Zhang Tan and Su Lan had a simple breakfast, rented an off-road vehicle in the city, bought some first aid supplies, water and food, and rushed to Xiaobai's house.
"The call still hasn't been connected." Su Lan said, and a "unable to connect" tone came from the phone.
She comforted: "The signal in mountainous areas is not good, and if there is an earthquake, it will definitely affect the signal source. This does not mean that something happened to Xiaobai's side. Maybe nothing happened, but the signal was interrupted."
Zhang Tan said he hoped so, and continued driving out of the city. After driving for an hour, he came to the county seat he had arrived at last night. However, he still failed to enter the city and was stopped at the intersection and refused to go.
There were many stopped vehicles, hundreds of them by sight, all blocked at the intersection into the city. Many people got out of their cars and negotiated with the traffic police in charge of traffic control, making a lot of noise.
Zhang Tan also got out of the car to check the situation. Most of the stopped vehicles were people who lived in the county and rushed back to check the situation after learning about the earthquake.
"Brother, where are you going? The accent is not from here." A young man asked Zhang Tan.
"I'm from Pujiang and want to go to Baijia Village." Zhang Tan said, "Do you know there are other ways to get there?"
"From Pujiang? Came here so far? Baijia Village? Which Baijia Village? In which town?"
Zhang Tan said it was in Wutong Town.
"Wutong Town?? The place where this earthquake happened is Wutong Town."
"Yeah, so I'm very anxious. Do you know any other way to Wutong Town?"
…
Su Lan had been sitting in the car, watching Zhang Tan negotiating with everyone outside. Suddenly she saw him running back and asked, "How is it?"
Zhang Tan got into the car: "We found someone to show us the way and take a detour."
Zhang Tan gave the young man 500 yuan and asked him to lead the way.
The two cars left one after the other, taking a black asphalt road that had been in disrepair and was full of potholes. Fortunately, Zhang Tan saw that the navigator showed that they were indeed approaching Wutong Town.
"It seems someone was injured in front." Su Lan said while sitting in the passenger seat.
A few dozen meters ahead, there were two people holding out their hands to stop the car. One of them, a middle-aged man, had a bandage on his forehead. Blood stains oozed from the bandage and half of it was stained red. The other young man was supporting him.
The young man leading the way drove straight past without stopping.
Zhang Tan stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
The young man helping the person said: "We are from the village here. The earthquake knocked down my house. The beams fell down and broke my dad's head. Now we are in a hurry to go to the hospital in the county. Can you give us a ride?"
Cheng?"
Zhang sighed and said, "We just came out of the county and are going to Wutong Town."
"Wutong Town is in chaos now, what are you doing there?"
"Looking for someone."
"Can you take us to the county seat first? Please, brother."
Su Lan looked at Zhang Tan and saw the embarrassment on his face, so she said sorry outside the window and asked Zhang Tan to drive away.
Su Lan said: "I think the journey is about half an hour away. Then let the car leading the way come back to pick up the two people. It's important to find Xiaobai now. I don't know the situation on her side yet. We have come all the way here."
The purpose here is to find Xiaobai, which is the most important thing."
Zhang Tan also figured it out: "Su Su, you are right. Let the young man who leads the way take them back and give him some money."
When the car leading the way saw them following them, it restarted and set off.
The car drove for more than half an hour. The young man leading the way stopped at a fork, got out of the car and waved to Zhang Tan.
Zhang Tan stopped the car and asked, "What's wrong?"
The young man pointed to the mountain road that forked to the right and said: "Drive this way, and you can reach Baijia Village in about half an hour. Your car is an off-road vehicle. It can go on this mountain road, but my car can't go on it. I'm sorry, I can't go any further."
We have led the way, but you just need to go straight along this road, there are no forks, there is only one village in this mountain col."
Zhang Tan expressed his understanding. After thanking the other party, he gave 500 yuan as promised and said, "Didn't I meet a father and son when I came here just now? One of them has a broken head and needs to go to the county hospital. It looks serious. You
When you go back, if you meet someone else, give them a ride."
The young man said: "I also saw it on the way here. It was in the opposite direction, so I didn't stop. Now I can't take it."
Zhang Tan said to give him money.
The other party waved his hand and said: "This is not a question of money. Do you see this road over there?"
He pointed to the other side of the fork in the road and showed it to Zhang Tan. Zhang Tan could see the outline of a building at the foot of the mountain in the distance.
The other party said: "That's Wutong Town. Since we're already here, I want to go over and have a look. That's where the disaster is most severe. Maybe I can help."
Zhang Tan watched the other party drive to Wutong Town while he drove towards another rugged mountain road.
The mountain road was obviously affected by the earthquake, but fortunately it was still possible to drive.
The distance is actually not far, less than 10 kilometers, but the road is difficult to walk, so it took more than 40 minutes to get there.
At first glance, Zhang Tan breathed a sigh of relief. The houses in the village were intact and had not collapsed, indicating that there was not much damage here.
After feeling a little relieved, Zhang Tan took a closer look at the small village.
The village is located in a depression in the middle of a valley, surrounded by mountains. Due to the rain in the past few days, the valley is filled with light clouds and mist, and the humidity is very heavy.
Xiaobai lives here, Zhang Tan thought to himself.
He parked the car at the entrance of the village and walked in with Su Lan. It was less than 9 o'clock in the morning. The village was very quiet and there was no one outside.
They came to the nearest house.
“Is anyone there??”
A middle-aged woman came out of the kitchen and asked, "Who are you?"
Zhang Tan was about to reply when suddenly another person came out of the room, a man. When he saw Zhang Tan, he was stunned and asked uncertainly: "Boss Zhang?"
"Who are you?" Zhang Tan looked at the other person, not remembering who it was.
Seeing that Zhang Tan did not deny it, the other party asked excitedly: "Really that Boss Zhang from Pujiang? Are your claws here??"
Zhang Tan nodded and said that he was the boss Zhang from Pujiang.
"Oh, it's really Boss Zhang. I'm Lao Baithi."
Zhang Tan said to himself, "Don't think I don't know Lao Bai. Lao Bai is Xiao Bai's uncle. You can tell he's not your uncle at first sight!"
After the other party recognized Zhang Tan, they enthusiastically invited them into the house.
During the chat, Zhang Tan learned that it was a misunderstanding. He was indeed Lao Bai, because this is Baijia Village. Everyone has the surname Bai and calls themselves Lao Bai. He was working on the construction site in Pujiang, and he was with Bai Jianping, and he had met Zhang Tan.
, so we know each other.
Zhang Tan was concerned about the earthquake and asked: "Were you not affected by the earthquake last night?"
Lao Bai explained that the disaster was relatively minor. Stones and soil from the mountains rolled down, and many old houses and trees collapsed. The young people in the village had been dealing with these things early in the morning, dredging waterways and mountain roads. He was also a talented person.
Came back, had breakfast and wanted to go again.
"Where is Xiaobai's house? Is her family okay?" Zhang Tan asked the question that concerned him most.
Lao Bai said: "There is something wrong with her family..."
Zhang Tan listened with trepidation, declined the other party's invitation to have breakfast, and hurried out of the house with Su Lan, driving to Wutong Town.
Lao Bai and his wife stood under the eaves and watched their car go away. His wife asked curiously: "Which one is this? The claws come from Pujiang?"
Lao Bai: "A big boss from Pujiang, from a film studio, so he can take good care of Xiao Bai..."
His wife praised Su Lan next to Zhang Tan: "That girl is so well-behaved."
Zhang Tan and Su Lan returned the same way and drove to Wutong Town.
Just now Lao Bai told him that Xiaobai's grandma fell and was sent to the hospital in Wutong Town early in the morning. Xiaobai and her uncle and aunt followed her.
Wutong Town is a small town with only one street. There are three or four-story buildings on both sides of the street. Most of them have collapsed at the moment. The rescue team is rescuing people from the ruins.
The car couldn't drive through and the road was blocked. Zhang Tan and Su Lan got off the car, asked where the hospital was, and walked there.
This street is about three kilometers long, and the hospital is in the center of the street.
The hospital's earthquake-proof level is high, so it survived last night's disaster without any damage. The hospital was full of people, and injured patients were pushed in from time to time. Zhang Tan saw injured people everywhere he looked, and Sichuan dialect was heard all over his ears.
, noisy, like a vegetable market.
At this time, it was useless to ask anyone. Zhang Tan and Su Lan had no choice but to look for Xiaobai by themselves. They searched the first floor but could not find it. When they came to the second floor, the corridor was full of doctors, nurses and patients' family members coming in and out. Zhang Tan
Just as Tan was about to check wards one by one, Su Lan suddenly pulled his hand and said, "Look over there."
Zhang Tan followed her gaze and saw a little man in red clothes and a woolen hat standing by the window at the end of the corridor on the second floor. He held a bottle high in his little hand, and an infusion line came from the bottle.
It hangs down and is connected to a simple hospital bed next to him. There is a person lying on it, covered with a quilt, and his appearance is invisible.
People were coming and going in front of her, but she stood alone in the corner, holding the sling bottle high, gently tapping the person on the hospital bed with her little hand, and singing:
Malan flower, Malan flower,
Not afraid of wind or rain,
Please bloom now.
After singing a sentence, he quickly changed his hand to hold the bottle, rubbed his lowered hand, and continued singing:
