Because of this disaster, there was a pervading heavy atmosphere throughout the nation.
Some of Mr. Jiao's students were from that area, and although it wasn't the worst-hit region, Mr. Jiao still gave one of those students leave to go home and ease their mind.
Many departments within the school organized fundraising efforts, as students from various faculties had families living in the affected area.
Zheng Tan had been staying in mostly, since going out meant being inundated with discussions about the earthquake, endless newspaper headlines, each day's news, the school's morning broadcasts, campus donation drives...
Back then, Zheng Tan hadn't paid much attention to such matters, but having lived through this experience, he now realized that reality was much direr than he had imagined.