At this moment, he finally noticed a needle-like pain in his legs and arms!

"What's wrong?" Ryan Sullivan asked.

David Sullivan grinned, "There are nothing but leeches on the water hyacinth, maybe some stuck to me."

Most of the leeches in the Qingzhao River are broad-bodied golden-striped leeches, and once they latch on, they don't come off easily.

The pain was brief and soon faded, but that meant the leeches had started sucking blood.

For people who grew up by the river, this was nothing. Ryan Sullivan laughed heartily, "Leeches can cure your twitching eye."

David Sullivan's right eye really did stop twitching. "Now that disaster's struck, it stopped."

"Superstitious nonsense!" Ryan Sullivan hadn't forgotten.

On the small dam, Brian Sullivan glanced at the newly arrived town mayor and shouted to the two in the water, "Be careful, come back quickly!"

The two stopped talking, hurried to the bridgehead, with people pulling from above and climbing from below, and safely made it onto the small dam.

William Young sized up the two who had climbed up. The one in front had a somewhat youthful face, probably eighteen or nineteen, wearing a Qingzhao No.1 High School uniform.

His sun-darkened face carried a hint of honest simplicity.

He was probably an excellent student in both conduct and academics.

He gave a look, and the publicity officer behind him picked up the camera again.

David Sullivan untied the rope at his waist, took off his school uniform, tossed it to someone nearby, and shouted, "Who has a lighter?"

There was no alcohol or soap handy, and you couldn't just slap them off with a shoe sole—that would be too undignified.

William Young was nearby and could see a bug stuck to David Sullivan's arm, its swollen body as big as a fingertip.

The sight was a bit shocking.

"Mine got soaked!" Ryan Sullivan tried, but couldn't get a flame.

William Young rummaged through his pockets, pulled out a plastic lighter, and handed it to David Sullivan, "Use mine?"

Hearing Mandarin with a slight Quan NS district accent, David Sullivan glanced at William Young, didn't recognize him, looked refined, and even at this moment still had his shirt tucked in—he didn't look like a country person...

"Thanks." David Sullivan lit the lighter and went to burn the leech on his arm.

Hiss—

He bared his teeth in pain!

The leech dropped to the ground with a plop.

David Sullivan went to burn another one.

There's a trick to it; it's not as scary as it looks.

For people who often swim in the river, getting leeches and pulling them off is common. David Sullivan was quite skilled at it.

People from Lujia Village were used to it and didn't care.

William Young, who came from the city, kept a calm face but was actually a bit shocked. The sturdy, honest-faced young man casually burned his own skin, and after a while, a leech the size of a fingertip would fall off.

He'd seen it on TV and in books before, but seeing it in real life was a whole different thing.

"Take a picture!" William Young instructed the publicity officer behind him.

Earlier, he'd had a conversation with the old village secretary and others, and learned about last night's danger. The optimism and positivity of these people was unexpected.

If they hadn't actively saved themselves, they wouldn't have made it this far—maybe the dam would have collapsed last night.

William Young felt much more at ease, and the performance of Lujia Village lifted his spirits. Even a once-in-fifty-years flood had to be overcome!

When they were smashing the guardrail earlier, he had already told the publicity officer to start taking photos.

Including the young man in front—once the flood was overcome, these would all be excellent publicity material.

William Young had just come down from the government office, and although the work had just begun, he was sharp.

Click—

The camera shutter sounded.

David Sullivan looked up, saw someone taking pictures, and quickly covered his chest, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Taking candid photos in broad daylight!"

If this turned into a "David Sullivan scandal," how could he show his face in the future?

He still wanted to be an honest, simple guy for life.

A big brother from the Li family quickly grabbed David Sullivan's arm, afraid he'd act up again, and nodded toward William Young and the two behind him, "That's Mayor Young and the town officials."

William Young nodded slightly at David Sullivan and said in a refined tone, "Charging ahead, very much aware of the bigger picture!"

Brian Sullivan, experienced and shrewd, added fuel to the fire, "His name is David Sullivan. He discovered the danger last night and was the one who went into the water to confirm it—a hero of Lujia Village."

William Young became even more interested.

David Sullivan was no longer a clueless, naive teenager. Guessing this was for some model propaganda, he changed his attitude in a flash, "Want me to pose? No problem, pick any pose you like."

The publicity officer said, "Just keep doing what you're doing."

David Sullivan lit the lighter again to burn another leech on his arm. The flame wasn't hot anymore, it didn't hurt, and he didn't even bare his teeth.

His expression was resolute, his gaze distant...

Ryan Sullivan couldn't hold it in, "Dongzi, take your pants off for the photo, it'll look even better! You won't have any trouble finding a wife!"

Laughter erupted all around, and David Sullivan's tense face immediately collapsed.

William Young was infected by the mood, his own tension easing a bit. The villagers' optimism and high morale meant at least there was no need to worry about panic causing serious incidents.

The county and town rescue teams arrived soon after, mainly bringing supplies. The Qingzhao River runs for over a hundred li in Qingzhao County, and the Ningxiu Town section is several dozen li long. Water levels were critical everywhere, and even though most county and town staff were on the front lines, only a few could be sent to Lujia Village.

Several villages upstream and midstream were in no better shape than Lujia Village.

The water level wasn't receding, and the danger wasn't lessening.