41.Cai，overtired，fell onto the ground heavily.His watch said 14：35.He lay there unconscious for a long time until he faintly heard the voices of the kids trying to wake him up.He struggled to sit up but he could not.He was still shaking，and he thought the earthquake was shaking him，or the children were shaking his body to wake him up.At that moment，he felt something throbbing warmly in his body，like his heart beating without an end.He recalled the youthful moments when he gave his whistle a forceful blow to get ready for heroic deeds.Coming back to himself，he sighed，"I am old，very old.I must accept this as a fact.If I were not，I would not be so tired like dirt after carrying three children out.When I was young，I could carry two sacks of grain as heavy as 200 kg together under my arms.I could work that way for six houses without rest.Look at what I am now.My！I am old.I must accept this.I Must." Then something struck him and he decided to be courageous，"No！Huang must look down upon me if he sees me like this.I must get up，get up." then he actually got up his feet.Children were recovered as quickly as they went dumb.The three kids，who hadn't been able to move a little in the classroom，now sat around Cai trying to awaken him.When Cai came back from the trance，they all cheered up： "You are OK，you OK！Thank God." Hand in hand，the old man and the kids went out of the ruins where had stood the school.
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42.On the same day，Huang sold out his pork around one o'clock in the afternoon.He put away his tools and made a call to his wife，who was selling marinated foods，telling her that he was going back home.His senior apprentice，Duode brought him a bowl of marinated noodles and tingling spicy hot-pot.There were all kinds of vegetable in the pot，such as potato，edible fungus，mushroom and cauliflowers.If Cai had been there，Huang would have said to him while eating his lunch： "Cauliflowers are my favorite food in searing hot-pot，so tender and juicy.It is most delicious when half cooked." But Cai would have retorted，"Cauliflower is most disgusting food.The fucking vegetable is not good for chewing.Besides，if it gets stuck in your fucking throat，it is disgusting like phlegm.Pooh...Pooh，" he would have spit forcefully toward Cai with such accuracy that the filth almost landed on Huang.Mr.Huang would find no excuse for being unhappy about this rudeness because it was him who invited it.Rather，he would smile，"Savage，Savage！Bad manners！You are really my curse，never giving me peace even when I am eating.You are hopeless，really hopeless！" On May，12，however，he ate his lunch quietly since Cai was not there.However，he fidgeted more and more after the meal，sitting up and down for several times.Looking at the empty chair of Cai，he felt rather disappointed and lost.The vacancy of his expression suggested that he missed something today.Everybody knew it was his rival，Cai，whose absence had left him empty and lonely.Nobody quarreled with him，nobody argued with him.What a miserable time！Now he was to arrange with his apprentices about the work of the evening and the next day.On this point he was a failure compared with Cai，who had long before entrusted the routine work to his senior apprentice.He thought he must wait another two years before he could allow his apprentices to take charge of the business.
43.His thoughts were wandering when the big earthquake aroused him from his reverie.The market was immediately thrown into a stampede of fear.Cai stood up and commanded the butchers from Huangjiawan，"Don't panic！Listen to me.Five men will look after the stalls，two go and help the girls and another two help the women selling marinated foods over there.Go！Go！Go！And the others go back to the village with me！"