When Su Anxi woke up, Liao Zhiping was looking at his phone. She stretched her neck and said to him, "Not bad, there's still signal."
Liao Zhiping chuckled and handed the phone to Su Anxi, giving her a meaningful look. "You're not bad either, you've become famous."
"What nonsense." Su Anxi took the phone, puzzled, and saw a photo of herself performing emergency treatment on the child at the county hospital.
There was also an interview with the child's parents. It turned out they were villagers from Bajiao Township. Their child had been crying nonstop at home for unknown reasons, so they thought the child was sick and prepared to take him to the township health clinic. Not long after, the mudslide disaster struck. They never expected that their own child would end up saving their lives.
Later, during the collective evacuation to Wangliu County, they likely fed the child some apple and porridge along the way. When they noticed something was wrong and rushed him to the hospital, the child had stopped crying and moving, appearing lifeless. The mother, still reeling from the near-death experience, panicked and grabbed the female military doctor who had just stepped out of the ambulance, ultimately saving the child's life.
Liao Zhiping pointed to the screen. "There's also a video, and plenty of comments."
Su Anxi couldn't be bothered and tossed the phone back to Liao Zhiping. She glanced at the raindrops clinging to the window, peering through the gaps between them at the gloomy, oppressive gray sky.
It must be nearly dawn, right?
By the time they approached Zhixi Town, the sky had already brightened. Along the way, they could see traffic police in fluorescent yellow vests directing traffic. On one side stood towering mountains, while on the other surged a raging flood—a truly harrowing sight.
Not long ago, she had visited this place. Though the roads were treacherous, the scenery was lush and picturesque, with villages exuding the fragrance of peppercorns like scenes from a painting. Now, in the blink of an eye, everything had been swallowed and buried by the cold, merciless mountains.
Looking at the barren mountains in the distance, she felt both regret and sorrow.
Upon arriving at the rescue site, they could see numerous temporary shelters set up, as well as firefighters in orange rescue suits either moving about or sleeping on the ground.
And yet… there was no sign of him.
After getting out of the vehicle, the medical staff from both cars headed straight for the temporary medical point marked with a red cross.
As soon as they entered, they were met with many injured patients. Before they could even take a closer look, several more villagers who had been rescued but were barely clinging to life were brought in.
There was no time for formalities or small talk. Su Anxi and the others immediately joined the rescue efforts, working tirelessly without a moment's pause.
On the emergency table lay a person whose clothes were soaked in a mixture of red blood and mud, making it impossible to distinguish between the two. The face, too, was caked in grime, rendering it unrecognizable.
"Clear the airway, check the pulse, what's the blood pressure…" Su Anxi examined the patient while giving instructions.
"Dr. Su," Xiao Wang pointed at the monitor and immediately reported, "Ventricular fibrillation."
Su Anxi calmly ordered, "Administer epinephrine, prepare for defibrillation…"
…
Not far from the temporary medical point were the soldiers of the Fangquan City Armed Police Special Operations Team. The orange-clad team at the mudslide site had begun digging, but after a long, long time, they still hadn't managed to recover the victims' bodies. Frustrated and exhausted, they wiped away tears and sweat, continuing to dig tirelessly, their fingers growing numb and weak, yet refusing to give up.
Zhang Zhong's shout startled all the soldiers. "We've found something, we've found something!"
A group of orange vests collectively rushed over and continued digging, finally unearthing the victims devoured by millions of cubic meters of mud and rock. Everyone stopped.
Several men over six feet tall silently shed tears, the feeling more painful than cutting flesh from their own bodies.
The remains were carried out and placed on level ground. Someone handed over a white cloth, which Xu Yu took and used to cover the body, preserving its final dignity.
Then, every rescue soldier present gathered around the victims.
Xu Yu stood in place and shouted to the soldiers, "Silent tribute to the victims."
All the soldiers removed their caps, their faces wet with what could have been rain or tears, solemn yet sorrowful.
…
The sky gradually brightened, and the rain eased somewhat, though it continued to fall endlessly.
Su Anxi washed her hands clean and stood outside the medical point, clutching a half-drunk bottle of mineral water, kicking small stones underfoot without a word.
The person from earlier still hadn't been saved, and her heart felt heavy.
"Military doctor, military doctor!" A young soldier ran over, panting heavily. Spotting Su Anxi in camouflage training uniform with a red cross armband on her sleeve, he pointed in a direction. "Save… save someone…"
Hearing this, Su Anxi threw away the mineral water bottle in her hand and turned to shout, "Nurse Wang, medical kit, hurry!"
Xiao Wang immediately handed the medical kit to Su Anxi, barely catching a glimpse before the kit and Dr. Su vanished in a cloud of dust.
The soldier led Su Anxi to a mudslide site, where several people were still digging with their hands in a crevice. A police dog sat nearby, and upon closer look, the man beside it, buried in moving stones, was none other than Xu Yu.
"Still staring?" Xu Yu turned and saw Su Anxi frozen in place, shouting hoarsely, "Come save someone!"
Su Anxi didn't care about Xu Yu's harsh tone—they were all focused on saving lives, no time for other thoughts.
She quickly ran over, set down the medical kit, and asked, "What's the situation?"
Xu Yu pointed to the crevice in front of them—not too big, not too small, but difficult for a person to enter. "The life detector and the police dog both detected signs of life. We need someone to go in, along with some emergency medical supplies and instructions on usage and dosage."
Su Anxi nodded to herself, sizing up the crevice. Estimating her own figure, she thought she could squeeze through. She looked up at Xu Yu and said, "Alright, I'll go in."
"No." Xu Yu rejected Su Anxi's suggestion without hesitation.
"Captain Xu, let's be realistic. Do you think someone as tall as you can fit in there?" Su Anxi said while opening the medical kit. "Don't hesitate—I'm the best candidate."
Seeing Su Anxi take out some syringes and medicine, Xu Yu immediately took off his jacket, leaving only a fitted camouflage short-sleeved T-shirt. It accentuated her fair skin, ample chest, and slender waist, yet she still exuded a heroic aura.
Su Anxi wrapped the syringes and medicine bottles in the jacket, tied a knot, and once everything was secure, handed it to Xu Yu. "After I go down, pass this to me."
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Xu Yu, having stayed up all night, had bloodshot eyes and a stubble of beard, looking somewhat weary. Yet his grip on her wrist was forceful, as if he could break it.
"Dr. Su, we should still be the ones to go down. We can't let a young woman like you take the risk!" Zhang Zhong also felt it was inappropriate and spoke up.
Su Anxi smiled and looked at Zhang Zhong. "Squad Leader Zhang, if any one of you could manage it, I wouldn't go. But look at yourselves—are you really up to it?"
Manual digging was already the limit, and machinery couldn't be used, so this truly posed a dilemma.
Having Su Anxi descend was undoubtedly the best rescue method, but even the captain wouldn't allow it. What could they say?
Zhang Zhong fell silent and looked at Xu Yu, deferring to the captain's arrangements.
Xu Yu knew Su Anxi was telling the truth, but he couldn't just stand by and let her venture into unpredictable danger. He couldn't, and he didn't dare.
"There must be another way. Zhang Zhong, go call Captain Zhou from the Firefighting Special Service Squadron." Xu Yu gripped Su Anxi's wrist firmly, refusing to let go.
Su Anxi twisted her wrist slightly, took a breath to calm herself, and softened her tone. "You're hurting me."
Only then did Xu Yu release his grip. Seeing the faint red marks his fingers had left on her fair wrist, he looked up at her half-smiling face.
"Don't joke around with me. You're risking your life, you know that?" Xu Yu actually began lecturing Su Anxi.
Su Anxi smiled because Xu Yu was genuinely worried about her. Since their reunion, she had never seen him display such open concern—it was a true expression of his feelings.
"Is this your police dog?" Su Anxi said, turning to look at Xile and making a move to pet him. Unexpectedly, Xile bared his teeth and growled a warning, showing no friendliness at all.
"Xile," Xu Yu quickly called out. Seeing Su Anxi swiftly withdraw her hand, he chuckled inwardly. "My dog usually has a good temper. Why does he seem to dislike you so much?"
Su Anxi subtly checked Xile's gender and smiled knowingly. "Maybe he's jealous of my beauty."
Both were secretly using humor to ease the tension of the moment. Unbeknownst to them, Zhou Dingkun, who had just arrived, also believed that sending Su Anxi down was the best solution. Suddenly, the atmosphere grew tense again.
"Alright, enough hesitation. I'll go down. If we wait any longer, the person might not survive, and my efforts would be wasted." Su Anxi stood up and stretched, her movements so fluid that even Zhou Dingkun couldn't help but stare.
In a rescue situation, there was no room for sentimentality. Besides, any romantic feelings between Su Anxi and Xu Yu had ended nine years ago—they no longer existed.
With everything settled, Su Anxi prepared to descend.
Xu Yu took the safety rope and secured it around Su Anxi. As he tied the final knot, his lips accidentally brushed against her ear. She tensed up but forced herself to appear relaxed.
After finishing the last knot, Xu Yu tugged hard to ensure it was secure. He then clipped his walkie-talkie onto her belt and said in a low voice, "Keep it on at all times."
"Mm," Su Anxi replied. She felt the distance between her and Xu Yu was far too intimate at that moment. Her heart was pounding, and she feared he might hear it. She took a step back, saluted Xu Yu, and reminded him of a fact: "Don't forget, I'm also Military Personnel."
Xu Yu sighed helplessly, raised his right hand in a return salute, and repeated, "Remember, keep the walkie-talkie on at all times."
Su Anxi nodded. "Wait for my triumphant return."