Chapter 142 - 122: The Lucky Cook

At the scene, Kong Xiangsheng noticed a situation. Yu Shuqing Restaurant was an illegal construction. According to the building’s structure diagram, it was supposed to be a two-story structure, but the restaurant owner added another floor on the original foundation. This time the building collapse was related to the illegal construction.In fact, the problem had existed for a long time, and he had seen it long ago, but it had never been addressed.

An hour has passed, and the chef has still not been found, likely a bad sign.

Currently, eleven people have been found; seven were lightly injured, four require hospitalization for observation, including three with fractures needing surgery. Fortunately, none of them were severely injured.

The focus now is on searching for the missing person, namely the chef from the restaurant. More than a hundred people, including police and volunteers, are searching at the scene.

Kong Xiangsheng handed the scene over to Mei Ru Xue and went back to preside over a meeting to discuss the crisis management plan.

Kong Xiangsheng had already thought of a response plan, learning lessons from this event, better late than never.

It’s estimated that the hope of the chef surviving is very slim, and he has prepared for the worst. The causes of this accident include improper operation by the chef and the restaurant’s illegal construction. Also, they need to check the supplier of the gas cylinders. It was likely a combination of factors that led to this accident.

In any case, they need to minimize the impact of this incident on the town government. This was an accident unrelated to the management level.

Upon returning, Kong Xiangsheng immediately held an emergency meeting, repeatedly emphasizing that this was an accident. He notably stressed that safety issues must never be relaxed. He demanded an immediate clean-up and rectification action across the town, focusing on illegal construction, with this rectification action falling on the Comprehensive Law Enforcement Office.

Nightfall is approaching, and the wind has noticeably increased. According to the local meteorological department’s forecast, moderate to heavy rain is about to set in.

Mei Ru Xue, wearing a red safety helmet, insisted on directing at the front line. She contacted the county fire brigade at the first instance to request assistance.

Unfortunately, a fire broke out at the county paper mill, drawing nearly all the firefighting forces there, making it impossible to spare any manpower. Moreover, the situation here isn’t severe. They suggested that they use the existing forces to organize a rescue first, and once the fire is extinguished, they would dispatch people over.

Among the volunteers, a group of men wearing uniforms marked with Xianhong Farm were busy amidst the rubble, led by Tong Guangsheng.

Upon hearing about the incident in town, someone being buried in the rubble, he immediately led more than a dozen workers over here. He had participated in many disaster relief activities back in the day and had some experience, always taking the lead, still retaining the heroic demeanor from his time on the battlefield.

Although heavy excavation machinery was brought in, considering that using the machinery may potentially cause secondary harm to those trapped, they decided to resort to manual digging for search and rescue after discussions. Although this method is less efficient, it is safer.

Two hours have passed since the explosion, yet the location of the chef hasn’t been found. Volunteers at the scene were divided into four groups, taking turns working, ensuring rest for all.

Emergency work at the hospital is nearing completion, and the injured have been sent to the hospital. Xu Chunliang and some able-bodied young men voluntarily stayed behind to join the site rescue, being assigned to the third group, under the unified command of Tong Guangsheng.

Tong Guangsheng nodded to Xu Chunliang, and the two hardly had time for pleasantries. Tong Guangsheng waved them over, signaling for them to start digging from the northwest corner of the rubble. The chef’s specific location remains unclear, and they can only dig near the kitchen’s approximate location based on the restaurant owner’s description.

The power of the explosion was immense, with a large part of the three-story building collapsing. Fortunately, it wasn’t mealtime then. If it had been an hour later, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The cloud cover in the sky grows heavier, an autumn rain is about to set in, and once it starts raining, the rescue operations will become even more challenging.

Though divided into four groups rotating, everyone is already very fatigued, and as time progresses, their hope dwindles, believing the chef likely perished in this explosion.

It’s the third group’s turn for a break. After handing over the task, they leave the excavation site to rest.

A little mouse leisurely crawled out from a gap in the rubble, its tiny eyes scanning cautiously around, when passing by Xu Chunliang’s feet, its tail was accidentally stepped on by Xu Chunliang.

The little mouse squeaked.

Tong Guangsheng looked at him puzzled, catching a mouse at a time like this? Xu Chunliang reached out, pinching the little mouse’s head, lifted it up, only to find a white cloth strip tied to the mouse’s tail.

The cloth was stained with a little blood, which was obviously intentionally tied by someone based on the knot.

Xu Chunliang rubbed the blood stains with his fingers, sniffing them near his nose, immediately distinguishing the blood as human’s, and recently stained. Xu Chunliang untied the cloth strip and set the mouse free, which quickly burrowed back into the rubble.

Xu Chunliang told Tong Guangsheng, "The person is still alive."

Tong Guangsheng was puzzled by how he reached this conclusion. Xu Chunliang explained, "The cloth on the mouse’s tail was intentionally tied by someone, the blood on it is fresh. If my judgment is correct, the person trapped is right under the rubble at our feet."

Tong Guangsheng looked back, ten meters away, the second and fourth groups were still clearing the center point of the explosion. He whispered, "But the explosion happened in the kitchen, the cook should be in the kitchen."

XU Chunliang had a different perspective. If the person was in the kitchen when the explosion occurred, such a powerful explosion would be unbearable, even for someone with iron skin and bones. Most likely, the cook is still alive, and the greatest possibility is that he was not in the kitchen at the time. Xu Chunliang raised a strip of cloth in his hand, which should have been torn from a uniform.

Tong Guangsheng gestured to the restaurant owner, asking him what position they were standing on in the past.

The restaurant owner judged based on the location that it should be the restroom. Tong Guangsheng thought to himself, Xu Chunliang was right. The kitchen was the explosion’s epicenter. If the cook were in there, nine times out of ten, he would be blown to pieces. Perhaps he was lucky and had just gone to the restroom.

If Xu Chunliang’s judgment is correct, then they’ve been digging in the wrong direction from the start. Tong Guangsheng decided to follow Xu Chunliang’s advice and organize volunteers to dig from where they stood.

The other rescue teams disagreed with Xu Chunliang, believing they were doing unnecessary work. A significant part of the kitchen’s debris had already been cleared. Continuing to dig should soon clarify the situation. Restarting from scratch means progress will slow down, plus it’s starting to rain. The longer it drags on, the slimmer the hope for the trapped cook’s survival.

Tong Guangsheng made a decisive decision, letting the three teams dig according to the original plan while their team started at the new location.

Xu Chunliang contacted Yan Huaiyi and brought in over ten additional medical staff from the hospital to join their team.

Within less than half an hour of digging, they faintly heard cries for help from below, and everyone believed Xu Chunliang’s judgment was correct. Thus, all volunteers focused their efforts on their area.

Having pinpointed the trapped individual’s location, everyone worked together, significantly increasing efficiency. Within an hour, they rescued the trapped cook.

The cook’s name was Liu Haiyu. At the explosion time, he was indeed in the restroom, and fortunately, he avoided a disaster. Had he been in the kitchen, he’d have been blown to pieces.

Liu Haiyu was indeed lucky, not only avoiding the explosion but also avoiding serious injury. Together, Xu Chunliang and Wang Jinwu lifted the mud-covered Liu Haiyu onto a stretcher and sent him to the hospital for a check-up. Lying on the stretcher, Liu Haiyu said full of energy, "I’m fine, I’m not injured."

Hearing him speak, Xu Chunliang found it odd as Liu Haiyu was obviously a practitioner. When they pulled him from the debris, Xu Chunliang noticed he had almost no bruises on his body. So, he checked his pulse discreetly and found that this guy had considerable Inner Strength and was an expert in external martial arts.

It was 9 PM by now. So far, all twelve trapped individuals had been rescued.

After Mei Ru Xue confirmed, she finally felt relieved. She instructed the volunteers to rest as the police would now identify the explosion’s cause and carry out related clean-up work. The most crucial thing was that everyone was safe, which was most important.

She reported the rescue results to Kong Xiangsheng. Hearing no casualties, Kong Xiangsheng felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and habitually spoke in a bureaucratic tone: "This incident has been a wake-up call for our Hu Shan Town leadership team. Safety issues must never be overlooked. Comrade Ru Xue, your proposal is very correct; clearing illegal structures is urgent..."

Mei Ru Xue couldn’t be bothered to listen to his nonsense, using the excuse of organizing some follow-up work on-site to end the call.

Looking up, she saw Xu Chunliang standing amidst the rubble, one hand on his waist and the other leaning on a pickaxe, chatting with Tong Guangsheng. Both of their clothes were drenched by rain, but they didn’t notice it, still immersed in the satisfaction of a successful rescue.

Mei Ru Xue grabbed two bottles of water and walked over, handing one to Tong Guangsheng and the other to Xu Chunliang.

Tong Guangsheng thanked her, and Xu Chunliang smiled, "Town Mayor Mei, thank you for your hard work today."

Mei Ru Xue said, "Not as hard as you guys. Hurry back to take a shower and change clothes. Don’t catch a cold."

Tong Guangsheng laughed and said, "A little wind and rain is nothing. I remember back when I was fighting in the war... Achoo..." He turned his face away and sneezed twice in succession.

Xu Chunliang urged him to get into the car, where Wang Jinwu was already waiting nearby.

Tong Guangsheng arranged with them to go to Xianhong Farm for a victory drink over the weekend and limped away.

Mei Ru Xue shook her head, watching Tong Guangsheng’s back, sighing, "Those who’ve been in the military have a different level of awareness."

"Are you saying I lack awareness?"

Mei Ru Xue said, "You have awareness, and even more intelligence. You can come up with any idea."

"Do you think I can’t tell you’re scolding me?"

Mei Ru Xue couldn’t help but laugh, her laughter softening the night, mesmerizing the autumn breeze. Xu Chunliang had to admit, she indeed was a rare beauty, and her smile stirred his determination, undoubtedly testing his meditative willpower.

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