"@everyone, please save my child first! I beg you!"
Some people who were asleep were woken up.
"I'll help you first. @Lüsong Hasn't Moved In Yet, who has his phone number? Call him and tell him to pick someone up. Name your price, he'll come. What's the patient's room number? I'll head there right away," Wang Qiqi said in the group chat.
"We're in Building 13, Unit 501."
[Wang Dazhao No. 1]:"I have his number. I just called Lüsong and asked him to come save someone. He said if he's going to risk his life going out, it'll cost sixty thousand. Otherwise, he won't come. Last time we took his unlicensed car, he also asked for an outrageous fare."
The account "Young Master I Have Kids" weakly sent a voice message: "We'll pay, we'll pay! Please, just come quickly!"
[Wang Dazhao No. 1]: "Then hang on a bit longer. Coming from the city will take at least half an hour."
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "People these days are so crazy for money."
That was the end of the chat—information from a few minutes ago. Jing Shu went downstairs, stood outside Jing An's bedroom, and listened. It was quiet inside. Jing Shu thought, adults might manage to hold on, but children were different.
Children are the hope for life to continue, especially in the apocalypse. Even someone like Jing Shu, who had grown used to life and death, still wanted more children to survive. What's more, for Jing Shu, helping them was just a small effort that could save an entire family of three.
Thinking this through, Jing Shu typed while quickly getting dressed, rubbed medicated oil on herself, then zipped into her full-body suit. The rule of saving others was to ensure she did not throw herself into danger and create more trouble.
"@Wang Dazhao Unit 1, call that person back and tell him he doesn't need to come."
"@Young Master I Have Kids, I have an energy car. I'll take you to the hospital now, free of charge. Come straight downstairs, I'll be waiting in front of Building 13. @Wang Qiqi, please follow along to help look after them."
Jing Shu's message exploded into the group chat like a cannon shell, stirring up huge waves.
[Wang Dazhao No. 1]: "@Xiaoshu Villa District, got it! I'll make the call now. So the energy car is yours? Awesome!"
Wang Cuihua sent another voice message: "There are still good people in the world. I hope the child makes it."
Jing Shu also smeared medicated oil on the car headlights. Soon, Wang Qiqi, the burly, dark-skinned group admin, came downstairs carrying the child while his wife supported him. Their hair was disheveled, their faces pale and drawn. The mother was already a mess of tears. Jing Shu quickly helped them into the car. Five people sped toward the nearest hospital, Jing Shu pressing the accelerator to the floor.
"Just you alone?" Wang Qiqi was surprised. He had always thought Jing Shu's family of three was very ordinary, but now the more he looked, the less ordinary they seemed. The only person in the community who owned an energy car lived quietly in the villa district, low-key to the extreme. And in such a critical moment, Jing Shu risked herself to help others, asking nothing in return. It proved the saying: the wealthier a person is, sometimes the more cultivated they are.
"My mom has to get up at four to work, so I didn't wake her. I can handle this myself," Jing Shu replied.
Once the energy car passed sixty kilometers an hour, it would switch to gasoline. The speedometer was already past 110. The young couple, both parents, were focused entirely on their child and hadn't noticed. Wang Qiqi did notice, but he wisely stayed silent. He didn't ask the obvious question: how do you still have fuel in times like this?
Soon his attention shifted again. Wrapped tightly in her spotless full-body suit, Jing Shu sat against spotless car seats, the faint medicinal fragrance of medicated oil filling the air. Embarrassed, Wang Qiqi discreetly lifted himself off the seat, trying to keep his filthy clothes from staining it.
"You can sit properly. It's fine." Jing Shu braked hard into a turn and hit the gas again. Wang Qiqi smacked his head against the car doorframe.
He opened his mouth in pain, feeling even more humiliated, and gingerly lowered himself onto the cursed clean seat.
They quickly arrived at Yuwen Hospital. Brilliant lights lit up the night, drawing swarms of black fungus beetles. Patrol staff sprayed insecticide non-stop.
After two rounds of security checks, Jing Shu finally got the family inside and understood what Su Lanzhi meant by "no more space." The hospital was so full that not even a step could be taken freely. People could only shuffle forward by squeezing.
The hospital itself was eerily quiet. No one dared speak loudly. A large LED screen displayed: "Anyone who produces noise exceeding 50 decibels twice will be removed. Infants excluded. Critical patients please proceed to the critical ward."
Jing Shu wondered if the reason no one dared speak loudly was because most people didn't know exactly how loud 50 decibels was. Someone like her, who had never studied much, certainly didn't.
Still, she was stunned by the sight: countless patients stood upright, holding IV bottles above their own heads. The scene was overwhelming.
A security aunt pulled the confused family aside and handed them a numbered slip: 098. She pointed at a window and told them to wait in line. The couple nearly broke down in tears. Jing Shu quickly explained.
"This child is not going to make it. You need to register for a critical ward number." Jing Shu showed the unconscious child to the security woman, who then led Jing Shu—carrying the child—and the weak couple straight to the critical ward.
Wang Qiqi stayed behind to wait for updates from the regular line, promising to notify Jing Shu as soon as something came up. Along the way, the couple wept quietly and repeatedly thanked her.
The critical ward was in chaos. People lay sprawled in every direction. Some were already dead, some on the verge of dying, some still undergoing resuscitation. The atmosphere was grim. Doctors, red-eyed from exhaustion, were working through the night.
Fortunately, one doctor managed to spare a moment. Without a word, he launched straight into a series of emergency procedures. At last, the child was hooked up to an IV. The doctor tossed out one sentence: "If he doesn't wake up within half an hour, the chance of survival will be very low." Then he rushed off to treat another influenza patient.
In this ward, every second counted. Doctors had no time for explanations.
The child's mother fainted on the spot, leading to another bout of chaos. Finally, only Jing Shu remained, sitting quietly in the noisy ward, watching over the tiny bundle.
The atmosphere was too familiar. Hopeless eyes, numb tears. In her previous life, Su Lanzhi had collapsed from heatstroke. Dragged to the hospital, she too had been left to fate. Fortunately, she survived. Jing Shu still felt grateful for that.
The half-hour deadline loomed. Jing Shu turned her eyes to the little one. Dirty, yes, but still adorable. Now, though, his face was pale, eyes shut, completely unconscious.
After thinking it through, Jing Shu tried feeding him a bit of diluted Spirit Spring water. Ten minutes passed, nothing changed. Over forty minutes had gone by, and there was still no response. Sighing, Jing Shu decided to gamble. She forced a full drop of Spirit Spring into the child's mouth.
Within five minutes, a loud wail pierced the ward. Jing Shu was caught off guard, but soon a doctor rushed back, reexamined the child, and muttered in surprise, "The medicine doesn't act this quickly. How did he recover already? Feed him something."
Jing Shu hurriedly fed him an entire bottle of milk. The child gulped it down, still unsatisfied. She emptied the couple's pockets of snacks and fed all of it to him. Still he wanted more. Jing Shu knew it was the Spirit Spring's effect.
"So the Spirit Spring really can save lives." This accident had revealed something truly extraordinary to Jing Shu.