Chapter 438: The Yan Family Has a Son Growing Up

He Yuzhu's shouts echoed deep within the tunnel, yet he received no response at all.

The enemy agents had used an extremely heavy explosive charge this time; the entire escape tunnel was severely damaged, with small-scale collapses visible everywhere, and coal chunks and rubble scattered across the ground.

He Yuzhu searched while reinforcing the precarious support timbers.

He had to find people, but he also had to ensure his own retreat.

Fortunately, with his Space Ability, dealing with these was not too difficult.

"Is anyone there? Is anyone still alive?"

The only response was the echo of his own voice.

Scanning suddenly indicated a large-scale collapse about one hundred and ninety meters ahead.

His heart sank, and he quickened his pace to rush over.

Fallen boulders and coal chunks had completely sealed the tunnel.

He Yuzhu took a deep breath, focused his mind, and moved the obstacles into his space one by one.

Sweat soon soaked his back, and the air was filled with the heavy smell of coal dust.

Half an hour later, a passage barely wide enough for a person to pass through had been cleared.

Before the dust had even settled, he called out urgently: "Is anyone there?"

"... Save... me..." a faint voice drifted over.

He Yuzhu's spirits lifted, and he followed the sound, stepping forward quickly.

The flashlight beam landed on a curled-up figure—the person was leaning against a coal pile, their face ashen.

He Yuzhu immediately crouched down, took a canteen from his backpack, unscrewed it, and handed it over: "Comrade, drink some water."

The person took it with trembling hands and drank greedily; after a few large gulps, the person seemed to regain some strength and said intermittently: "Inside... it collapsed inside too... more than thirty people... are all trapped in there..."

He Yuzhu shoved a flashlight and a few pieces of candy into their hand: "This path is clear; if you have the strength, walk out, if not, wait for me."

He Yuzhu continued forward for another thirty-plus meters, only to find another section of collapsed wall blocking his path.

The continuous use of Space Collection caused a massive drain, making his temples throb.

He gritted his teeth, focused his mind again to move the large stones, and simultaneously used boards and stakes from his space to continue reinforcing the tunnel.

He Yuzhu glanced at his watch; he had been underground for over four hours.

When the last blocking stone was moved away, he raised his voice and shouted: "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?"

"Thump, thump." From deep in the darkness came a faint knocking sound.

There were still people alive; He Yuzhu rushed over, excited.

Under the flashlight beam, many people were lying scattered on the ground.

They lay quietly, motionless, seemingly to conserve their strength.

He crouched down, checking their breathing and carotid pulses one by one, and for those who still had a pulse, he carefully helped them up and fed them a few sips of water.

Over an hour later, he confirmed that twenty-three people were still alive.

He Yuzhu had been inside for too long; there must be many people outside waiting for his news. If he tried to bring them all out by himself, he would surely reveal his secret, so he had to go out and fetch the Rescue Team.

He Yuzhu left some water and candy behind, then returned to the tunnel entrance.

After Tian Dan had slept for a short while, she had been keeping watch here; as soon as she saw him emerge, she immediately walked up to him.

"How is it inside?"

"There are over twenty survivors inside; the passage is clear, and we need manpower to assist," He Yuzhu replied.

Tian Dan's eyes lit up, and she patted his arm hard: "Great! I knew you could do it!"

In less than half an hour, the Rescue Team had assembled.

Tian Dan insisted on going in with them, and He Yuzhu did not stop her.

When Tian Dan saw the life-saving tunnels that had been re-supported, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "How on earth did this kid manage this?"

Two hours later, all survivors and victims had been brought out.

He Yuzhu dragged his exhausted body back to the car, tilted his head, and fell into a deep sleep.

By the time he woke up, it was nearly noon.

Tian Dan brought over a few steamed buns and said: "Awake? Eat something."

He took them, finished two, stretched, and asked: "Did everyone rescued survive?"

A smile appeared on Tian Dan's face: "Everyone who still had a breath was saved. Thanks to you, that's over twenty lives. The mine leadership wants to thank you."

"Forget it, I don't have time for those pleasantries; tell them to hurry up and discuss the compensation!" He Yuzhu waved his hand.

Tian Dan nodded, her brows furrowing: "Those thirty-plus enemy agents who escaped still haven't been found; who knows where they ran off to?"

"We should issue a wanted notice," He Yuzhu said.

"That's all we can do! This time, I absolutely will not go easy on Zhou Hao!" Tian Dan's tone turned cold.

"Dan, take my advice: if you can't take him down this time, don't move against him yet!" He Yuzhu warned.

"He is a piece of rat dung! I would rather quit this job than let him get away with it this time!" Tian Dan said with hatred.

At dusk.

After school, Yan Jiefang walked with his backpack, his eyes habitually scanning the ground.

Suddenly, his footsteps faltered—lying on the mud ahead was a crumpled hundred-yuan bill.

His heart skipped a beat; he quickly looked left and right, and seeing no one, he immediately crouched down, pretending to tie his shoelaces, while his hand swiftly grabbed the money into his palm.

Just as he straightened up, his gaze swept forward, and his breath hitched again: a few steps away, there was another one!

He suppressed his racing heart, walked over slowly, "accidentally" stepped on the banknote, bent down, and again pretended to adjust his shoelaces. He picked up the money and looked—it was actually one thousand yuan!

He looked up, staring intently at the young man in the Zhongshan suit walking hurriedly ahead.

Yan Jiefang licked his lips and followed at a distance.

Crossing the main street, at the corner of the alley entrance, there was actually a ten-thousand-yuan banknote lying quietly on the ground.

Yan Jiefang suddenly felt blood rush to his head; he practically lunged to pick it up, his heart thumping wildly.

He trotted to follow that person into the alley, where the light was dimmer, and sure enough, another ten-thousand-yuan banknote appeared on the ground.

Yan Jiefang panted, his hand trembling as he picked up the money.

Suddenly, his eyes widened—a few steps ahead, several more banknotes were scattered about.

Those banknotes were being blown around by the Northwest wind.

He could no longer bother with pretense, running over to grab them.

"Hey! What are you doing! That's my money!" the young man in front turned his head abruptly, shouting as he ran toward this side.

Yan Jiefang was scared out of his wits; he turned around and sprinted back the way he came!

He ran blindly and slammed headlong into a dark figure at the corner.

"Bang!"

"Clang—crash!"

A harsh, shattering sound exploded.

Yan Jiefang was hit so hard he saw stars and fell to the ground.

He stood up and looked, seeing a middle-aged man with a square face also sitting on the ground, with a shattered Blue and White Porcelain jar beside him.

The middle-aged man stared at the porcelain shards all over the floor and suddenly began to wail, slapping the ground: "My jar! My Shunzhi Blue and White General Jar that I just acquired! It's worth several hundred yuan! Why are you running around like a blind little brat!"

Yan Jiefang's whole body went stiff, his mind a complete blank.

At a distant street corner, Xu Damao and Wang Baosheng poked out half their faces to watch.

Xu Damao asked in a low voice: "San Ge, if this kid gets his dad involved, and he sees the bottle is fake, won't our act be for nothing?"

Wang Baosheng gave a hum: "That jar is real, it's worth at least three million!"

"San Ge, you're lying to me, right? To deal with this little brat, you'd go to such great lengths?"

"However, this bottle had a crack, and its value was less than a tenth of the original; with this smash, who could even see that crack now?" Wang Baosheng hopped a few times, chuckling.

At this moment, a well-dressed young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked over and tried to mediate: "What's going on? Why are you holding onto the child and not letting go?"

Yan Jiefang saw that the newcomer was refined and cultured, very much like his father, and even wore glasses, which naturally made him feel a sense of closeness; he hurriedly leaned toward the bespectacled man and said: "Uncle, I didn't mean to, I was just running... and accidentally bumped into him."

The middle-aged man looked miserable: "Sir, you judge this for me. My perfectly good Shunzhi Blue and White General Jar was smashed by him!"

The man in glasses adjusted his frames and said unhurriedly: "How much it's worth cannot be decided by your word alone. Whether it's real or fake, and how much it's worth, can only be known after it's been appraised."

"Right! Maybe it's fake!" Yan Jiefang hurriedly chimed in.

"Then let's find someone to appraise the goods!" the man in glasses said.

"Who's going to pay for the travel expenses for all this back and forth?" the middle-aged man clamored.

"I feel a connection with this child, so I'll cover the travel expenses," the man in glasses said, appearing very righteous.

The middle-aged man carefully collected all the porcelain shards and wrapped them up in his own cloth bundle.

The man in glasses patted Yan Jiefang on the shoulder: "Let's go, kid, let's go together and get to the bottom of this."

The three of them walked out toward the alley.

At the distant street corner, Xu Damao grinned: "Old Five playing the intellectual, he really looks the part."

Wang Baosheng flicked his cigarette ash and said: "He did go to school for a few years, so it's not entirely an act."