huai’s side, thanks to his sharp eyes, he found the elderly man who was incessantly waving at him from the second floor.

It was an old man, but his waving seemed quite sprightly.

His house was in real danger, positioned at a corner of the wall and submerged by at least one meter seven or eight. Approaching it, no matter how he tried to find a footing, he couldn’t reach the bottom, and the door had been swept away. Upon entering, he saw pots and pans floating on the water, and in a floating small iron dish, there was a chunk of congealed Chinese gooseberry root stir-fried with bacon drifting toward his mouth.

"Sir! How many people are in your family?"

Upon entering, Fang Huai immediately saw a staircase blocked by a partition, and he shouted towards it.

The old man’s voice seemed to be at the top of the stairs, but he couldn’t come down.

"Three! Three!"

Fang Huai felt a surge of relief at the reply, "It’s you, your wife, and your grandchild, right?"

"Granddaughter!"

"Right, is your wife paralyzed?"

"Exactly, exactly! Come on up, help, I can’t carry her!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Huai confirmed that this was the home the person who called the police had mentioned, and quickly said, "Don’t move her! I’ll come up and carry her!"

With the volume raised upstairs, a child’s crying could be heard.

Fang Huai, due to the limited length of the rope, had to untie it and find a high point that still emerged above the surface of the water. After groping around in the water for a while, he tied it to the handle of a cabinet, then swam towards the staircase entrance.

"Fang Huai, Fang Huai, what’s the situation inside? The rope can’t be tugged anymore!"

Zhao Jinchen’s voice came from the explosion-proof two-way radio on his shoulder.

The explosion-proof two-way radio was a special communication device, stable in its signal, meant to be safely used in petrochemical, coal mines, and various harsh environments—it was explosion-proof, dust-proof, water-resistant, and immune to interference.

Fang Huai swiftly swam to the stairwell, turned into it, and saw the old man holding onto both sides of the narrow stairs, attempting to come down to pull him up.

"No need, don’t worry about me!"

Fang Huai found a foothold, slowly climbed the stairs, took out the radio, shook off the water, then pressed the button and shouted, "Squad Leader Zhao, don’t tug the rope! I’m already inside the house! Instructor Cao, Instructor Cao, I’ve found the elderly man the person who called the police mentioned! He’s at the southeast corner of the village!"

An excited reply from Old Cao came over, "Roger that, roger that! Is everyone okay?"

"I’m heading upstairs to check now!"

After speaking, Fang Huai put away the radio, shook off the water on his hands, and then helped the old man upstairs.

"Sir, is your wife okay?"

The old man shook his head, "She’s fine! We have a stove upstairs, come, have some tea!"

Fang Huai was briefly speechless.

You still have the time to offer tea at a time like this?

Once upstairs, he was even more speechless.

The space was cramped, with just a stove and a narrow wooden sofa, not even a bed. On the stove there was a kettle, and the chimney of the stove was fashioned out of a few beverage bottles extending outside.

The room had a door leading, presumably, to a balcony, with water seeping in through the cracks now and then.

The place was damp everywhere, with the only dry-ish corner containing a wooden box with coal pieces and dry firewood inside.

The child sat on the wooden sofa, next to which was a haul of dried cowpeas.

The old lady lay beside the stove, with several moist cloths under her that looked to have been found somewhere.

Fang Huai could tell without touching that they were damp.

The old lady, seeing him, even raised a hand to point at the wooden sofa:

"Sit, sit down! Warm yourself by the fire!"

(To make up for the Chapter from yesterday, asking again for monthly votes)