“Went upstream to breach the embankment.” Ryan Sullivan tossed away his cigarette butt, grinning cheekily: “Once the upstream is opened, we’ll be safe here!”

So many people around all turned to look, but Ryan Sullivan didn’t care at all. He grabbed David Sullivan’s arm: “Let’s go.”

David Sullivan only knew that Seventh Uncle got drunk last night, otherwise he’d really suspect he went to breach someone else’s embankment for their own village.

Someone brought over several large coils of rope. After what happened last night, Brian Sullivan had people check them first.

David Sullivan stared at the water hyacinths and trash piling up on the bridge. The embankment was saved last night, and Sullivan Village’s fate had already changed, but the flood still raged on—no one could guarantee there wouldn’t be more problems.

If the water couldn’t flow smoothly, the water level here would rise.

The water level couldn’t get any higher.

Ryan Sullivan squatted on the small dam, eyeing the bridge, and said, “Third Uncle, there are too many water hyacinths. Clear one batch and another comes. We need to smash the guardrail!”

Someone holding a bamboo pole said, “Old Seven, the bridge was just rebuilt by the county last year. If we smash it, how are we going to explain?”

David Sullivan thought Seventh Uncle made sense and quickly said to Brian Sullivan, “Grandpa Third, sending people down all the time isn’t a solution. It’s fine during the day, but it’s dangerous at night.”

“Go get the sledgehammer!” Brian Sullivan said through gritted teeth, eyes red: “Smash it! If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility!”

Ryan Sullivan stepped up without hesitation: “I’ll go in!”

David Sullivan said, “I’ll go with Seventh Uncle, so we can look out for each other.”

Last night, Iron Uncle said something very true—no one in Sullivan Village could stand aside!

“Old Seven, you drank too much yesterday, are you sure you’re up for this?” someone asked with concern.

Ryan Sullivan bared his gapped teeth: “My wife, kids, dad, and mom are all in the village. Even if I can’t, I have to!”

He tied the rope around his waist, saw several people behind grabbing the rope, took the long-handled sledgehammer, and said to David Sullivan: “Dongzi, don’t chicken out, follow your Seventh Uncle!”

With that, he jumped straight into the water, shouting: “The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go fishing!”

David Sullivan tied the rope, nodded to the people holding it behind him, grabbed the sledgehammer, and jumped in too.

The bridge was built high, and both of them were tall and strong—the water didn’t reach their chests.

Near the embankment, most of the debris had already been cleared, so there was no need to clean up first.

Ryan Sullivan grabbed David Sullivan’s arm and shouted, “You smash the west side with the current, I’ll smash the east. You go first! Steady! If the current sweeps you away, don’t panic—hold your breath like I taught you when you were little, and they can pull you back up!”

“Don’t worry!” David Sullivan dragged the sledgehammer that had fallen into the water and walked west.

With the bridge and guardrail, the current on the bridge wasn’t strong enough to sweep people away.

Not worrying about Seventh Uncle on the other side, David Sullivan steadied himself, swung the sledgehammer, and slammed it hard against the stone guardrail.

The hammerhead fell into the water, so the force was reduced, but David Sullivan was very strong, and the sledgehammer still landed on the guardrail with a thud.

Crack—

A not-so-obvious breaking sound was heard.

David Sullivan wiped the water off his face and swung the sledgehammer again and again.

After a night of being battered by the current and a few more heavy blows, a large chunk of the guardrail broke off and fell away.

David Sullivan kept at it, smashing several more times. The connected stone guardrail collapsed for two or three meters, and a large pile of water hyacinths and other debris that had been blocked in front was immediately swept away.

“Move forward!” Ryan Sullivan reminded David Sullivan: “Don’t stop, clear the water hyacinths first!”

David Sullivan moved on, while Ryan Sullivan smashed down the west side guardrail against the current. The water on this section of the bridge suddenly sped up, almost sweeping him away.

Ryan Sullivan steadied himself with the sledgehammer and moved forward, shouting across the bridge: “Ma family, don’t you dare be cowards, hiding like turtles! Any men among you? If you’re real men, get down here now!”

David Sullivan was convinced by Seventh Uncle’s foul mouth—at a time like this, he was still taunting everyone?

A large amount of water hyacinths and trash was swept away by the current. David Sullivan kept pulling them up and tossing them out. In the middle, he even came across a piglet’s head, who knows how many days dead, all swollen, with leeches stuck to it and big fat maggots crawling in and out. The smell was indescribable.

David Sullivan cleared a section and was about to smash the guardrail again when people from Ma Family Village on the other side also got into the water, cursing over: “Old Seven, you vulture, when the water recedes, we’ll settle this!”

On the small dam, a few people climbed up. Leading them was a young man with glasses, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing tall black rubber boots, a white shirt tucked into his waist, and a shiny belt buckle.

“Third Uncle, Mayor Yang is here.” Chris Sullivan, who followed closely, reminded Brian Sullivan, who was watching the river.

“Hello, old secretary!” Mayor William Young stepped forward to shake hands: “Aid will arrive soon, but due to traffic conditions, they have to take a detour.”

William Young was quite considerate. He’d only been in office for a month and already encountered a once-in-fifty-years flood. He got a call early this morning and rushed over, but before he even saw the flood, he was already soaked by the water pooled under the highway bridge…

Grassroots work is tough—pitfalls everywhere!

Chapter 6 David Sullivan’s Door

The sun hung in the sky, burning their faces red. David Sullivan and Ryan Sullivan knocked down another section, and more than half of the bridge’s guardrail had fallen.

Ryan Sullivan shouted: “Dongzi, let’s go back! The rest belongs to the Ma family, it’s not our business!”

By territorial division, half the bridge belonged to Ma Family Village, and their people were already in the water.

“Let’s go!”

David Sullivan tossed aside the sledgehammer and joined up with Seventh Uncle. The two supported each other and walked back along the bridge together.