Power and Wealth

Half an hour later.

At the foot of the mountain, the rescue team escorted the teachers and students down one by one.

This time, Dong Xuebing was not the first to come down but instead brought up the rear to ensure no children got lost in the low visibility conditions. Along the way down, he helped here and there, preventing several students and teachers from slipping and falling. However, even with his assistance, Dong Xuebing couldn't keep an eye on the nearly one hundred people in the group alone, and a few students fell during the descent. The two most seriously injured suffered a foot fracture and a leg fracture, respectively. The medical staff that Dong Xuebing had brought up carefully carried them down the mountain on stretchers.

“Down now!”

“Quick, get the ambulance!”

“Reporters, please step aside!”

“Don’t interview just yet! Let the injured pass through first!”

“Don’t forget to count the heads! Make sure to account for the number of students and rescue personnel! We can’t leave anyone behind! Otherwise, it will be impossible to find them once it gets dark!”

One…

Fifty…

The scene was chaotic and busy.

It's worth mentioning that Zhang Dongfang was also lying on a stretcher when he was brought down.

Old Zhang was genuinely unable to continue. He had exerted all his strength to climb partway up the mountain. At the beginning of the descent, he nearly fell and was quickly supported by a few cadres and rescue team members. However, by the time Dong Xuebing finished escorting the students with fevers down the mountain and returned to join them, Zhang Dongfang was already being carried with both feet almost off the ground, feeling faint and weak. Dong Xuebing promptly asked the medical staff who came up with him to make room on a stretcher for Zhang Dongfang. Initially, Zhang Dongfang stubbornly refused, probably feeling it wouldn’t look good if word got out. But when he saw that everyone else was slowly making their way down and he was left behind despite being assisted by so many people, he eventually listened to the medical staff's advice and lay down on the stretcher. Dong Xuebing observed the whole process and felt that Old Zhang was overly dramatic and stubborn. He thought, "You're a man in your forties or fifties. If you can't handle it, don't climb the mountain. If it's truly for saving others, that would be one thing, but risking your life just to show off? Is it worth it?"

One by one, the injured were taken to the vehicles.

At this time, the city’s rescue team and many of the students' parents finally arrived in their cars, as the road conditions had been poor.

“Yuan Yuan!”

“Mom!”

“Oh my, my Yuan Yuan!”

“Qi Qi! How are you, Qi Qi?”

“Dad, I’m fine, boo hoo…”

“Mom! Mom! I’m over here! You made it!”

Many parents rushed to claim their children, and they all ended up embracing their children and crying together in relief. They were truly terrified.

Once most of the injured had been taken away, the reporters, taking photos on the sidelines, swarmed in, almost grabbing whoever was nearby for interviews.

With everyone safe, Dong Xuebing didn't bother with them. However, none of the reporters dared approach him since he didn't. After all, Dong Xuebing's earlier attitude was not friendly, and the reporters were a bit intimidated—especially after witnessing him shove one reporter who was taller than him by half a head aside. So, even though several were particularly eager to interview the county secretary, they left quietly after a few glances and moved on to interview others instead. In reality, it wasn’t that Dong Xuebing had any issue with the media workers; he was just focused on the rescue earlier, believing that time shouldn't be wasted on interviews until the mission was accomplished. Now that everyone was saved, he had no qualms about it. After glancing around and seeing that no one was interested in interviewing him, he was glad for the quiet. He turned to head over to Zhang Dongfang and noticed that the county secretary had already gotten off the stretcher, determined to stand on his own.

Dong Xuebing's face became stern. “County Mayor Zhang, what are you doing?”

“I’m fine; I can still hold on,” Zhang Dongfang insisted, forcing himself.

Dong Xuebing was at a loss for words. Ignoring his stubbornness, he told a few nearby medical staff who looked equally helpless, “Get County Mayor Zhang onto the vehicle! To the hospital!”

Zhang Dongfang protested, “No, I…”

“Listen to me, Old Zhang!” Dong Xuebing said, helping to lift Zhang Dongfang into the vehicle. This old guy was causing enough trouble; they were still trying to take care of the students, and now they had to look after him, too. Finally, once he got out and closed the door, the ambulance took Zhang Dongfang away.

Ding, ding, ding.

His phone rang.

Dong Xuebing glanced at the number and was surprised to see it was the cellphone number of the city party secretary, Qian Litiao. After Qian had called him previously, Dong Xuebing had saved the number, so he held up a borrowed umbrella, shook off the water on his phone, and answered immediately.

“Hello.”

“Secretary Qian.”

“Have all the people been rescued?”

“Ninety-six people, all down from the mountain.”

“...Okay, I understand. You all need to pay attention to the situation at Qing'e Mountain in the future. I don’t want to see anything like this happen again!”

Beep, beep, beep, the call ended abruptly.

Dong Xuebing felt uncomfortable hearing that. He thought, even if you are the city party secretary, you shouldn’t be so disrespectful! For goodness' sake, I’m also a county party secretary, and I managed to get people out on time following your orders, yet what about you? Both times you called, you spoke like this. What kind of attitude is that? Dong Xuebing felt a chill in his heart but didn’t want to lose his temper with the city party secretary. Besides, there was no place to vent his frustration; the other party had already hung up.

Meanwhile, several vehicles from the city’s rescue team had arrived, and many people were getting out quickly.

The leader, who was clearly in charge, got out and, with an imposing presence, called out loudly, “Who is the person in charge of the Jiaolin County rescue team?”

One of the closer individuals responded, “I’m the deputy team leader; I’m not sure where the team leader is. What’s up?”

The city official in charge frowned. “Have all the people been rescued? Are there any missing? Have you counted the numbers?”

The deputy team leader from Jiaolin County was impatient, thinking, "Do you think we’re amateurs?" But since the person was from the city, he still replied, “We’ve counted; there are no fewer people.”

The city rescue leader asked, “Has it been verified?”

The deputy team leader thought, “What do you mean by that?” “Yes, it has been verified.”

The leader seemed dissatisfied with Jiaolin County's response and turned to his subordinates. “Check again, verify it in detail, and account for those who also went to the hospital.”

The deputy team leader was unhappy. “Isn’t that unnecessary?”

“Do you think it’s unnecessary?” the leader shouted, “The city party secretary personally assigned this rescue mission. How can we be careless?”

Someone from Jiaolin County’s rescue team angrily said, “What are we being careless about?”

The city rescue leader replied, “Then check again, ensure everything is foolproof. If anything goes wrong, can you bear the responsibility?” After saying that, he directed his subordinates to take over many of Jiaolin County’s rescue personnel and help some students transfer to buses or ambulances, saying, “Your comrades from Jiaolin County must be tired after searching the mountain all day; we’ll take it from here.”

Isn’t this stealing credit?

Is there anyone who does it like this?

The members of the Jiaolin County rescue team were furious. You weren't around when it came to rescuing people; we went through a lot of trouble to get everyone out, and now you want to enjoy the results? When the media from your city reports on this, they’ll say something like the city rescue team and the Jiaolin County rescue team participated in the rescue together. Suddenly, you’ll take half the credit? Who do you think you are? Normally, it would be fine to give you some face, but this time, our rescue team put in a lot of effort, braving heavy rain and cold to protect the students. During the descent, five or six members of our rescue team were injured, one of them severely, with multiple fractures from falling several meters. So, how the city rescue team is acting makes us extremely uncomfortable. If we hadn’t rescued anyone or a student had been hurt, the responsibility would fall on us in Jiaolin County? If everyone is rescued, the credit goes to your city. What right do you have?!

Their voices were loud, and many people nearby heard them.

Chang Lin frowned, and Meng Hanmei and some Jiaolin County officials also looked over.

Dong Xuebing happened to be one of the people who overheard the conversation. He had initially planned to go to the bus to comfort the students. Still, upon hearing this, he immediately stopped in his tracks and turned back, striding toward the city rescue leader, his tone confrontational. “Who the hell are you?”

The leader, startled by Dong’s youth, glared back. “And you are?”

Seeing his disrespect toward Secretary Dong, Meng Hanmei exploded from the side, “Who do you think you are? This is our Jiaolin County Party Secretary!”

The leader and the dozen or so city rescue team members were stunned. The leader realized he had misspoken and fell silent; his rank was far lower than Dong Xuebing’s.

At this time, reporters also started to pay attention.

Many teachers, students, and parents who had already boarded the vehicles were also drawn to the commotion.

Dong Xuebing didn’t care about anything else; he began berating the city officials, forcefully tapping his watch. “Look at what time it is! And you’re still trying to give us orders? Who the hell do you think you are? Who gives you the right to speak here? Huh? The orders came from me! I commanded the rescue! Our rescue team was involved from start to finish! You didn’t help at all! And yet you’re here issuing orders? Do you even dare to question our rescue work? Where the hell have you been? Huh? If you’re late, at least show some awareness that you’re late! Just stand over there and keep your mouth shut! Do you even have the right to talk back to our rescue team?”

He launched into a furious tirade!

Damn! The city party secretary can’t get yelled at! And you think it’s a big deal to scold a few city officials? You’re walking straight into my line of fire! Don’t you know I’m boiling with anger right now?!