Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 81
by Little PandaVolume 2: Inheritance
Opportunity
Entering the tunnel once again
“Xiaogui, I’m going home,” Fang Zhiyou put away her phone and turned to lift the tent curtain.
Yu Gui limped after her: “It’s too dangerous, you can’t go!”
Fang Zhiyou turned around with reddened eyes staring at her, enunciating each word: “That’s my mom!”
“It’s too late to go now. Let’s trust the government and the Liberation Army, don’t be impulsive, okay? Maybeβ¦ maybe it’s just temporary that we can’t get in touchβ¦ or the signal is bad, or auntie went out without her phone?”
Fang Zhiyou gripped her phone tightly. Although she usually argued with her mom and had countless thoughts of running away from home, when she actually lost contact, she felt like a duckweed without roots drifting aimlessly in the vast ocean.
She didn’t want to break her only connection to this world.
“Sheβ¦ she called me last night⦔ Fang Zhiyou choked up: “But I was on my way to find you, and I hung up.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t said that. Once the words came out, that inexplicable sense of guilt tightly gripped her heart.
Yu Gui released her grip on her sleeve.
“Xiaogui, you have your things to do, and I have mine,” Fang Zhiyou hugged her gently: “Tomorrowβ¦ tomorrow we’ll meet in Jinzhou City.”
Yu Gui slowly hugged her back: “Be careful.”
She turned and walked two steps, but Yu Gui suddenly ran over and grabbed her hand, limping as she led her toward the ambulance.
“Senior, could you help me?” This ambulance wasn’t for transporting people but was responsible for taking counted medical equipment and medicines back to the hospital.
Liu Qingyun looked at her and then at Fang Zhiyou standing nearby, without asking too much: “Alright, get in. I’ll let the driver know where to go.”
“Thank you,” Fang Zhiyou bowed slightly in gratitude, then climbed into the vehicle. As the door locked, Yu Gui stood below waving goodbye.
What she didn’t know was that after this parting, both their lives would undergo earth-shattering changes, and an invisible chasm would form between them.
It was something that couldn’t be spoken or swallowed, like a fishbone stuck in the throat (having something troubling that can’t be expressed or resolved).
“This thing flying over our heads all day long, like a fly, it’s driving me crazy,” Hao Renjie poked at his lunch box, making the metal bowl clang, pointing at the drone in the sky.
Several drone operators from the fire department sat beside him. In just a few days, he had become quite familiar with them.
“Can’t help it, we rely on these things to scout ahead,” said the firefighter while picking up a chicken leg from his lunch box.
“The medical team’s food is still better than ours.”
“Hey hey hey⦔ Hao Renjie reached out to grab it: “Brother, that’s not cool, I’m going to report you to your captain.”
Just as he finished speaking, the machine receiving real-time drone transmission footage lit up beside them, with a small red dot blinking on the screen.
The firefighter’s mouth fell open, dropping the chicken leg: “Quick, quick, there are survivors!”
“Report, heavy to torrential rain expected at 4 PM. Command requires us to reach the designated demolition point and place the explosives before 3 PM.”
The messenger stood at attention and saluted before him.
“Falcon Assault Team, First Platoon Leader Cheng Du acknowledges!” He returned the military salute, and only after the messenger left did he spit harshly on the ground.
“Motherf*cker, we can’t even set up the pontoon bridge, what’s the point of blasting!” (ιε – hammer, used here as a curse word expressing frustration)
Not only could they not set it up, but they had also lost several combat engineers. Cheng Du paced back and forth, suddenly yanking off his beret.
“Falcon Assault Team, attention!”
“Present!”
The previously lounging soldiers sprang up from the ground, their gazes becoming sharp and determined.
“Put on life jackets, prepare to enter the water!”
“Yes, sir!”
While others were still calculating the current maximum water flow speed on their calculators, Gu Yanzhi had already produced the results. Cheng Du dropped a sandbag in front of her with one hand.
“How about it, old friend, want to team up for one job?” (literally “do one job together,” meaning to collaborate on a mission)
Gu Yanzhi shook her head: “Our mission is to reinforce the embankment.”
Cheng Du stopped wasting words: “Command gave us a deadline. There will be heavy to torrential rain at 4 PM.”
He glanced at the time: “It’s now 1:50 PM. We have at most two hours to place the explosives. I need your help.”
Gu Yanzhi stopped what she was doing, but before she could answer, her team member came running from afar: “Report, life signs detected at coordinates 159.70 in the tunnel. Request instructions for rescue operation!”
Gu Yanzhi removed her gloves, ignoring Cheng Du: “Show me the drone footage.”
The firefighter enlarged the image on the iPad for her to see. The infrared showed two red dots, one large and one small, blinking in the yet-to-be-cleared latter half of the tunnel.
“First and Second Squads, bring rescue equipment and prepare to move out. Third and Fourth Squads stay and continue operations.”
She strode away without looking back, and Cheng Du called out behind her in a drawn-out voice: “You’re always like this, trying to save everyone, but end up causing more deaths. Have you considered that if the dam breaks, everyone here will die, including your Dr. Lu? Gu Yanzhi, can you please prioritize what’s urgent and what’s not?!”
Her combat boots stopped in the mud, and her hand at her side clenched into a fist.
The weather gradually cleared, with the torrential rain turning into a drizzle, which was quite favorable for rescue work.
A small team of firefighters filed into the tunnel entrance with rescue equipment, followed by several doctors carrying emergency kits.
In the time it took the disaster relief commander to step out of the tent for a smoke, a diesel generator had been set up at the tunnel entrance. He frowned and asked, “What’s going on there?”
“They’ve detected signs of life in the tunnel again. The fire team and some doctors went in.”
“Nonsense! All work should be focused on reinforcing the dam now. Didn’t the medical team already withdraw? Why are people still here? Go, tell them all to come back!”
Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and a firefighter spoke up with a stiff neck (meaning to speak defiantly): “So we’re just going to abandon the people alive in there?”
“These are orders from above,” the soldier in hunter’s camouflage said coldly.
“And doctors, you are ordered to withdraw immediately.”
Watching the two red dots on the life detector growing dimmer, Yu Gui became anxious: “You’re treating human lives like grass! I won’t leave. Don’t pull meβ¦ heyβ¦ what are you doing!”
The man snapped his fingers, and without a word, the soldiers behind him moved forward to grab her arms.
“Comrade soldiers, let’s talk this through, let’s talk this through. No need for force,” Xu Qiankun, seeing the situation deteriorate, approached with a placating expression.
Even though he wore a leadership position badge on his chest, the group remained unmoved, their camouflaged faces showing an inhuman coldness.
“Let go,” a cold voice suddenly cut in. Lu Qingshi, being physically fit, swiftly grabbed Yu Gui’s sleeve back and pulled her behind her.
Two equally sharp gazes clashed. Lu Qingshi slightly raised her chin, showing a fearless expression.
Almost instinctively, the other person drew his gun, pressing the cold muzzle against her forehead.
A cold sweat broke out on their backs, and Yu Gui was too scared to move. Everyone held their breath.
Lu Qingshi slowly pushed the gun barrel aside: “I don’t know what your rank is in the military, but in the hospital, someone of your level isn’t qualified to speak to me.”
“Youβ” the camouflaged face turned bright red. He wore the rank of a private on his shoulder.
The same man who spoke earlier walked over: “Your surname?”
“Nothing honorable (a humble way of introducing oneself), it’s Lu.”
The man squinted at her name tag, showing a slightly puzzling thoughtful expression.
“Release them.”
The man checked his wristwatch: “Your rescue operation is permitted, but you only have two hours. After two hours, we’ll blast the dam for flood discharge. If you don’t want to die inside from a landslide, be quick.”
Lu Qingshi ignored him and turned to instruct everyone: “Liu Qingyun, Chen Yi, Hao Renjie, come with me. Director Xu and Qin Xuan, stay outside to coordinate.”
“Dr. Lu, what about me?” Yu Gui limped over carrying a first-aid kit.
“Stay outside.”
“I⦔ Before she could finish, Qin Xuan pulled her backpack strap: “Don’t go in and complicate things, they can work faster with just them.”
Yu Gui pressed her lips together, letting her take off her backpack and hand it to Lu Qingshi.
“Be careful.”
“Alright, don’t worry.”
As Lu Qingshi supported herself on the tunnel rocks, about to climb over, the same man’s voice came again.
“What’s your relationship with Academician Lu?”
She entered the dark tunnel without looking back: “No relationship.”
“Is that so? Old Lu’s granddaughter is already this grown up? Indeed, we’ve grown oldβ¦ so old⦔ The man in his fifties, who had to stay until the flood discharge was successful, took a moment’s rest in the tent, boiling murky river water for tea.
This elderly man had once undergone major surgery, with Academician Lu personally operating on him. He went back for annual check-ups, and gradually, the rising medical star and the weathered politician became friends.
He knew his old friend had one worry: his granddaughter who had disappeared overseas.
What Lu Qingshi didn’t know was that this elderly man had once held her when she was still in swaddling clothes.
After sending off another injured person, two patients with minor injuries remained in the tent: a woman in her sixties and a man in his thirties, both with fractures already in casts. They just needed to wait for the ambulance to return one more time to transport them all. They would also withdraw for a brief rest.
Xu Qiankun let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his forehead, almost impatiently instructing the young doctor under him: “Go, count everything one more time. As soon as the ambulance returns, we’ll leave immediately.”
“Got it!” The young doctor ran out in a flash to wait eagerly at the camp’s main entrance.
“How are you feeling? Any discomfort?” Qin Xuan was doing final checks on the patients, pressing her stethoscope against the young man’s chest.
“No, thank you, doctor.” Good-looking people receive preferential treatment wherever they go, and the young man thanked her with slightly reddened cheeks.
Qin Xuan smiled subtly, tucking in his blanket: “Alright, rest well. The ambulance will take you to the hospital when it arrives.”
After speaking, she went to check on the elderly woman, who was sleeping soundly with her head tilted on the pillow, breathing steadily.
Qin Xuan gently lifted her blanket.
Xiang Nanke lifted the curtain and entered: “Qinβ”
Qin Xuan pressed her index finger to her lips: “Shh, be quiet.”
“Oh, okay, then come out for a moment,” Xiang Nanke also lowered her voice.
The young man cast a curious glance, and Qin Xuan reluctantly followed her out.
“What is it? Make it quick.”
“Yu Gui said you haven’t had lunch. Here, eat this quickly.” Somehow she had gotten hold of glutinous rice chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, still steaming hot.
Qin Xuan’s gaze was drawn to it, but upon looking at that pretty smiling face, she snorted heavily: “Don’t want it. Get lost.”
“Really? Well, I’ll give it to Yu Gui then, she just said she was still hungry⦔ As Xiang Nanke turned on her heel, just as the glutinous rice chicken was about to end up in someone else’s stomach, Qin Xuan snatched it.
“You didn’t poison it, did you?”
Xiang Nanke shook her head innocently: “No, just added some love potion.”
Holy crap!
Qin Xuan choked on a mouthful of rice, coughing violently with reddened eyes and tears streaming out.
Xiang Nanke gently patted her back to help her breathe.
Qin Xuan pointed at her with trembling fingers, unable to form complete sentences: “Iβ¦ I hate you!”
“How much further?” As they walked, due to the dim light, Lu Qingshi had to steady herself against the stone wall to catch her breath.
“Almost there, just a few hundred meters ahead,” the firefighter holding the life detector quickened his pace, forcing everyone to keep up.
“Sister Lu, are you okay?” Chen Yi quietly asked, walking beside her.
“I’m fine,” Lu Qingshi shook her head and took a deep breath: “Let’s go.”
“One high-speed rail ticket to Zengcheng.” She pulled out the last few red bills from her wallet and slipped them through the counter slot.
The ticket seller took them and printed the ticket: “Show me your ID card. They say the rain is heavy in Zengcheng too. Why are you heading there?”
Fang Zhiyou took the ticket and ID card, tucking them into her wallet, slightly bowing her head: “Thank you.”
She then turned and disappeared into the crowded waiting room.
“Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached at this time.” Yu Gui sighed deeply, returning the phone to her colleague.
“Yu Gui, the ambulance will be back soon. Can you check again if we’ve missed anything?”
“Okay,” Yu Gui responded, ducking back into the tent.
A pungent smell of disinfectant hit her face. She rubbed her nose, sneezed, and bent down to organize things.
“Gauze, forty packs, one box of epinephrine, two boxes of dopamine⦔ Halfway through checking the list, Yu Gui picked up two unused epinephrine injections from under the bed and threw them into the box.
When she looked up, she noticed a wet spot on the white bedsheet. Yu Gui frowned, following the elderly woman’s body up to her forehead, which was covered in cold sweat. She reached under the blanket – it was damp and cold.
“Ma’am, ma’am, can you hear me?”
The elderly woman made a weak sound, her trembling hand clutching her chest, eyes tightly shut: “Chestβ¦ chest pain⦔
The fracture was in her leg, why sudden chest pain? Yu Gui quickly pulled the stethoscope from her neck and pressed it to the woman’s chest.
“Don’t move, lie still. Someone come quickly, we need a bedside ECG!”
The nurse rushed over pushing the equipment.
Qin Xuan ran in with her stethoscope around her neck, still with glutinous rice on her lips: “What’s the situation?”
“Cold sweats, fever, incontinence, persistent chest pain⦔
“ECG results are ready!” The nurse quickly pulled out the results and handed them over.
“Sinus rhythm, bradycardia with irregularity. Start IV access, dopamine drip, and get Director Xu here.”
This wasn’t Qin Xuan’s specialty; she only performed basic emergency treatment. Xu Qiankun rushed over when he heard the news.
Yu Gui frowned at the ECG results: “No obvious ST-segment elevation in the inferior leads⦔
She leaned down to the elderly woman’s ear to ask about her medical history: “What previous illnesses have you had? What medications have you taken? Any history of hypertension, heart disease, or diabetes?”
By this time, the elderly woman could no longer speak, struggling to breathe with her mouth open, her face pale, drenched in sweat, her lips turning purple-blue.
“Not good!” Xu Qiankun rushed forward: “Prepare the defibrillator!”
Just as he finished speaking, the cardiac monitor let out a sharp alarm, both waveforms flatlined simultaneously.
Yu Gui rolled up her sleeves and began chest compressions.
While compressing, she glanced back at the monitor, bit her lower lip, shook her head, and stepped back from the bedside.
Xu Qiankun pressed the defibrillator pads down: “First defibrillation, charging 200J, charge complete, clear!”
The elderly woman’s withered skin was pulled taut and then bounced back heavily.
Qin Xuan took over continuing chest compressions: “5mg epinephrine through IV catheter, Yu Gui, secure the airway.”
“Got it.” Yu Gui grabbed the endotracheal tube and laryngoscope from the medical cart beside the bed, inserted them into the elderly woman’s throat, positioned them, removed the stylet, and secured it with tape wrapped around twice.
The cardiac monitor showed no improvement. She couldn’t help but grit her teeth: “If only we were in the hospital to do an angiogram, I suspect it’s coronary artery embolism (a rare condition that occurs when a blood clot or other substance blocks an artery in the heart, causing a heart attack).”
Xu Qiankun, sweating profusely, continued defibrillating: “Ask them how long until the ambulance arrives?”
The young nurse ran out to make a call and returned anxiously: “They say there’s a landslide blocking the road, probably another hour or more.”
“F*ck!” Even the dignified department director couldn’t help but curse. Outside, drizzle had started again, pelting against the tent.
A simple minimally invasive coronary thrombectomy that would be routine in a hospital was like asking a skilled housewife to cook without rice (meaning even an expert can’t work without proper tools) out here in the wilderness.
The bedside X-ray showed at least two blocked vessels. Forget an hour – the patient couldn’t wait even a minute.
Yu Gui grabbed a scalpel from the tray, but someone snatched it away: “What are you doing?!”
Xu Qiankun roared, and she stood up to shout back: “I need to open her chest to remove the clot, if we delay any longer she’ll die!”
Her resignation seemed to give her the courage to confront Xu Qiankun directly.
He hadn’t expected her to oppose him so directly and was so angry his face turned red and neck swelled, leaving him speechless.
Qin Xuan separated them: “Yu Gui, are you confident you can do it?”
She swallowed, looking at the dying elderly woman on the bed, and after a while, bit her lip and shook her head: “Noβ¦ I’ve done single-vessel thrombectomyβ¦ but I’m not confident with two vessels⦔
“Do it, we’ll assist you,” Qin Xuan patted her shoulder, then turned to Xu Qiankun: “Director Xu, give her a chance.”
She glanced again at the patient in shock: “This old lady barely escaped death once, let’s give her another chance.”
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