Guesses turned into reality, and what David Sullivan had once witnessed and heard gradually formed a picture in his mind: the surging river water roared and tumbled, soaked concrete blocks fell off in chunks, constantly splashing water, accompanied by a loud crashing sound as the riverbank collapsed, creating a huge breach, and muddy waves surged out.

The flood peak rushed downstream, pouring through the breach into the village behind, sweeping across vast stretches of farmland and orchards.

His home, his uncle’s home, the apple orchard his family leased, and almost every home in Sullivan Village—most were toppled and destroyed by the flood!

This village that gave him life and raised him was facing the greatest disaster since the founding of the country!

The daze in David Sullivan’s heart quickly faded as he made a final confirmation: “Uncle Carter, what’s the date today? Gregorian calendar!”

In the countryside, many people’s first instinct is to use the lunar calendar.

Uncle Carter seemed surprised, shining his flashlight on David Sullivan: “The 10th, Gregorian calendar!”

“Nineteen ninety-eight?” David Sullivan asked.

Uncle Carter found it odd: “Could it be ninety-nine? You just got back from the college entrance exam yesterday! Already forgot? I haven’t even asked you how you did. Well, with your grades, forget I asked.”

David Sullivan didn’t care about the last part. He’d gotten into high school by buying his way in, muddled through three years, and his grades weren’t worth mentioning.

His mind was entirely elsewhere. The college entrance exam ended yesterday? Today is... July 10, 1998!

David Sullivan understood—he really had returned to 1998!

But there was no time to think.

That section of the riverbank—the one that would collapse—was going to give way at 3:30 a.m. tonight!

The turning point for Sullivan Village’s fate!

David Sullivan didn’t have time to say more. He rushed forward, grabbed Uncle Carter’s gong, and sprinted north.

Uncle Carter was caught off guard and shouted after David Sullivan: “You’re eighteen and still acting reckless? Leave the gong!”

The person was running so fast, there was nothing he could do. He shouted again: “Dongzi, slow down! Don’t fall in the river. With this flood, your swimming skills won’t help!”

David Sullivan didn’t look back. There was no time to explain, no time to think about anything else. The flashlight illuminated the riverbank as he ran north, feet pounding the uneven, hardened concrete.

Uncle Carter shook his head in disappointment: “Jianjun is a hero, so how did he end up with such a troublemaker for a son? He’s only got strength, nothing else is reliable. Sooner or later, he’ll turn into a real rascal…”

The riverbank wasn’t straight, and it was nighttime. David Sullivan was anxious, and even though he ignored the other guards he passed, he couldn’t run very fast.

Flashlight in his right hand, left hand pushing aside the sour jujube branches sticking out from the riverbank, David Sullivan simply hung the gong by its shoelace around his neck.

The gong on his left was bigger than the ones usually used by sesame oil vendors.

The cloth shoe on his right foot was caked with hard, black mud, and the stench rising from it showed that this was a worn-out shoe Uncle Carter had used at the chicken farm.

The cloth shoe pulled on the gong hanging from the other side of his neck, and the dried layer of chicken manure was thick and heavy.

David Sullivan didn’t care about the smell. He glanced at the muddy river water not far from the top of the bank, just hoping he’d make it in time!

No one wants to be left homeless!

From 1998 to 2019, over 21 years, he had drifted, struggled, cried, and fought. Though he hadn’t been very successful, even ending up as a “leftover king,” he had come to understand his hometown and responsibility.

The lumpy concrete underfoot, the painful sour jujube branches on the riverbank—everything told David Sullivan that this was no dream!

More and more memories surfaced for David Sullivan. In the northern part of Qingzhao County, it hadn’t rained since the college entrance exam, but in the southern mountains, torrential rains had fallen for days. Several large reservoirs couldn’t withstand the pressure and released floodwaters downstream, causing a full-scale emergency in the middle and lower reaches.

Lacking flood control experience and seriously underestimating the water’s force, only about a dozen people from Sullivan Village were scattered along the riverbank on duty tonight, and they had once paid a heavy price.

Running along the riverbank to the last sharp bend, David Sullivan saw Emily Thompson.

This delicate-looking young man was born frail. He grew tall but remained very thin, sitting at the tip of the triangular dam near the river at the bend, and asked in surprise, “Dongzi, what are you doing here?”

David Sullivan didn’t answer, passing the triangular dam and continuing north, his flashlight sweeping over the river below, searching for anything unusual.

Emily Thompson was puzzled. His usually unreliable childhood friend—what was he up to?

Before he could figure it out, David Sullivan had already gone nearly twenty meters ahead, and Emily Thompson hurried to catch up.

Splash—

It sounded like something fell into the water? David Sullivan quickly stopped to check. Aside from the muddy river, there were just some water hyacinths mixed with all sorts of trash.

“Dongzi, I think I heard something?” Emily Thompson was also looking carefully.

The sound wasn’t loud; from a distance, you couldn’t hear it at all.

Again, a faint sound came from below. Right where Emily Thompson’s flashlight shone, a soaked chunk of concrete broke off and fell into the water.

“Is it going to be okay?” Emily Thompson took two steps back. “This bend in the bank is the thickest, plus there’s the triangular dam…”

Combining some memories, David Sullivan’s face turned grim.

He remembered hearing water conservancy experts analyze why this section of the riverbank collapsed.

Normally, this bend in the riverbank was the thickest, and the tip of the triangular dam split the current, so there shouldn’t have been a problem.

But according to the experts, the triangular dam split the current, reducing the direct impact of the water and creating a buffer zone on the north side of the dam. However, at the north edge of the buffer zone, changes in the current created underwater whirlpools, making the water outside the calm area flow faster and more chaotically, which posed a deadly threat to the old riverbank.