Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂
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With Zhou Rui’s help, the man mustered his last ounce of strength and dragged the remaining two children to shore.
“She’s awake! Jiabao is awake!”
“My Tangyuan too! Thank God, thank the Bodhisattva!”
On the shore, two women hugged their newly revived children, crying and laughing. A third woman immediately slapped her son’s buttocks. “I told you not to swim, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look at what happened—you almost lost your life.”
The son winced but didn’t dare retort. He knew the situation was serious. He’d have to endure a few slaps and scoldings to let it blow over, so he forced a pained smile and took it.
Just then, a woman rushed over, elbowing through the crowd to throw herself at one of the last two children pulled from the water. “Qiangqiang! What’s wrong? Wake up! Wake up!”
But no matter how desperately she called, the tallest child remained forever still, his eyes closed.
The person performing CPR had already given up and stepped back, shaking their head at the others.
The message was clear: the child was beyond saving—no breathing, no pulse.
“Where’s the doctor? Where’s the ambulance?” the woman screamed. Yet everywhere she looked, people instinctively averted their gazes.
Zhu Lin had to step forward. “I’ve already called the police and an ambulance. They’re on their way.”
“Why didn’t you call sooner?!” the woman roared, unleashing her deep-seated grief and anger on Zhu Lin.
Zhu Lin’s tone turned cold. “Auntie, I tried to stop these children from going into the water. I told them not to swim without supervision. It was your son, Qiangqiang, who refused to listen. He even told the other kids to go secretly, as long as they didn’t get caught. Now that something’s happened, he bears most of the responsibility.”
“Nonsense!” Qiangqiang’s Mom refused to believe it. “My son is such a good boy. How could he not listen to you?”
Zhu Lin: “……”
Doesn’t this mother even know her own son?
She didn’t argue. Instead, she called over the child who had already regained consciousness. “You tell them.”
Little Chubby eagerly spoke first. “Sister Zhu Lin didn’t want us to go in the water. She wanted us to play something else. Brother Qiang said to go secretly, that it would be fine as long as we didn’t get caught. He even called anyone who didn’t go a coward!”
“When we got to the shore, I told him we should stretch first, but he wouldn’t listen. He even called me a sissy, like a little girl. I told him not to swim too far, but he complained I was being a nag.”
“After swimming for a while, he got a cramp and couldn’t move in the water. The others went to help him, but they also got cramps. I couldn’t save all five of them alone, so I came ashore first to get help.”
“You’re lying! My son would never do that!” Qiangqiang’s Mom refused to believe him.
To her surprise, the other three children corroborated the story. “Fatty isn’t lying. Brother Qiang insisted on swimming. He swam the farthest and was the first to get a cramp.”
“If only Brother Qiang had agreed to play something else…”
“If Brother Qiang had gotten a cramp and everyone had come ashore to get help, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Are you trying to avoid responsibility and blame Qiangqiang?” Qiangqiang’s Mom grew agitated. “You’re all liars! You’re all lying to me!”
Nearby, after more than ten minutes of CPR, the other child who had been rescued alongside Qiangqiang had also passed away.
The child’s mother went mad. She lunged at Qiangqiang’s Mom, grabbing her hair and screaming, “It’s all your fault! How did you raise your child? Why did you let Qiangqiang lead them to swim? Your child doesn’t care about their life, but why did you drag my child down with them?!”
“Qiangqiang wouldn’t have led them! You’re just trying to shift the blame!”
The two women, weeping and screaming, fell into a tangled brawl.
Yun Xin received a notification:
[Player has successfully rescued a human (Little Chubby) in Dungeon 117781, “Child Drowning Incident.” Completion Rating: C. Rewards: Agility +0.1, Constitution +0.1.]
The crowd watched in horror as the two women pulled each other’s hair, their scalp tingling. No one dared to intervene.
Fortunately, the police arrived promptly, immediately separating the women and ending the chaotic scene.
Zhou Rui, observing the scene, asked softly, “Will the man who saved the child be alright?”
“What could happen to him?” Zhu Lin smirked. “He was the only one who jumped in to save the children. Not only did he rescue his own son, but he also saved two others. The police should give him a medal for that.”
“Good to hear he’s alright,” Zhou Rui said, falling silent.
The surviving children shuffled forward and stood before Yun Xin, heads bowed. “We’re sorry, Sister,” they mumbled. “We shouldn’t have disobeyed you and run off.”
Yun Xin simply patted Little Chubby’s head and told him, “Choose your friends wisely.”
Little Chubby had clearly been reluctant to go, but his “friends” had egged him on until he’d reluctantly followed along.
This time, they were lucky to be quick-witted and know to go home for help. If they had stayed put and tried to rescue the child on their own, it would have been like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather—one by one, they would have been picked off.
Little Chubby, still groggy, seemed not to have understood fully.
The other three looked embarrassed, hanging their heads and promising, “We won’t do it again.”
While the police were wrapping up the aftermath, Zhou Rui and Yun Xin took the opportunity to sign the rental contract.
The parents of the drowned child were in an uproar, blaming each other. By the time the situation was resolved, it was already late. Zhou Rui really didn’t want to spend the night in his old apartment, so he bought some basic necessities at the supermarket and made do with the new place for the night.
The next day, he took half a day off to pack up and move.
Yun Xin went home first. After packing her belongings, she would come over to stay.
That night, he slept soundly.
Since the weather had turned warm, Zhou Rui hadn’t slept this peacefully in a long time. When he woke up the next morning, he was full of energy, his face radiant, a stark contrast to his previous haggard appearance.
Even the strenuous task of moving went quickly. In no time, he had everything packed. He then called a three-wheeled cart to transport his belongings to the new apartment.
As he left, the landlady was reluctant to see him go. “Why are you moving?” she asked. “Weren’t you happy here?”
Zhou Rui remembered his hands were dirty from packing earlier and, momentarily forgetting about the water treatment plant incident, he accidentally turned on the tap.
Unable to force a smile, he replied, “I found a more suitable place, so I won’t bother you anymore.”
With that, he fled like a thief.
The landlady watched him walk away with a wistful gaze.
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