After He Qiuyun died, the atmosphere in the building became subtle. Da Laocu brought in a lot of refugees from nowhere, wanting Yan Jiasui to take them in.
"But our supplies are simply not enough to go around. Do you know how much pressure taking in those refugees will put on us?" Yan Jiasui frowned deeply.
She covertly sized up Da Laocu in front of her; she didn't remember him being such a kind-hearted person.
Da Laocu sighed. "Jiasui, you don't know how pitiful those people are. They were used as meat shields and could only live in the sewers every day."
He looked at Yan Jiasui, his expression somewhat troubled. "Jiasui, I remember when you first established this building, didn't you say you wanted to help others? You said that the more critical the times, the more we need to help each other."
Yan Jiasui was silent for a moment, but still shook her head. "No, I won't give in on this. It's unfair to the others in the building."
Seeing her say this, Da Laocu shook his head helplessly and left.
All those refugees were waiting downstairs, craning their necks to look inside. Seeing that no one had come down to let them in yet, panic appeared on their faces.
Da Laocu opened the door and walked down. The moment they saw Da Laocu, the refugees immediately swarmed around him.
Looking at the desperate faces of the refugees, Da Laocu sighed. "Everyone, you should just go back. This isn't something I can decide. Right now, our own supplies aren't even enough."
The refugee at the very front tightly grabbed Da Laocu's hand and cried out, "We don't want supplies, we just want to find a safe place. We have elderly and children here. Could you please bend the rules?"
Seeing him like this, Da Laocu looked troubled. "I pity you all, but I really can't make the call on this. You should go."
Hearing Da Laocu say this, the refugees roughly understood that it was the boss of the building who didn't want to let them in.
After Da Laocu left, anxiety showed on the others' faces.
"What do we do now? Do we really have to go back?"
"I don't want to go back. I don't want to live that life of hiding everywhere anymore."
The refugee at the front stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Didn't Da Laocu mention before that their leader is a woman..."
The crowd instantly quieted down, and the eyes of the refugees in the back immediately lit up.
"If it's a woman, isn't that easy? Women are the most soft-hearted. We just need to beg her."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's figure out how to talk to her."
As night fell, the cold air inside the building was gradually invaded by a strong, sour stench, mixed with the smell of festering wounds.
A group of ragged refugees frantically swarmed in. A few were madly licking cookie crumbs off the floor. The scrambling was so fierce that they even started fighting.
Ji Zhaoxi saw this scene the moment she walked out of her room. She stood in the corridor, completely bewildered. "Who are these people?"
Beside her, Da Laocu said uncomfortably, "They are the newly joined refugees. Zhaoxi, could you help treat their wounds?"
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him in disbelief. "All of them?"
For some unknown reason, Da Laocu looked a bit guilty. "Not all of them. Just treat them as you see fit. Some of them are dying."
Da Laocu led Ji Zhaoxi to a few rooms downstairs. Many people were lying in the rooms, some of their wounds already festering, their faces an ashen gray.
Da Laocu gave a brief introduction. "These are the family members of the people outside."
This kind of situation had happened before. If they wanted ability users to join the team, they had to provide protection for their families.
Ji Zhaoxi sighed, but still sat down.
Although healing ordinary people was easier than healing ability users, it still made Ji Zhaoxi a bit exhausted.
The other people in the building were also called by Da Laocu to take care of these refugees. Everyone thought this was Yan Jiasui wanting to expand the team.
Pei Yufeng frowned as he watched the refugees downstairs fighting viciously over a plastic water bottle.
Da Laocu happened to walk up and froze for a moment when he saw Pei Yufeng. "They are..."
"Where is Ji Zhaoxi?" Pei Yufeng frowned. He had no interest in these people.
Da Laocu pointed downstairs. "She's treating those people."
Pei Yufeng's frown deepened. Surely she wouldn't be stupid enough to treat everyone.
"That's mine, give it back!"
"F*** you, what's yours or mine? Whoever grabs it gets it."
A younger refugee swung a stick directly at the head of an elderly refugee who was fighting him for a compressed biscuit.
The living room was in complete chaos.
Pei Yufeng walked into the downstairs room. There were many wounded lying inside. The first few clearly showed signs of having been treated, while the ones in the back hadn't been touched yet.
He searched room by room and finally found Ji Zhaoxi secretly resting in a corner.
She was resting her head on her bent arms, sleeping deeply. Her breathing was very steady, her eyelashes resting quietly against her slightly flushed eyelids.
Pei Yufeng's gaze fell on her cheek. Pressed against her hand, her cheek squished up slightly. His heart suddenly felt a strange itch.
He wanted to see if it was really as soft as it looked.
Pei Yufeng glanced at Ji Zhaoxi. Seeing that she showed no signs of waking up, he leaned over, extended a finger, and gently poked that bulging bit of cheek.
His fingertip instantly sank into a patch of softness.
As if burned, Pei Yufeng immediately yanked his hand back behind him. Because his movement was too large, he almost knocked over the water cup next to her.
"Tsk."
Ji Zhaoxi was awakened by the sound and groggily opened her eyes. Seeing Pei Yufeng in front of her, she didn't quite process it at first.
"Pei Yufeng."
Because she had just woken up, her ending note carried a hint of unconscious sweetness, making it sound like she was acting coquettishly.
Pei Yufeng's body went stiff as a board. He turned around uncomfortably. "I'm going to find Yan Jiasui. Are you coming?"
"Yes!" Ji Zhaoxi quickly stood up.
Pei Yufeng walked in front without looking at Ji Zhaoxi behind him. He lowered his eyes, suppressing the slight panic in his heart, and couldn't help but rub his fingertips together.
How could it be so soft...
Just then, a refugee blocked Ji Zhaoxi's path.
"Hey beautiful, why haven't you healed my brother yet?"
Ji Zhaoxi frowned. "I'm doing this in order. I've already treated enough people for today."
She didn't like to overwork herself.
The refugee's voice instantly became agitated. "You've only treated a few and you're stopping? Aren't you a healing ability user? Are you looking down on us!"
In the base he used to stay at, healing ability users had absolutely no choice to refuse; they were made to heal until their energy was completely drained and they passed out.
What, did these healing ability users only treat other ability users? Were meat shields like them just not worthy?!
The refugee, furious, reached out to grab Ji Zhaoxi, but in the next second, Ji Zhaoxi was directly pulled behind Pei Yufeng, who blocked her.
"Bang—"
The living room fell silent at once. The other refugees stopped what they were doing, their gazes landing on the corridor.
Pei Yufeng looked down condescendingly at the refugee, his eyes full of undisguised disgust.
"Get lost."
