"Liu Nian..." Jiang Qingqing's heartstrings were touched by his words. As she looked up, intending to say something, a sudden gust of wind tore through the room's papered windows, blowing directly towards their faces and forcing their eyes shut.
As the wind dissipated, they opened their eyes, only for a second gust to surge in. This time, Zhang Liunian tightly pulled his wife into his embrace, using his own body to shield her from the gale.
At that moment, Zhang Liunian suddenly noticed a crack forming on the mud wall. The fissure widened with each gust of wind that entered. Seeing this, Zhang Liunian couldn't help but recall the collapse of the mud house a month later, thinking to himself, "Could this be happening sooner?"
Regardless of whether it was or not, they had to leave immediately. He lowered his gaze to Jiang Qingqing in his arms and said, "Qingqing, we should leave quickly!"
"Okay." Jiang Qingqing had also seen the large cracks on the mud wall and was terribly flustered. She lifted her leg, about to leave with Zhang Liunian.
But just then, a "kaka" sound echoed, and then both of them simultaneously felt the roof above them begin to shake.
"Liunian, what is this?" Jiang Qingqing looked up to see the roof on the verge of collapse, appearing as though it would crash down at any moment. Her eyes widened in disbelief, her face a picture of unprecedented panic.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian, disregarding everything else, bent down and swept his wife into his arms. "The house is collapsing, we have to go now."
As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed towards the entrance of the main hall. However, before he could reach it, a deafening crash came from above, followed by debris falling from the ceiling – roof beams and wooden planks.
Since Zhang Liunian was still ten paces away from the doorway, even with his speed, he couldn't outrun the falling roof.
But Zhang Liunian refused to give up, nor did he wish to die there. He dodged and weaved, but ultimately, the collapsing roof landed squarely on him.
However, at the last moment, Zhang Liunian realized he couldn't escape and could only arch his body, firmly protecting Jiang Qingqing beneath him.
"Liunian!" Shielded in his arms, Jiang Qingqing watched as the entire roof plummeted down, crushing the mud house with overwhelming force. She tried to reach out to protect Zhang Liunian, but he held her hands back.
"Boom!" After a tremendous roar, everything fell silent.
This colossal sound successfully alerted many of the surrounding households.
Especially Zhang Laoshi, who had just returned home. They too heard the earth-shattering sound, stepped out of their homes, and looked outside, only to find Zhang Liunian's house had suddenly been reduced to rubble.
Seeing the house gone, Zhang Laoshi's mouth fell open. Then, he stammered, "Liunian... has he, has he gotten out?"
His sons beside him also reacted, their voices filled with disbelief.
"It seems not."
"He must have left, why else would he stay there?"
"I didn't see them come out."
"Me neither."
"..."
Hearing his sons' words, Zhang Laoshi slapped his thigh. "Quick, go save them!"
He remembered that if Zhang Liunian was going to the female educated youth dormitory, he would have to pass their house.
But they had been home for a while and hadn't seen Zhang Liunian and his wife, so they must still be inside.
This is disastrous!
If Liunian has an accident, they won't have good days either.
With this thought, his body began to sway. Liunian absolutely cannot have an accident! He rushed towards Zhang Liunian's house.
"Hurry, hurry, why aren't you going to save them?" Wang Cuihua saw Zhang Laoshi rushing into the rain and immediately shouted, leading her sons to follow.
The neighbors also realized what had happened, exchanged a few hushed words, and then came out of their homes to join the effort.
Eventually, it's unclear who started it, but almost everyone in the village heard that Zhang Liunian and his wife were buried by their collapsing house, and rushed to help.
In the entire Zhang family village, only Zhang Liuhuo, who had been beaten by Zhang Liunian, gloated. Everyone else, more or less, sent people to rescue Zhang Liunian.
...
"What? My third son was buried by his house?" Zhang Wenxue almost fainted when someone told him his youngest son's house had collapsed and he was still inside.
Yu Xiaohua, standing beside him, quickly reached out to support him. "Old man, don't worry."
Zhang Wenxue took several deep breaths, barely calming the tempest in his heart. Filled with grief, he cried, "Third son, third son..." and then, without regard for anything else, he rushed towards Zhang Liunian's house in the pouring rain.
"Old man?" Yu Xiaohua reached out, trying to grab her husband, but missed. Filled with both shock and sorrow, she decided to go along to see.
"Minghua, you stay home with your two younger brothers. Grandma isn't back yet, so don't come out, understand?" Yu Xiaohua instructed her eldest grandson before grabbing an umbrella and rushing out.
"Third son, third son..."
When Yu Xiaohua arrived, Zhang Wenxue was digging at the mud wall with his bare hands, as if his youngest son were trapped beneath it. His sorrowful appearance made many sigh with pity.
"Old man, you're an old bone, let the others handle it!" Yu Xiaohua, seeing the crowd, stepped forward to pull her husband away.
But Zhang Wenxue shook her hand off, ignoring her completely.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaohua gritted her teeth and joined the effort.
This mud house was quite large, over a hundred square meters. Even with many people present, because they didn't know where the youngest son was buried, they could only search everywhere.
Fortunately, within a short time, someone found Zhang Liunian and his wife.
At that time, Zhang Liunian had sustained numerous injuries and had passed out.
Jiang Qingqing, whom he had held protectively in his arms, showed no outward signs of injury but had also fainted.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Laoshi immediately organized everyone to send Zhang Liunian and his wife to the clinic. Yu Xiaohua and her husband wanted to go along to check on their youngest son, but because the road was too slippery, Yu Xiaohua twisted her leg on the muddy path.
Zhang Laoshi, seeing this, simply had people send her to the clinic as well.
After the doctor's examination, it was said that Zhang Liunian appeared to be unharmed, but due to a blow to the head, his condition was uncertain.
However, if he woke up quickly and showed no reaction, he would be fine. If he remained unconscious, he would need to be sent to the county hospital tomorrow.
Zhang Wenxue stayed behind alone to look after his youngest son and wife, as well as his own wife, and sent Zhang Laoshi's family away.
On the way back, Zhang Hao couldn't help but secretly hope that Zhang Liunian would be alright.
"Alas, Zhang Liunian's house should have been rebuilt long ago." Zhang Laoshi truly hadn't expected Zhang Liunian's house to be so fragile, collapsing with the arrival of the storm.
However, considering the age of the house, it was understandable.
"His house was one of the earliest mud houses in the village; its collapse was only a matter of time. It's just unfortunate that it happened on the day they were moving. If it had happened a little later, after they had left, it would have been better. Now that Liunian is injured, we don't know how serious it is."