Chapter 218

People's Militia wearing green military uniforms used crowbars, shovels, and even their hands to rescue those buried deep underground.

Cries and pleas for help filled almost every corner, and people's eyes were full of despair.

The pain of losing homes, the pain of losing loved ones immersed everyone in this great sorrow; their eyes were desperate and numb.

At this moment, not only students but even instructors were deeply shaken by the scene before them; they had imagined the situation would be serious, but they never expected it to be this severe.

At that time a soldier in uniform pulled a barely breathing child from the rubble and loudly called for a doctor.

All the students of the Medical Academy instantly snapped to attention at that call; without any prompting from instructors, they immediately rushed forward to join the treatment of the wounded.

Without an operating room, they set up tents; lacking sufficient medical supplies, they cleaned and high‑temperature sterilized whatever they had and reused it repeatedly.

At this moment, as long as they could save lives, they used almost every means available, even reaching the point of working nonstop, yet even this was still not enough.

There were too many wounded, and some injuries were so severe that sending them out for treatment was almost impossible.

They were doctors, yet they could only watch patients die helplessly, and before they could even grieve, they had to move on to the next surgery.

They saw mothers with dead children in their arms, expressionless, and middle‑aged men who had lost their wives and children and turned white‑haired overnight.

There were also gray‑haired mothers lying beside their children's corpses, weeping bitterly…

To reduce such tragedies, these newly graduated students dared not pause for a moment.

Now, every life they saved meant saving a family.

Under such high‑intensity work, some people could not endure and fainted outright.

The instructor knew this could not continue and forced each student to get no less than three hours of sleep per day.

But the hardest part was not physical fatigue; it was the shortage of medicine.

Just when the relief work had fallen into dire straits, those in green uniforms brought the medicine they needed.

Moreover, Su Ruo saw a very familiar figure among them.

Su Ruo and Song Jingyu gazed at each other across the crowd; each found the other's presence here both surprising and not surprising.

As Su Ruo approached Song Jingyu, she caught a strong smell of blood.

Su Ruo frowned and asked, "Are you injured?"

Song Jingyu replied, "It's just a minor wound, it's fine."

Su Ruo thought of his reckless habit of saving lives at the cost of his own, yet she did not believe it was merely a small wound.

"I know you're eager to save people, but the premise of saving others is ensuring your own health; only then can you save more people, right?"

Without further ado, Su Ruo pulled Song Jingyu into the makeshift tent, took out surgical tools, and asked, "Where are you hurt?"

Song Jingyu helplessly took off his green upper garment, and Su Ruo saw a ten‑centimeter long wound that had already become inflamed.

Su Ruo felt a sudden surge of anger in her heart; this person still refused to cherish himself as always.

"It might hurt a bit—just bear with it." Su Ruo said expressionlessly.

"I'm fine."

As soon as Song Jingyu finished speaking, Su Ruo directly used an alcohol‑soaked cotton ball to begin disinfecting his wound, causing him to gasp sharply from the pain.

Su Ruo said coldly, "So you can feel pain after all—I thought you didn't know what pain was."

"..."

Facing Song Jingyu's silence, Su Ruo grew even angrier and said, "Do you know that if this wound isn't treated, in two days it will become inflamed, and if severe it will fester and ulcerate; by then you'll have a relentless fever, and at that point will you still be able to join the rescue?"

This was something Song Jingyu had not anticipated; he only felt the wound hurt a little, but at that time there were so many disaster victims waiting for him to save, he hadn't thought that far, and didn't realize the wound on his back could be so serious.

"I understand; from now on, if I get injured again and conditions allow, I will definitely seek treatment promptly and won't let this happen again."

After hearing Song Jingyu's reply, Su Ruo still felt uneasy in her heart, because she knew that even if he said this, when faced with such a situation again he would still rush forward without hesitation to save people.

But after calming down, Su Ruo felt she had been overstepping; after all, strictly speaking she and Song Jingyu are not close, and what he does has nothing to do with her.

To change the subject, Su Ruo stitched Song Jingyu's wound while asking him, "How did you get injured?"

Perhaps sensing that Su Ruo's emotions had eased, Song Jingyu spoke a little more.

From Song Jingyu's mouth, Su Ruo learned for the first time what a blind jump is.

To reach the disaster zone as quickly as possible, assess the situation, and treat the wounded.

More than ten soldiers, without knowing the circumstances, resolutely strapped on parachutes and jumped from the airplane.

At the moment of jumping, they did not even know what awaited them, or whether they would survive.

Yet at that moment they had no hesitation, because the motherland and the people needed them, so they fearlessly faced danger, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.

They are heroes; people say heroes are fearless, but are they truly without any fear!

Su Ruo feels perhaps they are, but at the same time in their hearts there is something more important than life itself—their ideals, pursuits, and mission.

Perhaps from the moment they put on this uniform, it was destined that the people's interests would be supreme in their hearts.

It is precisely because of countless such people that we now enjoy peace and prosperity.

Facing such a person, what can Su Ruo say, and what right does she have to be angry?

As the last stitch was completed, Su Ruo exhaled a breath of turbid air and reminded Song Jingyu, "During this period keep the wound dry and change the dressing daily."

Afraid Song Jingyu might not come, Su Ruo added, "I know rescuing disaster victims is your duty, but you are now my patient; being responsible for one's patient is my responsibility, and I also ask you to respect my work."

Song Jingyu had not originally thought of refusing to come; although he is eager to save people, he would not show off and let his injury delay rescue work.

So upon hearing Su Ruo's words, he immediately raised his hand and returned a military salute; sunlight fell on his face, making his expression look even more resolute.

But just at that moment the earth suddenly shook violently again; sensing danger, Song Jingyu immediately shoved Su Ruo under the operating table and then used his body to tightly shield her.

===TITLE===

Disaster Area Rescue