Chapter 121: Spare Time For Your Family

Shichen examined the person selected to replace him.

The younger man wore work pants and a sleeveless undershirt. A tool pouch hung from his waist, and grease marked both hands.

"What kind of engineer?" Shichen asked.

"Elevator systems," Luo answered quickly.

Unlike Mr. Du, he showed no offense at being questioned. "I haven’t worked with a cooling plant this size, but I can follow a diagram," he assured Shichen.

That was more useful than 23 years of unrelated confidence.

"You’ll accompany my sister," Shichen decided. "Before entering the control room, reopen the eastern intake. Remove the panels and plastic without damaging the grille. The expanding foam must be cut away from the exterior frame."

Mr. Du objected before Luo could move. "Opening one intake will raise the temperature again."

"It will also allow the people listening to this conversation to remain conscious," countered Shichen.

He expanded the carbon-dioxide projection that Zhiyi had calculated from the available readings. "At the current rate, this level will exceed the emergency threshold within two hours."

The people nearest the committee reacted first.

A mother lifted a sleeping child from one of the mattresses and demanded that the vents be reopened.

Someone else pointed toward an older man complaining of dizziness.

Their voices spread across the parking level until the same residents who had supported sealing the building began insisting that the work be reversed.

Mr. Du looked around at the decision abandoning him. His face reddened, but he gestured toward the mechanical corridor.

Luo collected two security guards and led them to stop the remaining work.

Shuyun followed with her phone raised, allowing Shichen to watch as the men set aside the unused insulation panels.

The first sealed intake had been covered carefully enough to survive a storm.

Plastic stretched across the grille beneath two layers of rigid insulation, and foam filled every remaining gap. The residents had invested more effort into defeating the system than they had spent understanding it.

"Cut the plastic first," Shichen directed as Luo selected a knife from his tool pouch. "Then separate the foam from the frame. Do not pull against the grille."

Luo obeyed without arguing. Once he exposed the fasteners, the security guards removed the first panel and lowered it to the floor.

Air moved through the intake with a low mechanical rush.

The temperature reading near the eastern corridor began rising almost immediately.

Mr. Du noticed the change and pointed toward the display. "It has already increased by half a degree."

"The carbon-dioxide level is falling," Qinghe said from beside Shichen.

He watched the medical risk decrease while Shichen monitored the strain on the restored fan.

"Tell anyone with dizziness or nausea to move toward that corridor. Keep them seated and give them water. Anyone who remains confused after 15 minutes needs medical attention," Qinghe continued.

Shichen relayed the instructions. Shuyun repeated them to the residents as she crossed the parking level behind Luo.

They worked through the second intake while Zhiyi reconstructed the missing environmental data. The temperature rose by another degree, but the air-quality warnings began retreating from red to orange.

The building had not become comfortable.. but it had become survivable again.

Luo unlocked the mechanical control room and waited at the threshold while Shichen examined the pipes visible through the camera. The coolant lines remained intact, though one connection showed condensation beyond the expected level.

"Move closer to the western control panel," Shichen instructed. "Do not touch the blue valve beside it. Show me the pressure display first."

Shuyun followed Luo into the room. Her camera passed across the coolant pumps, electrical panels and emergency controls before settling on the requested display.

The pressure had increased again.

Shichen checked the system history and found no additional manual change. The reading was rising on its own.

"Everyone leave the room," he ordered. The sudden change in his tone made Luo step backward without questioning him. Shuyun retreated with him while the security guards cleared the doorway.

She kept the camera directed toward the control panel until the reinforced door closed between them and the machinery.

Only then did she turn the phone toward herself.

"What happens now?" Shuyun asked. Concern had erased the brief satisfaction she had shown when the air-quality readings began improving.

Shichen studied the pressure curve.

The ventilation system could be restored, but the cooling loop had been forced beyond its limits for too long.

He needed to determine whether the rising pressure came from a blocked line, a damaged pump or an incorrectly positioned valve.

Before he could answer, another voice emerged beside his sister.

Their father stepped into view carrying Nian against his shoulder. The little girl appeared half asleep, while Shichen’s mother followed close enough for him to see her behind them.

His father looked from Shichen’s face to the mechanical door. "Now that you’ve spoken to everyone else in our building, perhaps you can spare a few minutes for your family."

Shichen’s attention remained on the rising pressure curve even after his father spoke.

The coolant loop had passed its recommended operating limit but remained below the point where the automated shutdown would activate.

If the pressure continued increasing, the system would protect itself by stopping the pumps.

That would leave two of Qingsong’s three towers without active cooling.

"I need ten minutes," Shichen told his father. He adjusted the pressure chart so he could monitor it beside the call. "The cooling system is unstable."

Liang Jianye shifted his sleeping granddaughter higher against his shoulder.

At 63, he still carried himself with the rigid posture that had made every childhood reprimand feel like a formal disciplinary hearing. "Your mother has been waiting seven days. I believe the building can wait ten minutes."

"The building is where Mother is standing," pointed out Shichen.

His father’s expression tightened as he looked toward the mechanical room. The response hadn’t been intended as disrespect. Shichen had simply stated the reason the two problems couldn’t be separated.

His mother understood him more quickly.

Xu Wenlan stepped closer to Shuyun’s phone and examined the readings displayed beside her son.

Her hair had been pulled back without its usual care, and exhaustion showed in the skin beneath her eyes. She didn’t ask him to abandon the building so she could hear what she already knew.

"Do what you need to do," she said. Her voice remained gentle, but seven days of silence had left a distance inside it. "We’ll stay on the call."

Shichen acknowledged her with a short nod before returning to the mechanical plans.

The pressure had begun rising only after the eastern intake reopened.

Restoring the fan increased demand across the cooling system, but the increase shouldn’t have affected the coolant loop this severely unless one of the bypass valves remained closed.

"Ask Luo whether he changed valve C-17," Shichen instructed his sister. He highlighted the valve on the diagram and sent her its location. "It controls the return line beside the secondary pump."