As they were chatting and laughing, a shrill woman's voice suddenly came from outside the gate of the township government: "Someone has jumped into the water!"
The few people in the courtyard were startled. Lu Weimin reacted the fastest, dashing to the gate in one swift move. A lean man in his fifties ran in from the gate, out of breath: "Secretary Yu, Township Chief Shi, it's bad, Shi Mei has jumped into the water!"
Yu Lianshan and Shi Chengtai, who had run out right behind Lu Weimin, both changed their expressions. "Hu Shunchang, what happened? Didn't I tell you to persuade her properly? How could she jump into the water? Hurry up and get people to go in and save her!"
"Secretary Yu, it's not my fault. Who would be around at noon? I can't swim either." The man in his fifties looked pale, feeling extremely distressed. He hated Shi Mei to the point of gnashing his teeth. They had agreed well in the office, but as soon as she stepped out, she jumped into the water. If she died, wouldn't he become the scapegoat? The Shi family was a large clan in Shiqiao Township. Before her death, Shi Mei was a person everyone avoided, but if she died, a bunch of distant relatives would surely come looking for trouble, and he would have to become a filial son.
Lu Weimin didn't have time to think about anything else. His habit made him rush out of the township government gate and straight to the Shiqiao Reservoir, which was just a few dozen meters away.
The Shiqiao Township government was not built on the dilapidated small street a few hundred meters away but on the dam of a small reservoir built in the 1950s. It was precisely because of this small reservoir that the scenery around the township government was particularly beautiful.
Even many county leaders liked to choose Shiqiao Township as their lunch stop. In the afternoon, they would put on a straw hat, casually sit under the shade of a tree by the reservoir, have a cigarette and tea, and cast a few lines. With a gentle breeze and calm water, by five or six in the evening, they would have a few pounds of grass carp and carp, then leisurely return to the county, just in time.
During the flood season, the Shiqiao Reservoir held a lot of water. When Lu Weimin rushed to the reservoir dam, there were already two or three women pointing and gesturing on the dam, and one or two men were taking off their clothes to prepare to jump in and save the person. However, upon hearing the name of the person who had jumped from the women, they immediately stopped undressing and showed no signs of jumping in.
Lu Weimin didn't think much about it. He quickly asked the township judicial mediation officer Hu Shunchang, who was following him and out of breath, about the location of the person who had fallen into the water. He took off his pants and shirt and dove into the water.
Lu Weimin had always been a good swimmer. The water in the Shiqiao Reservoir was very clear, and opening his eyes underwater didn't hurt like in a swimming pool. After a few consecutive dives, Lu Weimin quickly found the person who had fallen into the water. However, the person had been in the water for some time and was unconscious. Lu Weimin swam closer and grabbed the person's waist, feeling that it was a young woman. But at this moment, saving her was the priority, and he didn't have time to think much. He struggled to bring her to the surface.
With the help of Hu Shunchang and the township government officials who had run out, Lu Weimin finally managed to carry her onto the dam.
"Finished, no hope, she's not breathing!"
"Ah, what a pity, why couldn't she think it through?"
"Hey, if it were you, you might have done the same."
Lu Weimin never expected that after all his efforts to save someone, he would be met with such words. He didn't understand why the person he saved had such a bad impression. Was she really so unpopular?
But at this moment, he didn't have much time to think about it. He did a quick check and found that the young girl lying on the ground had stopped breathing and her heart had stopped beating due to the long time in the water. However, he estimated that the time since her heart stopped wasn't too long, so there was still a chance to save her.
"Xiao Lu, how's the situation?" Shen Zilie, with a stern face, pushed through the crowd and asked, "Is there any hope?"
"Secretary Shen, her heartbeat and breathing have stopped. I need to perform emergency artificial respiration and cardiac massage," Lu Weimin said. He had been a good swimmer in college and had worked as a lifeguard during the holidays, receiving specialized emergency training, so he was familiar with these rescue measures.
As Lu Weimin performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and continuously massaged the girl's chest, the onlookers around him gasped in shock. Many people even whispered to Yu Lianshan and Shi Chengtai, not out of concern for the girl but for Lu Weimin. Even Shen Zilie noticed this and felt quite surprised.
After three rounds of artificial respiration and continuous chest massage, the girl, who had a good physical condition, finally started breathing, and her heartbeat resumed. Lu Weimin then stood up and asked someone to quickly call the health center to bring a stretcher for further treatment. He went to the township government gate to find a towel to wipe himself, put on his shirt, and took off his wet underwear, wearing only his pants, just like he used to do after swimming in his school days.
After listening to Shi Chengtai's introduction, Shen Zilie and Song Chenghua were speechless for a moment. After a long pause, Shen Zilie said with a stern face, "Old Yu, Old Shi, do you really believe in such feudal superstitions? It's just a coincidence. You should do a good job explaining to the villagers. As for her stepfather's long-term abuse and attempts to drive her out of the house, what have you been doing at the township government? Why didn't you intervene? What about the village committee?"
"Secretary Shen, we don't believe in such things, but you know, the villagers are very superstitious. She was engaged twice, and both times the men died. The villagers see her as a curse, a white tiger star. Now her mother is also dead, and the villagers say she brings bad luck, that anyone who takes her in will die. Who would want to take her in?" Shi Chengtai, who had little hair, scratched his head in distress. "I am like an elder to her, and I've talked to them many times, but they listen to me about other things, not this. Even my own relatives firmly refuse to let Shi Mei return to the village. Now she is an orphan, almost twenty years old. What can she do? Who would dare to take her in?"
Yu Lianshan also sighed, "It's said that Shi Mei's academic performance was really good when she was in high school in the district, but her family was poor, and her father died early. After her mother remarried, her new family didn't let her continue her studies and made her work at home. They introduced her to a soldier, but after just a month of meeting, the man died in an accident during training. The man's family blamed Shi Mei and caused a lot of trouble at her home. To get her out of the house, they quickly introduced her to a thirty-year-old bachelor last year. But after just a few meetings, the bachelor died in a car accident in the county. This year, her mother also died of illness. With three deaths in two years, everyone is superstitious."
Fourth update, brothers, where are your recommendation votes? I want them, I want more!