Chapter 1197 Du Family Meeting
Du Ming—Du Wenyuan's youngest son, only nineteen years old—spoke these words with an inexperienced excitement, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, creating silent ripples in the oppressive conference room.
The eyes of all the clansmen, whether openly or secretly, were drawn to Du Wenyuan, who sat in the main seat.
Du Wanying.
In the Du family, especially among Du Wenyuan, this name is a taboo, carefully shrouded in blood and despair.
That was his eldest daughter, to whom he had poured the most effort and pride. She was the softest and most cherished treasure in Du Wenyuan's heart, outside the cold officialdom.
He still remembers the stubborn and defiant look in his daughter's eyes when she was little, the way she argued with him when she received the public selection transfer letter and insisted on going to the grassroots level in the southwest for training, and he also remembers her report on the phone when she became the youngest section-level cadre in Chongqing, which was supposed to be calm but could not hide her pride.
Like a poplar tree growing against the wind and rain, she never relied on the protection of her family, yet she became the most dazzling member of the Du family in this generation.
The apocalypse has begun, and communications have been cut off.
The Du family used every connection they could, frantically trying to find her whereabouts.
However, thousands of miles away, with corpses everywhere, the influence of their civil official family was laughably insignificant in the face of a true cataclysmic upheaval.
All the efforts ultimately went unrewarded, their impact barely extending beyond a few surrounding communities...
This stark contrast between life before and after the apocalypse once filled them with despair—not only despair at finding Du Wanying, but also despair at the future of the Du family after the apocalypse...
Before the apocalypse, the Du family, while not exactly all-powerful, was at least a long-established political family whose influence extended to the entire province. Now, they can't even leave their small settlement...
This is tantamount to dropping from the national rankings to a county-level ranking; the weapon and artillery aspects in county-level servers are extremely weak...
...
At this moment, with his youngest son unexpectedly reopening his wounds, Du Wenyuan's hand, gripping the armrest of the rattan chair, bulged with veins, and his knuckles turned white from the force.
His lips were pressed tightly into a cold, hard line, and the muscles in his jawline twitched slightly. The air in the meeting room was so still you could hear a pin drop, and everyone held their breath.
However, the expected thunderous wrath did not come.
Du Wenyuan slowly, very slowly, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and raised his hand to vigorously rub his throbbing temples.
After a long silence, a barely audible sigh, filled with endless weariness and a hoarse voice, escaped from his throat:
"...Yes...the committee has been established...and its scope does indeed cover Chongqing..."
This sigh seemed to have lifted a heavy burden, yet it also seemed to carry an even heavier weight of hope and fear.
He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over every member of his tribe present, and saw in their eyes, like his own, the faint yet tenacious flame that had been carefully rekindled.
“What Ming’er said… isn’t entirely wrong.” Du Wenyuan’s voice regained its previous composure, but upon closer listening, a complex emotion, previously absent, was present.
"With the committee established and resources consolidated, information channels will be a thousand times smoother than if we were fighting alone. Theoretically... there is indeed a possibility of finding out Wanying's whereabouts."
But then, his tone shifted, becoming serious and cold again, as if reminding his people, and even more so, himself:
"But! You must understand, this is only a theoretical possibility! What is the situation in Yucheng? Are there still survivor settlements? Wanying... is she..."
He couldn't say the rest, but the unspoken meaning, like ice water, poured over the warmth that had just begun to rise in everyone's hearts.
"Our primary task now is to focus on the present and understand the situation!" Du Wenyuan forcefully pulled his thoughts back to reality, his tone becoming resolute again.
It wasn't that he didn't love or care about his daughter, but rather that the setbacks he had experienced in the apocalypse had almost completely exhausted this middle-aged man's spirit, especially the spirit of a scion of a large family.
What was once a source of pride—four generations of accumulated wealth—is, in the apocalypse, utterly worthless!
He had already gained a deep understanding of this when he was a middle manager in the Zhoushan settlement...
In the apocalypse... military power is supreme.
Although his position in the Zhoushan settlement had fallen far compared to before the apocalypse, he was still a respectable deputy director-general... but what was the result?
Every time he faced the arrogant and rude questioning of military officers, he had no choice but to put on a smiling face; every time they made unreasonable demands, he had to carefully maneuver around them...
Finally, even a lowly captain, a staff officer, dared to reprimand him mercilessly in front of everyone...
Just because the other person was a staff officer from the Eastern Theater Command on official business... not much older than his 19-year-old son, he nitpicked at him over a mistake in a form, calling him a complete bastard...
From that moment on, Du Wenyuan, a genius born into a powerful political family, on whom his family placed high hopes and supported him—a genius poised to reach the Quasi-Emperor realm and lead his family to break free from its constraints—had his Dao heart shattered completely...
The road ahead is blocked...
What's the point of getting such a high-ranking official position? All they'll get is a new major to scold them?
Therefore, at this moment, Du Wenyuan no longer dared to harbor any unrealistic hopes of rescuing people across thousands of kilometers.
Perhaps only generals in the military have that kind of power? And they have to be generals with real authority...
And in the entire Lin'an settlement, perhaps only General Chang Zhiwei, the garrison commander of Lin'an, could accomplish this...
Considering that the last time I saw him was at the mobilization meeting for the construction of the Lin'an settlement, he was on the stage while I was sitting in the second row...
Given such a vast difference in their social standing, he wouldn't even have the chance to report to the other party, so how could he possibly ask for such a huge favor? On what grounds? Because he thinks he's so great?
Thinking about all this, the flame that had just ignited in Du Wenyuan's heart was completely extinguished, but he did not intend to give up entirely...
'I'll go and beg Director Cui tomorrow... see if there's any chance I can get a meeting with General Chang Zhiwei...'
'I've already been scolded by the captain... why should I be afraid of being scolded by the general? Even if I am, I'll just consider it a raise...' Du Wenyuan couldn't help but laugh at himself.
...
Late at night, the lights in the Du family's small building remained on for a long time. A discussion about the distant Central Plains War Zone and the Freshman Committee was quietly taking place in this small living room.
Beneath all the rational analysis and planning, an undercurrent called "Du Wanying" is silently surging in the hearts of every core member of the Du family.
The girl, far away in the southwest, whose fate was unknown, now seemed to be an invisible yet real thread connecting the Du family with the powerful and mysterious Central Plains War Zone.
Similar to the Du family, another family in the Lin'an settlement is also deeply troubled by the same reason...
