Chapter Seventy-Eight: A Sudden Mishap

Chen Xin crouched down and chatted with the villagers for a while, learning that the sewer they were about to clear had been built more than three hundred years ago. Later, to prevent water pollution and for environmental cleanliness, it was sealed off, and a new drainage system was constructed to connect to the sewage treatment center.

The old drainage ran underground in front of each household’s eaves, covered with bluestone slabs about eighty centimeters long, with a finger-width gap at the joints specifically left for rainwater to seep into the channel.

“Why not continue using the previous channel? Just clean the old drainage, forbid residents from discharging domestic sewage into it, draw water from upstream to keep the channel flowing with fresh water. This would reduce the load on the sewage pipes, revitalize the town, and restore its ancient appearance.”

In fact, many old towns have such drainage systems. Ancient sewage systems weren’t necessarily inferior to modern ones; there simply wasn’t industrial or chemical pollution back then, and the population was much smaller, so environmental protection wasn’t a concept. But this doesn’t mean everything from the past is outdated; for surface drainage like this, preserving the old channels is more appropriate than constructing new ones.

“If you want to build up the ancient town as a tourist attraction, you can refer to the approaches used elsewhere. Just make slight improvements while maintaining local architectural features. I only know a little about this, so it’s best to consult experts in ancient architecture.”

It was clear the town’s leadership sincerely wanted to make progress, but being in a remote rural county, their vision and perspective were limited.

“Yes, the new deputy mayor has suggested the same, but the leaders haven’t reached an agreement yet. As you can see, we’re really poor here.” Xiao Wu didn’t shy away from the issue. Their town was agricultural, but the land wasn’t particularly fertile. In the past two years, everyone rushed to plant so-called high-value crops, but not only did they fail to make money, many wasted a whole year’s time and labor and didn’t even see a hint of profit.

This year, the town government organized unified planning and guided planting by zones. Prospects now seemed promising, but these efforts had already stretched government funds thin, making it difficult to invest in developing the ancient town.

Tourism, however, is the quickest way to see results. To accelerate development, building the ancient town into a tourist attraction was a good entry point.

After this conversation, they walked another two hundred meters or so and stopped at the end of the alley. Here, on the innermost side, the wooden cottages had stood for over a century. Each year the town government allocated funds for repairs, trying to keep the main structures sound.

Xiao Wu knocked and raised his voice: “Grandpa Li, are you home?”

A neighbor next door opened her door and said she hadn’t seen Grandpa Li since yesterday afternoon; no one answered when she knocked, and she wasn’t sure if he’d gone out. Recently, he’d often wandered up the back hill, where there was a nameless cemetery. In earlier years, fallen soldiers were buried there, but later the town moved the graves to Yuyang, where a proper martyrs’ memorial was built. This place had since become a burial ground for local families.

Grandpa Li’s wife, son, daughter, and oldest grandson were all buried there.

“Bu Xiaogang, Bu Xiaogang, are you there?” Xiao Wu returned to the corner and called out loudly twice. Soon, a young man replied, and a few minutes later, a t-shirt-clad youth ran over.

“Wu, you called me? What’s up?”

“Come help out, give me a hand so I can climb in and check on Grandpa Li. Granny San said she hasn’t seen him since last night.”

Xiao Wu was a little worried and called Bu Xiaogang to help, planning to climb in from the corner to the second floor, then go downstairs from inside to open the door.

The old houses here fronted the street and were two stories high. The upstairs windows were narrow, old-style sliding windows that needed to be propped open with a wooden stick. They were tricky to open from the outside.

“Forget it, Wu, let me do it. You’re not familiar with these windows.” Bu Xiaogang was a graduate of the sports academy and taught at the town’s elementary school. His home was just behind this street, and its layout was similar to Grandpa Li’s, only a bit wider.

Xiao Wu and the accompanying photographer helped Bu Xiaogang up, giving him a foothold so he could reach the window frame and open it.

A few minutes later, Bu Xiaogang unlocked the courtyard gate, his face pale.

“Wu, call an ambulance, Grandpa Li doesn’t look good.”

Xiao Wu pushed past Bu Xiaogang and rushed inside, shouting for Bu to run to the town clinic and bring someone over.

The nearest hospital was more than thirty kilometers away, taking the rural shortcut. If they followed the main roads, it would be at least forty or fifty kilometers. Round trip would take an hour or two, and whether Grandpa Li could hold out was uncertain.

Chen Xin and Cheng Jie stood aside, anxious and unsure if they could help. The photographer, Xiao Mao, set his equipment on a table by the wall, rolled up his sleeves, and hurried in to help carry Grandpa Li.

Neighbors, hearing the commotion, all rushed out from their homes.

The clinic doctor arrived quickly—a man in his thirties, carrying a medical kit and walking briskly.

“No, he must go to the hospital. The clinic can’t provide what’s needed.” After checking, the doctor pulled out a portable oxygen tank for Grandpa Li, his brow furrowed. “Has Nurse Xiao Zhou arrived yet?”

“Here, here!” came a breathless female voice from the doorway. Nurse Xiao Zhou, slightly plump, darted in clutching a pillow-shaped oxygen bag and quickly attached the breathing mask, swapping out the small oxygen tank.

“Grandpa Li likely has pneumonia triggered by a cold; he already suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and needs to be hospitalized.”

“Can he be moved? Should we take our car to the hospital? Waiting for the ambulance will take too long.”

The young doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. “That would be a big help. Let Xiao Zhou go with you. Is there space?”

“Cheng Jie, you and Mao take Grandpa Li and the others over. I’ll just catch a ride back.”

At this moment, Chen Xin naturally didn’t compete for a spot. Though there were few buses here, there were still some; two transfers would get her home.

“All right, just take care. If you lose your way, ask Comrade Xiao Wu to guide you.”

Cheng Jie didn’t say much more, helped carry the stretcher, and assisted Xiao Mao with the equipment as they headed for the car.

After watching them leave, Chen Xin didn’t rush to catch her bus but turned to Xiao Wu, asking if there were many other elderly residents living alone in the town like Grandpa Li and how their lives were.

“If you’re not in a hurry, I can take you to visit a few more homes and see how things are.”

Xiao Wu’s main task today was to accompany them and hadn’t expected something like this to happen to Grandpa Li. He had just called the town government office to report, and the leadership instructed him to handle matters here first before returning to discuss further.