The Seeds of Doubt Need No Watering

"you..."

Director Yu was speechless after Chen Yu's retort.

His imposing presence inexplicably diminished by three points.

But his long-held pride made him maintain his composure: "Chen Yu! I am the school's administrative director! These are extraordinary times; we should be even more mindful of discipline and unity!"

"Your practice of offering special treatment and charging fees severely damages team cohesion! I order you to..."

But before he could finish speaking, Chen Yu interrupted, "I order you to get out of my car!"

"?"

Director Yu was taken aback; he hadn't expected the other party to be so assertive...

Chen Yu slowly stood up, a fire axe appearing in his hand: "I'm telling you, Director Yu, the school is gone."

"Can your identity be exchanged for a single piece of timber?"

"This is my vehicle, I call the shots. Your one minute... is almost up. Either get out, or continue the transaction. Can you even understand human language?"

Director Yu's face flushed red as he pointed at Chen Yu: "You...do you even have any respect for your teachers or classmates?!"

Chen Yu approached step by step: "Looks like you don't understand..."

Just as Chen Yu, carrying a fire axe, walked to within a meter of Director Yu.

Director Yu quickly raised his hands: "Wait a moment, Chen Yu, I'll continue paying..."

This scene made the students in the car feel uneasy.

Zhang Wanyue, Li Mengyao, and the others exchanged smiles, while the few who had just boarded the bus looked on with disdain.

They were just talking about benevolence and morality, but they couldn't stand the cold themselves.

Director Yu blushed slightly and explained, "I... as the teacher in charge, I need to understand the situation. I'll take five minutes to understand it before I speak..."

As he spoke, he frantically brought up the trading interface.

But then, his expression changed.

"???"

Director Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Where are the things in the public backpack? Who touched my backpack?!"

He suddenly scrambled to the window!

Look outside!

It turned out that everything was already in complete chaos!

"Damn it, who secretly took supplies from the communal backpacks again!"

"What 'joint response' nonsense! Everyone's just looking to benefit themselves!"

"If anyone dares to touch public supplies again, I'll fight them to the death! Damn it! If I can't control them, I'll take some too!"

"I should have known better. There was no cooperation whatsoever; it was all fucking selfishness!"

In the apocalypse, seeds of doubt don't even need watering; they instantly sprout into thorns...

Trust is expensive.

A hastily assembled team will naturally not have that.

The crowd that had been gathered around the bus quickly dispersed, and people warily kept their distance from each other.

Inside the bus, it was warm and cozy...

Deng Yuxin whispered to Chen Yu, "They seem to have completely lost their way."

Wang Mengmeng pouted: "Serves them right, who told them to try to morally blackmail us?"

Li Mengyao seemed lost in thought...

She glanced at Chen Yu, who was resting with his eyes closed, and suddenly a realization dawned on her.

Zhang Wanyue also sensed something, and suddenly leaned closer, exclaiming in a low voice, "Chen Yu...you...you never wanted their supplies from the beginning?!"

She took a deep breath:

"You're dismantling a potential threat. If you manage to unite them and work together, then once they're at the outpost, we'll become targets!"

"But now, they're too busy looking after themselves and are wary of each other. Once they enter the outposts, their first thought is self-preservation, not uniting against us!"

Deng Yuxin covered her mouth, and only reacted after hearing what the class representative said.

Wang Mengmeng also showed a look of realization and lingering fear.

Chen Yu didn't answer, but instead looked at Director Yu at the door: "Time's almost up, why haven't I received Director Yu's transaction invitation yet?"

Director Yu's body stiffened abruptly, his face turning red and white.

He had no extra supplies left. His personal backpack was full of things to save his life, while the communal backpack had been divided up by those little bastards!

"Chen, Chen Yu,"

He forced an awkward smile: "Look, I'm a teacher, and I'm worried about everyone. It's just too cold outside. I'm too old to stand it."

"Once the mission begins, we can work together. After all, I have experience, I can..."

"Creak—"

"Bang!"

Chen Yu kicked it out of the door, where it slammed heavily onto the snow, sending up a cloud of snow foam!

He groaned and struggled in the snow, unable to get up for a long time; he had no idea where his glasses had fallen off...

Chen Yu stood at the door and said loudly, "You said you'd pay with the shared backpack, but you're going back on your word? Do you really think this is some village store where you can get credit?"

Outside the car, there was a deathly silence.

Then, someone let out an undisguised sneer, followed by more mockery.

No one stepped forward to help him up.

Even the original members of the director's team just watched indifferently.

After Director Yu was kicked away.

Other people who boarded the bus also declined, because they had no more supplies to provide in the shared backpacks.

After everyone got off the bus, the doors closed completely.

Only Chen Yu's team remained...

Chen Yu sat back down in his seat and looked out the window: "Get your winter gear ready."

"Um."

Zhang Wanyue nodded, then suddenly asked, "We don't..."

She made a rare gesture of slitting her throat.

Chen Yu hadn't expected that the class representative would follow suit and develop such apocalyptic ideas so quickly.

He said calmly, "No rush. The mission hasn't even started yet. Don't act rashly, or you'll incur public wrath and all your previous efforts will be wasted."

Zhang Wanyue suddenly realized, "That's true."

After the farce just happened,

The girls on the bus admired Chen Yu's methods even more, and even... felt a little fear.

This is exactly the effect Chen Yu wanted.

Only in this way.

Only by keeping your own shared backpack can you be safe and ensure that nothing like what happens outside will happen.

[Countdown: 59…58…57…]

The cold, mechanical sound shattered the last vestige of peace.

Chen Yu slowly stood up and stretched his neck: "Let's go, everyone."

He turned his head and glanced at the women.

Zhang Wanyue was wearing a heavy, long black down jacket that covered her completely, and thick fleece hiking pants that concealed her fair legs.

Only half of his cool and aloof face was visible beneath the hood, his eyes calm and collected.

Deng Yuxin was wrapped in a short, creamy-white down jacket, which was fluffy and soft. The fur trim on the hood made her face look even smaller. She was also wearing fleece-lined pants.

The clothes for the two girls were given to them by Chen Yu, in exchange for crayfish, to prevent them from freezing to death.

In contrast, Li Mengyao and Wang Mengmeng appeared to be "bound up."

Li Mengyao wore a fitted sweater and skirt underneath, layered with two cardigans of different thicknesses, and then wrapped in a short shearling coat...

Wang Mengmeng wore a loose sweatshirt under a base layer, a down jacket over the sweatshirt, and then a cape.

When the two best friends looked at Zhang Wanyue and Deng Yuxin...

Envy and bitterness almost welled up in my eyes.

Deng Yuxin tilted her glasses up and said, "Chen Yu, thank you~~"

Zhang Wanyue subconsciously turned slightly to the side, avoiding direct eye contact.

She is different from Deng Yuxin.

Chen Yu was so good to her that it made her feel burdened.

Chen Yu waved to her two best friends: "You don't need to be envious. I don't have any clothes to wear either. They are the team's food and water supply, so it's our duty to ensure their safety."

"As long as you behave, you'll have clothes and bread."

[Countdown: 9…8…7…]

Chen Yu offered a brief reassurance before getting out of the car.