Chapter 790: One Man Can Equal a Whole Division!

"You bunch of heartless people!"

Ma Ran's emotions completely collapsed!

"If County Magistrate Tang hadn't discovered the hidden dangers of the mudslide in advance and organized everyone to evacuate, could the villagers have escaped safely?

Now that you're safe, you just leave him in the mountains and don't care!"

He shook off Qiao Lin's hand, walked straight toward the car parked to the side, and said to the driver with a fierce look in his eyes: "Give me the car keys!"

Seeing this, Ji Shaoquan rushed over, hugged Ma Ran tightly from behind, and would not let him move forward.

"I can understand how you feel, but the mudslide is truly too terrifying; the road into the mountains has been completely washed away, and the car simply cannot drive in.

Once the rain stops, I will immediately gather men to go into the mountains to find County Magistrate Tang and the others.

They are good people with their own heavenly protection; they will surely be able to turn danger into safety."

In truth, Ma Ran knew clearly in his heart that going back now would be of no use.

The road was broken, the rain hadn't stopped, and going into the mountains was just courting death.

But he simply couldn't reconcile himself to it; Tang Ye was the one who first warned of the danger, the one who led the villagers to a safe place.

Now that he was trapped in a dangerous situation, he couldn't just do nothing.

On the other side, Qiao Lin, although usually full of dissatisfaction toward Tang Ye, feeling that he acted too rashly and loved to show off, also felt some sorrow in his heart at this moment.

He knew that Tang Ye should have had a bright future, becoming a County Magistrate at such a young age.

If nothing unexpected happened, becoming a Department-level Cadre in the future and governing a region was a certainty.

But now that he had encountered a natural disaster, if he were just gone like this, it would truly be a great pity.

Qiao Lin secretly pondered that this was probably due to his personality.

If Tang Ye hadn't been so fond of showing off and hadn't loved doing these "deep on the front line" "performances."

If he had stayed safely in the town directing the evacuation, how could he have forced himself into a desperate situation and ended up with his life hanging in the balance?

Ji Shaoquan silently smoked a cigarette; the butt burned to the end before he fiercely stubbed it out on a rock by the side of the road.

Town Mayor Xu Feng walked over quickly, his tone carrying a hint of probing: "Secretary, should we report the situation to the county now?"

Ji Shaoquan exhaled a heavy smoke ring and sighed helplessly: "Let me organize my words a bit more."

Xu Feng instantly understood Ji Shaoquan's concerns.

The villagers had indeed been evacuated in time, and this mudslide had not caused any casualties among the common people.

If preparations hadn't been made in advance, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

But at the thought that Executive Deputy County Magistrate Tang Ye and several other leading cadres still had no news, his heart sank.

Suddenly, Ji Shaoquan raised his hand and slapped himself hard twice; the crisp sound left Xu Feng stunned in place, not knowing how to offer comfort.

These two slaps from Ji Shaoquan were to punish himself for being blind.

When Tang Ye repeatedly emphasized the severity of the disaster to him, his first reaction was actually to think that Tang Ye was making a mountain out of a molehill and looking for trouble.

Thinking back now, all those words were golden advice.

Finally.

Ji Shaoquan took out his phone, gathered his courage, and dialed the number of County Party Secretary Ou Xiye.

"Secretary Ou, there is a situation I must report to you." Ji Shaoquan's voice carried an irrepressible heaviness.

"Speak." Ou Xiye's tone instantly became serious.

"It has been raining in our county for a while, and today's rain is especially heavy.

County Magistrate Tang originally came to our town to investigate water conservancy projects; during the investigation, he suddenly discovered an abnormality on a hillside and suspected it might trigger a disaster, so he immediately arranged for an Expert to go to the site for exploration, and finally predicted the mudslide disaster in advance.

Under County Magistrate Tang's overall arrangement, dozens of households in the town have all been safely evacuated, and there have been no casualties.

However..."

Ou Xiye's heart sank sharply, and he hurriedly pressed: "However what? Don't stutter!"

Ji Shaoquan clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white, his voice strained: "County Magistrate Tang, County Magistrate Shen, and Bureau Chief Chu of the Emergency Management Bureau, in order to assess the risks more accurately at the time, followed the Expert up the mountain, and as a result, they were unable to retreat in time and are now out of contact..."

With a "clatter," the sound of tables and chairs colliding came from the other end of the phone; Ou Xiye stood up from his chair with a start, his left hand supporting the desk tightly, his emotions so agitated that his voice was trembling: "What do you mean? Are you saying they might have perished?"

Ji Shaoquan could clearly feel the sorrow in Ou Xiye's words; his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and he said with difficulty: "It cannot be confirmed yet, but... but I fear the situation is dire!"

The other end of the phone fell into a long silence; Ou Xiye only felt his mind go blank.

His strength seemed to have been drained, and he slumped back into his chair, unable to say a word for a long time.

Ji Shaoquan called out softly on his end: "Secretary Ou? Secretary Ou?"

After a long while, Ou Xiye slowly regained his senses and ordered in a grave tone:

"Once the rain eases and the disaster situation moderates, immediately organize men to go into the mountains for search and rescue!

Comrade Tang Ye is a cadre who came through inter-provincial exchange; in the days he has been in our Dayu County, everyone has seen how many practical things he has done for the common people.

He is young, with a bright future, and we must absolutely not let him be buried in the mountains like this.

I want to see the person if alive, and the body if dead!"

Ji Shaoquan knew the weight of these words and hurriedly replied: "As soon as the weather improves, we will immediately launch search and rescue operations; we will not delay!"

Hanging up the phone with Ji Shaoquan, Ou Xiye could no longer suppress his emotions and pounded the desk in anger.

He had always appreciated Tang Ye's talent and drive, and he hoped to rely on Tang Ye's ability to help Dayu County open up a new situation for development.

Although the city had provided policy and financial support, and there were enterprises willing to come and invest.

But he knew in his heart that if Tang Ye met with an accident, these resources that were so hard-won would very likely go down the drain.

Of course, setting aside these practical interests.

Tang Ye himself was a rare and good cadre.

He had emotional intelligence, a heart for the people, and even more, a passion for getting things done!

Such a young person was truly too rare.

Just at this moment, the landline on the desk suddenly rang, interrupting Ou Xiye's train of thought.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and answered the phone.

From inside came the urgent voice of County Magistrate Jiang Anbang immediately.

"Secretary Ou! I just received a call from Qiao Lin; he said that when Tang Ye was leading people on an inspection, he predicted the mudslide disaster in advance and had all the villagers evacuated, but he himself ended up trapped on the mountain and has now lost contact!"

Ou Xiye's voice was full of exhaustion: "Yes, Ji Shaoquan just reported this matter to me."

Jiang Anbang's tone carried a hint of choking back sobs as he gritted his teeth and said:

"Secretary Ou, little Tang is a truly good cadre!

I suggest you report this to the higher-level departments immediately to see if we can secure more support—he alone is worth an entire division.

Even if we have to pay a great price, we must rescue him!"

Ou Xiye was stunned for a long time.

He knew that Jiang Anbang had not had a good impression of Tang Ye before, and had even engaged in petty schemes behind his back.

That Jiang Anbang could say these words now truly surprised him.

"Rest assured, I will call Mayor Liu right now to seek support from the city," Ou Xiye said with a firm tone.