Chapter 20

Yao Ruoyun’s mother is the owner of Yao Ji Wonton Shop.

“Senior! So you’re the one who saved my mom!” A girl with a round face but taller than Yao Ruoyun suddenly rushed over and hugged Shu Fu warmly. The impact was so strong that it almost knocked her over.

Shu Fu: …

She reached out to steady herself against the wall of the rest area, barely managing to bear the force of the other girl’s enthusiasm, and helplessly said, “What saving? I’m just an ordinary customer who occasionally came to eat dumplings.”

“You are! You are! If it weren’t for you that day, going to eat dumplings and even packing so much to take away, my mom would have likely been on her way to school, and if she had happened to be at the school gate…” Yao Ruoyun’s bright voice suddenly weakened.

The car accident that day made the trending news for two days. It was a tragic accident, and when the deceased’s family members heard the news, they fainted on the spot.

Nowadays, most people only have one child, and from birth to university, they invest so much effort in raising them. Suddenly losing them is unbearable and almost impossible to live with.

At first, Yao Ruoyun was just grateful that her mother had escaped the disaster, but later, she began to feel uneasy and even had two consecutive nights of nightmares.

In the dreams, her mother didn’t delay leaving because of the busy shop, and instead hurried to school as she had urged. She, too, was one of the victims of the accident…

She even witnessed the crash scene. Her mother lay on the ground silently, her limbs twisted at strange angles, and bright red blood flowed everywhere…

The dream was so frightening and vivid that the horror and guilt that followed were impossible to shake off.

She took leave to go home and clung to her mother, sleeping with her for two nights to gradually recover. Later, when her mother talked about the customer who had come in to eat dumplings that day, she mentioned that the customer had actually graduated from her school this year.

Normally, every time she came in, she would finish eating in the shop and leave. She had never packed anything before, but for some reason this time, she packed so much. It was because of being busy with that order that her mother got delayed leaving the shop.

“Just like it was fate, thanks to her, my mom avoided the disaster…” Hua Qiong patted her precious daughter’s back, feeling relieved. If her daughter had really died in that accident, how would her precious girl live? She would probably be trapped in guilt and regret, suffering for the rest of her life.

Both mother and daughter felt lucky. During the recent heavy rain and flooding, their home and shop had been submerged.

But when Yao Ruoyun saw the situation outside on the internet, she couldn’t help but want to do something for the people affected by the disaster, even if it was just a small act within her capacity.

It was precisely because she had genuinely helped those seeking refuge that she had been selected to become a volunteer in the rescue team. Her family still hadn’t left.

Had it not been for this, given the time they arrived at the library to seek refuge, they would have already joined the subsequent evacuation group and left Suicheng. They wouldn’t have had the chance to meet her mother’s savior again.

So, this was destiny!

Not long ago, Yao Ruoyun had been happily thinking that staying behind as a volunteer allowed her to meet the “guy she liked.” But now, all that gratitude had shifted entirely to Shu Fu.

After all, this person was her mother’s benefactor! As for getting close to Lu Zheng? No big deal, what’s a man? If she liked him, fine!

Thus, just five minutes ago, Yao Ruoyun had been clinging to Lu Zheng, but now she was happily linking arms with Shu Fu, taking her supplies and leading her to the quietest corner of the rest area. She personally spread out the moisture-proof mat and blanket, chattering about the various things to note in the evacuation point, her enthusiasm far exceeding what she had shown to Lu Zheng earlier.

Lu Zheng, standing at the door, was completely ignored: …

Lu Ce, who had been dumbfounded for a while, scratched his head and tried to find a suitable word to describe it, saying, “Bro, your classmate… she’s really warm-hearted, huh?”

Lu Zheng smiled and patted his younger brother’s head.

---

Yao Ruoyun’s family and a few other students were scheduled to evacuate the day after tomorrow, which was the morning of the sixth day of the citywide evacuation.

The official evacuation plan was for six days, but it was unlikely that all the people at the first-stage evacuation point would leave Suicheng within that time. The subsequent evacuations would be scheduled according to the number of people, and it was expected that the evacuation would continue until the eighth or even ninth day.

By then, only people leaving would be coming out of the evacuation point, and it wouldn’t be as busy as it was now. Volunteers like Yao Ruoyun wouldn’t stay until the last group left.

Yao Ruoyun told them that the subsequent evacuation was still quite humane. Many people who had been separated from their families across Suicheng were trying to gather at the same evacuation points. For example, elderly people or young adults with families, even if they had to go to a completely unfamiliar city for refuge, would still want to stay together as a family.

Therefore, after the people in the city reached the first-stage evacuation point, they wouldn’t all be forced to leave at the same time. Volunteers would tally the evacuation preferences of the newly arrived evacuees.

One group would follow the official plan, leaving in the order of the group numbers assigned upon arrival at the evacuation point, typically staying for one or two nights and evacuating in the morning, depending on the availability of ships.

The other group would delay their evacuation, waiting for their relatives and family members to arrive before they could register for evacuation and join the departure according to the same process.

Yao Ruoyun and a few other students chose the latter option, though not many people at the evacuation point were choosing it.

Most people wanted to leave the flooded area as soon as possible, and not every family had the conditions to stay together. Since this was just a temporary evacuation for a few days, everyone could contact each other by phone, and once the floodwaters receded in Suicheng, they would return.

Almost everyone believed the flood would soon recede.

“One night, the water level rose by two to three meters, which scared a lot of people, but since then, the rise has clearly slowed down. This means that the previous spike was just an occasional incident, maybe something went wrong with the drainage system or somewhere in the city…”

“I think so too. It seems very likely that by the time we all evacuate Suicheng, the flood in this area will have receded.”

“I agree!”

“Then why are we going through all this trouble to evacuate? Shouldn’t we just stay in a taller building? Actually, I think this place is pretty good. We can still help the rescue team and do something. It feels more reassuring to be busy.”

“Well, it’s an official arrangement. If everyone leaves and you don’t, what will people think? I heard from the people who evacuated later that besides the power being cut off, many places in the city also had their water and gas cut off…”

---

That night, the wind and rain outside the library intensified again.

The wind howled outside the window, and the sound of the rain on the glass was dense and noisy, mixed with hail. Due to the severe weather and the low visibility at night, rescue work had to be temporarily paused, and the students volunteering also took an early rest.

Lu Zheng’s classmates couldn’t sleep. They turned on a camping lamp that could charge and plugged in their sleeping pads, then gathered in a circle to play cards and chat.

Shu Fu, who was also awake, was standing by the window, looking out at the heavy rain falling diagonally, lost in thought.

Although she wasn’t sure when the mission would be completed, after so many similar situations, she knew that every task with a high progress bar would inevitably be accompanied by unexpected disasters.

She couldn’t predict anything, so she wouldn’t arrogantly force herself to save someone during this mission.

But she hoped she could stay alert, just in case this time, like the day of the gathering, a disaster happened around her. She wanted to be able to react quickly and not be too passive.

Perhaps because her deep and silent expression caught Yao Ruoyun’s attention, she misunderstood something and, after failing to invite Shu Fu to join her, came over and hugged her, dragging her into the “group chat.”

“Why not just watch instead of playing cards? It’s really cold tonight, and it’s warmer if we all stay close…”

In the end, Shu Fu couldn’t resist Yao Ruoyun’s warm invitation. She moved her little sleeping pad and bag over to the quieter corner.

During these special times, with everyone having family around, there was no distinction between genders, and they all slept in the same rest area.

At first, families stayed together in the three rest rooms in order of arrival.

Later, because the biological clocks of the young students and older parents were clearly mismatched, they rearranged, with the parents staying in two rooms and the students gathered in one room.

This rest room was relatively large, and there were decorative folding screens, which they used to divide the space. Half was for girls, and half for boys. When they weren’t sleeping, they would remove the screens and treat it like a camping trip during autumn.

Originally, there were four boys and three girls in the room, but with Shu Fu and two others joining, it became six boys and four girls.

The supplies from the library included two buckets of instant noodles, a bag of whole wheat bread, a bag of ham sausage, two vacuum-packed boiled eggs, and two self-heating rice meals, enough to last for two days.

Shu Fu had eaten one of the self-heating rice meals at lunch—braised beef flavor. The taste was average, and there wasn’t much rice. She didn’t waste any of it and finished it all.

By about 4 or 5 p.m., she was hungry again.

So when she made instant noodles in the evening, she added two ham sausages and two boiled eggs, turning it into a deluxe instant noodle meal, which made Yao Ruoyun exclaim, “Wow!”

It wasn’t that Yao Ruoyun didn’t have these things—although they evacuated early, they were in a situation where it wasn’t as dire, so her family had brought plenty of food and drinks.

But after staying there for several days, eating the same things, she had grown tired of them. Now, when she saw the instant noodles, she reflexively rejected them. She sighed, seeing Shu Fu enjoying them so much, realizing that it was her first day at the shelter. For someone like her who had been there for several days, she would rather eat bread than the noodles.

She missed the rich takeout life from before. As she played cards, she suddenly got hungry and said, “Tofu flower fish, brown sugar bubble tea, fried chicken wings, large pork skewers, egg pancakes, braised pork rice, spicy skewers… wuwuwu…”

As she spoke, tears started streaming from the corners of her eyes.

Shu Fu recognized all the food she mentioned. Most of them came from the food street near their school, but those shops were all low-rise buildings, two or three stories at most, and by now, they had already been submerged.

“Yao Ruoyun, stop crying. I’m starving after just finishing dinner!” A chubby, bespectacled boy protested. “I can’t take this anymore! If it weren’t for going to the Dahailan shelter, I would’ve already left with my parents!”

“I was just talking about it. But you, I thought you stayed behind to serve the people, not to calculate which shelter to go to!”

The Dahailan shelter the chubby boy mentioned was located in the suburbs of Ningcheng, in a resort hotel, between Suicheng and Ningcheng. It had the two tallest and best-conditioned buildings in the area.

Ningcheng is a small town, the first stop on the evacuation route from the northwest of Suicheng. Approximately seven or eight temporary official shelters have been set up, with efforts underway to increase their number.

Dahailan was added later because it is in the suburbs and is in the off-season for tourism. The resort was already in a semi-closed state, but being a holiday hotel, the accommodation conditions are naturally better than those at the library. Most hotel rooms come with simple kitchens equipped with induction stoves, so even if takeout is unavailable, one can buy food and cook it themselves.

To get from their location at Sui University to Dahailan, they first have to take a boat across the flood zone, followed by a car ride. They must also cross a river, but the terrain there is higher than Suicheng. While it is still raining, only a few low-lying areas have water accumulation.

The rescue team from Suicheng is responsible for transporting people to Dahailan, after which the Ningcheng rescue team will take over and continue toward Pincheng.

Given the large population, a small town like Ningcheng cannot accommodate everyone, so they must move to a larger city.

When Yao Ruoyun heard this, she immediately became dissatisfied, gathered the cards, and stopped playing: “Why can’t I plan ahead? I’ve been volunteering for so many days, and I’m also evacuating. What’s wrong with choosing a more comfortable shelter for myself? You and I left together, so don’t act so self-righteous.”

Like the chubby guy with glasses, the other students who stayed until this point were also aiming for the next destination.

After spending so many days in the library, where it’s inconvenient to wash up and there’s a lack of privacy, they all wanted to return to a normal life. They longed for a hot shower and a comfortable bed.

However, the evacuation boats departing from the library had different destinations. Thanks to their relationship with the rescue team, they confirmed that the group leaving on the sixth morning was heading to Dahailan.

“Shut up if you can’t speak properly. Yao Ruoyun was the first to volunteer. If you want to plan for yourself, go ahead. She truly wants to help people!” A tall guy from their group spoke up. He was about 6’1″ with a fair face, though not particularly handsome.

His name was Xun Huiming, and he was on the swimming team. Due to his swimming skills, he not only assisted with logistics in the library but also accompanied the rescue team in the motorboats for rescues. Now, he was the pillar of the entire student group.

When he spoke, the chubby guy with glasses felt awkward, turned his head, and pretended to play with the cat that Lu Ce had placed beside him. The tabby cat meowed, dodged his hand, and jumped onto Lu Ce’s sleeping mat.

Lu Ce picked it up, carefully took some cat food wrapped in a tissue from his bag, which he had exchanged for five sausages with another evacuee earlier in the evening.

That person also had a cat, and since it was their pet, they even brought food for the cat when evacuating.

Lu Ce’s eyes lit up. He had intended to buy it, but the person only agreed to exchange it for supplies. After discussing, they settled on the trade.

Lu Ce took some cat food in his palm and offered it to the tabby cat, expecting it to come over and eat. However, the cat only sniffed it, turned its head, and instead went for the sausage in his bag, pawing at it and meowing.

“You want this?” Lu Ce scratched his head, confused. Was the cat food not to its liking? He asked Lu Zheng, “Bro, can cats eat sausage?”

Lu Zheng remembered that it was fine in moderation: “They can eat a small amount occasionally.”

Meanwhile, Shu Fu watched the tabby cat for a moment before taking out her own pack of sausages and putting it in Lu Ce’s bag.

“Fufu, Lan Lan can’t eat so many.”

“It’s for you. Didn’t you say this brand of sausages was really good?” If she wasn’t mistaken, the cat might not just eat occasionally. Besides, she didn’t mind—it wasn’t like she was short on food, and she didn’t want him to give up his own rations just to feed the cat.

“Thanks, Fufu, look, Lan Lan, Fufu also loves you and gave you the sausages…”

Shu Fu: …

While she was feeding the cat, the other students fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere grew awkward.

Yao Ruoyun was particularly embarrassed. It wasn’t the first time Xun Huiming had stood up for her, but she didn’t really mind small matters like this. Even if someone criticized her, she would respond herself. But since he stepped in to help her, she couldn’t just tell him to stop.

Just as the atmosphere became tense, a faint rustling noise came from the side, growing louder, followed by a hissing sound like the opening of a chilled carbonated drink.

Someone was drinking cola?

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the sound. It came from the bottle of mineral water Shu Fu was holding, which she had drunk half of. Now, it was fizzing as she had put something inside, turning the clear water into an orange juice-like color.

Feeling the eyes on her, Shu Fu: …

She was just dissolving vitamin C, why did it feel like she was holding some kind of rare delicacy?

She pulled the effervescent vitamin C tablet from her bag and, seeing the others staring at her, she shook it: “Anyone want some?”

In the end, the awkward and subtle atmosphere in the rest room was saved by a bottle of vitamin C.

At the beginning, the supplies at the library were still relatively abundant, and there were even some items left in the vending machines.

Though the drinks and snacks were limited in number, there were still some available.

But with the large influx of evacuees, these public supplies were quickly depleted. Once everyone finished their own snacks, the only remaining daily food consisted of bread, instant noodles, crackers, self-heating rice, sausages, and eggs.

Honestly, even craving a bite of something sweet or sipping some juice has become difficult.

Now, under the warm yellow light of a camping lamp, each student holds a bottle of orange vitamin C water, happily sipping it one gulp at a time.

“Damn, every time I left home before, my mom would stuff a bottle of this in my bag to help me get my vitamins. I hated the taste and never drank it. I would always throw it away when it expired! Now it actually tastes so good!”

“Yeah! The color looks like juice, and it tastes like juice, sour and sweet, so delicious!”

“I’ve been constipated for three days, I hope I can finally have a smooth one tomorrow…”

“Ugh, you’re so disgusting!”

“We’re really miserable… truly miserable…”

…

As they chatted and drank, some students thought of their parents. Halfway through, they got up and went to the next room to share their leftover vitamin C water with them.

Yao Ruoyun capped the bottle with the remaining half of the water and was about to get up when she remembered something. She turned to Shu Fu and Lu Zheng and said, “By the way, you guys can join our group and go to Dahailan together. We can look out for each other.”

“I’m fine with that, but we just arrived today. Can we still go with you guys?” Lu Zheng replied.

“Should be okay, right?” Yao Ruoyun said, looking uncertainly at Xun Huiming.

Xun Huiming’s parents were not in the city and had stayed behind. Hearing this, he responded, “I’ll ask my uncle in a bit.”

**

Xun Huiming’s uncle is one of the leaders of the official rescue team in Suicheng.

Evacuated civilians can choose to either fully comply with the official arrangements or delay their departure, but ultimately, when and where they will depart, and which boat they will take, is determined by the official team.

Due to the large number of evacuees and the public’s desire to leave the flood zone as quickly as possible, fairness must be maintained to avoid chaos. Even if Yao Ruoyun’s group gets some preferential treatment, it only extends to confirming which shelter they go to; the rescue team will still handle the arrangements after that.

The exact time and boat number they will board are not up to them.

Shu Fu, Lu Zheng, and Lu Ce’s situation was different. By the morning of the sixth day, all boats and evacuees from Suida had been scheduled. It was unlikely they could be added to a specific boat unless the evacuees already scheduled for that boat agreed to give up their spot.

The man in front of them looked about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, a bit taller than Xun Huiming. He wore the rescue team uniform and appeared to have just returned from outside, his clothes and hair still damp. He spoke while taking the dry towel from Xun Huiming to wipe his hair.

Like earlier in the day, his face and lips were a bit pale, and after removing his rain hat, his sharp, delicate features were visible, with some fatigue in his eyes. However, when answering Xun Huiming and Yao Ruoyun’s questions, he was still very meticulous, showing no impatience.

Lu Zheng and Lu Ce hadn’t expected that the rescue team member who had given them a ride earlier was Xun Huiming’s uncle.

They heard he was originally from the military with a relatively high rank. He requested to be transferred to the rescue team, not just to look out for Xun Huiming, but he had been working tirelessly on the front lines of the rescue effort.

“Only three people, can’t you just squeeze them in?” Xun Huiming still wasn’t giving up.

“Even if a spot opens up for them, it doesn’t mean they will go to the same shelter as you,” Cheng Yu slightly furrowed his brows, glancing at Shu Fu, Lu Zheng, and Yao Ruoyun beside her. He pointed out the key issue.

He understood why Xun Huiming kept asking. Truth be told, when he first applied to transfer to the Suicheng rescue team, he did have some personal motives, hoping to arrange a safe transfer for his nephew who was studying at Suida.

He hadn’t expected that the other party would volunteer to stay behind as a volunteer, even though his original motivation was for a girl. Regardless of his reasons, it was still a good thing that everyone was heading toward the same goal.

Lu Zheng thanked Cheng Yu. He understood the rescue team was very busy and didn’t want to delay him further.

He didn’t really care about whether they could board the boat the day after tomorrow. It was just another shelter along the way; as long as they could eventually reach Pingcheng safely, that was all that mattered.

Cheng Yu nodded to them and left the lounge.

Yao Ruoyun wasn’t one to dwell on things. After Cheng Yu left, she quickly made a decision. Since adding people to the boat was unlikely, maybe they could reduce the number of people instead. She could delay her departure and rejoin Shu Fu and the others, then report for evacuation again.

“You really don’t need to do this, you can stick to your original evacuation plan. After all, we will meet in Pingcheng in the end,” Lu Zheng’s words were interrupted by Yao Ruoyun hugging Shu Fu.

“It’s not a hassle at all… Huh? You’re not going to Pingcheng? What a coincidence! I’m not either… What? My mom will definitely agree, my dad listens to her. I’m sticking with you the whole way… Now that it’s settled, let’s rest early. We can sleep together tonight.”

Yao Ruoyun warmly embraced Shu Fu, completely unaware that Lu Zheng was still talking to her. “You brought chocolate? Eating that late at night… Huh? It’s for me? Oh, I feel so bad… Do you need to wash up? Hmm, I’ll definitely do that, gotta clean up a bit, okay, we’ll go together!”

“Wow, you even brought disposable underwear… Thanks, I feel embarrassed, but I really haven’t changed for two days. With this damn weather, it’s so humid, even if I wash it, it won’t dry. The air conditioning’s off to save power, and there’s no blow dryer. I feel like I’m going to mold! T_T”

Lu Zheng: …

He strangely felt like he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

“Bro, it feels like you’re a bit unnecessary here…” Lu Ce said, looking down at the cat in his arms and happily lifting it up, “Lan Lan, shall we go wash up too? I know you like Sister Fu, but you’re a little male cat, remember not to sneak into the girls’ restroom and peek later!”

Cat: …

**

The next morning, Yao Ruoyun’s decision surprised the other students, and there was some silence.

Seeing this, Yao Ruoyun immediately clarified that it was her personal decision and that no one was forced to follow her. They could stick to their original plans.

Delaying the evacuation meant they wouldn’t be able to go to Dahailan, and naturally, others didn’t want to change their schedules. However, Xun Huiming quickly spoke up, “I’ll delay too, and go with you guys.”

Yao Ruoyun leaving the group wouldn’t affect the others, but Xun Huiming was different. His uncle was the leader of the rescue team, and he himself was a crucial member of their small team.

To be blunt, with his swimming abilities, if something happened along the way, having an experienced rescuer like him would greatly increase their safety. As long as Xun Huiming was there, Cheng Yu wouldn’t ignore them.

Therefore, when Xun Huiming spoke up, the other students couldn’t stay silent anymore.

Words like “unnecessary,” “irresponsible,” “breaking up the team,” “not thinking of others,” and “not trustworthy” came out from several students.

Xun Huiming frowned as he listened: “Am I your parent? Do I have to be responsible for you? What kind of thief logic is that? Also, my uncle is a member of the rescue team, not my—nor anyone’s—babysitter. He’s not going to go with us. If that’s what you’re calculating, then there’s no need.”

“But… but we all agreed to leave the day after tomorrow morning. Now you’re suddenly backing out, what are we supposed to do? We’re classmates too, it’s not just Yao Ruoyun who’s your classmate, we all are! You’re being too biased!” a girl weakly retorted.

She had already noticed Xun Huiming’s favoritism towards Yao Ruoyun but had kept quiet before because it didn’t involve her own interests.

Though Xun Huiming favored Yao Ruoyun, she was always generous and considerate of everyone, especially the other girls and their families. They often received help because of Xun Huiming’s bias.

But now, once Yao Ruoyun switched directions, Xun Huiming immediately followed her, and she couldn’t stay silent anymore.

“Li Tong, what do you mean by that?” Yao Ruoyun hated hearing such things. She hadn’t expected it to come from one of the girls she usually took care of. “You’re classmates, but Lu Zheng isn’t? You talk about sticking together, but you didn’t want to retreat with me and Lu Zheng, did you? You want to go to a better shelter, but you also want someone capable to protect you—how can things work out so perfectly?”

“What’s wrong with wanting to go to a better shelter? It’s like you didn’t want to go to Dahailan before? Isn’t it because everyone wanted to go there that we delayed and finally set the sixth day of evacuation? Otherwise, we’d have left a long time ago and wouldn’t have all these issues…” A chubby glasses-wearing guy interrupted with a complaint.

Xun Huiming immediately turned to look at him. The chubby glasses guy instinctively shrank back but then realized Xun Huiming was about to leave the group, so he no longer had to care. With that thought, he snorted coldly, grabbed another guy he was close to, and directly left the lounge.

The other students, still hoping for Xun Huiming to stay, kept talking, but the atmosphere quickly became more heated, almost like an argument.

Lu Zheng, who usually didn’t like to stir up trouble, tried to speak up and persuade them, but before he could finish, another emotionally charged guy forcefully pushed him away.

Lu Zheng, caught off guard, stumbled back several steps.

“Bro—” Lu Ce, holding the tabby cat, rushed over.

Shu Fu, who had been sitting at the corner of the sofa, also stood up and walked over.

Yao Ruoyun hadn’t expected their previously united small team to fall apart so quickly. Not wanting to continue arguing, she said, “Stop fighting. I didn’t force you to delay the evacuation, and you have no right to demand that others follow your plan. What Xun Huiming decides to do is his choice, don’t involve me!”

After saying this, she turned to Shu Fu and the others, “Let’s go. We’ll take care of the delay and reapply for evacuation, then go have breakfast with my parents.”

“Don’t forget your bags and mats,” Shu Fu reminded her.

Yao Ruoyun still had volunteer work to do, and she didn’t think that under such a tense atmosphere, they could just return to the lounge to rest as if nothing had happened.

The four of them each grabbed their backpacks, quickly rolled up their mats, and packed them into their gear bags before heading out together.

**

The student team temporarily split.

Yao Ruoyun took them to her parents’ lounge. The mat wasn’t very big, but they could squeeze in together.

The cold war lasted all day. Xun Huiming tried to talk to Yao Ruoyun twice, but she firmly stated her stance. If he wanted to delay, that was fine, but she didn’t need him to change his original plan just for her.

By this point, her refusal was clear.

Moreover, Yao Ruoyun acted quickly—she had already reapplied for evacuation. After the reorganization, their group only had six people: her and her parents, along with Shu Fu and the others. Following the rules, the official team would add two more people to their group, then provide the evacuation number, time, and boat details.

If Xun Huiming wanted to stay with them, he would have to ask his uncle for help. If he insisted on this to this extent, Yao Ruoyun felt she couldn’t do anything about it, so she didn’t want to ask further.

She thought the matter would end there, but unexpectedly, later that evening, something else happened.

Their student team was reported.

This incident was caused by the chubby glasses-wearing guy. He had been in a bad mood all day, and when he was complaining privately with another guy, their conversation was overheard by a different student team at the shelter.

The other team didn’t have any volunteers or anyone they knew in the rescue team, so they followed the official evacuation plan, heading to a factory in the outskirts of Ningcheng.

The factory was a far cry from a resort hotel, and even the most clueless person would know which option had better conditions.

Originally, they thought their luck was bad, but when they heard that the chubby guy’s group had been arranged to go to a resort hotel, they immediately became furious.

Thus, the complaints and reports began.

By the time Shu Fu heard the news, the official decision had already been made: Lu Zheng’s team had been sent back, and all students, along with their families, had their evacuation scheduled for the next morning canceled and had to re-schedule.

The chubby glasses-wearing guy, along with members of his team, went to confront the other team. Despite the rain outside, their arguing could still be heard clearly from the seventh floor to the sixth floor.

Both teams were from the same school but were in different grades, so they didn’t know each other well. The chubby guy and his team didn’t understand what benefit the other team had from reporting them.

Moreover, even though their intentions might not have been pure, the chubby guys had been volunteering for many days and were working hard every day.

Evacuation plans were random, and they hadn’t taken anyone else’s spot. They had just tried to get some benefits for themselves—why was the other team so upset?

But the other team wasn’t intimidated at all. The official response was clear: what was there to account for? They were just ordinary citizens who had overheard and reported it.

The phrase “ordinary citizens reporting something they see” felt like a direct stab to the heart, and the argument escalated, turning into pushing and shoving.

This gave the other team the opportunity to report again, saying if the situation wasn’t properly dealt with, they would escalate it and spread the issue online, continuing to report it upwards.

The rescue team members, troubled by the argument, eventually adjusted the evacuation schedule for the reporting team, moving their spot to Lu Zheng’s team, which calmed the situation.

At the same time, the rescue team members privately spoke with the chubby glasses guy’s group, urging them not to confront the other team anymore.

In fact, this situation wasn’t much of an issue. Xun Huiming’s team hadn’t taken anyone’s spot, but now, they had inadvertently let it slip, and the other team had filmed the evidence.

With the ongoing flooding across the country, everyone’s attention was on the situation. If it got out of hand, it wouldn’t benefit anyone.

In the end, Lu Zheng’s group had to swallow this silent loss. They were angry, frustrated, and regretful. If they hadn’t gone and confronted the other team, even if they had reported them, they wouldn’t have lost their spot. Now they were truly furious—they had let go of the perfectly good Dahailan resort shelter.

That night, Lu Zheng’s team couldn’t sleep well. Their anger and regret kept them tossing and turning. Thinking back on how they had argued with Yao Ruoyun and even unintentionally shoved Lu Zheng during the day, they felt it was all for nothing.

By morning, someone knocked on the door of Shu Fu’s lounge. Leading the group were Li Tong, the chubby glasses-wearing guy, and another student who had shoved Lu Zheng the day before.

They came to apologize, and since there were parents of other students in the lounge, the three of them hesitated for a long time before finally managing to express their apology.

The incident had lasted a day and a night, and by now, Yao Ruoyun wasn’t angry anymore. After all, they had shared meals, sleep, and volunteer work for so many days, which had fostered a sense of camaraderie.

People are strange—when angry, they focus on the other person’s flaws and subconsciously say hurtful things, wishing never to interact with them again.

But once the anger subsides, the past bond and the other person’s good qualities come to mind.

Shu Fu had just woken up, curled up in her sleeping bag. She gently stroked the tabby cat, which was sleeping next to her bag, before moving it beside Yao Ruoyun’s bed.

She didn’t get up but quietly observed the young students at the door of the lounge, looking embarrassed, guilty, and smiling.

It was part of her profession to observe people and things around her, especially to watch such human dramas, since the protagonists weren’t her. This kept her inner peace, and she didn’t feel lonely for not participating.

She enjoyed being alone but also liked the bustle and noise of the world.

Around 8 AM, the lifeboats that were supposed to carry Lu Zheng’s team left. The accompanying double-decker speedboat waited outside the school, and the small lifeboats just ferried people.

The double-decker speedboat had a rain shelter, and after leaving the outskirts of Suicheng, they still had to cross a river to reach the outskirts of Ningcheng.

The rain was still heavy, and the weather outside was gloomy. Lu Zheng’s group stood by the library’s third-floor windows, watching the lifeboats leave one by one, feeling their hearts as heavy and gray as the sky.

“Our Dahailan…” Someone couldn’t help but mutter quietly.

Someone else saw a few people below, ignoring the heavy rain and proudly waving their hands in their direction, gnashing their teeth. “These sons of—”

Finally, Xun Huiming walked over: “Stop looking. The new batch of evacuees will be arriving soon. Hurry up and pack up, and get back to work!”

“Forget it, if we leave late, we leave late. Whatever shelter we end up in, it’s fine. Maybe our luck will be good!” Someone else encouraged the group again.

At this point, everyone thought the matter had come to an end.

However, two hours later, the entire rescue team at the library—or rather, the entire Suida West Campus rescue team—received an emergency order at the same time. Except for those who had to stay at the shelter to guard, all other team members quickly equipped themselves and boarded assault boats.

The civilian evacuation within the city was completely called off. The assault boats turned around, heading towards the northwest outskirts of Suicheng.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

The loud commotion startled the evacuees in the library. Everyone got up, gathered by the windows, and began asking each other, but they could only see confused expressions on one another’s faces.

Xun Huiming reacted quickly, running downstairs and just in time to see Cheng Yu, who had just lain down for rest after working through the night, quickly donning his equipment while running out.

“Uncle, what’s going on? Should I come along?” He ran up, with Lu Zheng and the chubby glasses-wearing guy trailing behind him.

“Something happened during the evacuation, we need to go save people! Your volunteer team doesn’t have much experience, don’t follow us, it won’t help. Stay here in the library!” Cheng Yu didn’t have time to explain further and just said this before quickly running out.

Soon after, the anxious evacuees saw the reason for the rescue team’s emergency action online.

The Huijiang Dam—had breached!