Chapter 2199: No Regrets

After Shi Wenguang led the expert group here, the first thing to do was naturally to check the reason for the breach. They had already become quite familiar with the structure of the river embankment here. Only by figuring out the structure of the river embankment could they propose the best plugging plan.

The quality of the river embankment here was indeed not good. There were problems with the cement grade not being enough and the steel bar grade not being enough. In some places, it was not steel bars at all, but bamboo strips. Such a river embankment being able to hold until now could already be considered a miracle.

Of course, this miracle was also created by the soldiers and civilians who were fighting the flood and rescuing disaster victims on the river embankment. With those who dared to jump into the river water without hesitation when they saw the embankment breach, this river embankment could persist until now.

In fact, along the Changjiang River, there were many people who dared to use their flesh and blood to plug the breach like this. It was precisely because of their heroism and fearlessness that there had been only this one breach in the entire Changjiang River Basin so far.

Premier Nan naturally understood this truth. In the process of comforting the soldiers and civilians fighting the flood and rescuing disaster victims these days, he had already seen many heroic deeds. But the more this was the case, the more uncomfortable he felt in his heart.

If it weren't for the quality problems of the river embankment, these soldiers and civilians fighting the flood and rescuing disaster victims wouldn't have to be so tired and wouldn't have to bear such great danger, right?

Premier Nan's face was as heavy as water, and he said to the leaders of Jiangkou City, "What is going on? Explain it."

The leaders of Jiangkou City looked at each other. How could they explain it? In fact, the embankment here was repaired by the former Mayor of Jiangkou, Yang Jianming, at the beginning of his tenure, and Yang Jianming was an old subordinate of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary Jiang Fangping. Now he was already the Municipal Party Committee Secretary of Qianzhou.

And Jiang Fangping was standing behind Premier Nan. The Jiangkou City embankment breached, and he naturally had to rush over. He arrived a while before Premier Nan arrived. He stood there, and who among the leaders of Jiangkou City dared to say Yang Jianming's name? Anyway, this matter was not a secret. If the Premier really wanted to investigate, he could find out. They wouldn't be the scapegoats for Yang Jianming.

Premier Nan saw that they were all silent, and his heart was on fire. He was just about to break out when Vice Premier Xu beside him spoke: "Premier, I think it's better to discuss how to plug the breach now."

Premier Nan listened to Vice Premier Xu's words, and his anger gradually extinguished. He knew what Vice Premier Xu meant. Now was not the time to investigate the responsibility for the breach. If the reason for the breach was revealed, then all the millions of people in Jiangkou City would be filled with indignation.

By that time, if they made a scene, the matter would be big. Even if the heads of these city leaders were all cut off on the spot, it wouldn't be able to calm the public sentiment. One had to know that this breach had killed people, and many ordinary people had suffered heavy losses, and some had even gone bankrupt. Wouldn't they tear these city leaders apart?

In that case, no one would have the heart to fight the flood and rescue disaster victims, and such panic would even spread to other places, making people in other places have no heart to fight the flood. The consequences would be unimaginable.

Premier Nan sighed a long sigh in his heart. It seemed that he could only let this gang of bastards off for the time being. He could only clean them up slowly later. Moreover, he couldn't use this reason to clean them up; he could only find other reasons.

Premier Nan said in a deep voice, "Okay, then let's hold an on-site meeting to discuss how to plug the breach."

Premier Nan's words made the leaders of Jiangkou City breathe a sigh of relief. They knew that this hurdle had passed for the time being, but what would happen in the future was hard to say. They would still have to find a way later.

Premier Nan added, "However, after the flood season this year, you must rebuild this river embankment. As for the standard of rebuilding, you all go to the neighboring Chongjin County to see and rebuild according to the flood prevention standard there. If it breaches here again next time, I will jump into the river from here!"

Premier Nan's words made everyone shocked. They were just about to say something, but Premier Nan had already turned and left with a cold face. Everyone followed, and they held an on-site meeting together.

Halfway through the on-site meeting, someone reported that the stone materials sent from Wushui County had arrived at the station. A smile finally appeared on Premier Nan's face. Just now, Ke Zhifang had reported to him that this stone material was also arranged by Su Xinghui, which made him very happy.

This Su Xinghui, doing things always makes people feel at ease.

Only one train of stone materials had arrived, but Ke Zhifang had already arranged for trucks to go to the train station, and the stone materials could be transported over soon. As long as everything went smoothly, the plugging of the breach could be successful tomorrow.

In history, the Changjiang River had breached more than fifty times, but not once had the plugging of the breach been successful. If it succeeded this time, it would be a miracle in the history of flood control in China!

Su Xinghui on the river embankment in Chongjin County was also paying attention to the news from Jiangkou. When he heard that the stone materials had been transported to Jiangkou City, he breathed a long sigh of relief. This stone material was currently the most important link in plugging the breach. As long as the stone material problem was solved, the success of plugging the breach was already a foregone conclusion.

Sure enough, on the third day of the Jiangkou City embankment breach, good news came from Jiangkou City. The breach of the Jiangkou City river embankment was successfully plugged, and the embankment was successfully closed. At the moment when the embankment was successfully closed, everyone on the scene cheered loudly. They were venting their excitement to their heart's content.

The embankment was closed, which meant that Jiangkou City was saved, and the millions of people in Jiangkou City were also safe. How could they not be happy?

A smile also appeared on Premier Nan's face, and Ke Zhifang also breathed a long sigh of relief.

Of course, the embankment was closed, which did not mean that it was once and for all. The embankment still had to be reinforced, because the next flood peak would come again in two or three days. The National Flood Control Headquarters had already issued a warning.

The flood peaks of the Changjiang River came one after another. A week later, the water level of the Changjiang River reached its highest point since '54. At this time, Su Xinghui had stayed on the embankment for nearly a month without leaving the embankment.

Lu Xiaoya came to the embankment to see him every three days, but she just looked at him. After looking at him, Su Xinghui urged her to leave the embankment, saying that it was too dangerous on the embankment. Lu Xiaoya felt very distressed seeing Su Xinghui getting darker and thinner, but she also knew that this was not a place for children's love, so she left the embankment after looking at Su Xinghui every time.

It was unrealistic for her to bring Su Xinghui something delicious to nourish his body. There were so many people on the embankment. Who wasn't bitter? Who wasn't tired? Who wasn't born by parents? If Su Xinghui couldn't share weal and woe with them, wouldn't the hearts of the people be scattered?

During this period of time, Su Xinghui had been staying on the embankment. He was the County Magistrate and could not leave the embankment. Even his son Niuniu's first birthday was missed. On the evening of Niuniu's first birthday, Lu Xiaoya carried him to the embankment and let Su Xinghui take a look.

It was only at this time that the child could be carried to the embankment. It was only cooler in the evening in summer, and the child would not be exposed to the sun.

Su Xinghui looked at his cute son. He couldn't help but take the child from Lu Xiaoya's hand and lowered his head to kiss the child on the face. He hadn't left the embankment for so long, and his face was full of stubble, which made the child giggle with tickles.

Su Xinghui said to Niuniu, "Son, Dad is sorry for you. I can't even celebrate your first birthday for you."

Niuniu called "Dad". He could call Dad very clearly now, which made Su Xinghui very happy.

Su Xinghui really wanted to stay with the child for a while longer, but seeing that it was about to get dark, he urged Lu Xiaoya to carry the child off the embankment. Once it got dark, there would be more mosquitoes.

Lu Xiaoya said, "Xinghui, take it easy, don't be too tired."

Su Xinghui was indeed exhausted during this period of time. Now it was August, the hottest time in the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River. In such hot weather, he had been staying on the embankment. During the day, he was exposed to the scorching sun, and he couldn't sleep well at night because there were too many mosquitoes on the embankment. Even if he lit mosquito coils, it was of no use. Moreover, it was too hot, and there were no electric fans on the embankment, which made people suffer from insomnia all night long.

Even if Su Xinghui's body was good, under such circumstances, he had to be dark and thin.

Having said that, everyone on this embankment was dark and thin, and there was no one who was white and fat.

These days, Xia Song also stayed on the embankment every day. He acted as Su Xinghui's liaison officer, going up and down the embankment every day to convey news to Su Xinghui, helping him take the battery off the embankment to charge, and then bringing it back to the embankment, so that Su Xinghui would not be unable to receive important calls.

Xia Song had officially graduated last month and was officially assigned to the Chongjin County Government Office, becoming Su Xinghui's communications officer. In these few months, he had never been idle following Su Xinghui. Su Xinghui ran around every day, and he also ran around. Especially in the two months of fighting the flood and rescuing disaster victims, he was as exhausted as Su Xinghui.

But tired as he was, Xia Song felt particularly fulfilled. In these few months, he had learned more things than he had learned in the past twenty-plus years, which made him feel that no matter how tired he was, he would not regret following Su Xinghui.

That night, Su Xinghui and Xia Song sat on the river embankment together. They each sat on a sandbag, looking at the river water under the starlight.