Chapter 97 The aftermath The belated alarm bell rang suddenly. The aisle was already crowded with people, and because the boat was shaking violently, many people were hit on the head and bleeding. Hearing the alarm and shouting, the people in the room hurriedly found life jackets and put them on. "Let the women and children go first!" Suddenly a man's voice sounded. Then, more men’s voices responded, turning into the most moving voices in the dark night. Of course, not everyone does this. "Ah yo——" Shortly after the alarm sounded, a shrill scream was heard from a second-class room. A wretched man who was standing in the corridor without a life jacket rushed into the room and tried to snatch clothes from a woman in a yellow skirt.
The woman in yellow was from the north and had never been on a boat. She didn't know what a life jacket was and didn't know how to use it after taking it off. She took it down and hesitated in her hand when the man rushed in, snatched it and ran away. "Robbery, stop him!" The two young men in the room reacted and shouted. The wretched man sneered in his heart, who would really care about you at this time! Unexpectedly, as soon as he rushed out of the corridor, before he could see what was going on, he was knocked to the ground by a punch from the person guarding the door. The two young men who had chased out of the room came over with the life jackets that had been recovered. They consoled: "Don't be nervous! Put it on!" Then, they helped her and her companions fasten their life jackets. The woman in yellow had tears in her eyes. They hadn't even put on their own life jackets! Since they got on the boat, the two of them were either playing with their phones with headphones on or sleeping. They were strangers to each other. "move!" The two nodded and left the room. The men in the corridor outside had already stepped aside to let them and a woman with a child go first. When Zhu Jiayuan, who was patrolling on the lower deck of the passenger ship, heard the alarm, his mood fell to the bottom. According to his understanding of the route, this should be the bend of the Yangtze River. Due to serious overloading, excessive speed, strong winds and rough waves, the Jiangling lost control when turning! The thing I was most worried about happened! Crack! There was lightning flashing in the sky. The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The Jiangling was far from the shore. The bright lights had already dimmed due to water intrusion on the ship. Mrs. Bai was in the first-class cabin, close to the deck, so she held her daughter Bai Zixuan and stood with the others, staggering.
Her bag was left in the room, and the branded cell phone inside was vibrating wildly. At this time, in Jinling Qianqiu Department Store, thousands of miles away, a middle-aged man was walking back and forth like an ant on hot pan. He murmured, "What's going on? Why is no one answering? Did they fall asleep? Did the heavy rain affect the signal?..." He pondered for a moment, then sent a message: "Xue'er, how are you and your daughter doing? Reply as soon as you see this!" Xue'er is the name of Bai Zixuan's mother, and her name is Guo Xue'er. But Guo Xueer naturally had no way of knowing. When the alarm sounded, the rubber life raft on the east side of the deck had already been untied, but the strong wind and heavy rain, and the tilted hull made it not easy to board the life raft using the ladder. Two minutes later, Mrs. Bai Guo Xueer led her daughter into the river, and with the help of the sailors, the two climbed onto the life raft. The life raft was packed with people, all of them women except for a sailor who was nearly 25 years old. This kind of life raft was rated to hold people, but now no one was counting, and everyone squeezed in as long as they could. The Jiangling was equipped with only five life rafts, which were far from enough to accommodate so many people on board. Mrs. Bai boarded the ship early, and a large crowd of people behind her was still pouring in from the cabin. There were bursts of shouting and sobbing from the boat, calling out to friends. "Go!" The life raft was already full of people, and someone cut the rope with a safety knife. The life raft left the passenger ship and drifted on the river with the wind. Suddenly, the river water surged and the life raft became like a leaf. "Is this God's will?!" the sailor on the life raft turned pale and muttered to himself. Yin Yue paid attention to this matter later and found out that due to heavy rains upstream, the water level in the dam rose rapidly, and the hydropower station opened three gates to release the flood! It was just that they were sailing through the storm and did not dock, so they did not learn this information in advance. As huge waves hit, the Jiangling ship's hull was originally tilted, and the surging river water continued to pour in, and the cabin below was soon flooded. A few minutes later, the Jiangling fell into the river, almost upside down. The raft was drifting in the turbulent river, and the people on the boat were holding on to the ropes on the side of the raft tightly. Guo Xueer looked at the Jiangling ship going away and the crowd falling into the water like dumplings, with mixed feelings in her heart. "Mom! I'm scared!" A little girl about ten years old hugged a middle-aged woman's waist tightly and said in a low voice. The woman held the rope with both hands and held the girl to her chest. She put her face close to the girl's face and said, "Don't be afraid, it's okay! Someone will come to rescue you soon!" The life raft drifted blindly in the darkness with the wind and waves, and finally the lights on the shore were seen in the distance. "Mom, look!" Everyone became excited. "Be careful! There are hidden reefs ahead!" the sailor suddenly said, "Turn left quickly..." Bang! A dull sound was heard, and the life raft hit the reef. Then suddenly a huge wave came and the life raft flipped violently. Ah! Some people were caught off guard, failed to hold on to the ropes, and fell into the water. "Oh, Mom! Uh..."
Bai Zixuan was so seasick that her hands and feet were weak, and the sudden collision with the reef threw her out. "Zi Xuan!" A figure jumped off the life raft without hesitation and swam towards a woman who was floating up and down. Bai Zixuan couldn't swim and was thrown into the river, where she choked on water. "Help... help..." Guo Xueer was anxious and swam desperately towards Zixuan. The heavy rain continued, as if it had blown away her voice. Guo Xueer can swim and used to be a frequent visitor to the swimming pool. However, she had never had the experience of swimming in a turbulent river. Facing such rough waves, even she, who can swim, found it extremely difficult. At this time, she regretted very much that she did not insist on teaching her daughter to swim because she was afraid that her daughter would be affected in her studies. "Zi Xuan!" The rain and river water blurred her vision. Guo Xueer tried her best to control her body and move towards the direction where Bai Zixuan's voice came from. But how can human power compete with the power of nature? As she swam, her hands and feet became sore and numb. Just when she was in despair, a sampan appeared. A middle-aged woman in gray stood on the sampan, facing the wind and rain, holding a long pole, standing alone. A few years later, when Guo Xueer followed her husband Bai Qi, she still missed this unique figure. This is an indelible memory in her life. "catch!" The woman on the sampan raised her hand and held out a long pole towards Guo Xueer. Guo Xueer desperately stretched out her hand and grabbed the bamboo pole tightly. The woman lifted Guo Xueer and pulled her onto the sampan. Then he bent down and pulled an elderly man and a young woman who had fallen into the water nearby onto the sampan. "My daughter, please save my daughter!" Guo Xueer came to her senses and looked at the woman who looked like a fisherman. It was like seeing a ray of light in the darkness and suddenly seeing hope in despair. The woman looked at her, remained silent, then glanced at the river surface. Then, in the horrified eyes of everyone, she jumped into the Yangtze River. Two minutes later, there was a sound on the water next to the drifting sampan. A middle-aged female fisherman emerged from the water with a man between her legs. "Zi Xuan!" Guo Xueer screamed out. The three people on the sampan worked together to bring the two people on board. The sampan was a bit crowded, with several people sitting close together, leaving some space. Bai Zixuan was lying flat on the sampan, her face pale, her eyes tightly closed, and she seemed to have stopped breathing.
"My daughter!" Guo Xueer withdrew her hand tremblingly, lowered her head and cried inconsolably. The hoarse cries echoed on the surface of the river. The other two people who were rescued had solemn expressions and couldn't help but shed tears. At this time, the storm subsided. The sound of engines could be heard faintly on the river surface, as a lifeboat was heading towards the scene of the accident. Soon, the boat reached the shore. They jumped off the boat one after another and stepped onto the shore. The rescued elderly men and young women all felt like they had survived a disaster. Guo Xueer was still lying on Bai Zixuan's body sobbing. "Someone will come to pick you up soon!" said the middle-aged female fisherman. Then the bamboo pole was pushed and the small sampan left the shore. Why don't you come down? The two were confused and before they could even say thank you to her, the sampan had already sailed towards the center of the river against the wind and waves. Guo Xueer straightened up, stared at the woman in front of her in a daze, and suddenly knelt down in front of her. Bang bang bang! "Female Bodhisattva, please save my daughter! I beg you! She is the only bloodline of the Bai Qi family!" She kowtowed repeatedly and begged, "I beg you..." Blood was all over her cheeks, it was horrible. "Ugh!" The fisherwoman sighed. "Don't cry. I promise!" (End of this chapter)