Chapter Thirteen: Saving Others and Oneself

  In the midst of chaos, Zhao didn't know what had happened either, only remembering that the boat had capsized, and more than half of the people on deck had slid into the icy river water. The remaining ones desperately clung to the ship's sides, railings or whatever they could grab onto, as cries for help instantly echoed across the river surface.

  Zhao was very unlucky, she was being held in Pearl's arms, and Pearl was in a daze at the time. When the boat capsized, she didn't react in time and slid down, crashing through the railing and falling towards the river surface. Fortunately, she came to her senses immediately and grabbed the ship's side with her free hand just in time, so Zhao didn't fall into the water.

  Although she didn't fall into the water, she was in a precarious situation. From her perspective, many people on the boat had already fallen into the river, and in the chaos, she even saw her father being carried on someone's back falling into the water. Her mother was crying out loud, her little brother was also crying, but it seemed that her grandmother was being protected by someone, tightly grasping a railing, and could fall off the deck at any moment. In the river, countless people were screaming loudly, several lanterns on the boat had not been extinguished, swaying in the wind and rain, making a creaking sound with the boat's movements, making it seem like this boat might not last much longer.

  In the wind and rain, Zhang's loud shout came: "Think of a way to swim ashore! Here is not far from the shore! Everyone work together, we will definitely be rescued!"

  Her words reminded many people, those who were struggling in the water and shouting for help, and several sailors immediately came to their senses and swam desperately towards the shore. Unfortunately, most of Zhao's male and female servants who followed him were northerners, and most of them did not know how to swim. Even if they knew that the shore was not far away, they did not know how to swim over, and could only struggle desperately. But at this time, the hull was still moving under inertia, and the broken mast also came mercilessly towards the people on the river surface, they watched with their eyes open as the huge hull overturned towards themselves, one after another of their companions were rolled into the water bottom, and nothing could be done except screaming.

  Pearl's sister was hanging on the side of the boat, and she couldn't help but burst into tears: "Old lady, old lady, I'm about to collapse! Save my sister, save my sister!" Zhao also became extremely frightened, disregarding her own weak strength, her small hands tightly grasping the side of the boat without letting go.

  She can swim, really, and she swims quite well, but with her current small body, can she really swim? She doesn't want to drown, really doesn't!

  Ke Zhang was no longer able to take care of this side, because she herself was in a precarious situation. The ship's hull was tilting more and more severely, and the sound of wooden planks cracking could be heard on the deck. It seemed as if she was about to fall into the water. One of her maids, who had been protecting her, had already fallen into the river. Just as Pearl Sister was crying out, Mi Shi also fell into the water, and naturally, Zhao Wei in her arms did not escape either.

  The sound of the deck cracking grew louder, and Zhao couldn't help but think of a solution: "Nanny, grab onto a piece of wood!" As soon as she finished speaking, the remaining mast had completely snapped off and fallen into the water. Half of the ship's hull sank into the river, while the other half tilted to one side under the force of the rebound. The deck couldn't withstand such a violent impact and instantly split open. In a short time, the entire ship disintegrated. Zhao instinctively grabbed onto the ship's railing, but Pearl's falling momentum was too great, pulling her down into the river with her. She felt an icy chill on her body as she fell into the water.

  She immediately applied the swimming skills she was familiar with before crossing over, except for choking on two mouthfuls of water at first, and quickly adapted to it. Unfortunately, Pearl is a poor swimmer and tightly hugged her without letting go. If she didn't want to be dragged underwater, she could only think of ways to save herself. At the critical moment of life and death, she couldn't care about so much, and immediately taught Pearl how to swim: "Kick your legs! Alternate kicking with both legs! Breathe out of the water, hold your breath in the water, use the free hand to paddle, paddle backwards, we're swimming towards the shore!" Unfortunately, how much could Pearl hear in her panic? Except for unconsciously kicking her legs wildly, she couldn't do anything else, and even got her to drink a few more mouthfuls of water.

  It was also her good luck that a piece of wood from the cracked hull floated nearby, about the size of two door panels. Pearl seemed to recall what she had said earlier "grab onto a wooden board" and with all her might, she rushed over and actually grabbed it. The first thing she did was put Zhao on the board and then climbed up herself.

  Zhao finally managed to temporarily escape the crisis of drowning, and at this time she was soaked all over her body, and had already sneezed several times. But she didn't have the leisure to think about whether or not she would get sick, and instead used the light from the lanterns on the wreckage of the boat to search for the figures of her grandmother, parents, and older brother.

  Zhao Jiong and Mi Shi had long since disappeared from view, and on the river surface, countless people were crying out for help. Zhao couldn't tell who was who, but in the darkness, it seemed like someone was swimming towards them. As they got closer, she realized that it was Autumn Leaf holding onto Zhang Shi. Pearl Aunt hastily reached out to pull, and Autumn Leaf pushed Zhang Shi onto the wooden board with all her might. Zhao momentarily forgot how young she was and also lent a hand, although her strength was negligible.

  Zhang had fainted and turned pale as if she had drunk a lot of water. Zhao felt her pulse was still beating and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

  As soon as Ke Zhang got on, the wooden board began to sink downwards, and it was about to be completely submerged in water. Zhen Zhu Niang was a bit dizzy, but Zhao immediately understood that this piece of wood was too small and could not bear the weight of two adult women at all. Although she was just a little girl who only occupied a tiny space, in physics, she couldn't be ignored either. What to do?!

  She quickly told Akira, "Find another board!" Akira was clinging to the edge of the board, panting, and immediately understood. Looking at her master's current state, she looked up at Pearl and said, "Sister, come down for now. This board can't hold you and Old Lady together on it. Let's find another board!" Pearl finally understood, and although she was afraid, she closed her eyes and jumped into the water. The board instantly returned to its original state.

  Pearl also learned to swim like autumn leaves, clinging to the edge of the board, her legs kicking wildly. Although she was tired, she managed to learn some swimming skills and temporarily avoided the danger of drowning. Autumn Leaf saw this and said: "Sister-in-law, take care of Old Lady and Sister, I'll go find Second Master, Second Mistress, and Wei Ge'er again." After saying that, she dove into the water with a splash.

  Zhao... let out another snort, looked at her grandmother's appearance, and saw that her abdomen was slightly bulging, probably from drinking water. She made an effort to stand up, pressing her entire body against her grandmother's abdomen. Pearl sister cried out: "Sister, don't move!" Zhang Shi's mouth had already sprayed out a column of water, Zhao... pressed down two or three more times, until there was no more water flowing from Zhang Shi's mouth, and she slowly came to.

  When Zhang opened his eyes, his gaze was still very confused: "Where am I?"

  Pearl Aunt cried again: "Old Madam!" Zhao looked up and glanced around, wanting to answer where his grandparents were, but he was stunned.

  It's been a while since the boat sank, and they were no longer in their original place, drifting away with the current. The large ship they had been on was now thirty or forty feet away, sunk into the river, leaving only a few masts still above the water surface, with a lantern falling onto it, slowly sinking into the water.

  The sound of water came, and the autumn leaves brought a wooden table top smaller than one square meter to them, on which lay a small figure, who was Zhao Wei. Zhao exclaimed with great joy: "Brother!" Autumn leaves swam over and said: "Your brother drank too much water and fainted." Her face was pale, obviously frozen, and she was still panting when speaking.

  Pearl hastily helped move Zhao Wei onto the large wooden board, she carefully observed that Zhao Wei's weight did not cause the board to sink, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. She quickly pulled over the small wooden board, wanting to climb on it, but unfortunately, the board could not bear her weight either. She could only cling to its surface, using it as a flotation device.

  Zhao once again used her small body to expel the water that Zhao Wei had swallowed, and she also tried to check Little Brother's breathing, which seemed a bit weak. Looking around, she steeled herself and began performing CPR on him.

  At night, the light was dim, and Zhang's consciousness was still unclear. Autumn leaves were stuck to the edge of the wooden board, panting heavily. Pearl sister was busy fiddling with that small wooden board, but no one noticed what she was doing. When Zhao Wei's breathing returned to normal, Zhao immediately moved her body away, pretending to call out to her brother.

  The fallen leaves floated to the edge of the board and rested for a while, then turned back to continue searching. Zhao ? was afraid she couldn't hold on: "Are you okay?" She just smiled and swam away.

  It seemed to have quieted down around them, pitch black all around, except for the four of them - the grandmother, grandson, and two servants - Zhao didn't see anyone else. All he could hear was the sound of running water; it was unknown when the rain had stopped, the wind wasn't strong but it blew coldly through their wet clothes, chilling to the bone.

  A patch of light appeared on the shore not far away, Zhao ?'s spirit lifted: "Someone!" Pearl's sister looked over and was overjoyed: "It's Master Hou and the others! That's our family's boat!" Zhang's wife suddenly woke up with a start, struggling to prop herself up: "Don't go..." But Pearl's sister had already grabbed that small wooden board and paddled desperately towards it: "Save us! Save us!"

  The only response was a few long oars, which hit her in a flurry, leaving her dazed and confused, the wooden board in her hand gone at some point, and she disappeared into the river.

  Zhao wanted to cry out, but was tightly covered by her grandmother's hand over her mouth, and could only stare at the few boats and people on them from a distance, letting the wooden board under her drift downstream with the river water until she couldn't see that patch of light anymore. Zhang let go of her hand and lay down weakly on the board, Zhao cried looking at her, wanting to ask "why", but felt it was unnecessary.

  They didn't meet anyone else again.

  It was unknown how long they had drifted, when Zhao Wei began to develop a fever and started talking nonsense. His forehead was scorching hot. Zhang Shi tore off a corner of her wet clothes and applied it to his forehead, knowing this wasn't a long-term solution. She looked at Sun Nu again, who sat stupidly, staring blankly at the riverbank, unsure if she had been frightened silly.

  There are also sons and daughters-in-law, several loyal maidservants, who at present are either dead or alive.

  Zhang felt a sense of confusion and uncertainty, unsure of what to do or where to go.

  Her granddaughter suddenly sat up straight and startled her: "Sister, what's wrong?"

  Zhao suddenly shouted loudly towards the shore: "Save me! Save me!"

  Madam Zhang followed her gaze to the shore and only then discovered that not far away on the riverbank, a row of horse-drawn carriages was parked, with lanterns hanging from the carriage awnings casting warm and bright light.