CHAPTER 281: CHAPTER 281: HEAVY AND PROFOUND

But what took her by surprise was that Ye Hua actually supported her decision to help, although he wasn’t very supportive of her getting involved personally. Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop Xu Xiuxiu’s determination.

When Xu Xiuxiu arrived at the breached dam with the construction workers, the several villages that had been collapsed by the flood waters were still severely affected. The scene was almost beyond her expectations and also dealt a huge blow to the construction workers who had arrived with her; they had clearly not anticipated the flood to be so serious, serious enough to be heart-stopping.

Everywhere on the site, there were injured people—some crying, some helping. There were also many who had died due to the collapse of their houses because of the flood, including several-year-old children and very small infants.

This was the first time Xu Xiuxiu had truly encountered death. Watching the parents who had lost their children in anguish, and those who had died because they couldn’t be rescued in time, Xu Xiuxiu felt for the first time the stark helplessness of her own strength, a feeling of utter powerlessness that ached to the deepest part of her chest.

However, after the heavy impact of this sorrow, Xu Xiuxiu immediately shook off those complex thoughts. Many of the workers who came with her had already taken initiative to help the busy soldiers, digging and lifting as needed. As construction workers, they had some experience with collapsed buildings and were therefore able to alleviate many of the soldiers’ difficulties in rescuing those trapped in the wreckage.

In addition, many people had voluntarily come to the site to help. At that moment, everyone’s hearts seemed to unite, with the sole purpose of saving one more person and reducing the terrible toll of the disaster.

Xu Xiuxiu was a woman, and there wasn’t much she could do, but she still did her utmost. There was a shortage of medical rescue personnel, so she volunteered to help, even if it was just running errands or fetching things, which she did gladly.

After a busy afternoon, Xu Xiuxiu was no longer the clean and tidy helper she was when she had first arrived. The bun she had tied at the back of her head had become disheveled, and there were various bruises and scrapes on her face and arms, which were faintly painful when wet. But thinking of the life of a child she had helped to save earlier, she, also a mother, felt an immense sense of pride and naturally ignored the pain.

After more than five hours of continuous work, when Xu Xiuxiu was called by the site’s medical staff to have dinner, she realized that her legs had gone numb.

But when she saw staff from Sichuan Pavilion in their uniforms bringing hot meals to the many soldiers on site, seeing the soldiers quickly eating but lifting smiling faces in satisfaction, Xu Xiuxiu felt much better, then she also got some food and found a place to eat.

"Xiuxiu," Xu Xiuxiu had only taken a couple of bites when she heard Yuan Fangfang, the head nurse from Tiger Wolf Military Region, calling out to her.

After a hard afternoon’s work, Xu Xiuxiu had become quite familiar with several of the medical staff. In such times, everyone seemed to band together with a shared goal, making it easier to get along. They had roughly understood Xu Xiuxiu’s situation, knowing she was a military wife who had come to help voluntarily, so they became more casual with her, calling on her whenever they were too busy to cope, and she took every task seriously.

"What’s the matter?" Xu Xiuxiu heard Yuan Fangfang’s urgent voice and immediately put down her disposable simple lunch box. As she looked up, she saw Yuan Fangfang anxiously holding a child and walking toward her: "Xiuxiu, this baby is only a few months old, but her mother has had an accident. Aren’t you still breastfeeding? Could you help feed her, look how hungry she is, she can’t even cry anymore."

Yuan Fangfang was also a mother, a few years older than Xu Xiuxiu, and had formed a rather good impression of Xu Xiuxiu. In the bustle of the afternoon, the two had gained a general understanding of each other. She knew that Xu Xiuxiu was a mother and that her child at home had not been weaned yet. It seemed to her that Xu Xiuxiu should be able to feed the child.

"Leave it to me!" Xu Xiuxiu reached out with heartrending compassion and took the crying girl from Yuan Fangfang’s arms. She then looked around, preparing to find a more hidden spot to breastfeed. "Sister Fang, where should I go to feed..." Xu Xiuxiu regretted that she could not finish her sentence.

However, as an experienced mother herself, Yuan Fang understood that in such a situation, most people would not mind too much. Yet, seeing Xu Xiuxiu’s demeanor and appearance, she knew that Xu Xiuxiu was likely to be shy, and guessing that Xu Xiuxiu might feel uncomfortable directly breastfeeding, she led her into a makeshift plastic shed nearby. "You can feed her here! I’ll watch outside for you," said Yuan Fang, then turned and stood guard outside the plastic shed.

With Yuan Fang standing guard, Xu Xiuxiu felt more at ease and lifted her clothes to start feeding the little girl, who, perhaps out of hunger, sucked vigorously, causing Xu Xiuxiu a faint pain.

But as Xu Xiuxiu watched the child in her arms stop crying and show a docile and charming appearance, her heart naturally softened into tenderness.

"Captain Song, please wait a moment, there’s someone inside," suddenly came Yuan Fangfang’s voice from outside the plastic shed.

Xu Xiuxiu grimaced, guessing that someone must have come back and wanted to enter the shed. With a mix of helplessness and panic, she stopped breastfeeding and quickly straightened her clothes before carefully holding the child in her arms.

"Hmm, who?" A familiar, deeply ingrained, low voice sounded.

"It’s a military wife who came to offer support and help voluntarily," Yuan Fangfang replied haltingly, then shouted into the plastic shed, "Xiuxiu, are you done? If you’re done, come out quickly."

"I’m done," Xu Xiuxiu whispered back, carrying the child who was half-fed but had stopped crying and was now soundly lip-smacking asleep, towards the entrance of the shed.

As Xu Xiuxiu spoke, the plastic door of the shed was lifted, and Yuan Fangfang walked in first. She looked at the dozily sleeping girl in Xu Xiuxiu’s arms and smiled, "Look how cute she is now that she’s asleep!" Yuan Fangfang said amiably, then turned to Song Yuanhuan, "Captain Song, just now, for the sake of the child, I borrowed your workplace without asking for your permission. Please don’t mind." Although Yuan Fangfang was a senior military nurse and knew Song Yuanhuan, allowing Xu Xiuxiu to come here to breastfeed without authorization was against military regulations. Even if there were no important documents in that shed, rules were rules.

"It’s fine," Song Yuanhuan shook his head, his gaze locked on Xu Xiuxiu in front of him, looking at the abrasions on her delicate and pretty hands, then at the red scrape on her fair cheek, his eyes heavy and profound.

"Thanks for your understanding, Captain Song. I’ll take them out now," said Yuan Fangfang, seemingly oblivious to Song Yuanhuan’s difference in demeanor, looking courteously at Xu Xiuxiu, and then gesturing for Xu Xiuxiu to carry the child and follow her out.