A mild earthquake is happening soon.
People are still in the school building.
Dong Xuebing ran to the building’s entrance and shouted while running. “Xiao Zhu, Xiao Fei! Come out!”
Dong Xuebing was far from the building, and the building was semi-closed. People inside could not hear him.
Dong Xuebing ran faster and entered the building. He stood in the empty lobby and shouted. “Old Liu! Xiao Ning! Xiao Zhu!”
“Director.” Zhuzhu replied from upstairs.
Dong Xuebing shouted anxiously. “Where are you all?!”
“We are upstairs!”
“Come down quick!”
“Ah?”
Dong Xuebing did not stop when he was talking to Zhuzhu. He ran up the stairs, two to three steps at a time. He reached the second floor and saw Feng Jie, Deputy District Mayor Chu, and the rest. Liu Hanqing, Zhuzhu, and the rest from the Inspection First Office staff were behind them. He ignored his conflict with Feng Jie, Deputy District Mayor Chu, and shouted at everyone. He was not so narrow-minded to leave them to die here. “Get out of the building! Everyone follow me! Get out immediately! What are you still looking at?! Hurry and go!”
Feng Jie sneered. “Who are you to arrange my itinerary? Why should I listen to you?”
Liu Hanqing, Zhuzhu, and the rest looked at Dong Xuebing puzzledly. “What happened, Director?”
Dong Xuebing shouted. “An aftershock will be happening, and this building is unsafe. Follow me out of this building now.”
Fei Fan, Ning Shaoyang, and the staff from Inspection First Office did not feel anything, but they got to follow Dong Xuebing’s orders.
The Xi Ping District’s staff, especially Deputy District Mayor Chu thought nothing about it. They looked at Dong Xuebing. “How come I did not feel the aftershock?”
“Me too.”
“It’s been months since the earthquake. How can there be aftershocks?”
Xi Ping District’s staff followed whatever Deputy District Mayor Chu said.
Fei Fan interrupted them. “Aftershocks did happen years after a significant earthquake in some areas. It is due to the movement of the earth’s crust.
Feng Jie shook his head. He did not feel anything and thought nothing about what Dong Xuebing said.
Deputy District Mayor Chu said to Deputy City Mayor Feng. “Don’t worry, Mayor Feng. Even if an aftershock happens, this building will be fine. It is built to withstand earthquake magnitude 6.”
Feng Jie nodded. “Let’s look upstairs.”
“Ok. Please follow me.” Deputy District Mayor Chu walked in front.
Dong Xuebing was furious and cursed. “Withstand magnitude six earthquake?! F**k you!”
Deputy District Mayor Chu got mad. “Why are you cursing others?! What do you want?!”
Dong Xuebing pointed at him. “I am f**king cursing you! You are responsible for this project, and is this how you do your job?! Withstand magnitude six earthquakes?! This f**king building cannot even withstand a magnitude three earthquake! You selfish bastard! I am telling you that this is not the end!”
No one understood why Dong Xuebing lost his temper suddenly. Everyone was confused. Why was he so worked up suddenly? Zhuzhu, Fei Fan, and the rest exchanged looks and kept quiet. They do not dare to ask anything as they know Director Dong cannot be provoked now. All they could do was follow his orders.
“Are you all not going?!” Dong Xuebing looked at Feng Jie and Xi Ping District’s staff. “Since you all are not leaving, you can stay here your whole life!”
Feng Jie’s face changed. “I will relate whatever you said today to the relevant departments!”
Dong Xuebing snorted. “Go ahead!” He turned. “Let’s go!”
Before Dong Xuebing could turn and Feng Jie and the rest could say anything, the ground shook. It was a weak earthquake.
“Earthquake!”
“It’s an aftershock!”
“It is happening!”
Everyone was stunned, but they were not worried. After all, they had experienced several aftershocks since the major earthquake. They were used to it.
Only Dong Xuebing turned pale. “Hurry! Go!”
Fei Fan, Zhuzhu, and the rest followed Dong Xuebing quickly.
Feng Jie, Deputy District Mayor Chu, and Xi Ping District’s staff felt they were making a fuss. Suddenly, the school building started shaking and gave out loud rumblings. This was not the sound of an aftershock. Deep cracks appeared in a wall on the second floor. The cracks got longer, and small debris started falling outside. The workers in the field looked at the building.
The building was going to collapse.
It will collapse soon.
Feng Jie, Deputy District Mayor Chu, and Xi Ping District’s staff were anxious. Liu Hanqing, Zhuzhu, Fei Fan, and the rest were stunned. They did not expect Dong Xuebing’s words to come true.
“Shit!”
“Run!”
“Get out of here quick! The building is collapsing!”
Everyone started panicking.
Everyone started running towards the stairs.
Feng Jie and Deputy District Mayor Chu ran in front, and someone shouted. “Protect the leader!” The Xi Ping District’s staff ran forward and surrounded them. The Inspection First Office staff saw them. Zhuzhu, Fei Fan, and Ning Shaoyang immediately surrounded Dong Xuebing and Liu Hanqing while running out.
Dong Xuebing shouted. “Don’t need to worry about me. Just get out of the building first.”
“Director!” Fei Fan was still holding onto Dong Xuebing’s arm.
“I don’t need you to protect me!” Dong Xuebing was mad. “Protect the ladies first!” He thought to himself. I can survive after getting buried under the rumbles. Do I need your protection?!
“Ok.” Fei Fan remembered Dong Xuebing’s strong life force, and he grabbed Zhuzhu closer to him.
Everyone reached the ground floor lobby, and the stairs started shaking vigorously.
Suddenly, a concrete piece of ceiling fell. It was about to hit Fei Fan and Zhuzhu’s heads. Dong Xuebing shouted. “Watch out!” He dashed over and pushed them. Fei Fan and Zhuzhu fell to the floor. The concrete piece of ceiling landed centimeters away from them.
Zhuzhu turned pale.
Fei Fan quickly said. “Thank you, Director.”
“This is not the time! Go!” Dong Xuebing pulled them up.
Ning Shaoyang saw what happened. He disliked Dong Xuebing since the latter was appointed. He felt Dong Xuebing was too young and reckless. That’s why he followed Liu Hanqing. He looked at Deputy City Mayor Feng Jie, who was trying to escape and was protected by other District staff. Dong Xuebing did not allow anyone to protect him and even protected his staff. During an emergency, a person’s true nature is shown. The gap between Dong Xuebing and Feng Jie is too broad.
“It’s going to collapse. Run faster!” Dong Xuebing followed behind his men to protect them.
Three seconds….
Two seconds….
One second….
Feng Jie, Deputy District Mayor Chu, and their men were the first group to leave the building.
Dong Xuebing and his team were slightly delayed because of Zhuzhu and Fei Fan. They left the building a few moments after Feng Jie. Feng Jie and his men ran far from the building when they left the building. They were panting. The workers and civilians had gathered to look at the shaking school building.
They were finally out!
Dong Xuebing, Liu Hanqing, and the rest were relieved to get out of the building.
“Ah!”
“It collapsed!”
“Watch out! The building is crumbling down!”
Dong Xuebing and his men, who had just run out of the building, turned. A loud rumble, and the school building collapsed before them.
Dust blew up.
Broken walls came crashing down.
Dong Xuebing’s heart skipped a beat. He was the last person, standing in a safe spot. The building did not collapse towards him. Instead, a huge wall was falling toward Liu Hanqing, Ning Shaoyang, and the rest.
Zhuzhu screamed and did not know what to do.
Fei Fan followed Dong Xuebing’s instructions and was always beside Zhuzhu. He grabbed her arms and pulled her towards him, narrowly escaping the collapsed wall. However, Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang were not so lucky. Ning Shaoyang saw the wall and panicked. He fell and accidentally tripped Liu Hanqing. They tried to get up, but it was too late.
The thick wall was falling onto them!
The wall was at least one ton.
One ton is equivalent to getting rolled over by a large truck.
The only outcome was to be crushed.
The wall was meters away from Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang, and their faces turned green. They knew they would not make it.
“Ahhh!”
“They are going to die!”
“Run!”
“Director Liu!”
The workers and civilians screamed. Fei Fan and Zhuzhu shouted, but everyone knew they could not escape.
Liu Hanqing closed his eyes.
Ning Shaoyang was in despair.
Five meters….
Three meters….
Two meters….
Dong Xuebing was looking terrible. It was too late for him to drag them out. He remembered how Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang treated him when he was appointed and looked more terrible.
F**k!
It is so hard to be a nice guy!
Dong Xuebing cursed. He could not let them die before his eyes. Everyone was shocked when they stood before Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang. He raised both arms and clenched his teeth.
