Chapter 437: Saving People at the Coal Mine

In the East Cross Courtyard, the He Yuzhu family and the families of Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi were all crowded into the living room, waiting.

There weren't enough chairs, so the children brought over small stools to sit next to the adults, and everyone's gaze drifted from time to time toward the old-fashioned mantel clock on the table—the hands were slowly approaching seven-thirty.

On tonight's broadcast, there would be "Coral Song," sung by He Yushui, Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi.

The few young girls couldn't sit still, pacing back and forth in the room, their eyes practically glued to the clock face.

He Daqing shook his head with a smile: "My little ladies, give it a rest! You've been pacing for half an hour, aren't you tired?"

"Not tired!" four crisp voices answered in unison.

At exactly seven-thirty, the announcer's clear voice came over the radio: "Dear listeners, starting today, the Weekly Song Program will play a song that won second prize in the October 'Sing for the Motherland' singing competition—'Coral Song.' The performers are four students from the Beijing Children's Palace: He Yushui, Wang Xiaomi, Li Dahua, and Zou Xiaoqi. This is an excellent work rich in national style and infused with patriotic sentiment; the melody contains both folk opera elements and the rhythm of boatmen's work songs, soaring yet impassioned, majestic yet delicate... Please enjoy."

The music began, and the clear children's voices flowed out like a stream: "A tree of red flowers illuminates the blue sea, a ball of flame emerges from the water..."

The living room suddenly fell silent, everyone listening with bated breath, excitement and pride gradually rising on their faces.

The singing spread far and wide through the airwaves, which meant this song would surely be sung by even more people.

He Yushui listened with her little face flushed red, her back held straight as a rod.

Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi also pursed their lips, their eyes shining brightly.

When the song ended, everyone applauded one after another.

He Daqing cleared his throat and said: "The four little girls have great promise. This weekend, we must have a good get-together to celebrate the girls achieving such great results!"

The room was just about to erupt with excitement when the telephone rang abruptly.

He Yuzhu walked over quickly to pick it up, and the voice of Tian Dan, exhausted to the extreme, came through the receiver: "Zhuzi, I didn't want to trouble you with this... but we've run into big trouble. Can you come over?"

"Give me the address, I'll be there immediately." He Yuzhu's expression turned stern.

Hanging up the phone, he turned to He Daqing: "Something happened on Tian Dan's side. I have to go to Mentougou to help; I probably won't be back tonight."

He Daqing urged: "The mountain roads there are hard to travel, and you're driving at night, so be sure to be careful."

He Yuzhu nodded, waved to everyone in the room, and hurried out of the courtyard.

After a bumpy journey, three hours later, He Yuzhu finally arrived at the Mentougou Coal Mine.

When he saw Tian Dan, her complexion was ashen and her eye sockets were deeply sunken; she was clearly exhausted to the point of collapse.

"Dan, what exactly happened?" He Yuzhu stepped forward to support her.

Tian Dan let out a long sigh: "After Si Jiu Cheng strengthened the screening for enemy agents, many lurking spies couldn't hide anymore and all ran to these remote places. They already had their people here... A while ago, Zhou Hao got a lead and, eager to earn merit, sent people to investigate. But the people who came lacked experience and were quickly discovered by the spies. This gang is insane; not only did they cause an explosion and steal cash, but they also killed twelve security guards."

"That Zhou Hao! He really ruins more than he accomplishes!" He Yuzhu cursed.

Tian Dan sighed and said: "They blew up a section of the main mine tunnel, and over thirty people are trapped below. It's already been more than two days..."

"Two days? There probably aren't any survivors left down there!" He Yuzhu said.

"I heard from the veteran masters that they can survive for about three days at most, so I called you over, wanting to take a gamble..."

"Dan, why are you being so formal with me? No matter how busy I am, how could I ignore something like this?" He Yuzhu said in a deep voice.

"I haven't closed my eyes for two days, my brain feels numb... I'll nap for a while, let Xiao Tian explain the details to you." Tian Dan's voice grew fainter, and she was already drifting into unconsciousness.

"Sleep soundly, I'm here," He Yuzhu said softly to reassure her.

Tian Dan managed a weak smile, climbed into the car, wrapped herself tightly in her cotton overcoat, and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

He Yuzhu took a quilt from the trunk of his car and gently covered her with it.

"Let's go, take me to see the mine tunnel," he turned and said to the Secretary, Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian led He Yuzhu to the front of the bombed-out mine pit.

It was brightly lit here, and over a hundred people were busy clearing out ore; the clanging sounds of hammering were exceptionally clear in the cold night.

Several leaders were also here, all with red eyes, clearly having not slept for several days either.

He Yuzhu activated Scanning, extending his detection along the underground mine tunnel.

The coal seam in this area was not deep, all within two hundred meters, and he could sense the situation below.

After surveying, he discovered that about one hundred and fifty meters of the tunnel had completely collapsed.

He stopped an old worker with a face full of coal dust: "Master, how many meters can you clear in a day now?"

The old worker wiped his face and said hoarsely: "Fifteen meters at most. The collapsed section is estimated to be about 200 meters; it will take half a month to clear... The people below are likely in trouble."

"Can you drill a hole directly from the surface?" He Yuzhu asked.

The old worker shook his head: "That's even slower than clearing the tunnel."

"Shouldn't this kind of mine have a ventilation shaft?"

"Don't even mention it!" the old worker cursed bitterly, "Those murderous spies also blew up the ventilation shaft on the other side of the mountain. That side hasn't collapsed as much, but the mountain is unstable and rocks keep falling; no one dares to go in."

"Take me to look at that side," He Yuzhu said immediately.

"It's really dangerous over there..." the old worker still wanted to persuade him.

"You just point the way, I'll go in myself," He Yuzhu said with a firm tone.

He had his own plan—the falling rocks could be stored into his space, and although the collapse was dangerous, for him, there was still time to dodge.

Others didn't dare to enter, which instead created a hidden opportunity for him to save people.

The old worker led him and Xiao Tian up to a Mid-Levels slope and pointed to a pitch-black entrance: "Right here. Someone went in yesterday and said rocks were still crashing down inside."

He Yuzhu handed the Walkie-talkie to Xiao Tian: "You stay outside, I'm going in. I'll contact you if anything happens."

Xiao Tian nodded worriedly: "Comrade He, please be very careful."

Seeing his determined expression, the old worker didn't try to persuade him further, only saying heavily: "Young man, watch yourself!"

He Yuzhu smiled, stooped down, and crawled into the tunnel.

This was a ventilation and escape tunnel, built low and narrow, only one point five meters high.

He Yuzhu had to walk with his body hunched over.

As soon as he entered, he saw rocks scattered all over the ground, some as small as basketballs, others half a person's height, blocking the way completely.

As he walked, he stored the rocks into his space.

The first thirty meters went smoothly enough, but it became troublesome once he reached the section that had been blown up.

The tunnel was completely blocked, and rocks kept falling from the ceiling.

The rocks on the ground were easy to clear, but the ceiling was loose and required something to support it.

He Yuzhu quickly took stock of the supplies in his space and, finding no suitable support materials, had to retreat to think of a solution.

Seeing him come out safely, Xiao Tian hurried over to meet him: "Comrade Xiao He, can it be cleared?"

"The collapsed section isn't too long, it's worth a try," He Yuzhu said. "I need a batch of logs and thick wooden planks about one and a half to two meters long to support the ceiling."

"The mine has those in stock; I'll arrange it immediately." Xiao Tian turned around at once to handle it.

Two hours later, over a hundred logs and more than a hundred thick wooden planks were delivered to a safe spot inside the tunnel entrance.

After everyone had withdrawn, He Yuzhu had Xiao Tian guard the entrance and forbid anyone else from entering.

He gathered all the timber into his space and crawled back into the tunnel.

Clearing the rocks was easy, but setting up the supports took some effort.

However, it was not difficult for He Yuzhu, and he was able to advance about ten meters per hour.

In less than two hours, he had finished clearing the destroyed section.

To avoid arousing suspicion, he specifically piled the cleared rocks on one side of the tunnel.

Following that, he entered the actual coal mine tunnel.

It was pitch black inside, and the flashlight beam could only illuminate a small area in front of him; He Yuzhu walked along while calling out, "Is anyone there?"