Power and Wealth

On the third day of being trapped.

There's no light in the small enclosed space, and Dong Xuebing can't tell if it's day or night.

Dong Xuebing woke up and yawned. He has been sleeping the past two days as there's nothing for him to do. He reached for the oxygen tank and used REVERSE one second to fill it and use REVERSE on himself to stop his hunger and thirst. After that, he switched on the radio and found the battery had died. He opened the cover and used REVERSE on the batteries to return it to its full power.

"Sha…. Sha…."

"Zeeee…. Sha…."

Today's signal is not good. Dong Xuebing tried moving the radio to a few spots and could only hear static noises.

Dong Xuebing switched off the radio helplessly and stared into the darkness.

A while later, the knocking sounds started again.

Dong Xuebing had heard the knocking sounds for the past two days. He knows the people outside have started to dig through the debris again. He felt touched when he heard these sounds. Many people are trying to save him, and he knows it must be challenging without the proper tools. The residents had to dig and move the debris with their hands and worked from morning till night.

The residents don't care about the aftershocks and volunteer to save Dong Xuebing.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

Dong Xuebing's first reaction is to lift his legs and support the concrete slab above him. He is afraid the debris above him will come crashing down on him.

Luckily, the tremors are not strong, and the ground stops moving after a while.

Dong Xuebing sighed in relief when the tremors stopped and lowered his legs. When is this ordeal going to end?

Three days….

Five days….

Seven days….

In a flash, Dong Xuebing has been trapped for ten days!

The aftershocks had stopped. The people above also stopped the rescue efforts, and the small space became quiet.

There's no one left.

Everyone had given up.

Dong Xuebing felt helpless. He doesn't know how much debris has been cleared and how far away is he from escaping. He had expected the rescue party to stop, as it's been ten days. Even a healthy person will not survive after ten days, let alone a seriously injured person like him. Who can survive without food, water, and air? Everyone must have thought he died, and they would rather save somebody else who might be living.

Dong Xuebing's hopes of getting rescued had diminished, but he has no complaints. He lay there with his radio, looking for signals.

"Sha…. Sha…. Sha…."

The signal is stronger today. Maybe it was because much of the debris had been cleared.

Dong Xuebing heard the radio reporting the news. "The total death toll of Fen Zhou City Earthquake has reached 42,326 people. 318,923 people are injured, and 3,012 people are missing…."

Dong Xuebing's heart sunk when he heard this. But he had tried his best, and this figure is less than half of what was reported in the 'future' newspaper.

The radio news continues with the breakdown of the casualty figures. "The epicenter of this earthquake is in Da Feng County. The death toll in Da Feng County has reached 12,100 people, Dong Hai District 4,566 people, Nan Shan District 3,298 people, and Yan Tai County…. 255 people. From what we know, Yan Tai County had ordered an evacuation more than ten hours before the earthquake. They are located next to Da Feng County, and their casualties should be high. Instead, their casualties are the lowest among the Counties. Nan Shan District Government promoted earthquake awareness and mitigation awareness before the earthquake and took precautions. Their actions had lowered the casualty rate."

The news is talking about Xie Huilan and Geng Yuehua.

Dong Xuebing did not expect the death toll in Yan Tai County to be 255 people.

"Experts say the casualties of Fen Zhou City 8.0 earthquake should be much higher. The death toll and injury figures should be at least doubled or tripled. This disaster has a low casualty rate because of Guang Ming Subdistrict Office's Director Dong Xuebing's article in Fen Zhou Daily. After reading the article, almost 110,000 residents left their homes for other regions before the earthquake. More than a million residents took precautions. This article had saved countless lives." The newscaster paused for a second, and some rustling of papers flipping could be heard. "I have a set of figures with me. The total casualties in Nan Shan District, Guang Ming Subdistrict area is 776, but the death toll is only 7."

Dong Xuebing sighed.

How come seven people died in the earthquake?! His target is zero death!

But having zero death is an impossible target as accidents might happen at any time. Even Dong Xuebing didn't expect himself to be buried under the debris.

"We looked into Guang Ming Subdistrict Office's low casualty rate and found what Director Dong did before the earthquake. He had relocated the residents in high-risk buildings and houses to safer locations before the earthquake. The Heath Wine advertising boards in many areas had collapsed during the earthquake due to its defective fittings, crushing many victims. But the advertising boards in Guang Ming Subdistrict were forcefully removed several days before the disaster. Guang Ming Subdistrict was well prepared for this disaster, and that's why their death toll is so low. Our beloved Dong Xuebing, who had made significant contributions to the people, has been missing for 243 hours now."

Dong Xuebing felt complicated when he heard the news reporting about him.

"We gathered information about Director Dong, and everyone in the radio station is shocked. My tears couldn't stop flowing when I received the information this morning. I don't know how to express my feelings now. Let me read it to you all."

My information?!

What information?!

Dong Xuebing listened carefully.

The female newscaster continues. "When Dong Xuebing was working in Yan Tai County, a group of escaped convicts had taken a school as a hostage. He risked his life by offering himself as a hostage in exchange for the students and teachers and managed to save all of them. A few days later, someone tried to commit suicide by jumping off the County Party Building. Director Dong risked losing his arms and caught that man before falling to the ground. In the same year, a bus flipped over during a sudden landslide. Was Director Dong saved all the passengers during the landslide, and he was buried under the mud and debris. He almost lost his life, and he had undergone emergency treatment for two days before he was saved. A few months later, Director Dong visited a Safari Zoo, and a young boy fell out of the bus. When a Siberian tiger was about to attack that boy, he jumped out of the bus and fought the tiger off. He was almost killed by the tiger while saving the boy!"

Huh? This is too exaggerating.

Dong Xuebing blushed when he heard what the newscaster said.

"Fast forward to a few days ago. Director Dong rushed into a collapsing house when the earthquake happened to rescue a small boy. If he had come out of the house one second later, he would have been crushed to death inside. After that, he rushed to the District Party Building when he heard the building was on fire. He used his arms to catch the trapped staff jumping off the roof and was injured and hospitalized. Director Dong noticed the cracks in the hospital walls and quickly evacuated the patients and hospital staff at the hospital. He remained in the hospital until everyone left, but a falling window hit him during the aftershock. He was covered in blood, but he got back onto his feet and ran into the hospital when he realized a nurse was trapped inside. He threw the nurse out of a window before the building collapsed, burying him inside. He was only twenty-five years old!"

No one will think Dong Xuebing is still alive after being buried under the debris for ten days.

The female newscaster continues with a sobbing voice. "These are the information we collected about Director Dong. I can't imagine how he felt when he was saving others…. He had risked his life again and again to save others…. I think…. This is what a Party Member and Civil Servant should do." Her tears are flowing down her cheeks. "Although all radio stations have been talking about Director Dong, I still want to say this. Rest in peace, Director Dong."

Dong Xuebing rubbed his nose. I don't want to rest in peace! I want to be rescued!