The atmosphere in the room instantly turned silent. Li Zheming opened his mouth, trying to say something to refute Gu Xingdong, but found that it was indeed a mess they had caused by acting on their own accord.
Zhang Wan'er, standing beside him, was disappointed by Li Zheming's uselessness. She rolled her eyes in exasperation, then put on a show of being heartbroken and asked,
"What makes me even sadder is that Li Shu knew what consequences this would lead to, yet didn't remind us in advance. All in all, you still have issues with me, right?
I don't know why I'm so disliked. If you dislike me that much, I'll buy a ticket back to Jingdu today. Don't worry, I definitely won't be a stumbling block between you."
Saying this, she covered her mouth with her hand and began to cry softly. The commotion soon attracted the attention of the refugees outside. Seeing Zhang Wan'er's red eyes, one might think Chen Li Shu had done something heinous.
Soon, they arrived at the site for distributing supplies. Many military personnel were present, maintaining order and counting the supplies.
The commotion caused by Chen Li Shu's arrival quickly drew their attention. When they saw the situation in the vehicles, they were all taken aback.
Many of these people recognized Zhang Wan'er. Seeing her red eyes and pitiful demeanor, someone asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen on the way?"
"I..." Seeing the growing crowd, a calculating glint flashed in Zhang Wan'er's eyes. She then lifted her head pitifully, looked at Chen Li Shu as if she had something to say but held back, and then said, "Don't worry, I won't be your obstacle. I'll buy a ticket back to Jingdu right now."
The crowd looked at her with confusion, hearing her inexplicable words.
"What do you mean by 'obstacle'? And why are you going back to Jingdu, Wan'er?"
"Yes, why go back to Jingdu? This is when we need all hands on deck. Since you're here, just help out properly. Whatever happened, tell us and we'll help you solve it!"
"..."
Faced with their concern, Zhang Wan'er said nothing, only biting her lower lip tightly. Just as everyone was wondering if Chen Li Shu had bullied her, Chen Li Shu, with a cold face, walked up to Zhang Wan'er.
"If you're going back, then hurry up and go. This is a disaster relief site, not a place for you to throw a tantrum like a spoiled child.
Don't you know the situation here? You even dared to take out food in front of so many refugees. If I hadn't intervened, did you ever consider what these refugees might do to us?
We're not in a great situation, but the key is that you handed the food and water to a girl. These are scarce resources now. By creating special treatment, you're inevitably pushing that girl into the spotlight!
You need to use your brain when you act. If you can't handle this, I advise you to hurry back and not drag us down here, understand?"
Chen Li Shu's words were spoken very loudly, audible to almost everyone present. From her brief remarks, they could more or less understand the truth of the matter. They weren't fools; it was clear at a glance who was right and who was wrong.
Zhang Wan'er didn't realize the seriousness of the situation at all. She thought that after knowing her for so many years, these people would surely stand up for her. So, she raised her head and said with naive innocence, "I didn't know it would be so serious. Wasn't I trying to help the girl?
Didn't you hear what the child said? The sister is dying. I was just thinking of helping one if I could. I had no other bad intentions. I don't understand why you would choose to ignore it when facing danger!"
"Helping one if you can? I think you're trying to send one away if you can! Do you know what your actions just now were called? It was called murder!
Clearly, if we had rushed here faster and distributed the supplies, the girl's sister could have been saved. But you insisted on delaying, and even disregarded the girl's safety.
Do you think only this girl's life is precious? Did you hear what these suffering masses said? Some people have elders and young children, and some people's wives are pregnant, all waiting for food relief!
How can it be that the girl's life matters, but the lives of these people don't? There were better ways to solve this, but you had to use the stupidest method!
This isn't playing house, do you understand? If you think you can't endure hardship and have no brains, then hurry up and leave this place. Don't cause more trouble for the rescue efforts."
These words completely belittled Zhang Wan'er. With teary eyes, Zhang Wan'er pursed her lips, trying to say something, but then closed them tightly. From her demeanor, one might think she had suffered great injustice.
Li Zheming couldn't stand to see Zhang Wan'er looking so wronged. He stepped forward and sternly rebuked, "How can you say such harsh words? Zhang Wan'er came with good intentions to help. Do you think you're so great? Why are you pointing fingers at her!"
Gu Xingdong placed a hand on Chen Li Shu's shoulder, then looked indifferently at Zhang Wan'er and Li Zheming. With a protective stance, he said,
"At this critical moment, good intentions alone can't help. If you two continue to delay the distribution of supplies, then I advise you to leave Modu quickly and not hinder the rescue efforts!"
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the room fell silent again. Some people, sensing the situation was not right, quickly intervened to mediate, saying, "Stop arguing. All the supplies have been counted. We can start distributing them now. Let's hurry and get the supplies out, as some people are waiting for them to save their lives."
"I..." Zhang Wan'er seemed to want to throw another childish tantrum, but Chen Li Shu had no more patience to play with them. After briefly acknowledging the situation, she threw herself into the disaster relief work.
Watching everyone engrossed in the relief efforts, Zhang Wan'er felt like she was punching cotton. She bit her lower lip tightly.
Li Zheming, seeing her pitiful appearance, couldn't help but step forward and say, "Why don't you find a place to rest? This must have scared you, right?
Let's not stoop to that b*tch's level. Don't worry, after the disaster relief work is done, I'll definitely teach that b*tch a lesson and let her realize the consequences of offending you!"