Ning’s message reported a leak at the school shelter roof just as the rain intensified. Water dripped above the bedding room, where two families had been sleeping beneath a beam. The eastern road remained open, but a drainage channel had overflowed across the lower approach.
Ning asked Bai to move the families to the converted dye house while the clinic workers carried medicine crates to a raised storeroom. The room at the dye house had space, but its back door opened onto a narrow alley. Ning wanted the first family group to take the marked footbridge, where the keeper had placed lanterns at both ends.
Yan offered to cross the roofs and carry the crates. Qinghe’s message came through the relay: he was to remain near the furnace until the next gauge reading. He answered that he would stay, then gave Bai’s team the route information he had from the map. The bridge was narrow, but it was cleared and lit. Ning walked with the first families herself.
At the school shelter, Tali, a clinic worker, slipped on a wet tile while carrying a small medicine box. She twisted her ankle and sat down hard. Bai braced her before she could fall again. Ning checked the joint, found no deformity, and gave her a walking stick.
