Chapter 97: Bridge Collapse
In the evening it was still a drizzle, but by midnight it turned into a downpour, with the tiles on the entire roof clattering nonstop as if joining in the fun.
The pitch-black sky showed no sign of even a hint of grayish white dawn.
“Rumble~”
A sudden muffled thunderclap exploded.
Little Round Circle, curled up asleep in its little nest at the foot of the bed, let out bursts of anxious barks for the first time, instantly startling awake Su Ning, who wasn’t sleeping deeply anyway.
She groped in the dark to turn on the light, glanced at the increasingly heavy rain outside, squatted down, and stroked its fluffy little head.
“There, there, pat on the head, nothing to be scared of.”
“Woof~”
It nudged her palm with its head in response, wagged its tail, and crawled out of its nest.
“Not sleeping anymore?”
She glanced at the time: 5:30 a.m.
With no sleepiness left, Su Ning folded the thin blanket on the bed, changed out of her pajamas, and put on comfortable cotton short-sleeved shirt and long pants.
“Alright then, let’s go wash your face. Today we’ll start preparing for the festival early and make you something delicious.”
“Woof!”
It excitedly spun in circles on the spot. Hearing its owner mention something delicious, it knew it could gnaw on big meat bones to its heart’s content today!
She took it out of the bedroom and grabbed the washing items to head to the toilet.
After washing her face and brushing her teeth and fully waking up, the person and dog went to the space to work as usual.
After finishing the work, she didn’t rush to leave but went down to the storage room to carefully select the things needed for today.
What she told Xi You yesterday wasn’t an excuse; she really wanted to show off her skills and let her maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, mom, younger brother, and the others taste her handiwork.
As for Fu Jiaming’s proposal, her meaning of not going in the morning was probably sincere, right?
“Little Round Circle, go to the tool room and get me a few small bags.”
“Woof~”
Understanding the size it gestured, Little Round Circle barked in response and quickly ran back up to the ground to fetch a few bags from the tool room in its mouth.
“Mom likes red bean flatbread, Maternal Grandmother’s hibiscus pastries, Maternal Grandfather’s five-nut mooncake…”
While muttering, her hands didn’t stop as she opened the cabinet with the corresponding label.
She packed a bag of glutinous rice, a bag of flour, mung beans, red beans, peanuts, chestnuts… she took out some of whatever caught her interest to make.
After packing the pastries, she continued selecting ingredients for the big meal preparations.
Soon the ground was piled high. Su Ning, fully satisfied, took the big pile of things and left the space with Little Round Circle.
Just as she was excitedly holed up in the kitchen all morning making various delicacies, a loud bang came from the distance, shaking the whole room.
Her heart jolted in shock, nearly cutting her finger; the state of being immersed in making food was instantly broken.
“What happened?”
She put down the knife, washed her hands in the water from the vegetable basin, and without drying them, left the kitchen, opened an umbrella, and ran out into the rain.
She saw that everyone, who had been at home preparing for the festival despite the heavy rain, had come out into the alley, clamoring to ask what that sound was.
“The bridge collapsed, the bridge collapsed!”
The chaotic scene was suddenly halted by someone running in from outside shouting loudly.
After a few seconds of shock, the crowd erupted in a roar.
“Which bridge collapsed? Is the news reliable? Did you see it with your own eyes?”
“No wonder the house shook; it was the bridge collapsing. That’s too terrifying!”
The panting runner wiped the water from his face hard and, facing the crowd’s barrage of questions, nodded firmly before continuing with a sigh.
“I was just by the river checking the rising water when I saw Gaoyun Bridge collapse entirely! There were still quite a few people on it at the time!”
Falling down, even if not smashed to death, they’d be swept away by the flood—ominous odds.
“Make way, make way!”
“All of you, get out of my way!”
A middle-aged man, hearing his words, forcefully pushed through the crowd, ignoring the curses from those shoved aside, and headed straight to the center.
Without a word, he grabbed the man’s collar and shook him vigorously back and forth. “What did you say? Say it again! Which bridge collapsed?!”
“G… Gaoyun Bridge, Gaoyun Bridge collapsed, just now, the one right across from our South Gate Street entrance…”
The man’s eyes bulged wide, bloodshot, his face twisted ferociously, scaring the messenger into trembling legs.
“Niuwa’s mom!”
He shoved the man away, roared, and bolted out of the alley.
Only then did people react, one after another recalling family members who had gone out and not returned yet; their faces changed drastically, minds blank, they just followed the leader and ran frantically.
Su Ning, standing at the back of the crowd, heard their entire conversation clearly.
The worried, the fearful, the onlookers—all ran out of the alley until only the sound of heavy rain remained; then she snapped back, turned, locked the gate, and hurried to the riverbank.
Lishui was no longer its usual clear green; roiling yellow surged endlessly.
The riverbank, over ten meters high, was packed with onlookers, all eyes fixed on one spot.
Gaoyun Bridge looked like it had been sliced twice in the middle; the central bridge deck had vanished entirely, leaving only the ends connected to the roads. The South Gate Street end even had a break exposing the rebar inside.
The river surface showed nothing but the rushing water.
“Oh heavens, those who fell in—can they still be alive? Probably dead long ago…”
“Shut up! At a time like this, don’t blabber or you’ll get caught and beaten!”
“Yeah, young comrade, watch your mouth. Can’t show off without yapping, huh?”
“I didn’t say anything… Fine, fine, I won’t say it, okay!”
Hearing the chatter around her, gazing at the distant broken bridge, Su Ning felt a chill down her spine.
Zhang Ze and Mao Jinqian, who had come out to check the situation, just squeezed out of the crowd and spotted her not far away; the hearts they’d been holding dropped, and they strode up to the person holding an umbrella on tiptoes watching the river.
“Ning Ning!”
“Brother Zhang, Brother Mao, no one from home went out, right?”
“No, the factory gave out welfare yesterday, and you gave so much stuff; today they said no need to buy anything and didn’t go out.”
“Good if no one went out, good…”
Before finishing, she stiffly turned around. Gazing at the broken bridge from afar, Su Ning’s heart leaped: that guy Fu Jiaming…
“Brother Zhang, Brother Mao, I’m heading out!”
“Ning Ning, where to? I’ll go with you…”
“No need, Brother Zhang, I’ll take a detour to the post office to make a call!”
Holding the umbrella obstructed her view, so she closed it, got drenched, and turned to run to the post office.
Zhang Ze glanced at Mao Jinqian and quickly instructed, “Jinqian, you go back first to reassure everyone at home; I’ll go with Ning Ning to make the call!”
“Got it, Brother Zhang!”
Seeing him catch up to her before the turn, Mao Jinqian walked back with heavy steps.
……
Drenched to the skin at the post office, her two scorpion braids half-undone, loose hair strands plastered to her disheveled face.
“Hello, comrade, make a call please.”
Seeing her anxious expression, the operator said nothing and directly dialed the number for her.
Seeing her hang up oddly, pay, and stand there dazed, Zhang Ze hurried forward. “What happened, Ning Ning? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I just worried that guy Fu Jiaming wouldn’t play by the rules and might suddenly come find me after not seeing me in the morning…”
“You just called him? Where is he? Did you reach him?”
“No, didn’t reach him. The old man at the gatehouse said he left the factory two or three hours early.”
Leaving the factory so early, even if slow, he should’ve passed by before the bridge collapsed if coming over.
Just didn’t know where the guy actually went; without confirmed news, she couldn’t fully rest assured.
Zhang Ze saw the worry in her eyes and could only comfort her. “That kid looks like he has a full forehead, a blessed face. Rest assured, won’t be that coincidental.”
“Mm.”
Hope… that’s the case.
Someone browsing the department store picking out gifts suddenly sneezed hard.
“Damn, who’s cursing me?”
Back at the courtyard entrance with Zhang Ze, Su Ning used the same words she’d told Luo Shuangshuang yesterday to politely decline his invitation to dinner again.
With no choice against her, Zhang Ze helplessly returned alone to the courtyard.
“Where’s Ning Ning? Really not coming to celebrate the festival with us?”
“Not coming, said she wants to pay respects to relatives today. Daughter-in-law, later send a bowl each of the finished flatbread and fried meatballs to Ning Ning.”
“Okay, soon as they’re all fried, I’ll send them right over.”
Last day of the month, dear readers with monthly votes, please cast them—today’s the leaderboard day, thanks a ton!
