The earthquake was something Cheng Su had never experienced in either of her two lifetimes; she had only seen its devastation on the news, particularly the earthquake that struck Sichuan one year, which had deeply shocked her. That year, she had donated an entire month’s salary to the disaster area.
Unexpectedly, in this lifetime, she would personally experience an earthquake, and it was indeed as horrific and despairing as she had imagined.
The whole world seemed to be shaking, as if the hand of God prevented anyone from standing, everything upright kept collapsing, houses cracked, and the sounds of steel and concrete bursting were clearly audible.
Cheng Su screamed in terror. In the moment when the bed seemed to be crashing down on her, she thought to herself that this was it, it was really over, she was going to die, and she would never see Qi Taiguo again.
Qi Taiguo, her love. How wonderful it would be to see him again, but now, she never could.
Cheng Su cried out in despair.
The bed did not fall on her as expected; someone was protecting her, and a familiar groan was heard.
A familiar scent surrounded her, and Cheng Su’s head buzzed as she subconsciously called out, "Qi Taiguo?"
"Mhm, I’m here," Qi Taiguo pushed the bed away.
"Qi Taiguo?"
"Mhm!"
"Qi Taiguo? Qi Taiguo?" Cheng Su called out three times incredulously. How could this be? How could he possibly be here?
"Mhm!"
Upon hearing his steady response, Cheng Su’s tears streamed down, and she suddenly clutched at his clothes.
"Follow me!" Qi Taiguo said as he pulled her, crawling on the ground toward the exit.
With Qi Taiguo by her side, Cheng Su’s heart instantly calmed.
As long as he was there, as long as he was by her side, dying was no longer something to fear.
The shaking continued, and the house kept trembling; from afar, the sounds of massive collapses mixed with cries and shouts could be heard.
Cheng Su tried to stand up, but Qi Taiguo pressed down on her, saying, "Don’t stand up, you can’t hold your ground, stay low and move."
"Taiguo, earthquake, they say to find a place to hide during an earthquake," Cheng Su said calmly, recalling what she had learned.
"We can’t hide now," Qi Taiguo wanted to say that the house was about to collapse, but was afraid of scaring her, said, "Follow me, we can still get out now."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Su followed him, moving forward continuously.
Debris kept falling, the darkness enveloped everything, and Cheng Su, led by Qi Taiguo, quickly made her way through the corridor and down the stairs.
Cheng Su couldn’t see the path clearly, her hand was tightly held by Qi Taiguo, endlessly moving forward, descending.
Fortunately, buildings of that era were generally not very tall, and they soon reached the first floor, with Qi Taiguo pulling her along rapidly.
With a thunderous roar and dust filling the air, the entrance collapsed, blocking the exit.
Cheng Su screamed, inhaling dust and starting to cough.
"What do we do now?" she asked, trembling.
"Cover your mouth, crouch down," Qi Taiguo said, extraordinarily calm as he observed the surroundings in the dark.
The shaking began to slow. Overjoyed, Qi Taiguo quickly pulled Cheng Su to a window, smashed it with his bare hands, then climbed up and kicked open the window frame, extending a hand to Cheng Su: "Come up quickly."
Cheng Su reached out, and he pulled her up.
Qi Taiguo glanced down outside the window; it wasn’t very clear, but there were definitely broken stones and such. One could sprain an ankle or get stabbed, but there was no time to worry about that now. He said, "Jump down and protect your head."
Cheng Su jumped down and felt a sharp object scratch her foot, causing a sudden sharp pain. She couldn’t care less, shouting loudly, "Get down quick, jump far, there are sharp stones here!"
Just as Qi Taiguo was about to jump down, his ears twitched and he looked back inside.
A faint coughing sound arose, followed by a child’s cry: "Wuwu, Mommy."