Chapter 101 - 42: Siege

Chapter 101: Chapter 42: Siege

The sky outside the window had turned completely dark. Thursday afternoon had slowly slipped away amid the turning of pages and the clacking of keys.

The sofa scraped softly against the floor. Yu Xian looked up to see Senior Sister Yiyi standing up to stretch.

"You must be hungry." Standing against the light, Yang Yiyi still bore the pallor of her recent illness.

"A little." Yu Xian rubbed his throbbing temples and glanced at the time. To his surprise, it was already nearly eight o’clock.

"Are the dumplings you brought back in the fridge?" Yang Yiyi pulled a hair tie out from who-knows-where and deftly tied up her hair.

Yu Xian nodded.

The upper compartment was the fridge and the lower was the freezer. Yang Yiyi leaned over, opening the door to rummage inside. He wanted to help but realized there wasn’t much he could do. Senior Sister Yiyi’s high ponytail swayed gently from behind. Before long, two steaming plates of dumplings were brought to the table.

They were pork and cabbage. With no garlic or dipping sauce, the two of them simply sat across from each other and ate.

"How are you feeling? Are you still dizzy?" Yu Xian asked, swallowing a dumpling.

"Much better." Yang Yiyi took a small bite of her dumpling, the hot steam billowing against the tip of her nose. "My body still feels a bit weak, but the fever has definitely broken."

After dinner, he watched as Senior Sister Yiyi’s pale lips gradually regained their rosy hue, and the frail, tottering aura of weakness around her largely dissipated. Seeing her current condition, Yu Xian finally felt a bit more at ease. He then found a few changes of clothes for her.

"Senior Sister, I’ll be heading back now." Yu Xian gathered his papers and laptop from the table, then picked up his backpack and raincoat. "I need to go check on my cousin’s place. If you find out anything, or if you feel unwell, message me anytime."

"Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing." Yang Yiyi leaned against the doorframe, watching him. "Be safe, and take your time on the road."

Stepping out of the apartment, Yu Xian could clearly feel that the floodwaters had receded a bit; at the very least, he no longer had to wade knee-deep. He had originally planned to go straight to North Campus to find Wen Xiao and check on the audio’s progress. However, halfway there, he saw long police cordons drawn in the direction of the school, accompanied by flashing red and blue lights. Thinking it over, he realized there was no cell signal or internet near the campus anyway, so he decided to head back to his cousin’s house first to assess the situation before making his next move.

Pushing open the door to his cousin’s house, he spotted a pair of mud-caked rain boots in the entryway. Yu Xian froze. Yu Zhengze was leaning back on the sofa, not even having had the time to change out of his police uniform.

"Zhengze? You’re back?" He was extremely surprised. His cousin had been on the frontlines of the flood relief for the past few days, and when Yu Xian had come to grab his things that morning, the house was exactly as he had left it.

"Yeah, just got back." Yu Zhengze lifted his eyelids to look at him, his voice already a bit hoarse. "Where have you been running off to all day?"

"Just... over at the rental apartment, packing up some things. Have you eaten? Should I boil some dumplings for you?" Yu Xian asked while changing his shoes, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"I grabbed a quick bite at the station." Yu Zhengze waved his hand to signal that he wasn’t hungry, then frowned. "With the rain this heavy, it’s best not to run around unless it’s urgent."

Yu Xian gave a vague response and walked over to sit beside him, probing tentatively, "Why are there... so many police cordons set up around our area?"

Yu Zhengze rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You can’t go in for the time being."

"They’re not letting anyone in?" Yu Xian was taken aback.

"Yeah. Exit only."

"Is it because of the flooding?"

"The water is a minor issue. It’s mostly because of the people." Yu Zhengze pulled a cigarette from his pack but didn’t light it, just holding it between his fingers. "A portion of the evacuees from the old district and the low-lying areas didn’t go to the designated shelters. They rushed straight to your area instead."

Yu Xian suddenly remembered the trending topics from that morning. "Is it because of... those people mentioned online?"

"Yes, your area is the hardest hit." Yu Zhengze’s voice was laced with exhaustion. "This whole incident just provided them with an outlet to vent."

Yu Xian’s heart tightened. Shi Zuozhou and Wen Xiao were still inside. What if...

"Then... how is the situation now? Are there any casualties?"

"There are some injuries." Yu Zhengze sighed and said slowly, "Security guards and on-duty staff got hurt during the pushing and shoving when they tried to turn people away. Fortunately, they’re all minor injuries. So far, we haven’t received any reports of anything more serious."

Seeming to notice Yu Xian’s anxiety, his cousin’s tone softened slightly. "You don’t need to worry too much. At most, they’re just using the chaos to vent their emotions. They won’t actually do anything to anyone."

Yu Xian breathed a sigh of relief, but then scenes from the trending posts flashed through his mind. "What about you guys, then?" he asked, somewhat confused, his tone growing a bit urgent. "Since they’ve already seriously disturbed public order, why aren’t you taking coercive measures?"

"Coercive measures? Easier said than done." Yu Zhengze glanced at him, sounding helpless. "Everyone is in a fit of rage right now. How can we use force?" He rubbed his temples. "The manpower deployed to the school was already squeezed out from the frontlines of the flood relief. At a critical juncture like this, any large-scale action will only intensify the conflict."

Yu Xian opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn’t find the words. Although he felt intellectually frustrated by it all, he knew that what his cousin said was the reality.

"So you’re just going to let things keep spiraling?"

"Of course not." Yu Zhengze stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the slightly lightening rain. "Right now, our primary focus is evacuation. We’re utilizing de-escalation and soft containment first to avoid direct clashes."

He cracked the window open, and a chilling wind instantly poured in. "Once the rain stops and the water recedes, the rumors will naturally collapse on their own."

Yu Xian nodded silently. This was reality—there wasn’t that much black and white, but rather a constant search for a fulcrum on the scales.