"More than twenty seconds later, the shaking stopped, and we were completely buried. The surrounding area was pitch black, as if we had fallen into hell.
My mouth was blocked by my mother's chest and I couldn't make a sound. I heard screams in my ears. From this, I judged that we were not far from the ground.
I don’t know if it was my mother who pinched me or if I was hit. My arm hurt. I shook my body desperately and finally freed my mouth. I called my mother as hard as I could.
But she never woke up again. Before she left, she protected me in the same way she used to breastfeed me when I was a child.
The disaster happened so suddenly that I was completely confused. Except for crying for my mother, my mind went blank.
After about five or six minutes, I slowly calmed down from the experience of traveling all over the country.
I started trying to pull things around me with my hands. Fortunately, they were all sticky cosmetics, and I was surrounded by the rich fragrance.
I don't know how long it took, but I successfully climbed out of the rubble. When I looked back, I saw an angle iron standing straight above where I climbed out.
At this time, it started to rain. I was sobbing and digging for my mother. My hands were covered with mud, and the dregs wetted by the rain became extremely heavy.
Fortunately, someone came to help me. He was a man wearing a vest and pants and bare feet.
He asked me if I was still alive. I cried and shook my head. He didn't say anything anymore and followed me to dig.
After pulling out the angle iron, my mother was also dug out. I took one look at it and didn't dare to look at it again. My mother died so miserably, and there was a big black hole in her back.
The man hugged my mother, walked to the side of the road, put my mother on the ground, patted my shoulder and left.
I'm so stupid that I don't even know to ask someone's name. Until now, I haven't found this person.
All the buildings collapsed, and there were big holes in the road. I found a white sheet from the ruins and covered my mother with it.
I don’t know what time it is, but there are people everywhere on the street. Many people are shirtless, stepping in the mud, crying and shouting the names of their relatives.
I immediately thought of my stepfather and ran home immediately. There were many corpses lying along the road, soaked in the rain, and the living people were digging through the rubble to save others.
There were still a few hundred meters to get home, but the road was gone. The collapsed buildings on both sides completely blocked the road.
I didn't have time to think too much, so I climbed up the ruins and climbed over them one step at a time.
When I ran to my house, the first person I met was Uncle Zhang in the backyard.
Thinking of stealing his bicycle, I subconsciously wanted to hide, but Uncle Zhang ran over.
As soon as we met, he scolded me and said that my stepfather was going crazy looking for me. After saying that, he gave me two dollars and ran away.
When I saw my stepfather, he didn't scold me and said it was fine. I told him that my mother was gone.
My stepfather's eyes turned red, he sighed, and told me to wait for him at his unit. He wanted to organize people to go to the family building next door to rescue people.
Seeing that my stepfather was fine, I no longer worried, so I followed some aunts and children to my stepfather's unit.
In the compound of their unit, tents were being set up, and women, the elderly and children were standing or squatting in the open space.
After knowing that my mother was gone, many uncles came over to comfort me and stuffed money into my hand, ranging from seven or eight yuan more to three or two yuan less. I didn't want it, so they left after stuffing it.
At that time, I had no idea how difficult the days ahead would be and how important this money was to me.
My stepfather was not here, so I went out with a few uncles and joined a spontaneous rescue team.
Later, the People's Liberation Army and countless rescue teams arrived, and the situation began to improve. Aircrafts dropped food, but there was a lack of water.
Tiejun, you know!
Only in the face of catastrophic disasters can human nature be revealed and magnified, and human nature can be truly reflected. Not everyone is great, and some are dark and selfish.
As the amount of relief supplies increased, some people began to secretly stuff relief food and clothing under their bedding.
Many people still lacked food and clothing, and the food in some tents began to go rancid, leaving the tents filled with a sour smell.
I saw with my own eyes that they were robbing the relief truck of the People's Liberation Army, and the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army let them grab it with tears in their eyes. At that time, my face was burning.
My stepfather and I buried my mother on the edge of the city. We had no choice. It would be nice to have a place to bury her, let alone a coffin.
Later, they moved from tents to simple sheds. As soon as they moved in, winter came, and then a notice came to move the graves together to prevent the plague in the coming year.
So, every day there was the sound of coffins being nailed, and in order to grab a coffin board, some even got their heads bruised and bloody.
Not long after, the loudspeaker started shouting, "Rebuild your home through self-reliance."
It's funny, they refused construction aid from other provinces and cities, hahaha, even fools know that selfishness.
The country gave the best materials to Tangshan, and people across the country extended their warm hands. The people of Tangshan will remember it for a lifetime.
But there are also some people who take advantage of the opportunity to get rich, like Manager Wang, who took advantage of the rebuilding opportunity to enrich himself and climbed to the position of department store manager.
After the earthquake, I resumed work. Before the earthquake, I worked in a department store. As a blessing in disguise, I changed my job and became a salesperson.
For a long time, I didn't dare to turn off the light when I went to bed at night. Even so, I would wake up in the middle of the night and sit with my legs crossed until dawn.
There are many people like me. The 23-second earthquake left us with endless terror.
Maybe, in this life, some people will be afraid of mentioning that early morning, afraid of having their scars lifted again and again.
Television stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, reporters and writers of all kinds came to interview us lucky ones one after another.
At the beginning, I would cry as I recounted the experience and answered various questions.
for example:
What were you doing during the earthquake?
Did any relatives die in the earthquake?
What were you thinking when you were crushed under the rubble?
There are never enough answers to questions like this. Slowly, I began to become numb, silent, and sometimes hysterical.
It's like an alarm clock. Someone will remind you every once in a while that you have experienced life and death, you are the lucky one in the earthquake, you have lost loved ones...
They will also say, we saw you on TV and in newspapers, we were shocked by your stories, we care, sympathize, and love you...
Tie Jun, can you understand what I am saying?"
Qin Shuilan became anxious and started pulling her hair with both hands. Tie Jun sighed and grabbed Qin Shuilan's hand.
"Sister, I understand!
Many people have been moved by your deeds. After listening to and seeing them, some of them will be soft-hearted and will shed tears. That's all.
Then, I forgot how to live my life, and how to live my life will not be affected by your stories.
But for you, this is a real heart-breaking, bloody and painful experience.
Every time I recall it, it is a re-enactment of life and death, which is heartbreaking and makes life worse than death."
"Tie Jun, what you said is so good. It speaks to my heart. That's it, that's it!"
Tie Jun's words broke Qin Shuilan's heart. She buried her face in Tie Jun's big hand and couldn't stop her tears from flowing down.