Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 396 - 395: Everyone is Like This

Chapter 396: Chapter 395: Everyone is Like This

"Is everyone here? Count your own children, make sure the numbers are right, the older ones should lead the younger, follow your mother! Is everyone from the Educated Youth Corps accounted for?"

Wang Hong’s voice was hoarse from the bustle, yet she still remembered to ask about the status of the Educated Youth Corps.

Wang Hong wouldn’t have asked, but upon asking, she realized that all those blockheads from the Educated Youth Corps had gone off to fight the fire, and those girls... hmm, where are they?

Wang Hong had to take charge of the overall situation and couldn’t leave, so she could only shout at the top of her lungs: "Daxi, Daxi!"

"Here, Mom! I’m over here!" From a distance, Wang Xixi, holding Wang Lele in one arm and pulling Wang Huanhuan with the other, responded whilst standing on tiptoes.

"Go check on those girls at the Educated Youth Corps and see where they have gone!"

"All right!"

Wang Xixi replied, handed Wang Lele to Wang Huanhuan, and told her, "Huanhuan, take Lele and follow everyone, don’t give Mom any troubles."

Wang Huanhuan was still young and had never seen such chaos; with tears welling in her eyes, she looked pitifully at Wang Xixi: "Big sis, I’m...I’m scared..."

"What...what are you scared of!" Wang Xixi felt sorry for her sister, but at this chaotic moment, she had to help their mother and couldn’t take care of them both.

"Girl, you keep an eye on the kids for me; I’m going to the Educated Youth Corps." Zheng Lirong squeezed through the crowd, pushed Zheng Shan and Bai Xiaojun towards Wang Xixi.

After she spoke, without waiting for Wang Xixi to agree, she let go of the children’s hands and ran towards the Educated Youth Corps.

At the Educated Youth Corps, Lin Nianhe stood on the perimeter wall, holding a pair of binoculars, gazing intently into the distance.

Below the wall, several girls looked up at her anxiously, chattering away:

"Did you see clearly? Where exactly is the fire?"

"Let’s not watch anymore; you should come down, let’s just run!"

"Hey, be careful you don’t fall."

"If you’re going to fall, fall inwards; we’ll catch you below."

Lin Nianhe’s head buzzed with their noise; she put down the binoculars and was about to rub her eyes when she glanced down casually and was stunned: "Didn’t I tell you to let Aunt Wang know where we are? Why are you all still here?"

Below the wall, everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Lin Nianhe had indeed said that, and they had all agreed, but subconsciously everyone thought someone else would go, so... no one did.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and tell her!" Lin Nianhe stomped her feet on the wall.

"Careful, Hezi, steady there!"

"I’ll go, I’ll go; Nianhe, don’t move recklessly!"

Wang Shumei hadn’t even run out of the yard when she ran squarely into Zheng Lirong, who grabbed her, panic-stricken and pale-faced, "What are you doing? Hurry up and get out; don’t bother packing anything. If you’re missing anything, I’ll get it for you later!"

"No, we’ve all come out," said Wang Shumei, "Sis, please tell Aunt Wang that we’ll surely catch up."

Zheng Lirong was puzzled: "If you’re all out, then let’s go now. What are you all waiting for?"

"Waiting for..." Wang Shumei turned to glance at the wall reflexively.

Following her gaze, Zheng Lirong finally noticed the person standing atop the wall.

"My Lord, what is she doing?"

Zheng Lirong was dumbfounded.

"Lin Nianhe is..."

"Stop running! It’s not a mountain fire!"

Lin Nianhe finally saw the situation clearly from afar, her voice crisp as she shouted, then deftly jumped off the wall into the arms of Wen Lan, who was holding her hands up below.

After Lin Nianhe stabilized herself, she said to them, "The mountain isn’t on fire; it looks like the Victory Team’s area is ablaze."

"Ah?"

Lin Nianhe didn’t continue explaining but ran off instead: "I’m going to tell Aunt Wang!"

Wang Hong was easy to find, her voice ever-present, ceaselessly organizing and instructing like a mobile loudspeaker.

Lin Nianhe pushed through the crowd to her side and said somewhat breathlessly, "Aunt Wang, it’s not a mountain fire. I saw it; there’s no flame on the mountain. It should be the Victory Team that’s burning."

She said this, lifting the binoculars in her hand, indicating she had evidence to rely on.

In the pitch-dark night, where only the lights of a few flashlights twinkled, no one could see the English on the binoculars she was holding.

Wang Hong was stunned for a moment, then furrowed her brows and muttered to herself, "Victory Team only has a few people, how could it catch fire..."

But she quickly regained her composure and said, "But let’s not be careless, nobody go home tonight, let’s crowd into the few houses at the far east end, leave our belongings in the cars; if anything happens, we run!"

Better safe than sorry, this is not something you can gamble with.

"Let’s get the ox cart over first, get the elders inside first, Laoer, take the pregnant woman over too, keep her and the kids separate to avoid bumping into each other!"

"Sister-in-law, you and the principal take the kids over to Old Wang’s place!"

"Go home and bring the bedding over, prioritize the old and the young first!"

Lin Nianhe moved back out of the crowd, watching her fellow villagers who were clearly panicked but still orderly, she was quite shaken.

If everyone is like this, how can the family not prosper, and how can the country not be strong?

She didn’t watch for long, she turned around and went back up to the highest wall of the village, peering through the binoculars into the distance, serving as a flesh-and-blood watchtower against the cold wind.

...

When Li Dahe and his team arrived at Victory Team, the fire here was almost extinguished.

After all, it had snowed just last night, and the white snow acted as the best natural fire break.

But for Victory Team...

The houses here were mostly old and in disrepair, the major components being mud, wood, and straw. Once the fire started, those houses, which barely stood upright by their facade’s dignity, abandoned their facade in an instant and fell apart.

At this moment, Victory Team was charred everywhere, flames had devoured both houses and food, and also consumed flesh and blood. Roof beams lay on the ground, and the wind blew, sending sparks flying.

"Team leader, can... can there still be any survivors?"

Someone asked with a trembling voice.

Li Dahe snapped back to reality, lifted a shovel of snow and started covering the flames, shouting, "Quick, fight the fire, rescue the people!"

He didn’t know if there could be any survivors, nor did he want to contemplate that question.

Behind him, some young men were grumbling unsatisfiedly, "Boss, they’re nearly killing us, why bother saving them?"

Li Dahe’s hand holding the shovel paused for a moment, he turned around and with one kick sent the man flying.

He glared, his brows twisted, pointing at the group of dissatisfied young men and yelled, "If they are not people, are you not either?"

Li Dahe was of course also angry, and after learning about Cao Manfu’s death, he also wiped away tears while cursing several times, "Serves him right."

He couldn’t even explain what his feelings were at the moment; he only knew that when there’s a fire, it must be fought, and when people are injured, they must be rescued. Regarding whether the people were good or bad, whether they deserved to die, that was not for him to judge - it was up to the Public Security to decide.

Li Dahe looked at his fellow villagers whose faces were lit red by the firelight and murmured to himself, "We’re all villagers, we shouldn’t be like them."

A bunch of old timers clenched their teeth and, without saying anything else, silently grabbed tools and rushed in, throwing the shoveled snow onto the fire.

The village was in a mess from the burning, and amidst the crackling sounds of the fire, from time to time, there were a few sounds of collapse that sounded desperate.

"Ha ha ha, hahaha..."

Suddenly, a figure wrapped in firelight charged out of the dense smoke.

The laughter was piercing, making people’s hair stand on end.

"They’re crazy, all crazy!"

"Go to hell, all of you!"

She ran towards the villagers who were putting out the fire, seemingly wanting to pass the fire on her body onto them.

Half of her face was covered in blood, and right in the center of her forehead was a large swelling lump, gruesome to behold.

Li Dahe stood at the very front of the crowd, startled by this sudden turn of events, standing in place, forgetting to move.

"Dad!"

Li Xiaoshan and Li Xiaohai cried out at the same time, but they were too far away; even if they ran as fast as they could, they couldn’t reach in time to save anyone.