Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Guo Caiying chuckled, while the other people exchanged looks with each other and gradually starting to laugh dryly as well.
Even Consul Hong started to have a smile on his face, but it was actually a forced, wry smile. As he smiled, he also shook his head self-deprecatingly and sighed, appearing to be lamenting as he brushed the topic off, “Mr. Zhang, you’ve lived in the US for a long time, so you may not know about the situation in China. Actually, there are some things that… Sigh, it’s hard to explain. It’s no big deal anyway, but such a method is really not right, so that’s why we’re going to have a rectification of incorrect methods of work…”
As he was speaking, he nodded at Guo Caiying, who had just stopped chuckling and put on a respectful expression, “Secretary Guo is much more far-sighted in this matter and is walking ahead of all leaders in the party already.”
Such comments did not sound like a flattering, but if one thought about it, one could tell that the praise was too much. Guo Caiying, on the other hand, did not show modesty and merely replied with a smile. Just like that, the atmosphere on the table inexplicably grew harmonious again.
Everybody chatted and laughed for a while, and the short old man finally walked out of the kitchen with plates of delicious dishes.
Dried peppers soaked in bright red oil, fresh peppers that still had hints of green color, soft thinly cut meat slices, cow’s stomach… Zhang Lisheng had tasted many top restaurants in New York but had not eaten such a delectable meal for a long time. After just a bite, he began to chow down after giving a series of praises.
Since ancient times, China had been in a state of etiquette and especially paid attention to the official protocol. All government diplomats had been educated in foreign affairs. Although they would chew slowly during their own private meals and would not be too crude in their manner, when they saw the young man ate till his mouth was covered with grease, some of them could not help but be astonished.
Guo Caiying had been influenced by her ancestors, who had experienced a period of war, so she admired Zhang Lisheng’s straightforward eating habits a lot. However, she had seen the young man’s elegant table manners many times before, and it differed entirely from what she saw now. At once, she could not help but ask in a whisper, “Lisheng, are you that hungry?”
“Not really. What’s wrong?” Zhang Lisheng, who did not think that he was doing anything unusual, shook his head and asked.
“It’s nothing. It’s just that I’ve never seen you eat so fast before. Don’t choke yourself,” The girl smiled. This beautiful smile naturally caused the other young men who were dining with them to become annoyed again.
After being reminded by his Senior Sister, Zhang Lisheng, who suddenly realized his change, would, of course, not concern himself with the inexplicable jealousy of the others. With a frown, he fell into a moment of contemplation and suddenly snapped back to reality by a series of loud rustling sound.
At the same time, at the street across the road from ‘Taste of Sichuan,’ the exterior glass of a towering skyscraper, that had an adequate-sized square, on the few top floors that had just been wiped cleanly by ‘Spider-Man’ was slowly collapsing along with its cement.
Numerous cracking excellent marks connected to become thick cracks as they appeared on the surface of the tower, exposing its twisted steel bars that looked like broken blood vessels. With this, several cleaners, who looked like ants from the people on the ground, waved their arms while shouting at the top of their lungs; their cries of help resonated in the air continuously.
In the square, as the broken concrete blocks continued to fall, the people fleeing in horror were also shouting out loud, shuttling around like flies causing chain car accidents in the street. In the smog enveloping the car overturned on the road, faint firelight flashed, causing more people to shout, “It’s going to explode, the car is going to explode…”, turning the situation into something far more chaotic.
The noise outside the door was like a live film of a disaster movie. The diners in the Sichuan cuisine restaurant, of course, would not be able to eat their food at ease.
They walked into the streets, and the few young men who hustled out first were almost knocked down to the ground.
When they saw that the building on the opposite side of the street would collapse soon and realized what was happening, Hong Consul, who was the last to leave the restaurant, no longer cared about maintaining his demeanor. Without warning, he shouted at Guo Caiying nervously, “Director Guo, it’s all high-rise buildings in front, so when one building collapses, it may cause a chain reaction to the others instead. It’s too dangerous here! Let us go quickly! Let us go!”
“Consul Hong, don’t be so nervous. We can’t drive now, so it’d be even more dangerous if we run in panic and then have the others trample us,” When Guo Caiying saw that the 100-meter-tall, the giant-like skyscraper was crumbling bit by bit before her eyes, she immediately felt chills as well. However, at this moment, Zhang Lisheng took a half step forward and shielded her, calming the girl now and prompting her to speak in a clear and organized manner.
“Yes, yes,” At the time of crisis, both tension and calmness had a strong influence. Guo Caiying’s calmness influenced Consul Hong to clear his head as well. Secretly praising ‘like father like daughter’ in his heart, he said slightly regrettably, “We do indeed have to calm down first. Let me think about it. Well, the safest way is to go through the alley, through the Cat Tongue Street…”
When the Consul General of the Chinese Government in New York was carefully designing the escape route, a sharp siren sound and the ‘tu tu tu…” sound peculiar to propeller turning resonated in the air.
Not long after, fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and disaster relief helicopters appeared in the disaster scene.
The various emergency rescue mechanism generated by many terrorist attacks had allowed the New York government to have a swift response. Unfortunately, the rescuers were still a step too late. As the open-air lift cables suddenly snapped, they lost the opportunity to rescue the poor cleaners’ lives, with no choice but to just watch the few lives turning null in the shrill cries.
“What an attention-grabbing moment! To think that the Atlanteans actually didn’t fly out to turn the tide. Something is really fishy. This feeling is very familiar. Don’t tell me that…” Standing under the restaurant signboard, looking at the building that was emitting black fog, Zhang Lisheng had a peculiar smile on the corner of his mouth as he murmured.
Among the tens of thousands of witnesses present on the scene, perhaps he was the only one who could see it clearly, but a second before the cleaners, who fell from the building, landed on the ground, they had already lost their lives after being entangled in the black mist. Only their bodies were slammed to turn into a puddle of meat.
The young man was looking with great interest, but Consul Hong’s patience had already reached the limit. He advised Guo Caiying to leave, but the girl changed the topic instead. With his heart burning anxiously like fire, he smartly told Zhang Lisheng alternatively, “Mr. Zhang, the crumbling of this building is too dangerous. Let us go to a safe place.”
“All of you should indeed go to a safe place,” The young man turned to look at the bright face of Hong Consul that was oozing out dense sweats and said, “I’ve learned martial art before, and I’m quick and young, so I plan to go and see if I can save some people or not.”
“Save… save people?” Unable to help himself, the Chinese Consul General in New York looked at the buildings in the distance that were riddled with holes, as he spoke in bewilderment. Although the blocks of cement were no longer falling, the building could still collapse entirely at any time.
“Yes, I am going to save people.” Zhang Lisheng put on a pitiful look and nodded solemnly. After that, he looked at Guo Caiying and said, “Senior Sister, leave with Consul Hong. I’ll contact you again if I have time.”
The girl understood the young man’s natural disposition, so of course, she did not believe that he would volunteer to help with the disaster for no reason. Knowing that there must be some other reason behind it, she pondered and said, “Junior Brother, don’t contact me when you’re only free. If nothing happens to you, come to the New York Consulate tonight to tell me that you’re safe and have a meal with me as well.”
“Alright, see you at night!” Zhang Lisheng casually agreed to it. With a step, he dexterously leaped across the road and soon came near the collapsed building.
“Sir, it is hazardous here, please leave immediately.” A young police officer who had some stubbles on his chin noticed that the young man was moving closer to the building, so he quickly stepped forward to block his road severely.
“Hello, Mr. Officer, my stepfather is working in the same line with you. Perhaps you have heard of his name before. He’s Sullo D. Lavin, a superintendent of the New York Police Department. He taught me to never shy away when people need help,” Zhang Lisheng smiled and pointed to the building that was about to collapse, “Although my body doesn’t look strong, I’m actually a master of martial arts, so I’m agile and powerful. I know what I’m doing, and those people upstairs need to be saved. I’m willing to take risks, so please give me this opportunity.”
There was a very contradictory phenomenon in US society. They recognized professionals and social division of labor and advocated individual heroism. For example, when one encountered a robbery on the road, it would be best to obey and hand over the wallet and then leave everything to the police to deal with it. However, if a civilian was not afraid of danger and would subdue the robbers, he would be significantly revered instead.
In the event of a collapsing building like this, saving as many people as possible would require them to search for survivors in every floor and every room. It was apparent that just relying on the strength of the firefighters alone was not enough.
Therefore, the police officers responsible for evacuation would warn and block people from approaching the disaster scene. Nevertheless, when there were volunteers who showed essential qualities of saving people and were willing to take responsibility for their own risk-taking behaviors, they would often get a helpless shrug and a thumbs-up.
“Sullo D. Lavin? I’ve heard of this name before. He seems to be quite a pro in solving cases. He’s quite a well-respected police officer,” The young police officer nodded. He hesitated a little before lowering his voice suddenly, “Go, buddy. Trust me, if it wasn’t me who is on duty today, I’d also rush into the building to save the civilians. God will bless a brave person.”
“Yes, of course, he will,” Zhang Lisheng smiled and walked quickly to the scarred hall of the building.
The scene was very chaotic. Even though they knew that the building might collapse at any time, a large number of firefighters still rushed into the building repeatedly to rescue the wounded people and to carry out dead bodies.
The emergency doctors and nurses risked being smashed into a pile of meat and were carrying out rescue operations in the danger zone in front of the building.
There were some ordinary people among them as well. It was clear that Zhang Lisheng’s rash and dangerous behavior was not an isolated case. However, everybody else was sincere, but he was merely putting on a facade.
As the young man rushed into the building together with the crowd, what he could see was the collapsed floor slabs covered with spots of blood. However, the wounded and the dead buried in it was already gone, and it was clear that they had been moved out.
