Chapter 396: Asking for It
Chapter 396: Chapter 396: Asking for It
Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the back of the line.
Someone shrieked in panic, "Someone’s fainted!"
"Yiyi! Yiyi!" Xu Yu’s frantic shrieks echoed throughout the line.
"What’s going on?" someone asked, craning their neck to look back.
But the sandstorm was so thick that you could barely see half a meter in front of you, let alone what was happening at the back of the line.
All they could hear was a woman’s shrill voice yelling nonstop. The crowd covered their mouths and noses as they stood before the entrance to the underground tunnel, waiting for instructions from the base.
"Hey, stop pushing! What are you doing?" a muffled voice called out from within the sandstorm.
Xie Ning glanced back and saw the crowd behind them shoving each other, though she couldn’t tell why.
"What’s going on?" The official responsible for leading them to the Zone A underground shelter covered his mouth and nose and struggled to make his way to the back of the line. "What happened?"
"A child suddenly fainted! Please, save her!" Xu Yu ran toward the front with a panicked expression, holding Lin Yiyi in her arms.
Zhuang Lei and a few of his teammates followed close behind, shoving the people ahead of them and throwing the line into disarray.
Zhuang Jia and Luo Yanan stood their ground with the rest of their teammates, watching impassively as the others continued to cause a ruckus.
One of the female teammates couldn’t take it anymore. She rolled her eyes and said, her voice muffled by her mask, "Zhuang is really something else... Following that woman around all day, making a fool of himself. He’s going to get burned sooner or later."
Zhuang Jia remained silent.
Luo Yanan glanced at his wife. Knowing she was upset, he quickly changed the subject. "When we get inside the shelter, let’s do our best to stick together."
"It’s bound to be crowded and chaotic in there, but we should only have to tough it out for a few days. Once the sandstorm passes, we’ll be able to go back to the surface."
"Don’t worry, Luo, we get it."
Zhuang Jia watched as Zhuang Lei’s group jostled their way through the crowd, escorting Xu Yu and her party, until the swirling sand completely swallowed their figures. Only then did she look away, her silence unbroken.
Some of the teams near the front, like Li Dawei’s, immediately started shouting in protest. "Hey, what do you think you’re doing? What’s with all the pushing? Everyone’s getting into the shelter, so why are you trying to cut in line?"
"What’s going on here?" The official jogged over and glanced at the little girl in Xu Yu’s arms, her brow tightly furrowed. "What’s the situation?"
"She just suddenly collapsed. I don’t know if it’s from overusing her energy."
"It’s not a big deal if she overused her energy. She just needs some sleep. For now, let’s get back in line and into the shelter..."
"What do you mean it’s not a big deal? How could it not be a big deal? She’s just a little girl; her body can’t handle it! You’re the official in charge here, so you need to take responsibility!"
The official gave her a bizarre look. "What responsibility do you expect me to take?"
"You’re the highest-ranking official here, shouldn’t you be coordinating things?" Xu Yu demanded aggressively. "Our team doesn’t have a Healing System user or a doctor. You can make an exception and help us out."
Her entitled tone amused the official.
"Sorry, I’m just here to lead the way..." The junior official rubbed his nose. "Besides, with the weather like this, can we please not stand here blocking the path while we talk?"
"We can get the child into the underground shelter first, and then figure out how to resolve this."
But Xu Yu was relentless. She had several teammates from the Swift Leopard Team surround the official. "No, absolutely not! You have to find a doctor to check on our child first. Can’t you see how serious her condition is? Do you have no compassion at all?"
"Are you even with the military? Get someone who’s actually in charge to handle this."
The junior official was left speechless.
So were the numerous onlookers from the other teams.
Li Dawei roared through the swirling sand, "Xu Yu, are you fucking crazy? The official already said we should go down first and figure it out from there! Do you really have to block the way and make all of us stand here eating sand with you?"
"That’s right! Miss, do us a favor and move! We can deal with any emergency once we’re in the underground shelter."
Xu Yu stomped her feet, clutching Lin Yiyi, and shrieked, "How can all of you be so heartless? Don’t you have children of your own? If you won’t help our child now, don’t expect anyone to help you in the future!"
Many in the crowd rolled their eyes.
Ge Yan, having clearly inherited Uncle Ge Liang’s confrontational spirit, retorted, "No one is obligated to pull strings for you, you know? Besides, he never said he wouldn’t help—he just suggested we move somewhere else first. Are you deaf or just stupid?"
"Yeah, miss, can we please just go down first? My clothes can barely keep the sand out anymore!"
Gu Chen strode back from the front of the line. "What’s going on? Why is everyone just standing around?"
He had already finished arranging things at the shelter entrance but hadn’t seen Ningning and the others arrive yet. ’It’s only a few steps away, what could be so hard about it?’
Xie Ning held her scarf over her face and shouted through the sandstorm, "Which way do we go?"
Gu Chen reached for his girlfriend’s fleece-gloved hand. "This way, with me."
But before he could touch her, the woman holding the child unleashed a tirade on him. "Hey! Is this junior official your subordinate? Just look at how he’s handling things! Our child is sick! It’s an emergency, and instead of getting a doctor for us, he’s just blocking our way and spouting nonsense!"
"Captain Gu." The junior official saluted, struggling against the wind. "I was telling them to get into the shelter first, and we’d sort it out from there!"
’Is this fucking woman out of her mind?’
’Does she really have to stand here in a sandstorm to ask for help?’
’She’s impossible to reason with!’
Xie Ning grabbed the stunned Xiao Gu and pulled him behind her. She glared fiercely at Xu Yu and roared through the howling sandstorm, "What are you yelling at him for? What did he do to you? He just got here and has no idea what’s going on! What gives you the right to jump down his throat? Just because he has shiny epaulets on his shoulders, you think you can curse him out however you want?"
"I..."
"Shut up!" Xie Ning swore. "They should tear down the Lingshan Grand Buddha and put you up on the pedestal instead! All you do is go on about ’the child, the child,’ acting like you’re the only one in the whole world who gives a damn."
"He already explained they’d sort it out after we get downstairs, so what more do you want? You think you’re right just because you’re loud? You think the whole world owes you help just because you’re weak?"
"If you’re in such a hurry, take the child and find a doctor yourself! Is standing here like a statue going to make her wake up? Stop acting like the whole world is your mother and everyone owes you a favor! Who the hell do you think you are? You really overestimate your own importance."
Xu Yu’s eyes turned red as she lashed out in fury, "Xie Ning, you have the nerve to lecture me? If you hadn’t shamelessly stolen from a child and refused to even give her a chance, would she have fainted from anger?"
SLAP!