After the Earthquake of Rebirth

The four people who ate a whole pot of hot and sour noodles were sweating profusely, but the soup was not very hungry. One bowl for each person was half full at most. With the spicy soup, each ate a steamed bun. lunch.

After eating, Ning Qiyan went in to prepare food for Du Dabao and the others. Ning Xiaowen took a look at the chickens and ducks that were hugging their nests to make sure they were all right before returning to the cave.

The four of them had nothing to do in the afternoon, playing cards with three decks of poker to pass the time.

It was past three o'clock in the afternoon, and Ning Qiyan frowned a little when he didn't see anyone who came over to inspect.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Ning Qiyan put down his cards, Ning Xiaowen asked.

Du Cheng saw Ning Qiyan's movement of looking at his watch before, and after thinking about it for a while, he knew what he was thinking.

"Let's wait and see, our house is the innermost one in this area, maybe the previous ones have delayed time."

Ning Qiyan nodded, and was about to play a card when he heard a knock on the door.

Huzi stopped Ning Xiaowen who was about to get up, "I'll go." Then he put on his shoes, cotton clothes and coat, and then opened the cave door.

"Brother Beard." As soon as the door opened, Wang Yang and Ke Chengwei, who were shivering from the cold, came in and greeted Beard, only to see Ning Qiyan and the others sitting on the kang.

"Come here quickly." Ning Xiaowen waved to them, and moved back to make room for them.

Wang Yang and the others were not polite, they took off their snow-stained coats and sat up.

"Why did you come out in such a cold day? Where's Wang Zhixiang?" Ning Xiaowen poured a glass of water for the two and asked casually.

Wang Yang and Ke Chengwei took the water and did not respond, but looked at each other, as if hesitating.

Ning Qiyan looked at the two of them, and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Did the inspector go to your house?"

Wang Yang took a sip of water before saying, "Maybe...can't come?"

"How to say?" Ning Qiyan paused, and asked directly, even Du Cheng, who had been silent all this time, frowned.

Wang Yang looked at them, "Just now, we saw that it was getting dark, and no one came over, so we went out to have a look. You also know that my cave is not far from the safety rope they connected before. The rope is bright red, even if it snows heavily, you can still see it from a long distance. But when I went to see it just now, the rope... seemed to be broken."

"Broken?" Ning Qiyan straightened up all of a sudden, "Are you sure it's broken? Isn't it covered by snow?"

Wang Yang hesitated, but Ke Chengwei shook his head: "It should be broken, the end of the safety rope has been connected to the water station and is close to us, that is, this section of safety rope is invisible, but the rope farther away is still there. At the beginning, the rope they erected was so high, at least two and a half meters above the ground, and it is impossible for the snow to submerge that high now."

After listening to Ke Chengwei's words, Ning Qiyan and the others were a little silent.

"Well, what should we do now? Should we... go find it?" Wang Yang scratched his head, a little undecided.

looking for?

There is no need to look for the rope, but the problem is that everyone knows that Wang Yang is not referring to the rope, but... people.

"Why don't you look for it? It's not easy to come and inspect in this snowy day. If something happens, it will freeze to death." Ning Xiaowen thought for a while, and spoke first.

After the earthquake, he saw too many soldiers in military uniforms, all of whom were half-grown children. Many of them looked younger than Wang Yang and the others, but they still insisted on being on the front line of disaster relief guards. He felt distressed when he saw them.

When Huzi saw Du Cheng looking at him, he shrugged, he knew that Ning Xiaowen would definitely say that, and then pouted in Ning Qiyan's direction, letting Du Cheng see for himself.These two people are still soft-hearted. If they don't know, they will be like that. If they know, they must not really watch like this.

Although Ning Qiyan didn't speak, there was some struggle in his eyes.

It's okay to go out and check before dark, but what he's worried about is that if he is sure that someone is missing, with such a heavy snow, there is a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere, and if he is not careful, his family will be thrown into it.

After struggling for a while, Ning Qiyan sighed, turned around and began to get dressed.

"Hurry up and look for it. It's okay if there's nothing wrong. If something really happens, you can't just sit and watch."

Seeing that Ning Qiyan had made a decision, Du Cheng and the others didn't object. Wang Yang stood up, put down his cup and said, "Then you guys put on your clothes first, it's colder than daytime outside, so put on more. Cheng Wei and I will go down first, and ask about the safety." The house on the other side where the rope is still there, see if the inspectors have come. If they haven’t passed over there, there should be nothing wrong. If they have inspected over there..."

Needless to say the rest, I know that the place with the safety rope has been checked, and the safety rope here is still broken... In all likelihood, something happened.

After Wang Yang and the others left, Ning Qiyan and the others took the time to get dressed, and they were wearing the same set they used to go out to sweep the snow during the day. This set of clothes was already the warmest they could think of.After putting it on, Ning Qiyan thought for a while, and found out another box of baby warmers. This was ordered online before the earthquake. This thing is cheap and easy to use.Everyone took off their clothes and put a circle of warm babies on the thermal underwear, and felt the warmth before they went out.

The sky outside had begun to darken, Du Cheng pulled Ning Qiyan, and Hu Zi pulled Ning Xiaowen, and the two of them drove down carefully and quickly.

The uncleared snow was deeper than the snow in the yard during the day, and it was uncertain what would be stepped on. Several times, Ning Xiaowen almost fell into the snow because he could not step on it. He pulled it into his arms.

It was also very difficult for Ning Qiyan and Du Cheng to walk, but fortunately, after walking a few times, Ning Qiyan regained the feeling of walking on the snow, and walked down relatively steadily with Du Cheng supporting each other.

"It should be this." Du Cheng wiped the snow off his face, and the edge of the scarf was already covered with icicles due to the heat of his breath.

Ning Qiyan looked at the big tree in front of him. Although the canopy of the tree had been covered by snow, if he looked carefully, he could still see the faint red in the gap.He took out his flashlight and pointed at the red color in the gap.

"Is this it?" Hu Zi supported Ning Xiaowen and came over at this moment.

"It's here." Ning Qiyan nodded firmly, then walked around the big tree, "Over here!"

When the three of them walked to Ning Qiyan's position, when they looked up, they could see the red rope hanging from the canopy.

Although a section hangs down, Ning Qiyan and the others still can't reach it, the snow is full of thick snow everywhere, and they can't find a stick, and Ning Qiyan's space can only put things in and take things out If so, you have to go in and take it out yourself.

"Du Cheng and I are supporting each other, Xiaowen, you climb on top of us and try to see if you can do it." Hu Zi patted Du Cheng's shoulder and said to Ning Xiaowen.

"Why don't I do it." Ning Qiyan interrupted, after all, he is younger than Ning Xiaowen, and he has a sense of balance... From this point of view, he is better.

Ning Xiaowen waved his hand, "Let's go, at least I'm lighter than you."

Ning Qiyan wanted to continue, but was interrupted by Du Cheng.

"No need, Wang Zhixiang should be here, he seems to be holding something."

Following Du Cheng's line of sight, he did see a stumbling figure walking this way. Judging from the direction, it was indeed Wang Yang and his family who came here.

After waiting for a while, Wang Zhixiang finally walked over with difficulty, and before he could catch his breath, Huzi took the stick in his hand for exploring the way.

Facing the branch where the rope was hanging down, Huzi poked vigorously, but a snowdrift fell down overwhelmingly.

Huzi touched his painful head, gritted his teeth, and continued to poke, seven or eight times before finally letting the rope hang down a little more.

Ning Qiyan asked Du Cheng to bend down, he climbed onto Du Cheng's back, stretched out his hand vigorously, and finally pulled the rope down.

The hanging part of the rope has been frozen into a popsicle. It is hard. Several people took turns to look at it. They guessed that the snow fell on the rope, and then it was frozen. After being subjected to external force, the ice cracked and the rope was broken. so neat.The entire safety rope is twisted from several strands of military rope, even if it is cut with a knife, it is not easy to be cut off.

"Wang Yang and the others are here." Almost sure, Wang Zhixiang pointed down and said.

Wang Yang's iconic red jacket is particularly obvious on the snow, even if it is snowing heavily, it is easy to see at a glance.

"Let's go down too." Hu Zi said, holding the rope with one hand and Ning Xiaowen with the other, walking towards Wang Yang and Ke Chengwei.

The five of them walked until the rope could no longer be pulled, and now Wang Yang and his wife were not far away from them.

When Wang Yang and the others approached, Ning Xiaowen hurriedly asked, "How is it? Did you get the question?"

Wang Yang pulled down the scarf and moved his stiff face: "I asked, they said that the inspection team will arrive at their place around one o'clock."

Ning Qiyan's heart sank.

"Then something really happened. Didn't you tell them that the rope was broken?" Wang Zhixiang looked behind Wang Yang and the others, but he didn't see anyone coming.

Wang Yang twitched the corner of his mouth, "I said it, but..."

Ning Qiyan waved his hand and interrupted him, "Don't think so much, we can't say anything unless the weather helps. Besides, there are only our two families up there, and something happened to the inspection team, and it was only to go to our two families matter. We just need to be worthy of our own conscience, and we can’t control what others do.”

To put it bluntly, if they didn't have all the warm clothes, he wouldn't have dared to risk freezing to death to find someone in such a weather of minus [-] or [-] degrees and a snowstorm.

"Then how do we find it?" Wang Yang asked directly without being too entangled.As Ning Qiyan said, they do what they do, and what others do is their business.

Ning Qiyan looked at the rope in Huzi's hand, and then at the water station not far away.

"I remember when the safety rope was set up before, did it go through the water station?"

The three of Wang Yang nodded. After the safety rope was attached, they went to the water station to fetch water several times.

"Just across the top of the water station, I remember it well."

With Ke Chengwei's affirmation, Du Cheng pointed directly to the right side of the water station: "If you just fell off the rope, at a height of more than two meters, with such a thick snow as a buffer, you won't fall too seriously. From one point It has been more than two hours now, and I can climb to the nearby houses even if I climb. Unless there is a strong wind when I fall down, the direction is shifted. The position of this section of safety rope is only about five meters to the right of the water station. Where the col begins to go downhill. If the person really disappeared, I suspect he fell on the edge of the col and slid down."