Chapter 306: Take Our Time

Zeyu returned with lunch to find Shichen still reading, his bandaged hand resting beside the folder.

Qinghe had left a pair of clean socks on the bed for him, but he hadn’t put them on. His bare toes curled against the cold floor while he followed a line of print with his finger.

"You can finish that after you’ve eaten," Zeyu said, setting a bowl beside the manual. "I’ve opened something that looks like chicken, and I’d appreciate another opinion before I give it to everyone else."

Shichen moved the papers away from the bowl, smiling as he accepted the spoon.

"That’s a generous offer," Shichen replied, stirring the pale meat into the beans beneath it. "If I don’t like it, are you going to find something better or tell me I’ve lost my sense of taste?"

"I’ll let you choose the next tin," Zeyu told him, sitting on the other end of the bed. "There are shelves full of them. We might as well find out what we’re willing to eat before I carry half the pantry into the kitchen."

He had brought his own bowl, and for a while they ate with the folder open between them.

Water splashed in the adjoining bathroom, followed by Zhiyi’s voice complaining that it had gone down her neck.

Hanchuan answered too quietly for Zeyu to hear, but whatever he said made her laugh.

Zeyu hadn’t realized how much he had missed hearing ordinary things through an open door.

On the boat, he had known where everyone was because they were always within reach.

Here, he could hear Hanchuan helping Zhiyi wash her hair while Jingwei and Qinghe spoke in the corridor, and he could sit down without somebody needing his place.

Shichen finished first and set his bowl on the dresser before drawing the folder closer.

"The last completed service is written here," Shichen said, showing him the date. "There’s nothing saying the generator failed. That doesn’t mean we can start it without checking, but at least we aren’t beginning with a repair someone else couldn’t finish."

Zeyu wiped his hand on the towel across his knee and leaned over the page.

He recognized enough of the engine drawing to feel interested again, though the equipment around it would take longer to understand.

"We’ll go through it together," Zeyu replied, turning to the inspection notes. "I’d rather spend the afternoon reading than spend tomorrow explaining why I broke it."

Hanchuan appeared in the bathroom doorway with a damp towel over his shoulder.

Behind him, Zhiyi was gathering her wet hair away from her shirt.

Her cheeks were pink from the cold water, and she stopped beside Zeyu long enough to look hopefully into his bowl.

"There’s another one waiting for you," Zeyu said, moving his spoon before she could reach for it. "Eat that while we show Hanchuan what we’ve found. I’m not letting you decide you’re full after stealing two bites of mine."

Zhiyi smiled and went to collect her lunch.

Hanchuan pulled the remaining chair closer, listening while Shichen explained what they could check themselves and what they still needed to learn.

Zeyu watched his friend examine the drawing, grateful that he didn’t mistake having a manual for knowing the machinery.

"We take our time with it," Hanchuan said, resting the folder on his knee. "We have food, bottled water, and somewhere dry to sleep. Nobody needs to rush because they want a hot shower."

"I can want one while I work carefully," Zeyu replied, earning a quiet laugh from Shichen.

They went downstairs together after lunch.

Jingwei brought the tools they had carried aboard, though most of them stayed in their bag once Zeyu found a workbench with drawers underneath.

He opened each one before choosing anything, checking the contents against the outlines painted inside.

The afternoon passed between the manual and the machinery.

Shichen read while Zeyu checked, then they changed places and went over anything either of them doubted.

Hanchuan held the light when they needed both hands, and Qinghe kept their growing pile of papers away from the greasy work surfaces.

Zhiyi sat beside the workbench with the parts book open across her knees.

When Shichen couldn’t match a faded label to the drawing, she found the same assembly on another page and turned the book so he could compare them.

Zeyu was grateful for her help when he had to crouch beneath a pipe for the third time.

His thighs still ached from the days on the boat, and he stayed down for a moment after finishing, waiting for the cramp to ease.

"You’re going to have to help me up," Zeyu admitted, reaching toward Hanchuan. "If you laugh, I’m remembering it the next time you need something from the bottom cupboard."

"I’ll try to live with that," Hanchuan replied, taking his arm and pulling him steadily to his feet.

By the time they were ready, Zeyu’s clean shirt was marked with dust and oil.

They had checked the fuel, worked through the inspections, and made certain they weren’t about to send power through every abandoned appliance aboard.

Shichen stood beside the controls with the instructions where he could see them, while Hanchuan brought Zhiyi back from the machinery.

The first attempt made Zeyu hold his breath. The starter turned, the engine caught briefly, and then the room fell quiet again.

He looked at Shichen, who was already checking the page rather than reaching immediately for the control.

"Give it a moment," Shichen said, keeping his hand away from the switch. "Let’s go back through this before we try again."

They found the missed step with their heads bent over the same paragraph. Zeyu read it twice, then checked it against the instructions fixed beside the controls.

When they tried again, the engine caught and kept running, its noise filling the room so completely that Zhiyi covered her ears.

Hanchuan drew her toward the stairs while Zeyu remained beside Shichen, watching for anything that would make them shut it down.

Nothing leaked beneath the engine and the readings settled, as the steady vibration under Zeyu’s feet began to feel less alarming.

They waited before adding anything else.

When the corridor lights finally came on, Qinghe looked up at the fixture overhead and smiled. Zeyu found himself smiling back, although nobody had said anything worth smiling about.

They returned upstairs to a mess room that no longer needed the gray daylight from its windows.

Zhiyi stopped beside the table, looking toward the galley, where the ceiling lights showed the cupboards Zeyu had been searching by flashlight.

"Does this mean you can cook now?" Zhiyi asked, turning toward him with enough hope that he wanted to say yes before checking anything.

"It means I can finally read the labels," Zeyu replied, coming to stand beside her. "Give me a little longer, and I’ll see what I can do about dinner."

Hanchuan set the manual on the table, keeping one hand on it when Zeyu reached toward the kitchen.

"Check the stove before you start promising meals," Hanchuan said, smiling at the impatience on his face. "And leave enough daylight for us to look at the boat."

Zeyu glanced toward the window.

Their belongings were upstairs, their dinner was waiting in the pantry, and the little boat was still tied beneath them with water seeping through its patch. He had nearly gone an entire afternoon without thinking about it.

Jingwei was already taking the rope from beside the door.

"I’ll go down with you," Jingwei said, looking toward Hanchuan. "But if we’re staying here, we need to find a way to lift it out before there’s nothing left to lift."