Li Yu and the others watched the father and daughter embrace, feeling a touch of emotion themselves.
Everyone waited for a while, and finally, Captain Lü recovered, looking at Li Yu and the others with a forced smile. “You’ve seen me make a fool of myself.”
He then wiped his eyes, looked at Li Yu, and said, “Mr. Li, how are my brothers doing now?”
Li Yu pointed to Xiao Wu, who had come in with them, and said indifferently, “Ask him.”
Xiao Wu had wanted to speak to Captain Lü ever since he saw him. Now, he opened his mouth and said, “Captain, Xiao Wu and Xiao Huang died at the hands of those people. Everyone else is fine. They’re all outside now.”
Upon hearing this, Captain Lü felt a great sense of relief, as if a large stone that had been weighing on his chest had finally fallen.
“It’s good that you’re all fine, it’s good.” Captain Lü was momentarily lost in thought but quickly snapped back to reality.
“Xiao Wu, please step out for a moment. Mr. Li and I have something to discuss,” Captain Lü said.
Xiao Wu nodded, looking at Xiao Fei, who was holding Captain Lü’s hand, and hesitantly said, “Xiao Fei is here, should she…”
Xiao Fei saw his gaze, lowered her head, and tightly gripped her father’s hand. “Daddy, I don’t want to be separated from you.”
Captain Lü was also a bit conflicted. Li Yuan was usually quite gentle, but when it came to patient protection, she became particularly assertive. Captain Lü wasn't sure if Doctor Li would agree to let his daughter stay with him.
But he still spoke in a pleading tone, “Doctor Li, please, can my daughter stay here? I want to spend more time with her.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zifei looked at Li Yuan with her big, dark eyes, pitifully.
Li Yuan looked at the father and daughter and chuckled.
She said, “Alright, but children shouldn’t be here at night. Your wound isn’t healed, and children have weaker immune systems, so staying in the medical room isn’t very suitable.”
She thought for a moment and then said, “Xiao Fei, right? You can stay with Daddy for a while, but would you like to sleep with me tonight?”
Xiao Fei knew this was the person who had helped her father. Seeing how gentle this older sister was, she nodded and said, “Okay.”
“Xiao Fei is so good!” Li Yuan said.
After this interlude, Captain Lü became somewhat serious, looking at Li Yu with sincerity in his eyes. “Mr. Li, you have always helped us, and we are truly grateful. Many times, you have extended a helping hand when we needed it most.”
“Actually, before, we wanted to join you, but we were too embarrassed to ask many times because we owed you too much. Now, I want to ask you, can we join you? We will definitely abide by your rules.”
“Your base has strong people and horses, so you might not need us, but we will definitely listen to you. I don’t know about the others, but my life was saved by you. Wherever you point, I will fight. No hesitation.”
“We used to be from the city police force. After the apocalypse broke out, in Liberation City, honestly, we haven't harmed anyone until now. We just didn't expect to be harmed by our own people in the end.”
“They say, 'Once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years.' Even if you don't take us in, we are still very grateful for all the help you've given us before.”
Captain Lü seemed to have thought a lot in his mind, and now that he had the chance to speak, he couldn’t stop.
“Good.” Li Yu was concise.
He directly answered Captain Lü’s question.
Captain Lü was still talking, and after two more sentences, he seemed to disbelieve it. He then looked up and asked, “What? I… I… Did you just say ‘good’? Does that mean you’ll let us join you?”
“Mm.” A faint smile appeared on Li Yu’s face as he nodded and said.
Captain Lü still hadn’t fully processed it. He had a whole pile of words he had prepared for a long time, and he hadn’t even said them yet. Mr. Li actually just agreed directly?
What was going on?
Li Yu saw Captain Lü’s confusion and said, “Don’t overthink it. Your ability to endure the pain and come report the news is enough to prove everything. We don’t need overwhelming military strength. What’s most important in our base is unity. At least, I see that you have a compatible aura.”
After hearing Li Yu’s words, Captain Lü was a bit moved. Unity! Yes!
If Liberation City had been united back then, why would it have come to this?
After Li Yu finished speaking, he told him to rest well and then left.
After leaving the medical room, Xiao Wu, who had left earlier, had already told the others about Captain Lü’s condition. Upon learning that Captain Lü was in good condition, everyone relaxed.
Li Yu looked at the worry on everyone’s faces. This worry was definitely not faked but truly came from the heart.
He thought for a moment and ultimately decided not to tell them about his recent conversation with Captain Lü. Many times, to win people's hearts, it's often best to have a third party convey the message.
If Li Yu were to directly announce now that he had taken them in, while they would be grateful, the effect wouldn't be as good.
However, if their leader were to convey this matter, then the transfer of power would become much more reasonable.
Imagine, if Li Yu were to tell them now that they were now members of the base and would listen to him, Li Yu, from now on, while everyone would be happy, how should they act?
If they showed too much enthusiasm, what would the original Captain Lü think? And it would also give people the impression of being disloyal and fickle.
But if they acted perfunctorily, what would Li Yu think? Would Li Yu feel that these people were still sticking together and listening to the original Captain Lü, and would this create a hidden danger?
Therefore, these words should not be spoken by Li Yu.
After all, the current leader hadn’t even spoken yet. Li Yu speaking it himself versus Captain Lü speaking it would have completely different effects.
Li Yu saw everyone’s expressions and felt a sense of relief. At least these people knew what was good for them, and at least Captain Lü risking his life was worth it.
Then, he slowly left from the side, silently.
Second Uncle, who had followed him, was already familiar with this routine and coughed twice.
He said, “Everyone has been through a lot today. Let’s clean up first, and then gather for dinner at 6:30 PM. Everyone, please line up to collect your daily necessities later.”
Lai Xiyue also said from the side, “Everyone, please follow me now to collect your daily necessities.”
Upon hearing this, everyone became a little excited, discussing in low whispers.
“Are they giving us daily necessities too?”
“As expected of such a large base, they even give out things.”
“Did I hear correctly just now? We’re gathering for dinner later. Are they eating together?”
“This is too awesome…”
Everyone followed Lai Xiyue, forming a line to collect their respective daily necessities:
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, soap…
Quilts, blankets…
Cups, chargers, Huawei phones????
They have all this? iPad…
And a printed copy of the Base Rules.
