Under the moonlight

The memories of her escape made her feel suffocated and oppressed. Every time she recalled them, her body would tremble involuntarily as if it had become muscle memory, and she would feel tightness in her chest and difficulty breathing. Huang Meng covered her face with her hands and kept taking deep breaths.

Looking back now, she realized she was a person with a strong will, otherwise she would have had a mental breakdown like that man long ago. She put down her hands and let out a long sigh.

Just as Huang Meng was in a daze, the sound of a loudspeaker came from the corridor outside the door. She opened the door and saw Li Linlin across the hall looking at the entrance of the corridor with the same puzzled expression as her.

Xu Ao, holding a megaphone, shouted into the corridor, "Everyone, everyone, assemble in the lobby on the first floor right now!" After repeating this several times, he turned off the megaphone and went downstairs, with the people behind him following him.

Besides them, there were some staff members on the first floor. Everyone looked very serious. Huang Meng had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

Soon everyone had arrived, including those who cooked and cleaned. They were all called in and stood in groups of three or five, looking puzzled and whispering among themselves.

Xu Ao stepped forward, walked to the center of the restaurant, cleared his throat, and said seriously, "We have some bad news to announce. Since yesterday, those mercenaries have blockaded the entire city, including all the ports and the only airport. As you all know, all the food and other supplies for our embassy are delivered through the ports. Yesterday, our warehouses were almost empty. Now that they've blocked the ports, our supplies can't get in. We can only last for two more days at most, and that's assuming everyone gets their share. So when you're cooking, please prepare one serving per person, based on the number of people present."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a cacophony of voices arose.

"What's going on? Isn't this the embassy?"

"Exactly, we don't even know how staying here without food for days is any different from waiting to die in the city."

"Sigh, now what's the difference between us and those refugees? We're almost out of food."

"Are we afraid of those mercenaries? We can always fight them, pshaw!"

Xu Ao calmly looked at the people present, his sharp eyes scrutinizing everyone's expressions through his glasses. He noticed that Huang Meng was as calm as him in the crowd.

Her eyelids were lowered, and her lips were tightly pursed, as if she was thinking about something.

Xu Ao waited until the murmurs subsided before speaking again: "I'm sure you all understand our current predicament. So please cooperate with us to do our job well, and please believe that we will definitely find a way to solve these problems and send you all back to your country safely."

"You make it sound so simple, but how are we going to respond? Didn't you just say that the airport has been sealed off by those mercenaries? Tell me, how are we going to respond?" The man who spoke first quickly echoed his words. These men often gathered together and probably knew each other.

"Yeah, that's right, how do we get back?"

His words sparked another round of discussion. The man, with a provocative smile on his face, crossed his arms and stared straight at Xu Ao.

Xu Ao looked at him, not angry at all. A slight smile played on his lips as he coldly said in a loud voice, "Everyone, quiet down. We're still trying to figure out a solution. Even without the mercenaries' blockade, with the airport destroyed, none of you will be able to get back anytime soon. I hope everyone stays focused and doesn't let themselves be swayed by those with ulterior motives." After Xu Ao finished speaking, he stared intently at the man. The crowd discussed for a while longer before dispersing.

Xu Ao lowered his head and reached up to rub his eye sockets. Seeing that the group was about to leave, he stepped forward and blocked their way, coldly saying, "You lot, if you talk nonsense like this again, it won't be as easy as it was today. Remember that." Xu Ao reached out and patted the man's shoulder heavily a few times.

The men seemed to sense the blatant warning in Xu Ao's eyes. They didn't say anything more, but gave Xu Ao a deep, unreadable look before leaving.

Huang Meng was walking with the others, her mind preoccupied. No wonder she saw them all in such a hurry this morning; something really must have happened. She sighed, thinking about the mercenaries she had seen that day.

Mercenaries themselves do not have a strong political stance. They remain neutral and only care about getting paid to do their jobs. But the more neutral they are, the more difficult it is to communicate with them. They are a group of reckless madmen who do not care about international treaties or friendly cooperation agreements. They only care about getting paid to do their jobs and do not care at all whether what they do is right or wrong, or whether it is right or wrong. They also do not care about the lives and deaths of ordinary people.

"Huang Meng, wait a minute." Huang Meng was lost in thought when she was suddenly called back. She instinctively turned around and saw Xu Ao with a serious expression.

"you call me?"

"Yes, there's something I need your help with."

"Me?" Huang Meng pointed at herself with her index finger, her eyes wide with surprise. Li Linlin, who was standing quietly beside them, also looked at Huang Meng in surprise when she heard that they needed her help.