Chapter 1447: Severe Weather

She took gauze out of her backpack, wrapped it around a few times to bandage it, and then continued forward.

Stumbling all the way, by the time she reached the place where the volunteers were resting, it was already dark.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and the rain poured down in torrents.

It wasn't dark because of the natural time of day; it was only four in the afternoon, but the sky was already as black as the bottom of a pot, and visibility outside was very low—nothing could be seen.

In such severe weather conditions, helicopters simply could not operate.

Volunteers from all walks of life were resting in temporarily erected tents, but the soldiers were still wearing raincoats and using high-beam flashlights to search for signs of life in the ruins.

Gu Yuxin wanted to go too, but her teacher wouldn't let her.

The reason was sound: it was very dangerous for people without professional training to go over; they were here to help, not to cause trouble.

Hearing this, Gu Yuxin gave up on her idea.

If it were this kind of weather in the once warm and bustling county town, it would surely be brightly lit, but now there was nothing.

The water and electricity were cut off, and there was no signal.

There must still be injured people under the broken walls and ruins; for every second of delay, the hope of survival diminished by a fraction!

Everyone was concerned about this land, hoping the heavy rain would stop soon.

"The Normal University's tent has been blown over by the gale; students, squeeze in a bit and make some room for the Normal University students to come in."

The Jiang University students moved inward, and those who were sitting stood up to make as much room as possible.

Soon, the Normal University students, buffeted by wind and rain, surged in from outside.

Their bodies were all soaked, and they were shivering into a ball from the cold.

Although the students from the two schools didn't know each other, everyone was a university student and a volunteer, so it was easy to empathize with one another.

Someone took off their own coat and handed it to a student who had just come in.

Wearing wet clothes would only make one colder; in this environment, catching a cold was no laughing matter.

Once someone took the lead, more and more people did the same.

There were few volunteers from the Normal University to begin with, and now almost everyone had changed into dry clothes from the Jiang University students, except for one person!

Lu Feifei stood in a corner facing the tent.

She tried her best to minimize her presence, but Gu Yuxin and Zichen discovered her right away.

Lu Feifei had actually come too?

This surprised Gu Yuxin very much.

What surprised her wasn't just that she had come, but that she had actually managed to hold on until now!

It wasn't as if no one had backed out along the way.

Seeing the stretchers being carried out of the disaster area covered in blood, some people vomited on the spot and then cried and made a scene about wanting to go back.

To be a volunteer is to be there of one's own free will.

If one was no longer willing and wanted to go back, no one would force them; of course, no one would specifically send them either—they had to find their own way.

Quite a few people went back; if not half, then at least a third.

They hadn't even entered the disaster area yet; they were scared off just on the road.

Lu Feifei was actually not among those people.

Although she had her back to everyone, she could still feel people behind her paying attention to her; she didn't know who it was, but she could still hear a little of the students' whispering.

Some wanted to bring her food, but others stopped them.

Her backpack had been blown away by the gale along with the tent when they were rescuing the tents earlier.

Gu Yuxin took off her own coat and pushed through the crowd to come over.

"Classmate, change out of your wet clothes; catching a cold in this place is no laughing matter."

Lu Feifei froze all over.

She recognized the voice; it was Gu Yuxin's.

She didn't turn her head and declined: "Thanks, I'm not cold." She lowered her voice, hoping that Gu Yuxin hadn't recognized her at all.

Gu Yuxin: "You're a cold-blooded animal; it's impossible not to be cold in this kind of weather."

"Change into it, stop talking nonsense. Do you think I'm concerned about you? If you catch a cold, there's one less person to save the disaster victims, and you might even infect others. You're here to help, not to cause trouble..."

Gu Yuxin's tone was hard and brooked no refusal.

Lu Feifei kept her head down without turning around, quickly took the dry clothes Gu Yuxin handed over, and said thanks again in a hoarse voice: "Thank you."

There was no response, but a bottle of water and a piece of compressed biscuit were shoved into her arms.

Gu Yuxin squeezed back, only to see Sheng Zichen staring with wide, stunned eyes.

"What are you looking at? If you keep looking, I'll..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence because she realized Zichen wasn't looking at her, and certainly not at Lu Feifei; he wasn't even looking at a person.

He was looking at the faint light outside the tent.

The rain had lessened a lot.

The sky was gradually brightening.

The rain hadn't stopped completely, but the students were already rushing out in their raincoats.

Clearing the roads.

Helping the injured treat their wounds simply, bandaging them, or sending the seriously injured outside.

Everyone was busy without stopping; when hungry, they would gnaw on a few bites of compressed biscuits, and when extremely sleepy, they would take a nap.

In less than two days, everyone looked very haggard.

Zichen's hands were covered in blood blisters, and he had worn through over a dozen pairs of gloves; the boys spontaneously went to the most dangerous places to clear bricks and rubble alongside the troops.

Every time he encountered a different military unit, he would ask the people around him, "Do you know Litian? That's my younger brother."

But every time it was disappointment; everyone shook their heads and said they didn't know.

There were also kind-hearted people who asked him for his younger brother's military unit number, saying they could tell if he had also come over.

Zichen shook his head; he didn't know.

He truly didn't know.

Although the brothers corresponded, Sheng Litian had never mentioned his military unit number, and he had never asked!

But hard work pays off, and on the third day, there was finally news of Sheng Litian.

During a break, a new recruit said there was a person named Sheng Litian in their company who was very brave; he had also come this time, but he was on the other side of the county town, so it wouldn't be easy to run into him.

There were many people from all walks of life coming to help with disaster relief this time, so the chance of running into each other was very small.

The rescue operation proceeded in a tense and orderly manner.

Lu Feifei had been acting like a madwoman these past few days, sleeping only two or three hours a day, spinning around like a top without stopping.

Her classmates had also changed their opinion of her.

She looked like a delicate young lady, and no one had expected that she would actually be the one most unafraid of hardship and fatigue.

She scrambled to do the dirtiest and most exhausting work.

The severely wounded scared the female students into crying, and some male students also shrank back, but she charged right in!

Carrying stretchers, changing bandages, cleaning wounds for people covered in blood and gore... none of that counted; she even rushed up with the men to clear bricks after the aftershocks.

But she was not alone; she had Gu Yuxin by her side.

The two girls seemed to be competing, neither willing to let the other win, racing to see who could do more work and who could take on the biggest challenge!

Gu Yuxin: "Oh, I couldn't tell, you've actually got quite a bit of strength!"

Lu Feifei didn't look up: "I didn't expect it either, you're quite strong for a young lady yourself."

Gu Yuxin corrected her: "I'm not a young lady; I've been training just like the boys since I was little."

She was right.

Having a good family background isn't always a benefit; everyone's eyes are fixed on you, and if you fall even slightly behind, people will gossip about you.

The environment forced Gu Yuxin to raise her own standards, in every single aspect.

If she achieved first place, everyone felt it was expected; if she wasn't first, people would gossip about her.