"I Became the Matchmaker Between My Father and Wife" - (88) Life and Death

It was early morning, just after Xiaoying and I had washed up and were getting ready to go out for breakfast before continuing our planned itinerary. We had only just prepared to leave when my phone, which was on the bed, rang. I picked it up and saw it was an unfamiliar number from my hometown of Harbin. Although puzzled, I answered the call anyway.
"Are you Mr. Wang Jincheng?" As soon as I answered the phone, a strange man's anxious voice came through.
"Yes, that's me. And who are you?"
"I'm from Huanya Wind Power Company. Does your father work here, as a watchman on island n-013?" To make it easier to distinguish, the geological agency has labeled each island in the river with a number. Island n-013 is the island where my father works. "n" represents the north, and "013" represents the 13th island. Hearing the other party's urgency, I had a vague premonition of something bad.
"Yes, my father is indeed working there as a night watchman. What happened?" Although I had a bad feeling, I still spoke to the other person in a calm tone. What if I was wrong?
"Is your father home?" The other party asked immediately after verifying my identity.
"My father is home? Isn't he on the island? My wife and I are traveling in Guilin, we're not home. What happened?" Hearing such a strange question, my heart jumped. Had something happened to my father and he run back home?
"Please check if your father is home immediately; it's very important," the other person said urgently, seemingly trying to find out my father's exact location and situation.
"What exactly is wrong? Please explain clearly." I wasn't sure what had happened, and I couldn't just do whatever they asked without understanding the situation. What if my father was deliberately avoiding them because of something that happened to him?
"Here's the thing, eight days ago, our company received a notice from the meteorological bureau that there would be intermittent heavy rain, thunderstorms, and gale-force winds of level 7 in northern Harbin for about a week, starting in two days. Because some of our employees are stationed on the island in the river, we have always cooperated with the meteorological bureau. In case of severe weather, for the safety of our employees, we always notify them in advance to temporarily evacuate the island. After receiving the notice from the meteorological bureau, we notified your father that day to leave the island and go home temporarily, and to call him back to work after the severe weather. The severe weather is expected to end in the next day or two, so this morning we called your father to inform him that he is expected to return to work in two days and to prepare. However, when we called just now, his mobile phone was switched off, and we went to your house according to the address he filled in when he applied for the job, but it seems that no one is home, and no one has answered the door..." The power company employee began to explain the situation.
It turns out that before Xiaoying and I went on our trip, on the very day we went to Jiangxin Island to say goodbye to my father, he had already received a notice that his company was temporarily withdrawing from the island. In other words, he had already received the notice when we said goodbye, but he hadn't told Xiaoying and me. Perhaps he thought it was unnecessary. But thinking back to when Xiaoying and I said goodbye, his eyes held envy and disappointment, but also a hint of despair and lifelessness. At the time, I thought I was mistaken and didn't pay attention. Now, hearing the call from my father's company, I had a premonition. My hands began to tremble, and I could barely hold the phone.
My father's phone was off. If he wasn't home, there was only one possibility: he was still on the island in the middle of the river, and he had endured nearly five days of torrential rain and strong winds. Thinking of the desolate scene on the island with no shelter, my heart was filled with extreme worry.
"Wait a minute, let me call the landline at home and see if anyone answers." Thinking of these possibilities, I quickly tried to confirm my father's current location.
After hanging up with the staff member, Xiaoying asked me what was wrong, and I quickly explained the situation to her as concisely as possible. Upon learning the whole story, a hint of panic flashed across Xiaoying's face, but she was a composed person after all. She told me to call home, and she simultaneously called her mother to inquire about the situation.
I immediately called the landline at home, but no one answered after several attempts. Every time I heard the busy tone on my cell phone, my heart felt like it was being struck by a hammer, and cold sweat broke out on my body. Had my father gone out to buy groceries? Or was he bored at home and went out for a walk to clear his head? Although I knew the possibility was extremely slim, I didn't give up my last hope.
After unsuccessful calls home, I tried calling my father's cell phone, but as the staff member had said, it was indeed switched off. At this time, Xiaoying also ended her call with her mother. My father hadn't contacted my mother-in-law during this period either, except that the day before the bad weather arrived, he visited Hao Hao at her place and took him to the amusement park for a short day, buying him enough snacks for a week before leaving. Moreover, my mother-in-law said that when my father said goodbye to Hao Hao, his eyes were filled with tears, and he seemed very reluctant and emotional. She found it strange at the time; it had only been half a month since she'd seen Hao Hao, so there shouldn't have been such emotional outburst.
Hearing these details, my panic reached its peak. The possibility I least expected, the possibility I least wanted to consider, seemed to be becoming more and more certain. If my father had stayed on the island in the middle of the river and hadn't returned home, after five days of terrible weather, and with his phone constantly switched off and no contact with us, I couldn't bear to imagine what would happen next. I quickly called the power company to tell them the details, and then started booking tickets online to go home immediately. Xiaoying and I were constantly praying for our father.
Three hours later, after anxious waiting and agonizing, Xiaoying and I boarded the plane for our return journey. However, due to the lingering bad weather in Harbin, with occasional thunderstorms, all flights had been suspended. Xiaoying and I had no choice but to fly to Dalian first and then take the high-speed train back to Harbin.
Upon hearing that her father might have been in an accident, Xiaoying was in a state of panic, her face filled with undisguised guilt and self-blame, and she occasionally wiped away tears. Although I saw these emotions in Xiaoying, I had no time to pay attention to them, because my father's safety was the top priority. Nothing else mattered; my only concern was my father's condition. My mother had passed away early, and my father was now my most important family member. But I couldn't panic. As a man, I had to remain calm; I was the pillar of support now.
At this time, Xiaoying would occasionally comfort me, thinking of many possibilities to put my mind at ease, and I would also comfort myself. Perhaps after leaving Jiangxin Island, Father also went on a trip to relax, and happened to lose his phone? It's not impossible, but if Father lost his phone, he should have notified us immediately using a public phone to avoid making us worry.
After an anxious wait, we finally arrived in Harbin in the afternoon. We planned to go home first to check if my father was home. Sitting in the taxi, watching the rain pounding against the window and listening to the howling wind, I kept praying that the tall buildings in downtown Harbin would block the wind, making the storms much less intense than those outside the city. If the wind was this strong in the city, how fierce must the thunderstorms and storms be on the unobstructed island in the river?
When I got downstairs, I got out of the car and ran upstairs as fast as I could. When I got to the front door, I took out my key and opened it. At that moment, I so hoped to see my father sitting on the sofa watching TV, looking surprised and asking, "Why are you back so early?"
But this was just a fantasy. The house was quiet and tidy, the floor spotless. I ran to my father's bedroom, my own bedroom, the bathroom, the balcony, and so on, frantically searching the entire house, but there was no sign of my father at all.
After giving up hope at home, Xiaoying and I rushed to the wind power company where my father worked to contact their supervisor. After we explained the situation, the company panicked. Both I, as a family member, and the company jointly called the police, who then notified the armed police fire and rescue team.
Xiaoying, my father's company, the armed police, the fire brigade, and I arrived at the riverbank. The river had risen considerably, and due to the heavy rain, we couldn't see very far. The wind was still howling. Only after leaving the city and arriving at the riverbank did we realize how fierce the storm was outside the city.
With winds reaching level 7 and heavy rain, rescue helicopters were unable to take off for the rescue operation on the island in the middle of the river. Meanwhile, the fire and river rescue teams lacked large vessels, and the only relatively large cargo ships were strictly adhering to the Transportation Department's "no sailing in level 7 winds" rule, given the extremely high risk of travel by boat. All these factors meant that we and the rescue team could only proceed to the island after the severe weather subsided. Hearing that rescue was impossible and we would have to wait at least another day, I looked towards the surging river, hoping to see my father's island, but I couldn't make out of it. The wind was too strong; I didn't use an umbrella, letting the rain soak me through my clothes. At that moment, I felt no cold. The biting wind and river water lashed my face, and countless thoughts raced through my mind.
Was the storm coming too fast, and Father didn't have time to evacuate the island? Or did Father have enough time to evacuate, but he was clinging to a hopeless mentality and refused to return home? Or did Father simply not want to leave the island, resigning himself to fate and committing a "suicide" decided by heaven? Thinking back to the day I said goodbye to Father, the despair and death in his eyes, and the tearful farewell my mother-in-law told me about when Father went to see Hao Hao, it seemed to foreshadow that Father was already prepared to "separate" from us forever.
Xiaoying stood beside me, tears streaming down her face, biting her lip repeatedly until it seemed to draw blood. Her face was filled with deep regret and self-blame. Perhaps she shared my belief that my father had resigned himself to death, and Xiaoying and I both seemed to have guessed the reason. The police and people from my father's company were urging us to go home for now, promising to organize a rescue operation after the storm subsided the next day. But was it too late? Was it even worth it? If my father were still on the island in the middle of the river, would he still be alive? Looking at the already risen river water, was the island already submerged by the raging current?
After an assessment by the fire and rescue team, it was determined that if my father was still on the island in the middle of the river, his chances of survival were very slim, and Xiaoying and I were advised to prepare for the worst. Even so, we didn't give up on our last glimmer of hope, no matter how small it was. At that moment, Xiaoying and I had no mind to reminisce about the joy our trip had brought us. I felt numb to the cold and pain; I felt like a walking corpse.
My father's company reassured us, saying they would never give up on the rescue and would cover all expenses. They also said they would take full responsibility if anything happened to my father. But at that moment, I didn't care what they said anymore. All I wanted was for my father to live. As long as he was alive, I was willing to pay any price.
I don't know how I got home. Xiaoying helped me change into clean pajamas. I stayed in our bedroom while Xiaoying sat on the sofa in the living room. I could hear her crying; she was clearly in great pain. After a long silence, Xiaoying, still sobbing, started tidying up the house. Although we were worried, life had to go on for now. Xiaoying and I didn't say a word to each other when we got home. Xiaoying, with unknown feelings, prepared dinner, but I had no appetite. Finally, with Xiaoying's comforting words, I ate a few bites.
Xiaoying was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen, while the washing machine in the bathroom rumbled, washing the dirty clothes left over from the trip. I sat on the bed in the bedroom, my brain racing. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind: had my father returned home before the accident? I remembered the home security camera. While Xiaoying was still in the kitchen, I quickly used my stiff hands to turn it on. Xiaoying was in the kitchen. I closed the bedroom door, giving me ample time to close or minimize the camera feed if I heard her footsteps coming from the kitchen. I set the timer to the first day of our trip. That morning, I finally saw my father on the monitor. He unlocked his key and returned home, carrying a briefcase; I didn't know what was inside.
After he entered the house, he went into his bedroom and put the file folder he was carrying into the drawer of his bedside table. Afterwards, my father looked at the room we left untidy, a slight smile appeared on his face, and then he quietly began to tidy up the room for us. During this process, my father's face always showed a sense of longing, as if he was reluctant to leave. His gaze lingered on every item in the house for a long time, as if he wanted to try to remember everything about the house.
After tidying up, he focused his gaze on the family photo on the living room wall. He looked at it quietly, his face sometimes showing affection, sometimes longing, sometimes admiration, and sometimes sweetness. His father looked at the family photo quietly for a long time, and it seemed that all the emotions in the world were reflected on his face.
After a long while, the father sighed, his figure, now much older, slowly walked to the door, put on his shoes, took one last lingering look at the house, and casually closed the door. In the video, only the spotless room remained.
I fast-forwarded through the video until we got back, and my father never appeared in the house again. I shut down the computer, remembering the file folder he'd put in his bedside table drawer. Without thinking, I rushed to his room, opened the drawer where he'd put the file folder in the video, and there it was, a brown kraft paper file folder, lying quietly inside…

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"I Became the Matchmaker Between My Father and Wife" - (88) Life and Death

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