To her, Ye Xinyu who was four years younger was like a brother. If she had a brother, she thought, he would be exactly like Ye Xinyu—mischievous, and often beaten by the family that doted him. They beat him for they loved him so much, and could not bear the thought of him going on the wrong path. Still, he was pretty thick-skinned and the beatings and counseling hardly got through him.
She took out a pack of cup noodles and water from a bag beside her, walked over to Ye Xinyu, and squat down.
“Eat this.”
“Thank you, cousin-in-law,” said Ye Xinyu, taking the cup noodles from her hand. With every bite, he drank a mouthful of water, and soon he was about to finish both.
He had really been starving. Looking back, it has almost been a day and a night since the earthquake.
“Thanks so much, sister,” said Ye Xinyu ingratiatingly. He was calling sister instead of cousin-in-law, and it seemed almost as if he had forgotten about his cousin.
He was a sorry sight, covered in mud, as he gulped down the cup noodles, and when he was done he stared at Yan Huan with puppy eyes, just like Little Bean when it makes a mistake.
It was hard not to pityhim.
“Don’t worry, I’ll stop your brother if he tries to rough you up,” said Yan Huan, patting him on the shoulders.
“Thank you, sister,” said Ye Xinyu, munching on the cup noodles again. Yet tears rolled down his cheeks beneath the waterproof cloth—not out of pain, but out of sorrow. Sorrow for the missing, sorrow for his classmates whose fates remained unknown. A living person could become a body at the tick of a clock.
Yan Huan patted his shoulders again as a voiceless comfort.
She stood up, turned around, and walked into the rain again. Rain blustered against her, but the cold made her more alert than ever. Coming to Serene City, saving Lu Jin, saving the intrepid Ye Xinyu.It was the best thing she had done during this life. Ye Xinyu was the only child and heir of the Ye Family, and if he was dead, nothing would have been different, would it? It would still be over for the Ye Family.
She joined the rescue party and aided their efforts. The rain was getting smaller, and they managed to save ten more, but they were seeing more bodies as they went on. Yan Huan knew many of the bodies they were seeing now belonged to people that would be dearly missed by others for the rest of their lives.
A low rumbling came from the sky, not from a clap of thunder, but from a helicopter. She looked up to see a descending helicopter, from which came many professional soldiers and doctors. Yan Huan heaved a sigh of relief. Thank god there were doctors now. The casualties were in dire need of medical attention.
The last thing she wanted was for the casualties they painstakingly saved to lose their life to untended wounds.
When the people came out of the helicopter and saw the tents and makeshift shelters and those beneath it and the dozen covered in mud and blood while digging for survivors, they all shed tears.
They were saving each other, yes, they were. Without their first-aid, many of the casualties now would have been dead.
When they opened the tent, children and elderlies crawled out by dozens. The only men in there were casualties, and the healthy men were all out there pushing their limits to save another life.
A camera was recording this scene, not for sensation, but to relay live-information of the disaster zone to the people of the nation who might have their kins or friends in this hellhole.
The men covered in mud turned around once again. They were silent as they searched for more survivors. The soldiers joined them in their efforts. At this moment, the entire nation’s heart was as one.
That was when a frail woman emerged with a person on her back. The person was clearly injured, blood trickling down his legs into the rain puddles before getting washed away. They were both covered in mud and dust, so it was hard to see their faces clearly. However, the person who had offered her back was definitely a woman.
The camera recorded the entire scene.
Once Yan Huan put the man down, the medical staff took him into their hands. She had just saved him, dug him up with her own hands, a man whose back had been crushed into a bloody mess. Thankfully, it seemed like he was going to pull through. She wiped her face with her sleeves.
However, the more she wiped, the dirtier her face became. She stood up, ready to head out again. She never kept count of how many she saved—the only thing on her mind was that she had to keep at it. If she stopped, someone might die.
“Hello, Miss,” said a man as he walked towards her. “Can I interview you? It won’t take long. I’m very sorry to interrupt your efforts, but the nation needs to know of the situation here.” His voice was often blocked off by the lump in his throat as he spoke.
Yan Huan stopped and turned. The camera captured her dirty face, but in that face, people saw the cleanest form of beauty.
The interviewing reporter paused.
“Are you…Yan Huan?” he stammered.
“Yes, I am,” said Yan Huan, pushing her hair behind her ears. She took a glance at her clothes that were soaked in mud. “Sorry to let everyone see me like this.”
“No, you are the most beautiful actress I have ever seen,” said the reporter, breaking into a smile and fighting back tears.
“Can you tell us more about…here…” his voice broke off as emotions overwhelmed him.
Yan Huan looked up at the hoary sky, felt the rush of air and the imminent heavy rain.
“The earthquake happened yesterday at 4 pm. When the survivors had banded together, my grandfather General Lu, Lu Jin, organized us and issued orders. When he ran out, he wasn’t even wearing shoes. On bare feet, he saved one person after another.”
“After that, we ran out of food and water, but the aftershocks kept coming. The first night was rough. When morning came, we went out to search for more survivors. Every single one of us capable of moving went. Then came the airdrops, which saved us from the fate of starvation and freezing. Those people we saved,” she pointed to the casualties being rescued by doctors. “They will live on. And that brings us the greatest joy imaginable.”
The reporter’s lips parted to ask more, but nothing came out.
