Chapter 216

Mu Shi'an’s body heat made the heart Song Nianchu had held tight gradually settle back down.

It finally allowed her to believe that everything that had happened last night had not been a dream, but reality.

“All right. Eat something first.” Mu Shi'an gently patted her back.

“Mm.” Song Nianchu nodded and slowly pulled herself out of his arms.

The tent was extremely bare. Apart from a camp bed, there was nothing else, so the two of them could only sit on it.

Mu Shi'an handed her the cornmeal bun in his hand.

It was rather hard. Biting into it took effort, and swallowing it scraped her throat.

But she had been through too much the day before and was ravenous now. She did not care in the slightest, stuffing large mouthfuls into her mouth.

“Slow down, and drink some water too.” Afraid that she might choke, Mu Shi'an immediately brought over a canteen.

Song Nianchu took a bite of the bun and a sip of water, quickly finishing both of them.

Only after she had finished eating did she suddenly remember something and look up at Mu Shi'an.

“Have you eaten?”

“I have. I brought these specially for you.” Mu Shi'an nodded.

Only then did Song Nianchu relax.

“Now that you’ve eaten, rest a little longer. I still have some things to take care of later.” Seeing that her face was still somewhat pale, Mu Shi'an spoke gently.

But before he could finish, Song Nianchu grabbed his arm.

“What else do you have to do?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t put myself in danger again. I promised you.” Mu Shi'an’s voice was firm.

Only then did Song Nianchu loosen her grip slightly.

“Then what do you need to do?”

“The dam still needs to be reinforced. For now, we’ve only delayed the second collapse temporarily. If we don’t deal with it properly, it’ll collapse again sooner or later.” Mu Shi'an explained.

“I’ll go with you.” Song Nianchu absolutely refused to let him out of her sight now.

“But your health…” A trace of worry passed through Mu Shi'an’s eyes.

When he had seen her yesterday, her face had been as pale as paper. If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, he truly would have feared that she had already…

“I’m fine. Besides, I’ll just stay by your side and won’t do anything.” Song Nianchu insisted.

Mu Shi'an stared at her for quite a while. In the end, he still nodded in agreement.

“All right. But if you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you have to tell me immediately.” Mu Shi'an reminded her.

“Mm.”

“…”

Mu Shi'an led Song Nianchu back to the large tent where they were working.

When Tian Daqing and the others saw Song Nianchu, they all rose to greet her.

“Comrade Song, are you all right?” Tian Daqing asked.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry to have worried you.” Song Nianchu gave them a faint smile.

“It’s good that you’re all right. The way you looked yesterday really scared us.” Tian Daqing let out a sigh of relief, his gaze moving between the two of them. “But honestly, you two really are lucky. In circumstances like that, most people would have only a one-in-ten chance of surviving. Yet not only did Comrade Mu make it out alive, he wasn’t even seriously injured. It truly was a miracle.”

Song Nianchu glanced at Mu Shi'an.

A ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‍miracle?

It really was.

“Ever since I met my wife, my luck has indeed gotten much better.” Mu Shi'an met Song Nianchu’s gaze.

His blunt declaration not only made Tian Daqing and the others swallow a whole mouthful of affection, but also left Song Nianchu feeling embarrassed.

Mu Shi'an was rather reserved by nature and rarely acted so openly affectionate in front of outsiders.

Still, she did not dislike the feeling.

“Rest here for a while. Once I’m done, I’ll take you back.” Mu Shi'an did not notice the flicker of emotion in her eyes and spoke gently.

“Mm.” Song Nianchu nodded.

Mu Shi'an soon slipped into work mode.

Song Nianchu sat to one side and watched him. He stood at the center of the group, surrounded by Tian Daqing and the others.

Although she could not understand what they were discussing, she could feel the professionalism and earnestness radiating from Mu Shi'an, inside and out.

She could also see the increasingly fervent looks in Tian Daqing’s and the others’ eyes.

Suddenly, Song Nianchu remembered what Mu’s mother had said to her earlier.

She had said that Mu Shi'an could become one of the nation’s top scientific researchers, and that he might even be capable of changing the backward state of their country.

He did not belong in that little carpentry workshop. There was a much larger world for him to conquer.

As Song Nianchu’s thoughts raced, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside the tent.

“Chu, are you in there?”

Song Nianchu’s thoughts were immediately pulled back to the present. It was someone from the village.

Mu Shi'an had heard the voice as well and looked over.

“It’s someone from the village. I’ll go see what’s going on.” Song Nianchu spoke to him.

“All right.” Mu Shi'an nodded.

Song Nianchu rose and walked out of the tent. Outside was one of the fifteen volunteers she had brought from the village.

“What’s wrong? Has something happened?” Song Nianchu went over to him.

“The people from the brigade have all been dug out for now.” His voice was slightly hoarse as he said this.

Song Nianchu’s expression immediately darkened.

“What are the casualties?” Because of what had happened to Mu Shi'an the day before, she had not had time to tally the numbers afterward.

“So far, we’ve accounted for everyone except one person.” The man seemed somewhat reluctant to meet her eyes.

“Who’s missing?” Seeing his expression, Song Nianchu had already guessed.

“It’s… Mu Jingmei.”

Sure enough, Song Nianchu heard the name she had expected.

“Have every area been searched? Are you sure she wasn’t found?” Song Nianchu asked in a low voice.

“We’ve searched several times on our end. We even checked with the burial pit. They keep detailed records of everyone they bury, and I looked through them. There’s no information matching Comrade Mu Jingmei.” The man shook his head.

Song Nianchu fell silent for a moment before responding, “I understand. What about the other casualties?”

“Of the three hundred people who came to support the dam construction, two hundred and fifty-two survived. Forty-seven died, and one person is missing.”

“Among the survivors, one hundred and twenty are seriously injured. Most of the rest have suffered some injuries, but none are life-threatening.”

Hearing those figures, Song Nianchu felt as though something had lodged in her chest. She could neither spit it out nor swallow it, and the discomfort forced her to take several deep breaths.

“What’s the situation across the entire dam site?” she asked hoarsely.

“They’re in an even worse state than our brigade. Compared with them, our casualties are actually the lowest.” The man was also struggling to hold himself together.

The situation at their brigade was better because people had come to rescue them.

Although they had come to help, everyone had their own private concerns, and they naturally rescued the people from their own brigade first.

The people from the other villages had not been so fortunate.