Chapter 187: Reason
"You're called An Ruosu?"
"Yes."
After entering the room, the girl seemed to have stabilized her emotions, and she no longer spoke incoherently as before.
Bringing these two people in was still somewhat risky, especially knowing that they were from Qingbei. After all, they were currently more enemies than friends.
But Dong Junwei and Chen Mu's thoughts were somewhat similar. Qiming couldn't always work in isolation. If they wanted to develop, they had to interact with others, and in this process, they had to be prepared to take necessary risks.
In other words, even if these two were spies or undercover agents sent by Qingbei, they could temporarily listen to what they had to say.
"So, you two escaped from Qingbei?"
"Yes," said the girl named An Ruosu.
"Why?"
"Well... it's a long story..."
"Then take your time to tell it."
Chen Mu called a few people and brought many chairs, forming a circle near the door, allowing An Ruosu and Yang Li to sit as well.
This attitude clearly meant that if they didn't explain clearly, they might be asked to leave.
An Ruosu and Yang Li seemed prepared for this.
"In fact, besides not wanting to stay in Qingbei, the other biggest reason is that someone asked us to come here."
"Oh? Who?"
"Her name is Xia Qing, also a senior in high school. Dong Junjie should know her, right?"
Chen Mu had no impression of this name and turned to look at Dong Junwei.
However, Dong Junwei also shook her head, saying, "I've never heard of this name."
Then she asked others around as well.
Surprisingly, no one knew either.
"That's strange. Xia Qing seems to know both of you, Dong Junjie and Senior Chen Mu, quite well. I thought you knew her," An Ruosu said in confusion.
"What's wrong with Xia Qing?"
"It was she who asked us to seek refuge here, but at first, we were not sure about others, only knowing about Senior Chen Mu and Senior He Ying."
Chen Mu was somewhat curious. He had always had such a low presence in school, yet there were still people who knew him. He asked, "Xia Qing, is she the person in charge of Qingbei?"
"You could say she is one of the people in charge."
"Huh?"
"If you must put it that way, the highest authority in Qingbei is the principal."
"The principal?" Chen Mu exclaimed, "Principal Shi Yuanjun?"
"Yes," An Ruosu nodded.
Chen Mu couldn't help but glance at He Ying. Can it be true that her previous prediction has come true?
He Ying smirked, as if saying, "See, I told you so."
An Ruosu continued, "At that time, everyone suddenly became small, and it was said that the principal gathered everyone together."
"Can you explain in detail what happened at the playground?" Chen Mu had always been curious about what happened on that side.
"After people became small, it was very troublesome to walk on the grass, and the only hardened surface near the playground was the flag-raising platform. The flagpole was the most conspicuous thing, and since we were in the grass, we couldn't see anything else. We could only walk in the direction of the flagpole. When we arrived there, we found that many people were already there."
"Did students from Yizhong High School also gather there?"
"They did. The three teachers leading the groups from Yizhong also helped us maintain order. On the other hand, in our own school, except for the principal, we didn't see any teachers. It's said that there were more than 400 people on the playground at that time. Yizhong had more people because they were closer to the flag-raising platform, so they didn't suffer many losses. As for us, our group was more scattered, and in the end, including Yizhong's students, we were left with just over 200 people."
"How many students does Yizhong have?"
"They sent five students from each class in the first and second grades, so probably a little over a hundred."
"Which means the more than 200 people lost were all from our Ziyu High School?" Chen Mu asked.
He Ying interjected, "It's understandable, after all, Yizhong was a guest, and their people were more concentrated on the playground, making it easier for them to gather."
An Ruosu nodded. "Senior Xia Qing also mentioned this later. Although we lost 200 people, not all of them necessarily died. Some might have left the playground and went somewhere else. From the survivors we found later, it seems to be the case."
"In fact, even though there were some insects and worms on the playground, most of them didn't attack people. Moreover, with hundreds of people stepping on the ground that day, the living creatures were probably scared away. So, at least in the first few days, the danger wasn't that great, it was just difficult to move around."
"So, in the beginning, Qingbei had only around a hundred people?"
"Yes, it was similar to Yizhong. Later, after searching for survivors slowly, the number increased to more than 250, but due to several battles with Yizhong and other accidents, now we have only around 200 people left."
"So many people died?" Chen Mu frowned.
"Yizhong didn't fare much better. According to Senior Xia Qing's estimation, they probably have around 50 people left now."
Chen Mu nodded in understanding.
If that's the case, then Qingbei indeed has an advantage in the confrontation due to its larger population. Also, as they continuously search for survivors, it's understandable that they might have suffered more losses.
On the other hand, Yizhong seems to only need to defend the cafeteria, yet they have still lost half of their people, which is indeed quite heavy.
As for Qiming, being able to develop to this point has a significant element of luck. Apart from Luo Hui and Gu Ping, no one else has died.
"From what you're saying, there was no conflict between Yizhong and your group at the beginning?" Chen Mu asked again.
"No, in that situation, everyone was scared to death and only wanted to survive. Of course, the more people, the better. There was no reason for any conflicts."
"So why did it later turn into the current situation?"
"We're not entirely sure. That night, everyone slept around the flagpole, and the next morning, the people from Yizhong suddenly attacked us like they went crazy. Because there were so many people, I didn't even know what happened. Later, the people from Yizhong fled collectively, and we heard that we lost more than ten people in that incident."
"Did the principal explain?"
"He said he didn't know either, but we often speculated among ourselves that it was probably a conflict between the leaders of both sides that led to the clash. However, we don't know who was right or wrong, and it doesn't matter now. Whenever Yizhong sees anyone from our school, they attack without saying a word, so we have no choice but to fight back."
"You mentioned Xia Qing was one of the people in charge. Who are the others?"
"Although the principal is the highest leader, he rarely shows up. The day-to-day affairs are usually managed by three people. Xia Senior is one of them, and the others are Tong Bin and Senior Song Yu. However, these three don't seem to work together harmoniously..."
Having three people share the management responsibilities seems somewhat similar to the current situation in Qiming.
Dong Junwei is the highest leader.
Below are Chen Mu, Tang Jing, and He Ying.
The difference is that in Qiming, everyone gets along very well.
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