Bai Lu shook her head. “Aside from arguing, I barely had any communication with him. I have no idea who he was close with.”
“Su Xueqing.”
Bai Lu was quite surprised. “So it was her. I was wondering why she sounded so convincing when she accused other young wives of having affairs; turns out she was doing the same thing herself! I really underestimated her.”
Su Xueqing was a woman whose husband had passed away, leaving her with two children. If she had behaved like a decent person, everyone would have helped her, but she constantly made trouble until everyone grew to loathe her and her children.
Seeing Jin Qiu staring at her, Bai Lu said exasperatedly, “The person I like really isn’t him. Regardless of whether you told me the truth or not, I don’t like him. It’s impossible for my feelings to change from ‘liking’ to ‘disliking’ because of this truth, because I never liked him to begin with.”
“Then… what about Fu Mingsheng?” Jin Qiu asked tentatively.
“Who?” Hearing this name, Bai Lu found it both familiar and strange. After a moment, she remembered. He was the person the Bai family had arranged for her to marry. The two had only met a few times, and nothing had been finalized. Once the Bai family “went bankrupt” and fell into massive debt, Fu Mingsheng immediately cut off all contact with her.
If Jin Qiu hadn’t mentioned the name today, Bai Lu wouldn’t have even remembered who he was. Even though it hadn’t been that long ago, she truly had no memory of him.
“Just how insecure are you? You ask about Jin Jialiang, then you ask about Fu Mingsheng—why can’t you just think about yourself for once?” Bai Lu said, speechless.
“Then…” Jin Qiu looked at Bai Lu again, his eyes full of anticipation.
“I’ll tell you later.” Bai Lu stood up with a playful, prideful air. “Hurry up and see if the potatoes are done. I’ve been out for a long time; I need to get back to the tent. Everyone is waiting to eat!”
Jin Qiu lifted the lid. Seeing that some of the potato skins had burst, he knew they were ready.
“There are three of us. Give me six first. You can distribute the rest so everyone can line their stomachs.” Bai Lu handed over her lunch box.
Jin Qiu scooped six potatoes for her and asked, “Which tent are you in? I’ll come find you tonight.”
“Don’t come. Focus on your work. As long as we are still alive, there will naturally be a chance to meet,” Bai Lu interjected quickly. The current situation was dire, and all other matters had to be put on the back burner—especially something like romance, which most people would consider trivial right now.
In truth, few people here had genuine feelings; most were just trying to get through the day together.
“When you get back, tell the people in the tent that I’ll arrange for someone to deliver food to everyone soon. That way, people won’t have to crowd over here to fight for it,” Jin Qiu said.
Bai Lu nodded. “I understand.”
There was only one pot available at the moment, and it could only cook a small amount at a time. If everyone rushed over to claim food, it would likely turn into a chaotic mess. It was better to deliver it directly to the tents once it was cooked.
Back in the tent, Bai Lu gave the potatoes to Gao Chen and Wen Nuan, explaining, “This is all they have for now, so let’s eat this first. We’ll see if any supplies arrive tomorrow.”
“Dr. Gao, if this isn’t enough, I still have pears and walnut shortbread.” When she was packing last night, she had brought all her food, fearing it would attract rats in the dormitory. Since she had already explicitly mentioned having pears and shortbread, she could take more out of the “Universal Warehouse” whenever she needed; no one would know exactly how much she had brought.
Gao Chen shook his head. “No need, I brought some food as well. The two of you should take turns finding opportunities to rest. Don’t let yourselves both collapse from exhaustion at the same time, do you hear me?”
Here, everyone was busy, and there was no scheduled time for rest. They had to snatch moments of sleep whenever possible to keep going; if they fell ill, they would only become a burden to the team.
Bai Lu and Wen Nuan nodded in agreement.
The two of them crouched in their storage area and ate the potatoes. Once their strength had recovered slightly, they returned to their frantic work. Bai Lu called over the nurses from the Heyi County Hospital who had arrived the night before.
After a discussion, they decided to implement a shift system. The county hospital nurses had arrived last night and had been working for twenty-four hours straight without rest. If they didn’t sleep soon, they would certainly collapse.
It was decided that the first group would rest from 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM—a total of six hours. Then, Bai Lu and Wen Nuan would rest from 2:00 AM to 8:00 AM, also for six hours. During the day, everyone would work together because the daytime was much busier than the night.
Bai Lu didn’t know how other tents were handling rest, but she wanted to ensure her team got proper sleep so work could proceed normally. Medical staff were already in short supply; if everyone got exhausted or sick, what would happen to the patients in the tent?
About half an hour later, Jin Qiu, a colleague, and two villagers arrived to deliver food. Everyone—doctors, nurses, patients, and family members—received two potatoes each.
As they distributed the potatoes according to the bed order, Jin Qiu stood beside Bai Lu and whispered, “Starting tomorrow, I will arrange for a colleague to oversee the cooking. I won’t let them embezzle everyone’s rations again.”
Bai Lu nodded. “Thank you.”
“Being so polite?” Jin Qiu arched an eyebrow.
“I’m thanking you on behalf of everyone. If you hadn’t stepped up, they’d probably still be going hungry.” It seemed there was no one in charge of the kitchen, so those people had grown bold enough to withhold living supplies.
“The reason we came by just now was to drop off more wounded. We have to leave immediately,” Jin Qiu said.
Bai Lu nodded. “Please, be safe.”
They each had their own missions. At a time like this, they had to work together to help everyone overcome this crisis. Far from being a hindrance to him, Bai Lu was determined to contribute her own strength.
During the night, the nurses who had arrived early were finally resting. Only Gao Chen, Bai Lu, and Wen Nuan remained busy in their tent. Eventually, Bai Lu convinced Gao Chen to rest as well, promising to wake him if any wounded requiring a doctor were brought in.
“Wen Nuan, keep an eye on things. I’m going out to get some fresh air and clear my head. I’ll be right back,” Bai Lu said to Wen Nuan after seeing that Gao Chen had fallen asleep. She then stepped outside.
It was pitch black outside, so dark she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. The only light came from the faint glow of flashlights within the tents where medical staff were still working.
Groping through the darkness, Bai Lu carefully made her way to the cooking area. She took out a barrel stove and a large iron pot that she had previously purchased and stored in the “Universal Warehouse.” With so many people here, a single pot—even if kept running non-stop—could never keep up with the demand.