In August, a sudden torrential downpour fell like the overturned waters of the heavenly river, and the Anning River roared like a dragon in the night.
Zha Zhonggao, leading the patrol to inspect the dikes, stepped barefoot into the mud. His straw raincoat was beaten into a sieve by the raindrops, and the chilling water wormed its way down his spine into his waistband. He held a torch close to the dike, its flame shrinking to a dim, yellowish bean in the curtain of rain, illuminating cobweb-like cracks across the tamped earth of the embankment.
"A few of you brothers come over, fill these cracks, and pack the earth solid!" Zha Zhonggao shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the rainy night.
Chapter 84