The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 329: Front Page Headline!

Chapter 329: Chapter 329: Front Page Headline!

News about Xu Qianli’s refusal to give an interview, rudely knocking down a female reporter, quickly hit the headlines, the fervor escalated to unprecedented levels.

More and more people started slandering Xu Qianli for his violence and arrogance—how could he treat a female reporter like that? He was anything but a man.

Very soon, netizens began tracking his personal information, and it turned out he was the Party Secretary of Qingshan Town!

Then the internet exploded—the Party Secretary of Qingshan Town throwing tantrums, violently treating a provincial female reporter and knocking her down became top news, its intensity even surpassing that of the Qinglong Town flood.

All sorts of condemnations, doubts, and verbal attacks came pouring in!

To all this, Xu Qianli was completely oblivious; he was too lazy to pay attention, as he was constantly rescuing people, again and again...

In just half a day, Xu Qianli didn’t know how many trips he had made in the flood zone or how many people he had saved; he hadn’t even had a sip of water and was continuously busy rescuing.

The flood affected over twenty villages, and after a day of rescue efforts, most villages had been reached, leaving only one named Lijia Slope still awaiting complete rescue.

It wasn’t that the rescuers from Qingshan Town and other areas weren’t effective, but the situation in Lijia Slope was incredibly complex.

Surrounding the village was a very unique geological feature—a karst terrain.

All around the village, there were upward-growing stalagmites, some as tall as seventeen or eighteen meters, others just tens of centimeters.

Normally, this wasn’t much of an issue as they were all visible and did not hinder the villagers’ commute, as there was always a way in and out.

But now, the shorter stalagmites were submerged, completely invisible, creating underwater reefs. If rescue boats approached carelessly and hit them, they might capsize—not only failing to rescue anyone but also posing great danger.

For this reason, most of the rescue forces could only linger around the perimeter, daring not to enter the village to rescue people.

Thus, they could only helplessly watch hundreds of households in Lijia Slope trapped in the steadily rising floodwaters without any possible recourse.

In light of this, Xu Qianli parked his speedboat outside of Lijia Slope, threw down the anchor to secure the boat, and carrying a large bundle of hemp rope, he dove into the water and swam toward Lijia Slope.

"You’re crazy, come back! The current is so strong, and there are hidden reefs; one mistake and you’re done..."

"Young man, saving lives is important, but so is protecting yourself. Think about your parents and loved ones!"

"It’s too dangerous; really too dangerous, young man, please come back!"

From several nearby speedboats, rescuers shouted loudly.

Although swimming over to rescue was an option, it was far too dangerous.

With the current so fierce and hidden reefs underwater, swimming over like that was too risky. It was a matter of life and death.

At that moment, the female reporter and a photographer from the provincial network arrived on another speedboat, and the photographer managed to capture Xu Qianli jumping into the water with the hemp rope, immediately focusing the camera on him.

The female reporter even began to speak excitedly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look at the village in front of me," the reporter began. "This is Lijia Slope, the area hardest hit by the flood. Because of its complex terrain, boats simply can’t enter to conduct rescue operations."

"Just moments ago, right before my eyes, a fearless warrior bravely jumped into the water, apparently aiming to swim across to rescue someone."

"Such courage is truly worthy of our—sob..."

Speaking, the female reporter suddenly choked up, her throat catching and her words breaking off in excitement.

Although the female reporter couldn’t speak, people from all over watching the livestream began flooding the screen with comments.

"Warriors, such a dangerous place, and yet he dares to swim to rescue people, truly a warrior, I bow down to him!"

"Disasters are merciless but people are compassionate, every time disaster strikes, there’s always a group of fearless warriors carrying the burden for us, what noble gentlemen, I bow down to you!"

"Gentleman’s virtue!"

"Look at this warrior and then look at the Party Secretary from Qingshan Town, they’re just not comparable. Hey, why does that person look a bit like the Party Secretary from Qingshan Town?"

"No way, that jerk from Qingshan Town could compare to a warrior who braves death to save people? You’re insulting my hero, and I’m furious with you!"

"Don’t argue, I also think he looks a bit like it. Look, he really does!"

As comments continued to flood the livestream, Xu Qianli, carrying a hemp rope, kept swimming forward. He quickly reached the outskirts of the village and tightly wrapped his arms around a large stalagmite, cinching the hemp rope around it with great effort before waving to other boats.

"If you have hemp ropes, throw them over, I have a big use for them!"

"Quick, throw them!"

Xu Qianli’s face was clearly captured by the camera, and millions of viewers watching the livestream instantly recognized him. It was none other than Xu Qianli, the Party Secretary from Qingshan Town who had roughly pushed the female reporter before!

"My goodness, it really is him!"

"He seems to be competent though; he might have a bad personality, but he’s clear-headed when saving people, the good outweighs the bad, I’ve changed sides!"

"What good outweighs the bad, you all are fools. A single boat can carry only so many people; if the female reporter and cameramen had gotten on, he would have saved fewer people each trip, who knows how many might have died in the flood. If it were me, I would have shoved the reporter aside too to use the precious opportunity to save more lives!"

"Right, why didn’t I think of that? So that was the reason, I was only focused on his violence and hadn’t considered his intent to save people. A true hero, indeed a good man."

"He’s definitely a good man. I am a disaster victim from Qinglong Town. After our town was hit, before other places even reacted, it was Secretary Xu from Qingshan Town who first mobilized all resources to save our lives. He even went so far as to use guns to silence the opposition and led a rescue operation himself. My daughter and I were personally rescued from the floodwaters by Secretary Xu. Secretary Xu is our living Bodhisattva, may heaven bless him, and may he return safely..."

"Secretary Xu’s good deeds are not limited to these. Last month, Jiang City experienced heavy rain, and our Qinglong River in Qingshan Town almost breached its banks. It was Secretary Xu who risked his life to block the breach, saving hundreds of thousands of acres of fields and tens of thousands of homes for the people of Qingshan Town. He really put his life on the line back then, almost lost his life, and was seriously ill afterward, almost died, the hospital issued several critical condition notices claiming there was no hope, but he miraculously pulled through. The video is already uploaded; those interested can search and watch."

"You might not know, the latest hot topic in China is the tourist town invested by the big star Liang Mi, which is in Qingshan Town, all thanks to him aiming to transform the poorest town into something else."

"Young and promising, and such a good person, not only does he organize manpower and resources in advance to rescue people, but he also throws himself into the fray to save lives, such a good person, there mustn’t be any accidents. Safe return, sir!"

"Safe return, sir!"

"May the gentleman return safely..."