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Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Rescue 1
The earthquake situation was serious, and the images captured by the reporters were quite brutal. Wen Yun, fearful of worrying Tong Yao, didn’t dare to go into too much detail.
Tong Yao’s heart gave a start, as she had thought that aside from some old buildings collapsing, there weren’t many casualties in the earthquake. Seeing everyone going off to work as usual that morning, it had seemed like not much was different from normal.
She hadn’t realized that the epicenter of the earthquake was elsewhere.
A level 7.1 quake was a massive event, and now with Si Chen going to provide aid, it seemed quite dangerous. Tong Yao felt somewhat anxious, thinking back to the horrific scenes from an earthquake she had witnessed on the news in her previous life, and a wave of melancholy washed over her.
Noticing that Tong Yao hadn’t spoken for a while, Tong Yaohui, who was off to the side, took the phone from Wen Yun. "You just take care of yourself over there, don’t worry about Ahchen. He’ll be back as soon as the aid work is done. Rescuing the disaster-stricken people will be a bit tiring, but not dangerous. You, on the other hand, need to be more alert in Li City. Don’t venture out late at night like you did back in Kyoto. Now that you are building your own family, and will be becoming parents in a year or two, you should be more mature," he said.
His voice was heavy and earnest, his words filled with concern. Ever since his daughter moved to Li City, she had become more obedient, which left him both relived and filled with longing. But for his daughter’s future, he was forced to make the tough decision to marry her off to Si Chen.
Only by ensuring a reliable partner for his daughter, could he and his wife put their hearts at rest.
Tong Yaohui had only one daughter. His older brothers each had a son and a daughter, but their personalities were cold and selfish, transferring them to their children who didn’t hold deep affection for Tong Yao.
Once he and Wen Yun were gone due to old age, Tong Yao would have no one to rely on. Finding her a reliable partner was their way of ensuring she would be well-cared for even after they passed away.
Jolted back to her senses, Tong Yao retorted, "Dad, you always think I’m not sensible. Apart from Si Chen’s siblings, I don’t know many other people here. Who would I have gone to see a movie with?"
Grabbing the phone back from Tong Yaohui, Wen Yun said, "Don’t listen to your father, he’s just used to being a boss at the factory and he brings his lecturing attitude back home. If you ask me, he should have become a university professor instead of a factory manager."
Tong Yaohui hummed dismissively and sat down on the sofa, "Look, Yaoyao is becoming defiant because of you." His words were spoken in jest, but he was pleased at heart.
If their daughter still has the spirit to quarrel, that means she’s doing well in Li City. He did not regret his decision, her future seemed promising after all.
The complicated relationship between the two families was a kind of destiny. Whether Si Chen was really grateful for the educational assistance they had given, or he genuinely loved his daughter, he wouldn’t mistreat her.
Wen Yun glared at him, "You’re blaming me? Whenever she buys expensive clothes isn’t it your money she uses?"
Each time, Tong Yaohui would grumble about the high price while handing over the money, spoiling their daughter and leading her to spend recklessly, and then complaining about it to Wen Yun.
She admitted to spoiling their daughter, but Tong Yaohui was equally guilty.
Tong Yaohui grumbled, "Whenever I wanted to discipline Yao Yao, didn’t you always intervene and protect her? Telling me that she’s your flesh and blood after carrying her for ten months, and you would feel the pain if I acted harshly."
"Yaoyao is my flesh and blood, of course I will protect her."
Listening to their back-and-forth banter, Tong Yao couldn’t hold back a giggle, "Dad, Mom, stop arguing. Both of you spoiled me, no one’s getting away with it."
At being called out by their daughter, the old couple joined her in laughter. After a few more words, they ended the call.
In this era, the internet wasn’t widely available and they didn’t own a TV, so they had to rely on newspapers and word of mouth for news. Tong Yao wasn’t sure about the situation in Qing City, but it puzzled her as she did not recall hearing about such a significant earthquake in Qing City in her previous life.
She couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
She hurriedly walked home, running into neighbor Mrs. Luo at her front door. Mrs. Luo was carrying a pot of cooked pork offal for the three dogs Tong Yao was raising. Upon seeing Tong Yao returning, Mrs. Luo’s eyes lit up.
"Yaoyao, you’re back? I bought some pork offal to feed your dogs as a thank you for what happened last night. If it wasn’t for them warning us, the people living in the rear house would have gotten hurt when their building partially collapsed."
Although her house was unharmed, the earthquake had proven that the three dogs Tong Yao raised were indeed extraordinary. Humans tend to respect creatures with spiritual intelligence. These dogs were exceptional, and pork offal was cheap. Making this small gesture for the dogs made her happy.
Tong Yao pushed open the gate to the courtyard and said to the dogs wagging their tails, eager to greet her, "Hurry up and bring your bowls, Mrs. Luo brought you something to eat."
At her words, the three dogs barked twice and rushed under the eaves, each fetching their own bowl. Mrs. Luo had never seen anything like this before, and the experience further convinced her of the dogs’ spiritual intelligence.
"Mrs. Luo, you’re being too generous! Buying all this pork offal for them to eat?" came Si Xiaohui’s astonished voice from inside the house.
"They did a big thing this time, a bit of meat isn’t much in comparison." Mrs. Luo said as she began distributing the pork to the dogs. After chatting for a bit with Tong Yao, she prepared to leave.
Driven by a sudden thought, Tong Yao stopped her, "Mrs. Luo, did you watch the news this morning?"
Mrs. Luo shook her head, "Not yet, so much dust settled in our house after the earthquake. I spent all morning cleaning and haven’t gotten around to turning on the TV."
"I heard that the epicenter of the earthquake wasn’t here, but in Qing City. We don’t have a TV at home, Mrs. Luo, can I go to your house and watch the news?"
"This isn’t the epicenter?" Mrs. Luo gasped in surprise. Hurriedly, she said, "Let’s go watch the news now."
Seeing this, Si Xiaohui and Si Boyi quickly followed behind Mrs. Luo. Once at her home, with everyone absent for work, they turn on the TV. The first thing they saw was the news coverage of the earthquake. The sight of buildings collapsed in the background left them speechless.
It was lightly raining in Qing City, and the reporter was giving a broadcast in the rain, appealing for more rescuers. From the urgent expression on the reporter’s face and the disaster-stricken scene in the background, it wasn’t hard to imagine the situation in Qing City.
"This is terrible! Such a big earthquake, how many lives will it claim!" Mrs. Luo exclaimed in distress, her hand slapping her thigh.
At that moment, the telephone in the living room rang. Mrs. Luo rush to get it. She appears to have received a shocking news and said excitedly.
"What? You and your cousin are going to help rescue people in Qing City? But you two don’t have medical skills, how are you going to help?"
The person on the other end seemed unwavering in their volunteer effort. Having no other choice, Mrs. Luo said, "Then you need to be careful. Where are you setting off from? Do you still need anything? I can bring it to you."
