Chapter 196

Chapter 196

How could it not work? Dawn and Dusk might look intimidating, but on the battlefield, they were fearless warriors. After receiving Ye Qing's orders, each of them led a rescue team into the ruins.

Soon, the rescue teams discovered the power of these two wolf kings. Wherever they went, they could instantly detect survivors buried beneath the rubble. When the wolf kings stopped at a spot, raised their heads, and howled, casting a disdainful glance at the humans around them, the rescue teams knew it was time to get to work.

In fact, one wolf per rescue team was not enough. Before one team could dig out the survivors, the wolf kings had already found the next survivor. With a shortage of personnel, the rescue center urgently dispatched more teams to assist the wolf kings. Despite the seemingly chaotic scene, under the wolf kings' extreme coordination, everything proceeded in an orderly manner, without wasting any manpower or time.

Ye Qing, meanwhile, continued her emergency work, working non-stop for dozens of hours. During this time, neither she nor the girls under her command had time to sleep. When they were truly exhausted, they would simply sit on the ground in a corner of the tent, leaning against a table leg to take a short nap.

But in such an environment, sleep was impossible. On one hand, aftershocks were still ongoing, and the ground would shake from time to time. On the other hand, as Ye Qing treated more and more strange and critical patients, the rescue center grew increasingly confident in her medical expertise and unconventional methods. Consequently, more and more critically ill patients were sent to her tent. They were racing against time to save lives from certain death, leaving no room for rest. Whenever a patient arrived, they had to immediately dive into emergency care. Sleep? There was no time for that.

Ye Qing was also worried that her team might not hold up, so whenever there was a brief moment of respite, she would quickly give them acupuncture and secretly add some wood element abilities to their food and water to ensure they could maintain their mental state. At this critical juncture, no one could afford to collapse.

The first three days were the golden period for rescue operations. During this time, survivors buried in the ruins could still preserve their strength. Those found within this period, unless severely injured, had a high chance of survival. But beyond this period, it depended on the survivors' will to live and their resilience. The longer it took, the slimmer the chances of survival, and after seven days, the possibility of survival was almost negligible.

Therefore, the rescue teams had to race against time during this golden period. Every extra shovel of dirt, every extra inch of ground they dug, was a chance for the survivors below to live.

During this time, Ye Qing witnessed countless tragic deaths and heard many heart-wrenching, tear-jerking stories of heroism, witnessing the brilliance and greatness of human nature.

There was a teacher who rushed into a school dormitory to evacuate students, grabbing two students and running downstairs, only to be struck by a collapsing beam. His body was torn in two, and he was drenched in blood, yet he clung tightly to the students. Even when the rescue team dug him out, they couldn't pry his hands loose from the students.

There was a father who shielded his wife, who in turn shielded their baby. Their arched bodies formed a protective barrier, isolating the innocent infant from the chaos outside. The child, oblivious to his mother's death, was still suckling at her breast when the rescue team dug him out. He flailed his arms and legs, his rosy cheeks smiling with pure innocence, showing no trace of fear.

After the child was rescued, a female rescue team member, a new mother herself, openly breastfed the child. She was a police officer who had lost family members in the earthquake but had chosen to join the rescue efforts without hesitation. Seeing the child, she didn't care about being seen; she just wanted the child to be fed and to survive.

There was a family buried in the ruins, with only a nine-year-old boy and his three-year-old sister managing to crawl out. The young boy carried his sister through the ruins, walking over ten kilometers, surviving several aftershocks, his hands and feet bloodied and some wounds deep enough to reveal bone, yet he steadfastly brought his sister to the rescue team's base.

There was a pregnant nurse who tirelessly saved lives, carrying patients, moving oxygen tanks, and coordinating medical supplies. After working for two or three days, she suddenly went into premature labor. The baby, only seven months old and underdeveloped, died shortly after birth.

There was an old factory worker and party member who, in an effort to save the factory's newly acquired expensive equipment, rushed into the building despite the falling debris. He and his entire maintenance team were buried in the ruins, with only two surviving. One of them, in an attempt to protect a crucial component, used his body to shield it from falling concrete slabs, resulting in severe necrosis of his left leg. Although he survived, he had to undergo an amputation at the thigh, a surgery performed by Ye Qing herself.

There was an old district police chief who, before the earthquake, had been busy coordinating the evacuation of residents and arranging for a large group of citizens to take refuge in the countryside. He had no time to think about his wife and elderly father. After the earthquake, he returned to the city to find his house collapsed and his wife and father buried in the ruins. Grieving, he dug out their bodies but had no time to mourn. Instead, he immediately returned to the rescue efforts.

There were People’s Liberation Army support soldiers who, lacking rescue equipment, had to dig through the ruins with their bare hands and shoulders, overcoming countless difficulties to save lives. Despite the constant threat of aftershocks, they bravely entered the ruins, managing to open a rescue passage and save one survivor, only for a second collapse to block the passage and bury the air vents.

One support soldier, dragged to safety by his comrades, struggled and wept uncontrollably, even kneeling and begging his comrades to let him save just one more person. He believed he could save one more.

Other soldiers were buried in the ruins during secondary collapses, with many comrades witnessing their fellow soldiers perish in the rubble. Yet, they could not falter or retreat; they had to press on, fearless and resolute.

Ye Qing didn't know how many times she had cried during this ordeal, or how she managed to suppress her grief to perform surgery on one critically injured patient after another. She had lost track of how many days had passed since the earthquake and how many lives she had saved. She just kept going, pushing herself until her apprentices collapsed, until fewer and fewer survivors were being rescued, until her wood element abilities were nearly depleted. Then, one day, Gu Weidong, his shoulder bloodied, strode into the tent and told her that the rescue operations were over and it was time to go home.

Only then did the tension in Ye Qing's heart finally ease. Exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. Her ankles were swollen, and her arms felt like they no longer belonged to her. The moment Gu Weidong announced the end, she collapsed backward, saved from hitting the ground only by Gu Weidong's quick reflexes.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but when she woke up, she found herself in a hospital, with Gu Weidong sitting by her bed, looking at her with concern.

"Awake?" Gu Weidong handed her a glass of water and told her she had slept for two full days.

"The initial survivor rescue operations are over. Now it's about relocating the affected population and rebuilding. That's not our job anymore; volunteers and various departments will handle it. Your apprentices have already returned to Kaoshantun village. Will you go back now, or...?"

Thinking of all the people and events she had encountered during the earthquake, Ye Qing suddenly felt a strong impulse.

She looked at Gu Weidong and said directly, "Gu Weidong, let's get married!"

Gu Weidong was completely caught off guard. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry Ye Qing, but this came out of the blue. Why would Ye Qing suddenly bring this up? Moreover, shouldn't he be the one to propose? How could a woman take the lead?

Ye Qing didn't mince words either. She clearly stated her ultimate purpose for proposing to Gu Weidong:

"The city has suffered too much. It's hard to say how long it will take for the affected people to heal emotionally. So many have been displaced and lost loved ones, especially the children who became orphans overnight, losing their parents. There are countless. Even if the authorities resettle them, these children will likely end up in orphanages, or at best, being taken in by other relatives."

"If they are healthy children, that's one thing, but for those with physical disabilities or psychological issues, whether they are sent to orphanages or taken in by relatives, their lives will likely be difficult."

"We're both in a good position. We earn decent allowances, and with the policy relaxation, the pharmaceutical factory will soon be up and running. Our future will definitely get better and better. I have properties in the capital and Shanghai, and land in Shenzhen. I have more than enough money to raise a few children."

"So I was thinking, why don't we get a marriage certificate? Once we meet the adoption criteria, we can go to the Jibei Resettlement Office and adopt those children with physical disabilities or psychological issues caused by trauma, whom no one dares to take. What do you think?"