Chapter Ninety: A Car Accident Rescue [Supplemental Update]

It took thirty-four intersections and fifty-three traffic lights, large and small, from the western city campus of South River University to the sales office of Grand River Metropolis.

At normal speed, the journey should have taken a little over an hour and a half.

But what left Ren Qian speechless was that the car had somehow been driven like an elderly person’s ride, and not even a lively one at that, but the slowest of the slow. Two hours had already passed, and the destination still seemed impossibly far away.

Watching the private cars streaking past on every side, Ren Qian felt utterly drained.

If only he had called a private driver sooner.

“Stop, stop! Something seems to have happened!”

At his words, the gentle young woman carefully pulled over to the roadside and peered ahead with curiosity. There, ten or twenty drivers had also stopped their cars, rolled down their windows, and were craning their necks to look.

Clearly, none of them knew what had happened.

But the road ahead was completely jammed, and many people were already grumbling.

What bad luck. Who knew how long this would delay them? And then they would have to endure the cold looks of clients again, and go home to the accusation that they had neglected their work.

...

Sensing something was wrong, Ren Qian quickly unfastened his seat belt.

He got out of the car and broke into a run between the gaps in the traffic, heading forward.

“What the hell is going on up there? I’ve got a business meeting to catch!”

“Where are the traffic police? It’s already this jammed and they still haven’t shown up? I should call and complain.”

The passing drivers were nearly all complaining, yet none of them got out of their cars. Many had vaguely guessed that there had probably been an accident up ahead, but when it did not concern them, who wanted to invite trouble? Better to stand by and watch.

Ren Qian stopped in his tracks.

Before him was a heavy truck that had collided with another heavy truck. Both had overturned onto the roadside, their fronts crushed in horribly, smoke still billowing from them.

Several small cars nearby had also been caught up in the crash and flung far aside.

“Help them! What are you all just standing there for?”

Seeing the car owners around him do nothing but remain where they were, at most rolling down a window to look or call the police, Ren Qian could not hold back his shout.

Calling the police was already a noble enough act, but while waiting for the ambulance and traffic officers, why not buy the victims a little time? Was that not the right thing to do?

“Get down here and lend a hand. One pair of hands from you can let the victims run one step farther in their race against death. Saving one life is better than building seven levels of a pagoda.”

As he shouted, Ren Qian sprinted toward the crash site.

First, the trapped driver in the heavy truck!

He clambered up the vehicle with nimble hands and feet. Recently, he had been exercising often, and his body was much stronger than before; at the very least, it was enough to climb a truck.

The moment he hauled himself up, he saw the driver wedged in the seat.

The truck driver’s legs could not move. Looking inside, Ren Qian saw that the area beneath him was soaked in dark blood. He may have lost so much blood that his face had turned ghastly pale.

That was not a good sign.

“Don’t move. If you’re pinned too tightly, we’ll need tools to get you out. The traffic police are already on their way.”

Seeing the driver’s pained expression, Ren Qian hurried to comfort him.

“Wait here, I’ll find something to press on the wound!”

After speaking, Ren Qian climbed back down, ran to the car, took out the first-aid kit, cleaned the wound with antiseptic, and roughly packed it with gauze.

Though the actual injury had not been properly treated, the bleeding had at least been eased to some extent.

“Thank you, young man!”

The truck driver leaned to one side, pressing the wound on his leg, and looked at Ren Qian with gratitude. He did not know when the police would arrive, and Ren Qian’s helping hand undoubtedly strengthened his ability to withstand the unknown dangers ahead.

“Don’t move, and don’t talk. If anything changes, shout for help. I’ll go check on the others.”

With that, Ren Qian hurried on without pause to the other overturned truck. This driver was hurt even more severely and looked even weaker.

But Ren Qian had no tools in hand, so he could only bandage what he could from the outside and give them enough confidence that they would be rescued.

Both men were bleeding terribly, with injuries to their arms, forearms, and foreheads. Those places Ren Qian could bandage, but there was nothing he could do for their legs.

Anxious, he called the traffic police again only a few minutes later.

Then he had to go check the small cars.

Ren Qian turned and headed toward them. Many of the drivers, affected by what they were seeing, had shed their indifference.

“Young man, do you still need help here? I have a first-aid kit too!”

A successful-looking man in the manner of a middle-aged official got out of his car and took a first-aid kit from the trunk, easing the pressure on Ren Qian, who had been short of bandages, alcohol, and iodine solution.

“Brother, I know you. Aren’t you Ren Qian from I Am a Singer? A big star, and still so kind and heartfelt—I’m impressed! Oh, and I’ve got tools for taking things apart.”

A man who looked like a mechanic brought over a wrench. He had originally planned to repair some machinery, so he had brought a toolbox with him. Ren Qian opened it and felt a spark of hope; these tools should be enough to remove a seat, though whether this big brother would agree remained to be seen.

After thinking for a moment, Ren Qian assigned everyone their tasks. Many of them recognized the young man helping so enthusiastically as the host from I Am a Singer and obediently followed his lead.

The mechanic and two others went to dismantle the seat, while Ren Qian and the rest split into four groups to rescue the people trapped in the small cars.

“There are three people in this car, and a child too. Everyone work together to turn the overturned car upright first, then we’ll decide what to do next.”

“One, two, three—push! Be careful with your movements.”

Inside, the passengers felt the car body sway, and the small car was righted, greatly reducing the pressure on them.

“Save the child first...”

Ren Qian took off his suit jacket, wrapped it around his fists several times for protection, then threw all his strength into two heavy blows against the rear windshield. Only after clearing away the shards of glass did he lean his upper body inside.

The little one was covered in blood and already unconscious.

Fortunately, his family had fastened his seat belt. Otherwise, with a collision this violent and a body so fragile, it would have cost a life. Ren Qian took the scissors from the first-aid kit and forcibly cut the seat belt, finally managing to carry the child out.

“Could a kind brother hurry and take him to the nearest hospital?”

“I will, I will. We’ll need another brother in the car to treat his wounds.”

“I’ll help you!”

...

Half an hour later, the traffic police arrived, and television reporters came as well. What they saw was a scene of fervent activity: concerned citizens and Ren Qian working at full tilt.

Huh?

Wasn’t that Ren Qian?

The reporter suddenly spotted a major news angle and quickly started the camera rolling.

According to this report: at around 12:40 noon today, a major traffic accident occurred on the East City Ring Road. When traffic police rushed to the scene in haste, they found that kindhearted passersby had already completed most of the rescue work...

A young man standing before the camera said excitedly that, in the past, when accidents happened, very few people would help; it was Brother Ren Qian who had rushed forward without regard for his own safety that moved everyone, causing more and more kindhearted friends to join the rescue effort.