Chapter 54: The Terrifying Dry Well (6)

  "Uncle Shui... Uncle Shui... come quick, something's happened! Liangzi's foot was crushed by a falling rock! What are we going to do now?" Next to the injured young miner, Liangzi, stood another short and silly-looking young man, who was at a loss for what to do, staring anxiously at Liangzi while shouting towards the coal mining face, his voice on the verge of tears.

  As the shouting came from behind us, from the coal mining face, amidst the rolling coal dust, I saw a middle-aged man who looked somewhat sturdy, shouting something, with hasty footsteps, walking in front of me and Tie Yi. Just as I was about to dodge and give way, this man called Shui Shu suddenly passed through us, and for an instant, I had a feeling that I couldn't tell who was dead or alive.

  Although his face was not clearly visible, Lian felt that he looked like a child of fourteen or fifteen years old, extremely thin and small in stature. The intense pain had covered his forehead and face with dense beads of sweat, which trickled down his cheeks and washed away his original appearance.

  Under the light of the old-fashioned flashlight, I saw that Liangzi was very delicate, with big eyes and long eyelashes, looking very pitiful. Her entire face was distorted in agony, her hands cradling her broken foot, but not a single tear fell.

  "What a stubborn kid", Tie Yi suddenly said, startling me. This iron lump hadn't spoken for half the day, I had almost forgotten his existence.

  As the crowd around Liangzi grew, they parted to make way for Shuishu's footsteps. The man called Shuishu hastened forward, "Make way, everyone, go about your business! Liangzi, what's going on here?"

  "I told you to be more careful, but you just don't listen. This is the second accident in two days, and now look what's happened! You young people never listen. Ah, your leg is broken, Liangzi, try to bear with it."

  Although he was complaining, it was clear that this man called Shuishu was still very concerned about Liangzi's injury. He spoke while examining Liangzi's leg, his face covered with a thick layer of mud formed by the mixture of coal dust and sweat.

  Only then did a middle-aged man, called Shuǐshū (Water Uncle), bend down and touch Liàngzi's injured right foot with his hand. As soon as he touched it, Liàngzi let out a pained "Aiya... Aiya...", his facial features scrunched up in agony, clearly indicating that it was undoubtedly a fracture.

  Although this injury should not be life-threatening, the pain is indeed not light, but this stubborn child still endured it without a single tear.

  "It's definitely a fracture, this is not good, no furniture, no medicine, this life is definitely not going to work! Stupid root, you carry Lianzi first and go up, first return to the worker's shed to rest! If it hurts badly, find a doctor to connect Lianzi's foot bone first, if time goes on, it will be bad, don't become lame." The person called Shuishu was arranging work for several workers, looking like their leader, with a very authoritative appearance.

  Just as Shuishu was getting up to leave, the child called Liangzi struggled forward and hugged his leg, shouting: "Uncle Shui, don't let me go, okay? I beg of you, uncle."

  I won't leave, I can't rest, my family is still waiting for me to make money and come back to support my brother's education. My dad is paralyzed and relies on me to pay for his medical treatment. My brother got into the best middle school in the county, even if I lose this leg, I will do everything to support him, it was a promise I made to my mother when she passed away! Please don't make me leave, if the boss finds out, he'll fire me and we won't be able to get our wages. What about my dad and brother? Please, uncle!

  As he spoke, this young man named Liangzi directly struggled and knelt down, knocking his head like pounding garlic.

  He had endured such pain just now, but at this moment he was already in tears. The weight that life has given to the shoulders of this child is something that I and our generation cannot imagine. Looking at him in front of me, thinking about my past self, I despise my own insignificance. I want to do something for him, but it's already too late.

  Seeing this, I really feel a surge of blood and energy in my heart, so I clenched my fists and vented the depression in my heart. This scene would move even the most iron-hearted person.

  "Girl, it's not that Uncle Shui doesn't want to help you, but this broken leg is no small matter. If you don't see a doctor, you'll be crippled for the rest of your life, become a useless person! Do you know that? You're still young and haven't even found a wife yet, and you already want to be disabled? How foolish!" Uncle Shui looked very troubled.

  "For my dad, for my brother, don't even mention losing a leg and becoming crippled, I'd be willing to die if it comes to that, please, Uncle Shui." Liangzi spoke as he kowtowed, his originally clean face once again being smudged with coal dust.

  Looking at Liangzi's kowtowing like pounding garlic, I think that what has passed away at this moment is not just his looks, but also his fate.

  Looking at everything in front of me, I couldn't help but clench my fists tightly, suppressing the trembling of my body, taking deep breaths, and involuntarily turning my head to one side.

  After thinking for a while, Shuishu finally nodded indifferently.

  "Kid, we're all poor people, we're all making a living by selling our labor, it's not easy to earn some money. I know you're suffering, Lianzi, but everyone here is struggling to make ends meet. If you don't feel better, I'll try to bandage you up. If that doesn't work, we'll go to the hospital and find a doctor right away. Don't bother talking back to me, just look at this!"

  Liangzi nodded with a smile, "Okay, thank you Uncle Shui! Thank you Uncle Shui!"

  As they spoke, two miners nearby picked up a wooden board used for support from the ground according to Shuizhong's request, broke it with an iron shovel, selected two wooden strips that looked roughly the same in size and length, and then found some torn cloth.

  It seems like this kind of thing happens often, as people around me don't look particularly panicked, it's as if they're very used to it.

  Shui Shu bent down, gesturing to the two men beside him to drag Lianzi's broken leg. As soon as they touched it, I saw Lianzi's body shake violently, his head sweating profusely as if drenched in water. He let out a low groan, gritting his teeth tightly. Shui Shu sighed and picked up a thin wooden stick, his own body shaking violently, hinting at the intense pain.

  "Liangzi, bite down when it hurts." As he spoke, Shuishu inserted the wooden stick into Liangzi's mouth.

  Liangzi nodded strongly.

  Shui Shu held the broken leg, feeling around to align the bone, then placed two wooden boards on either side of the calf and quickly wrapped them with a torn cloth. Looking at the bandaged leg, Liangzi burst out laughing again, his face covered in sweat, while I had already been crying uncontrollably.

  The suffering I've experienced is nothing compared to what this child in front of me has gone through.

  After the bandaging was done, Shui Shu yelled at a miner standing next to him: "Dog Shen, go find a crutch for Lianzi to use. For the past two days, Lianzi has been working on the surface and didn't have to haul coal packages. Let's wait until he gets a bit better before saying anything else. Everyone take care of yourselves and try not to let Lianzi do any heavy work, maybe this leg can still be saved."

  "Carrying coal sacks earns more, I want to carry coal, I just need a stick!" Liangzi said, wiping the sweat from his face.

  "Shut up, you little brat! You're asking for trouble. If you want to act crazy, get out of here quickly. Say one more word and I'll kick you out. Do what I say if you want to stay." Looking at the angry Shui Uncle, Liangzi nodded silently, no longer arguing.

  "Uncle, I know you're doing this for my own good, thank you." Water Uncle glanced at the crowd, who were all stunned and not knowing what to do. The children's mothers were still waiting for dinner, don't just stand there like fools, go do what you need to do! Lianzi, you rest first, wait for me to call you. If you don't listen to me, then get out of here too! Hurry up and...!"

  Just two steps away, Shui Uncle came back and shouted: "Listen to me, whoever dares to say that Liangzi was injured will have his egg yolk smashed. Which stupid bastard told the boss about Erhei's affair, causing him to lose his job? A family of five can't eat, all hanging themselves.

  If I knew who said it, I'd kill him. My words count. Alright, get back to work.

  Watching Uncle Shui walk away, I nodded and gave a thumbs up in my heart. This is the real man, pure brotherhood.

  At this time, I turned my head and saw that Tie Yi's body was also trembling. It turns out that even Iron Pockmarks have sentimental moments too.

  After finishing speaking, Shui Shu put on his willow hat and rushed into the narrow space of the coal mining face again. As the crowd dispersed, this sudden little episode came to an end.

  Liangzi sat alone by the well, staring blankly at his own legs. I don't know what this child was thinking at that moment. I wanted to go and help him, do something for him, but could only stand by with folded arms, watching without being able to intervene.

  Just as I was about to ask Tie Yi what to do next, a muffled sound came from the front, and then the sound got louder and louder. It seemed that something big had happened on the coal mining face, and an accident must have occurred.

  I have a very bad feeling in my heart.

  I and Tieyi rushed to the location where the crowd was running at the same time, and now I saw that the rushing miner was about to collide with us. Subconsciously wanting to dodge, but still couldn't avoid it.

  Those miners who crashed into me didn't bring any sensation to me, they just ran through my and Tieyi's body, I don't know if it was because of our ghostly nature or because the miners in front of us were just a wisp of soul.

  But at this moment I couldn't care less about asking Xun Yiqing, and instead continued thinking about the direction of work as I walked quickly.

  At this time, we finally saw that the top plate in front of us began to collapse massively, and large boulders fell down.

  From the depths of the alley came a cacophony of sounds, footsteps, shouts, wails, and cries for help all mixed together, growing louder as they drew closer.

  At this time, people fell down from time to time, and the sound of collapse and explosion kept ringing in my ears.

  I heard someone shouting loudly, "It's exploded, people are dead, coal and gas are rushing out, run quickly!" The voice sounded like it was Shui Shu who was shouting. This sentence was the last cry I heard from Shui Shu, then I saw the surging coal layer bury him under it like a wave. This dark ocean soon engulfed everyone present, and the fleeing crowd was quickly submerged in the rolling coal flow.