第38章 核！合！和！(24)

40.The central primary school of Huangjiawan was almost 40 years old.Since its establishment，Cai was in the habit of going to the school every Monday to clean the school yard and see if the school should need any help.On that day，he made efforts to catch up with the small children who ran like wind.When he made to the school eventually，he found they had been working sweating in the classroom.He took a groom from the mail room and began cleaning the school yard.As he was working，he watched the children and found them well-organized.Huzi and Qiangqiang were carrying water and sprinkling the floor，Xiwa and Huang Hao cleaning the floor while the girl wiping the desks and chairs.In a few minutes they finished cleaning one room.Xiwa，who was the monitor，closed the windows and locked the door before assigning the rest work among them.Duties were changed this time： Huang Hao and he were to carry water and sprinkle the floor and Huzi and Qiangqiang to clean the floor.Cai was very happy to see his grandson was such a competent and just monitor.He would live up to the expectations of the family，he thought.Meanwhile，he almost finished cleaning the school campus.There wasn't too much garbage，so he only had to carry it away in one cart.Now he sat down on the edge of the garden from where he could watch them working in the classroom.He took a look at his watch： 14：25.He lit a cigarette and saw the kids busily sprinkling，cleaning and wiping.Suddenly，he felt a shake beneath and the electricity poles could be seen falling down in all directions.Cai shouted，"Earthquake！Run！Run out，kids！" A whistle rang loudly through the air and Cai rushed toward the classroom like mad.After stumbling several times，Cai realized this earthquake was unprecedented in its level.The classroom was only several yards away，but he could not get there anyway.It must be a big earthquake and something bad would happen？He was wondering when he found the classroom was distorted in the violent shake.The roof of the building was collapsing in the eastern and western ends.The door were thrown apart and stuck in the broken frames，with too small a crevice for one person to get through.Cai was heartbroken at hearing the children crying hopelessly inside the room.He made all efforts to rush forward.When he eventually came to the door，he cried out，"Be careful.I am kicking the door open." Then he crushed the door plank at one kick and rushed into the room.With hands and legs，he cleared the desks and stools in his way to the crying children.He moved away a beam that fell upon the desks and found Xiwa and the little girl crouching in a corner.He yelled to them，"Don't be afraid.Grandpa is coming to save you." In the meantime，he quickly cleared the desks and stools upon the two children and dragged them out."Bring the girl out of here and run！" Cai shouted to Xiwa.Before he finished，the two children slipped from under his arms and went out of the building in safety.From the classroom came the thundering voice of Cai，"Huzi！Qiangqiang！Huang Hao！" In the ongoing tremors，tiles，dirt and wood rained onto the floor.Cai searched in the ruins for the children，crying their names all along.Much to his relief，he finally found them crouching and trembling under the blackboard which reclined on the floor.He congratulated himself for the blackboard，which was solid enough to protect the kids from being hurt."Get up，get up！" he said to them，"Get up and run out！" But the kids stayed still，either because of fear or numbness.As the quake became more and more violent，the room shook squeaking as if being taken apart.Cai knew well it was an indication that the room was collapsing very soon.If that happened，they would die for sure.He heaved the blackboard upon his shoulder with an "Ahhh！"，and then snatched the two children by the collar in his hands.Then he found he had no spare hand for the third child，who was lying on the floor.He wished he had anther hand so that he could take him away together with the other two.After the earthquake，somebody made fun of him by saying he had a third hand（He was a pickpocket）.He would reply，"It's you who have a third hand.You know，an old man is always wise and resourceful.I could manage it well without any extra hand." Yes，Cai was resourceful facing the earthquake.That day，he help up Huang Hao and took him in his mouth by the collar，like a father cat did his baby when they were moving to a new home.He found Huang Hao so heavy and couldn't help complaining about his grandfather Huang Manfu，"Evil old guy，Evil old guy，fattening your grandson so that you can make me suffer like this." As soon as he got Huang Hao with him，he extended his arms and grasped the other kids firmly in there.Yelling out a long-drawn "Aaa...hhh"，he charged out of the room as quickly as he could，two children in his arms and the other one in his mouth.No sooner did he make to the school yard than the building collapsed in the screams of Xiwa and the small girl.