WS - Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Mu Xingzhou couldn't quite understand Yu Nianbing's approach of opening with low demands and a high price, instantly inflating the market.
In his view, for ability-type players like Zhao Da and Zhao Er, it was certainly worth trying to throw out a big sum all at once to see if he could buy them outright. But for the others, such a huge offer would only whet their appetites.
Even if they agreed to Yu Nianbing's proposal now--five million per person to carry Song Shiyue to the next camp--what then? When they reached the camp after that, would the price rise to ten million? By that logic, how far could Yu Nianbing's wealth sustain everyone in carrying Song Shiyue?
What gnawed at Mu Xingzhou was that with Yu Nianbing making this mistake, how could he now bring up asking everyone to help carry Feng Qianqian at a set price?
It had to be said that Zhao Da's conversation with Mu Xingzhou the previous night had not left Mu Xingzhou's mind entirely unshaken--that would be impossible. But that was only Zhao Da's speculation, and until they were truly at a dead end, Mu Xingzhou still wanted to try this morning whether the lure of wealth could move people.
But now, with a buyer on this side making reckless offers, Mu Xingzhou found himself stranded, unable to get out a single word of the plan he had prepared.
Song Shiyue...
Mu Xingzhou looked at the person lying at Yu Nianbing's feet.
The person who had helped them so much along the way, who had just saved them from the cave the day before...
The conflict and pain in Mu Xingzhou's heart were far greater than what he showed.
But...
Mu Xingzhou then looked at Feng Qianqian at Ni Jinghe's feet.
No matter how much gratitude and emotion he felt, when faced with a choice, he didn't hesitate much.
Mu Xingzhou steeled himself and was about to speak, but someone beat him to it.
"What about Feng Qianqian..." Ni Jinghe's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded rather jarring in the silence.
The response she got was silence and averted eyes.
"So now you have to be able to pay millions, tens of millions, just to be qualified to survive?" Ni Jinghe's voice rose, and with those words, it could even be called sharp.
Throughout this journey, Ni Jinghe had spoken very little in the team, and when she did, her tone was gentle and soothing. Now she was clearly losing control.
Ni Jinghe's words fell like stones into a quagmire before these people, not even a ripple in return.
Yet at the same time, on StarNet, they stirred up a tempest.
"A doctor is a doctor, speaking so correctly and directly. Does only someone who can pay that much money get to live?"
"What does the previous comment mean? Clearly Mu Xingzhou started the bidding first, okay? If Little Ice Block didn't bid, was she supposed to watch them abandon Song Shiyue?"
"Honestly, the fact that Sister Song can't wake up is already driving me crazy. People earlier shouldn't lament about how only the rich can survive; don't you see the people right now! Without money, will they work?"
"Yesterday Feng Qianqian collapsed, and they said they'd take turns carrying her. Those people's faces already didn't look good, and today the workload is doubled. Look at their faces before Little Ice Block offered money--they definitely didn't want to carry either of them."
"Captain Yang even mentioned voting, haha, is voting even necessary? Just look at their faces and you can see the ones who stayed silent are basically unwilling."
"That might not be true. Count them--Yu Nianbing, Mu Xingzhou, Ni Jinghe, Ning Chuyang, and Zhuang Jiachuan are all willing to carry them and bring them along."
"What use is that? Among these people, only Zhuang Jiachuan is still whole and has some strength. The rest combined can't even carry one person. If they don't pay, what can they do?"
"I'm going to say something that might not align with proper values, but I'd even accept a murderer. I'm willing to crowdfund money for them. Right now, without those strong people, the ones who collapsed don't even have a chance to move forward. And now there's no water--how can they keep going!"
"??? Just because it's not your family that was killed, you're okay with it? What's that supposed to mean!"
...
The viewers on StarNet, before they could even recover from the shock of Song Shiyue's coma, were plunged into a new debate over money and ethics.
Unfortunately, whether they were condemning the situation or wanting to offer financial help, for the people on Wilderness Planet at that moment, it was all too distant.
Logically speaking, it was only the second day of the Yaoxing Storm. Even in a water-scarce state, human nature shouldn't degrade that quickly. Ni Jinghe's heartfelt confusion and condemnation should have at least briefly sobered those blinded by selfishness and money, making them reconsider.
Unfortunately, the team carefully selected by the Mu brothers had few normal people to begin with.
Ni Jinghe's outcry didn't restore anyone else's conscience; everyone stood firmly by their original choice.
"I'm also willing to pay, five million per person, to help carry Feng Qianqian to the next camp. I can write an IOU as well, and the money will be valid whether I make it back safely or not." Mu Xingzhou said this to the group, but his gaze, which he tried to make friendly, was directed at Yu Nianbing. "That way, as long as everyone works hard to carry both Song Shiyue and Feng Qianqian to the next camp, that'll be a total of ten million per person."
Yu Nianbing naturally understood that Mu Xingzhou's friendliness and the latter half of his words were a hint to bundle the two together and not start a price war with her.
Yu Nianbing had never intended to inflate prices and play with people's hearts, making them choose between the two fallen. At this moment, as Mu Xingzhou extended goodwill from a distance, Yu Nianbing nodded and also spoke up: "If we all work together, we might reach the next camp before sunset. We'll write the IOUs for you right now."
After all that talk earlier, aside from Zhuang Jiachuan, not only had there been no objections, but the originally resistant looks had also softened. Yu Nianbing had taken all of this in.
Now that they still wanted money, it was truly a relief. Honestly, the fact that no one opposed taking money let Yu Nianbing breathe a huge sigh of relief. Naturally, it was best to nail it down quickly.
Ni Jinghe glanced at Mu Xingzhou, then at Yu Nianbing, pressed her lips together, and said nothing more.
Justice, morality, even gratitude--on the second day of the Yaoxing Storm, they were already worthless...
Five million here, another five million there... These people really were rich.
As before, no one opposed Mu Xingzhou's words. The only two who had something to say, Ning Chuyang and Zhuang Jiachuan, had already been silenced earlier by Yu Nianbing.
In silence, Feng Qianqian was tacitly granted the same treatment as Song Shiyue. While Ni Jinghe was relieved, her feelings were mixed.
Meanwhile, viewers on StarNet who were emotionally invested in the livestream, their fingers nearly developing tendonitis from arguing, were also stunned by the two five-million offers.
"Alright, stop arguing. Both sides have put up money... Honestly, don't judge the people who pay. If the team were full of people who value loyalty, they wouldn't need to talk about money at all."
"Exactly, why blame our Little Ice Block? Every person in this team was saved by my Sister Song, and what's the result? How many are willing to carry Sister Song just a little?"
"If we reach the end with no food or drink, giving up Song Shiyue for one's own survival--I can somewhat understand that human survival instinct. But we're nowhere near that point yet..."
"Many say it's unfair to save people by paying money. Now that both have paid, is it fair? I say, what's wrong with the people paying? Those of you chattering about how it's wrong probably won't encounter someone willing to throw out five million for you in your lifetime, right?"
"Hey, I just got sugar from two CPs at once, but it's really bittersweet, bitter and sweet."
"I hope my Sister Song will wake up at the next camp, otherwise, for the next leg, will we have to throw out ten million per person..."
"I think it won't work. Like Zhao Da said, later on, when they can't even take care of themselves, money won't be that attractive anymore."
"Ten million... the price is set too high. Later, if they offer more, the appeal will drop."
"Yu Nianbing is still young; in her panic, the opening bid was really too high."
...
Both Mu Xingzhou and the StarNet viewers thought that Yu Nianbing had offered too high a price, thereby increasing the difficulty of paying them to carry people onward to the camp after next.
Little did they know that Yu Nianbing only needed these people to take them to the next camp.
Never mind the quality of the lodgings there--at least there was water, and water was what they needed to survive.
As for beyond that... Yu Nianbing didn't think those people would be willing to carry anyone further.
These people, spurred by money, taking them to the next camp was probably already their limit.
In any case, she hoped that the money she'd offered would be enough to get them to the next camp, and Yu Nianbing was already satisfied with that.
They were as good as their word. Yu Nianbing fetched a few pieces of thoroughly burnt charcoal from beside the fire, but before she could return to her backpack and bring out the white T-shirt to use again, Wang Daming reached out to stop her.
"Here, let me lend you this." In Wang Daming's outstretched hand was a palm-sized notepad with a ballpoint pen clipped to it.
Not far away, Zhao Er, leaning against a large tree with his arms crossed over his chest, saw it clearly and couldn't help but sneer: "Didn't you say yesterday there was no paper or pen, so you asked my brother for a map? What's this today?"
"I just found it in my pocket this morning, can't I?" Wang Daming said, extending the items toward Yu Nianbing.
Fine. Very fine.
Yu Nianbing had originally been worried that her clothes weren't enough to tear into so many pieces; at this moment, she paid no mind to their bickering and simply took them and used them.
Mu Xingzhou also came over.
Setting aside the two of them, Yu Nianbing and Mu Xingzhou each wrote an IOU for everyone else.
Under Captain Yang's veiled hints, they also used the ballpoint pen to ink their right thumbs and pressed a thumbprint on each IOU.
After the notes were written, Mu Xingzhou still hesitated over whether to hand them out first or wait, but Yu Nianbing stepped forward first and stuffed one into everyone's hands. Even when Zhuang Jiachuan, Ning Chuyang, and Ni Jinghe refused, Yu Nianbing insisted on giving them the notes.
Since things had already come this far, if some people acted noble, that would actually be trouble.
After Yu Nianbing did this, many people's expressions relaxed even more. After all, everyone had simply stayed silent earlier; aside from Wang Daming, no one had explicitly said they wanted to abandon the fallen, and the vote Captain Yang suggested had never materialized. Their faces hadn't been completely torn yet.
Now, by handing over the money first, Yu Nianbing showed full trust and a humble attitude, and everyone could even exchange a few polite words with a smile. After a little weak, insincere refusal and Yu Nianbing's earnest and grateful insistence, they took the notes.
All at once, the team's atmosphere improved considerably.
Mu Xingzhou had hesitated for only a moment, but seeing the harmony that came from people feeling obliged after taking the money, he hurriedly distributed the ones he had written as well.
From then on, no one said another word about how tiring it was to carry people, or how to carry two fallen members.
While Mu Xingzhou felt slightly relieved, he couldn't help but feel a bit resentful.
If only Yu Nianbing had discussed it with him earlier, they wouldn't have needed to set the price so high right away.
They could have started at one million per person to reach the next camp, then two million to go to the one after that, gradually increasing. If they got too tired on the way or there was some emotional backlash, they could raise it bit by bit. But now... The next camp should be fine, but for the one after that, they'd probably have to increase it to seven or eight million per person.
What Mu Xingzhou didn't realize was that the essence of his and Yu Nianbing's differences lay in their faith in these people.
He still had it.
And Yu Nianbing... already had none.
The moment the freshly minted IOUs worth five million each were in hand, without needing Yu Nianbing to say another word, those people proactively went off to find suitable wood to make a stretcher for Song Shiyue.
With nothing else to do, Yu Nianbing sat back down beside Song Shiyue and couldn't help but gently stroke the sleeping brows and eyes.
A life-saving debt...
Probably only this fool would care so deeply about it.
But Yu Nianbing didn't stop to think that fools weren't limited to just Song Shiyue.
Song Shiyue, still unable to control her body, was also extremely frustrated.
Not the superficial suffocation of having her mouth and nose covered by Zhao Da, but a feeling in her heart... her heart was blocked up.
From Song Shiyue's perspective, her broken body had long been useless, yet Yu Nianbing had actually thrown away tens of millions for it...
Truly...
Too foolish.
Too... sweet.
Freedom of the soul alone was not freedom at all.
The night before, Song Shiyue had thought open-mindedly, but that open-mindedness was something she had forced out of helplessness and despair.
Who, if they could live, would want to die?
Who, if they could be carried along, would want to become takeout in the forest?
Because of this person, she now, at least for now, didn't have to face those imagined endings from last night.
Yu Nianbing...
Guilt, gratitude, and even more emotions intertwined, leaving the conscious Song Shiyue with no outlet. Feeling that cold hand gently caress her brows and eyes, Song Shiyue's heart ached and swelled as if about to burst.
But soon, Song Shiyue had no time to dwell on those complicated feelings.
When a light, possibly clothing-like object fell over her body, Song Shiyue was still too immersed in that complex state of mind to extricate herself. However, when her body was abruptly flipped over and an unmentionable place was lightly touched, Song Shiyue's entire consciousness froze, and all those complicated thoughts were instantly swept clean.
If her body could move, Song Shiyue could probably now experience what it meant to have her eyes open wide as brass bells.
And in a place beyond Song Shiyue's consciousness's sight, Yu Nianbing was blushing as she withdrew her hand from under the clothes covering Song Shiyue.
It seemed there was no need for a change just yet...
Yu Nianbing recalled the sounds she'd heard from Feng Qianqian's side the previous night, and with a red face cast another glance at Song Shiyue, but in that glance, beyond the embarrassment, there was mostly worry.
It looked like they had to get to the next camp quickly--at least get some water to drink first...
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