Chapter 57 Section 5

The old shopping mall project cooperated by Fenghua and Haotian is located in the bustling urban area, surrounded by high-rise buildings and many shops. The implementation of directional blasting has very high requirements for environmental protection and safety.Fenghua invited a number of engineering academicians and well-known experts to conduct several on-site surveys, designs, demonstrations and experiments, and the design and determination of the plan, the selected blasting company also enjoys a high reputation in the industry. In order not to affect traffic and to ensure safety, after consultation with the traffic control department, the time for directional blasting was set at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.Shao Yimin came to the scene after having dinner at the company in the evening. She was in charge of on-site coordination and media reception, and her mobile phone rang almost all the time.She could only ask a clerk in the office to lead the reporters to the centralized area and distribute the draft.

The engineering and technical personnel of the blasting company are checking various details, and hundreds of police, medical, firefighting and urban management personnel have entered the site one after another.At ten o'clock, the field was cleared and the cordon was pulled out.Outside the cordon, thousands of onlookers gathered successively.To ensure safety, the police blocked a pedestrian bridge outside the cordon and arranged it for use by relevant government departments, Fenghua and the commanders of the blasting company. Shao Yimin also arranged for reporters there. Xu Huaying also came over, and Shao Yimin arranged for Luo Yin's colleague Wang Can to conduct a brief on-site interview, which was fulfilling what he promised Luo Yin.

A TV reporter looked at the crowd of people below, set up a camera to look for an angle, and murmured, "There are so many people watching the excitement." Another reporter next to him smiled and said, "In peaceful times, it is easy to watch fireworks, but it is not easy to watch an explosion. It is understandable. I just interviewed the former employees of the mall below. I came here from a long way away, and I wanted to see him. The place where he worked for decades was demolished in front of his eyes. His memory is full of the glory of the mall, which is a strong contrast.”

The scene was almost in order, Shao Yimin heaved a sigh of relief, and saw Su Zhe also walked onto the overpass.Wearing a white striped shirt and dark trousers, he greeted Xu Huaying first. Xu Huaying smiled and said, "Xiao Su, didn't you go on a business trip to Hong Kong? You still don't mind and come over to have a look." Su Zhe said with a smile: "Where, there is Mr. Xu sitting in the town, I just came to see the excitement." Su Zhe walked to Shao Yimin's side, and the two leaned on the railing to look down. The traffic police were speeding up to direct the traffic to pass, and were about to stop the traffic on this road in a few minutes. Two hundred meters ahead, there was an old shopping mall waiting to be demolished.

"When I was young, my mother often took me to visit this shopping mall. At that time, I thought it was really big, like a maze. I called her just now and said that this place will be demolished soon, and she was also a little emotional." Su Zhe watched The eight-story building, which had been holed and filled with explosives, wrapped with bamboo fences to prevent debris from splashing around and water bags for dust suppression, looked devastated. "Every time I go back to this city, I feel a little confused. It's not that big of a change, but it's always different from my childhood memory."

Shao Yimin smiled. She had very little memory about her childhood, and she never wanted to think about it: "Your memory is very stubborn." "Yes, I used to think that I was the least stubborn person. It's ridiculous. I'm done with this work. You should have a good rest. You don't look well recently. May I take you to a nursing home for a few days, please?" She hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "I'm sorry, I have plans for May Day, and I'm going to Beijing." Su Zhe turned his head suddenly, and the eyes of the two met under the street lights. Shao Yimin suddenly felt that he couldn't face his complicated eyes, so he lowered his eyes first.

"To meet the man who proposed to you?" She nodded. "So, you've already made up your mind?" Su Zhe's hand resting on the bridge suddenly clenched the railing, his knuckles turned white. "I'm not the girl you liked before, Su Zhe. I, like this city, are constantly changing. Don't bother yourself by comparing your memory with reality." She looked into the distance, tired say. "I came today because I was going to see this shopping mall in my memory disappear before my eyes, but this does not prevent me from retaining my memories." She was speechless.At this time, it was already 10:25, the traffic on the main road under the overpass was interrupted, and vehicles were waiting on the roads at both ends for blasting.In an instant, the quiet scene could only hear the conversations of the engineering personnel and the warning sounds of the policemen using their loudspeakers to the onlookers.

Looking at the suddenly empty avenue below, they all fell silent in unison. Not far away, the blasting commander and engineers and technicians are counting down to the detonation through the walkie-talkie.At this time, Shao Yimin's cell phone rang. She picked it up and saw that it was the number of her father's family. She couldn't help being surprised that the family rarely called so late.She quickly walked away to answer: "Dad, I have something to do right now, can I call you later?" "Xiao Min, listen to me. I just received a call from your uncle. Your grandpa... passed away." Her father said hoarsely.

Shao Yimin's eyes widened in disbelief: "What did you say?" "Half an hour ago, she died suddenly of a heart attack, Xiao Min," her father choked up, "We have to go to Canada as soon as possible." There were two muffled sounds in succession, and the pedestrian bridge under her feet trembled slightly. The eight-story old shopping mall on the opposite side collapsed slowly in front of her eyes, and turned into ruins in a few seconds, followed by a thick white cloud rising from the ruins. There was smoke and dust, and cheers of surprise sounded around. Shao Yimin watched the smoke rise and spread, and found that the whole world suddenly became silent around his ears.She took off the mobile phone that was attached to her ear, and the screen showed that the call was still going on, but she put it back to her ear, but she couldn't hear any sound; she looked around, everyone was excitedly pointing at the smoke that was still rising on the opposite side and talking , but she could only see mouths that kept opening and closing.

Su Zhe was watching the blasting site like everyone else, and several fire trucks had already driven over and started spraying water to suppress the smoke and dust.Not far away, the person in charge of the blasting company was excitedly announcing to reporters: "The direction of the collapse of the building is basically the same as planned. This directional blasting was very successful." He looked at the ruins under the dim light with complicated emotions.Looking back, Shao Yimin was holding the phone, pale under the light, biting his lips tightly, his eyes seemed to be fixed in a certain direction.He was taken aback, and put his arms around her shoulders: "What's wrong, Yi Min?"

At this time, the surrounding noises gradually came back to her ears, and before she had time to rejoice that she had escaped the terrible silence, she hurriedly switched the phone to the other ear, but there was a buzzing in her ears, and she couldn't hear clearly at all.Su Zhe turned her face and said anxiously to her, "What happened? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" She only felt the ringing in her ears frantically, and saw his lips moving, and the broken words came in slightly and disorderly, but she couldn't organize them into meaningful sentences.She tried to concentrate and take a deep breath, so that she could stand still, and said slowly: "Please listen to this call for me, Su Zhe, it's very important, I can't seem to hear clearly." Her voice sounded weird and sharp, Totally different from usual. Su Zhe hugged her with one arm, took the mobile phone in her hand, and put it to his ear, a anxious voice came from inside: "Xiao Min, Xiao Min, what's wrong with you, talk!" "Hi, I'm Shao Yimin's friend. She doesn't look very well now. Who are you, and what did you tell her just now?" "I'm her father, is she okay? I just told her that I received a call from Canada that her grandpa passed away, and I have to go to the funeral with her." Her father's voice was completely hoarse, "What's wrong with Xiao Min now ?” "She may have been shaken. She should be fine. I will take her to the hospital right now and call you back later." When Su Zhe put down the phone, Shao Yimin could only see the sympathy on his face.She knew that her little luck was completely in vain, her eyes darkened for a while, she couldn't hold on any longer, and fell limp in his arms. Over there, Xu Huaying also noticed something strange, walked over and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Shao, what's wrong?" Su Zhe hugged her: "Mr. Xu, a relative of her has passed away. I will take her out of here first." Under the amazed eyes of everyone, he picked her up and hurried off the overpass, ran to the car parked not far away, opened the door and put her on the passenger seat, fastened her seat belt, and then quickly got in the car and started the car to drive towards her. Go to the hospital.At the same time, he called the vice president of the hospital he knew with his mobile phone, briefly explained the situation to him, and asked him to contact an expert. Shao Yimin slowly came to his senses, dazed for a moment, and immediately reached into his bag to touch his cell phone.Su Zhe quickly handed it to her: "Don't move, the hospital will be here soon." She looked at him in confusion, only to feel that his voice was small and indistinct, and Su Zhe had to repeat it loudly. "No need to go to the hospital, please take me home." She said hoarsely.Calling back the phone at home, as soon as it rang, Shao Zhengsen answered: "Xiao Min, are you okay?" "I can't hear you clearly, please speak a little louder," she listened intently, enduring the tingling ringing in her ears, "Yes, I'm fine, Dad, when are you leaving?" "I'm waiting for the death certificate from Canada, so I can book a plane ticket. I have visited relatives there, and I have a passport, so I can just take the proof and apply for a visa. You don't seem to have a passport yet, Xiao Min. ?” "I'm going to apply for a passport early tomorrow morning. Please ask them to send me a copy of the supporting materials. The fax number is..." She supported her head and couldn't help moaning, only to feel dizzy and blank in her brain. Can't remember the office fax number I use every day. Su Zhe had already driven the car into the hospital and stopped. He took his mobile phone and reported his office fax number to Shao Zhengsen: "Mr. Shao, please just send this number. I will accompany Yi Min to urgently apply for a passport tomorrow." .After you book the air ticket to Beijing, please give me a call and tell me the flight number, and I will arrange someone to pick you up at the airport. My condolences, I will take good care of Yi Min and keep in touch with you." He handed her the phone and unbuckled her seat belt: "Get out of the car, and I'll take you to check it." She still supported her head: "Send me back, I'm fine, I have to check the procedures for applying for a passport." Su Zhe got out of the car, walked around and opened the car door, and forcibly hugged her down: "Do you know that your hearing is very problematic? Just now your father's voice on the phone was so loud that I could hear it. Now go check it with me, In any case, getting a passport is a matter of tomorrow, otherwise how would you go to Canada like this." Without waiting for her to say anything else, he hurried into the hospital registration hall with her in his arms.Dean Liu was already waiting there, and immediately took him to the ENT department on the third floor. He was checked by the doctor on duty first, and said that an ear specialist had been notified and should be there in a while. Su Zhe introduced what he knew to the doctor: "At the site of the directional blasting, but at the same time, she received a phone call that shocked her, she suddenly couldn't hear the sound clearly and passed out." The doctor checked her with an otoscope: "The tympanic membrane should be fine, and the external auditory canal is not congested. Please come in with me for a hearing test." Professor Hu, an ear expert, rushed over. He looked at the medical record written by the doctor on duty, and said with a smile, "The condition is written too simply. The patient seems to be emotionally unstable, so she doesn't say anything. Do you know her past medical history?" Su Zhe was a little hesitant, but suddenly remembered that Yi Min had suffered from nervous tinnitus in the past, which was quite disturbing at that time, so he hurriedly told Professor Hu. "According to the distance from the scene you mentioned, the pressure wave generated by the directional blast that has undergone noise reduction treatment will not cause damage to the middle ear, inner ear and hearing loss. I saw the otoscopy performed by the doctor on duty just now, and the eardrum is intact, etc. Let’s take a look at the results of the hearing test. If the patient has nervous tinnitus before, work fatigue or emotional agitation, coupled with the external induction of vibration, there may be a stress response.” After a while, Shao Yimin came in with the doctor on duty.Professor Hu looked through the examination results brought by the doctor on duty and told Su Zhe: "There is a slight decrease in hearing, which can basically rule out explosive deafness. But tinnitus and vertigo cannot be ignored. I will prescribe some medicine now, infusion at night, and stay in the hospital for observation. Take a moment. Tomorrow, we must have a blood test during the day and a vestibular function test to rule out the possibility of sudden deafness." "Professor Hu, can she take a plane in this situation?" "It is still necessary to do a thorough examination first. If there is already a sign of sudden deafness, the sudden change in air pressure in the middle ear and intracranial pressure may cause irreversible hearing loss. There is no need to take that risk. And even if nothing happens, It is also best not to fly in the short term, otherwise the symptoms of tinnitus will not improve." Su Zhe looked at Shao Yimin, she remained silent, staring blankly at the opposite wall, wondering if she had listened to these words.He thanked Dean Liu, Professor Hu and the doctor on duty, then helped her up, and followed the nurse to a single room on the tenth floor.He took off her shoes, arranged for her to lie down, and seeing how she showed no resistance, he couldn't help worrying.Fortunately, the nurse quickly dispensed the medicine and came over to give Yi Min an intravenous infusion. He took advantage of this time to go down and pay the fee. When he came up, there was only Yi Min left in the ward.She lay quietly, with one arm resting on the side of the bed for infusion, and the other arm raised to cover her eyes, motionless. Su Zhe almost thought that she was asleep, but immediately found that most of her face was blocked by her arms, and the outline of her jaw was clearly defined by clenched teeth.He sat on the edge of the bed and gently moved her arm away. Her eyes were closed tightly, her expression distorted in pain.Su Zhe held her hand and was about to speak when she spoke first: "My name was given by my grandfather, I guess he originally hoped to have a grandson who would make a big splash, but with a granddaughter like me who doesn't like to talk, he said he was also happy. "Before I went to university, I only traveled far away once. When I was eleven years old, my grandparents took me back to their hometown. It was a small county in Zhejiang, and it was my first time to travel by train. "Actually, my grandfather doesn't have any close relatives in my hometown. I know they want to take me to relax and make me forget the unhappiness of my parents' divorce. "I am happy to be able to live with my grandparents, but I never told them. "I'm too selfish, thinking that there is still a lot of time in the future, thinking that everything is within my arrangement, I put them all behind my work. "I originally planned to visit them in the second half of the year, but I forgot that the time may be sufficient for me, but it is different for them. "I'll never see Grandpa again..." She has been speaking in a calm voice without ups and downs, and her eyes have never been opened.This was almost the first time that Su Zhe heard her talk so endlessly. He silently squeezed her cold hand and pressed it to his lips, hoping to convey a little warmth to her, and hope she could vent it. Finally, tears flowed silently from the corners of her closed eyes.