Ike took a cigarette out of his backpack and lit it. Negan saw him and immediately opened his eyes, saying, "You're too young to smoke. Stop it."

But Ike ignored him.

Negan made a few ellipses in his mind. Never mind, as if he had no authority over Ike. Besides, Ike last night... He must be under a lot of pressure.

With a deep sigh, Ike fidgeted. Well, if he hadn't been a loser, Ike wouldn't have been alone yesterday. This kid must be freaking out. Although he shows no signs of trouble on the surface, his heart must be burdened.

The more Negan thought about it, the more guilty he felt.

He would call a psychiatrist for Ike after this ordeal. He was worried that Ike was carrying this burden alone and might develop some psychological disorder.

Well, that thought made Negan feel better.

Then Negan looked back at the two children huddled under the roof. Tom's face was covered with scratches and bruises, while Ike's face looked burdened. Negan's heart tightened again.

Both children were affected.

When will this damn solar storm and this fucking rain stop?!

Negan grew resentful. Then he looked at the lonely people trapped on the roof and the shivering child in the arms of his parents. They had done nothing wrong. Why should they go through such torture?

Even if these people are rescued, they will be homeless, right? Where are they going to live?

How can they make up for the economic and spiritual losses they have suffered in this disaster?

The more Negan thought, the more trapped he felt in his heart. He also thought of many details that he had deliberately ignored before and didn't care about. He realized that he had been so ignorant and unaware.

Ike had told him several times not to open the door, but Negan had ignored it. He even thought Ike was overthinking. What a surprise!

Instead, something happened, and Ike, a half-grown boy, helped him handle it, helped him do what an adult should do.

Negan felt conflicted by morality and conscience. He once again woke up and suddenly took out two ropes from his backpack, firmly tying them together.

Negan rushed to the water's edge and called to Regus, who was on the verge of exhaustion. "Regus, tie the rope around them. I'll pull from this side!"

"Tie it tight, the rope is slippery!" Negan called Regus.

Regus, who was pushing his kayak in the water, smiled and said, "Got it!" Under the eaves, Ike had finished one cigarette and lit a second.

"Give me one, too," Tom suddenly said.

"No, children don't smoke," Negan responded. Tom: "..."

After saving everyone, it was the middle of the night.

The rescuers, including Regus, Tom, and Negan, collapsed to the ground.

Tom later came to help pull the rope, and Ike stayed where he was.

"Thank you. If it wasn't for you, the rescue wouldn't have been successful today," said the head of the rescue team.

They were nearby firefighters who had been fighting floods and rescuing people from waterlogging since the power outage. They were just one team, going wherever there was a need.

Today, they had just finished responding to a gas explosion when they found that the place was flooded, and the people on the roof had been trapped for more than 24 hours. They dragged their tired bodies and had no time to rest before resuming the intense rescue work.

"What can we do? Our family is gone, where will we live?" Suddenly, someone shouted.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

A couple of firefighters were talking to Regus over here, some of the people who were rescued over there were still there. Some of them had relatives who may have left, and the rest had nowhere else to go.

The firefighter said, "Just find a place where you can take shelter from the rain. When the rain stops and the flood recedes, come back again!"

Those people may have been emotionally unstable and frightened. They responded resentfully, "This rain has been going on for more than 20 days. When will it stop? At this rate, the whole city will be submerged!"

The firefighter said, "How should I know? I'm not from the weather service."

Seems like he was a veteran. Saving people was his job, but comforting those affected on a spiritual level was not his responsibility!

During these flood relief days, he encountered many people. He had no mood or time to talk to those who were full of grievances.

Thank him if he accepts, blame him if he wants to. That's how it goes.

"What's with your attitude? Is that how firefighters behave?" The man wearing glasses looked angry. "Dude, I'm just a fireman. That's just the way I talk. If you don't like it, why don't you go back up on the roof? Or should I give you a lift in my kayak?" the fireman retorted.

The man fell silent, making a cold snort, his face gloomy.

The fireman let out a cold hum and continued to rest under the eaves. He had long exhausted his strength, and his body was too weak to stand up. He was angry at having saved an idiot who was simply ungrateful and stupid.

The people who were rescued gradually dispersed. They weren't just relieved to be out of danger; they all knew what was happening outside. There was nothing else to gain by staying with the firefighters, so they all left.

"... Ike?" a girl's voice suddenly called out tentatively.

Who here knew Ike? Tom looked over in surprise. "Shana?"

Tom and Ike went to junior high together!... It couldn't be just a coincidence! Tom looked at Ike. Ike took a slow look at the sodden girl and her mother, cigarette smoldering in his mouth.

Ike ignored her.

"Tom? It's you..." Shana exclaimed with happiness, perhaps because she had experienced the accident and suddenly saw a classmate she knew.

"Do you know each other?" Shana's mother croaked. "Well, we went to

junior high together. We used to be in the same class," Shana replied. Tom frowned at Ike, but Ike ignored him.

What about junior high? Ike didn't want any trouble.

Mother and daughter continued standing there. Meeting someone they knew was just a small episode. The mother tried to hold back the sadness in her heart before finally opening her mouth. "The fireman, I don't know if you've seen a man wearing a blue coat, about 45 years old. He's Shana's father.

Yesterday... he was swept away trying to save us..."

Her voice was hoarse with grief, and tears interrupted her sentences. It took all her strength to utter a complete sentence.

The fireman raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Thank you," The woman seemed to know that this was the end, and she only confirmed it with the fireman once.

If the father of the child is still alive, how can he leave them alone and let the child spend the whole day in the rain?

When the mother and daughter heard the terrible news, they could no longer control their tears and cried.

Life is impermanent, disasters do not choose people, and they can fall on anyone. Those who are aware must face it or accept it honestly; if some are ignorant, they must be taught a lesson. Therefore, to be a person of the times, those who do not understand the times often die quickly.

Their cries are very contagious, so those who hear them also feel the pain, and the firefighters' brows furrowed even deeper with the cries.

Tom started to weep, and even Negan cried.

After all, people you know can have a greater impact than strangers you do not know at all. "Do you have somewhere to go?" Tom asked.

Both the mother and daughter shook their heads. "Can you take them home with you?"

Tom sighed. There was nowhere to go, and he couldn't help them. So why ask? It only makes people sad. For the first time, Tom felt like he talked too much.

"Let's go." Ike suddenly stood up. They had been outside for too long, and their family would be worried.

Tom hesitated. Should he leave the mother and daughter like this? Ike looked at him. "What, do you want to send Buddha to the West?"

Tom reluctantly lowered his eyes and glanced at his hopeful mother and daughter. Did he want to leave them homeless like this?

Negan pulled Tom away. "There's nothing we can do. Let's go."

Although they had enough surplus food, they couldn't share it with two strangers, especially homeless ones.

Tom understood this, but his conscience troubled him.

Ike walked ahead, Negan pulled Tom behind, and Regus sighed sadly, knowing he couldn't help. After all, the rations in the family could only feed two people.

The four of them left.

"Ike..." Shana watched Ike walk away from a distance. Ike didn't look back.

The firefighters couldn't take it anymore. "Shit!" he cursed himself, then looked at the rest of the firefighters. "Do any of you have money?"

"Can I trade with you?" the fireman asked.

With a bitter face, the man pulled out a small wrapped bundle from his underwear pocket, opened it layer by layer, and took out 30 yuan from the innermost layer. He had no more than fifty dollars in his pocket.

The fireman took the money and squeezed it in his hand. The rest of the people stood up after him. The group walked over, and the fireman quickly stuffed the money into Shana's mother's hand, giving her little chance to refuse, and quickly left.

"Enough for a meal," the firefighter said, leaving behind this sentence, an act of kindness.

...

The night was quiet, like a gaping mouth of darkness that swallowed people, merging with it.

Ike walked through a scattered pile of houses, and the heavy rain on him seemed unable to shake his emaciated frame. Tom, relieved to see him walk so calmly, hurried forward anyway.

Tom glanced sideways at Ike's expression, which seemed intentionally imitative. There was something he had admired so much as a boy-the mature, weather-beaten, instantly masculine look.