Chapter 140: The Scramble for Food
  He determined that the direction of the loud noise was the same direction the guide had left.

  "Nothing must happen, uncle..." Li Hui stood by the cave entrance for a long time. Seeing that the guide hadn't returned, his heart sank.

  Looking at the increasingly heavy rain and the pitch-black night outside, Li Hui grew increasingly desperate. If the guide had truly met with an accident, and no one knew they were in the mountains, would they all be trapped here to death?

  Thinking of this, Li Hui took a deep breath and approached Teacher Wang. "Teacher, I think we should prepare for a food shortage."

  Upon hearing this, the surrounding students looked up in astonishment.

  ...

  Wen Ning, far away in the capital, slept restlessly that night. In his dreams, he kept seeing Fang Qing being swept away by the torrential rain.

  After waking several times, he could no longer fall asleep and returned to school at dawn.

  Wen Ning quickly contacted the school leaders, explaining the severe weather of the past two days and Fang Qing's class's field trip, and requested that they be contacted urgently.

  The school leader smiled and shook his head at this. He knew, of course, that Wen Ning was engaged to a freshman, so he assumed he was just being overly concerned.

  "Don't worry, Xiaoning! Our school's outings have always been led by professional teachers, and the destinations are very safe villages. Even if there are any problems, there are very professional local leaders. Nothing will happen, don't worry."

  Despite his words, Wen Ning remained uneasy, feeling that something was about to happen. Despite his pleas, the school leader only promised to contact the students as soon as possible, but nothing more.

  It wasn't until lunchtime that the school radio suddenly announced that a landslide had occurred yesterday near Miaowang Mountain in the suburbs, and that several surrounding hospitals had quickly dispatched rescue teams.

  Upon hearing this, Wen Ning dropped the plate he was holding.

  ...

  By then, everyone in the cave was in very bad shape after a night of cold wind.

  Because the guide hadn't returned, everyone, at Li Hui's suggestion, had shared all their supplies to maintain their strength.

  Fang Qing had the most supplies in the class because Wen Ning had packed a bag for her. Seeing everyone looking at her, she had no choice but to hand over everything. She only managed to secretly keep a handful of the fruit candies Wen Ning had bought when no one was paying attention.

  Food was limited, after all, and once it was shared equally, each person would get very little.

  Wang Nan and Zhang Jiaqi, who were both injured and caught a cold from the rain, were both feeling groggy. With water and medicine already in short supply, Fang Qing couldn't imagine how these powerless students would cope with the situation ahead without enough carbohydrates to sustain their energy.

  Several male students went out together to collect firewood, finding out how to get down the mountain. However, they soon returned dejected, clutching the wood.

  Li Hui removed the plastic bag, shook off the rain, and sighed, "It's still no use. The only way down the mountain from here has been blocked by collapsed rocks. The rest of the way is half-cliffed, making it difficult to escape without professional climbing ropes. If we force our way down, we don't know what will happen. We can only wait for rescue."

  Upon hearing this news, everyone fell silent.

  They had been taking turns searching for the guide all day, but hadn't found any sign of the villagers coming to their aid from below.

  If the guide had made it down the mountain last night, even if the path was difficult, they should have returned by this morning. But now, nearing dusk, no one had shown up, suggesting the guide might have met with misfortune.

  Fatigue, hunger, and anxiety from a long day without proper rest had finally worn off the patience of the cave dwellers, who were restless and even erupted in arguments over trivial matters.

  "That's our water, why did you drink it? What will happen to us if you drink it?"

  "Who saw it? Don't slander me!"

  "I did see it. The water was already low, and Fangfang was waiting for her medicine. You actually took two big gulps while I was looking for it. Don't think I didn't see it..."

  Seeing this, the two teachers forced themselves to run over and separate the two people fighting. They first calmed everyone down, then encouraged everyone to conserve their energy and wait for help.

  But it had been so long. Where was the rescue team? Had they all been forgotten?

  Everyone lowered their heads in worry. After all, the food was almost gone, the water supply was limited, and the nighttime temperatures in the mountains were still low. If they froze like this for two more days, no one knew if they would be rescued.

  Fang Qing watched the restless people nearby with their eyes downcast. She pursed her chapped lips, fighting her urge to drink the water in her cup.

  This was all the drinking water she had left for the day, and she had to save it for Wang Nan and Zhang Jiaqi's medicine. She had to think of another way.

  Fang Qing helped the two people, whose faces were already red from the fever, to drink the medicine, and used his fingers to dip some water to moisten their chapped lips.

  Li Hui filtered some more water, and everyone helped to put the lunch boxes on the fire and continued to boil water.

  Wang Nan leaned against Fang Qing, and her whole body was scalded. Fang Qing had no other choice but to use a handkerchief dipped in cold water to wipe their faces and necks to cool them down. After an unknown amount of time, their body temperatures dropped, and Fang Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  As Wang Nan woke up, she had consumed a lot of energy due to the fever. When she opened her eyes, she felt so hungry that her chest was sticking to her back, and her whole body was shaking.

  Fang Qing knew that this was because she was very hungry. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to this side. He took out a candy from his pocket and stuffed it into Wang Nan's mouth, whispering, "Hold it in your mouth, don't let others see it."

  Wang Nan obediently choked on the candy and lay down to recover. Fang Qing could finally relax a bit, reaching the cave entrance and catching the falling rainwater to quench her thirst.

  As night fell, the rain finally stopped, and the stars in the sky shone brightly. Fang Qing looked up, lost in thought.

  In the mountains, with no means of transportation or communication, she had no idea what was happening outside, or whether Wen Ning would be worried. She could only hope at the night sky, hoping someone would quickly discover their presence.

  But just as everyone was resting quietly, Li Xin jumped out again.

  "Good! You're eating alone!"

  Following Li Xin's finger, she saw a smear of white powdered sugar on the corner of Wang Nan's mouth, leaning against the rock wall. Fang Qing bit her lip. It was her carelessness that had caught Li Xin's attention.

  Yesterday, when the food was distributed, the sophomores hadn't prepared much, so Teacher Wang kindly shared some food from his own class.

  But instead of being grateful, Li Xin and the others felt Fang Qing and the others had given too little.

  At this moment, Li Xin stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Wang Nan and Fang Qing with a smug smile on her face.

  These two people were finally in her hands. This time, she must teach them a lesson!

  (End of this chapter)