Chapter 146: New Instructions
All six people inside Xiling understood that the Heat would last longer than anyone could even dream.
What none of them knew was whether or not the changing conditions would eventually create an opportunity to move Jingwei’s family somewhere safer.
Rong Jianfeng studied Hanchuan with open dislike, but he didn’t return to the demand that Jingwei leave.
Just then, another warning appeared across the headquarters schematics.
Shichen quickly put aside what he was currently working on and opened the performance log before the others could ask what it meant. One of the exterior cooling units had exceeded its safe operating temperature, and its output continued declining as the system attempted to maintain 13 occupied floors.
"At the current load, that unit will shut down within three hours," he warned. "The remaining units will attempt to compensate. If that happens before you evacuate the unnecessary floors, you risk losing the entire cooling system."
Rong Jianfeng looked toward someone outside the camera’s range. "Send maintenance to repair it."
"The system isn’t damaged," Jingwei reminded him. "It was never designed to operate under these conditions. Maintenance cannot repair excessive demand."
His father’s attention returned to the performance log.
For the first time, no order followed his silence.
The cooling system obeyed the limits of its construction, and those limits didn’t care how much Rong Jianfeng was willing to pay or whose employment he threatened. The machine would fail whether he accepted the reason or not.
Hanchuan highlighted the floors that needed to be closed.
"Reduce the load now, and the remaining units may survive. Delay until the first one shuts down, and everyone inside the building loses cooling."
Su Lihua finally faced her husband. "Jianfeng, Jingwei has given us a plan. We need to follow it before someone else becomes ill."
Rong Jianfeng stared at the cooling warning as its projected shutdown time continued decreasing.
The corporate network remained active on the screens behind him, consuming power to preserve companies that might never resume operating.
He had spent the morning transferring money, contacting executives and issuing instructions as though the world outside his windows still recognized his authority.
Now, preserving those companies meant sacrificing power that could keep his family alive.
The choice should have been simple. Servers could be replaced, while the people depending on the cooling system could not.
But Jingwei understood what those screens represented to his father.
The Rong Group was more than a collection of businesses.
It was the legacy Rong Jianfeng had inherited, expanded and expected to place in his son’s hands.
Shutting down its operational network required him to acknowledge that the future he had spent decades building might already be gone.
Jingwei watched his father confront the choice.
Rong Jianfeng didn’t accept that civilization was ending.
He didn’t believe the Heat would last four years or that worse disasters would follow it. But the declining cooling output had made tomorrow immediate enough that he could no longer dismiss it.
He turned toward the security officer near the office entrance.
"Move everyone to the conference level and the five interior floors beneath it," he ordered. "Close the remaining residential levels and shut down the nonessential servers. Place all food and drinking water under guard until we have completed an inventory."
The officer hesitated. "Does Director Han retain authority over allocation and access?"
Rong Jianfeng’s jaw tightened.
"Yes."
The concession should have relieved Jingwei.
Instead, he heard how temporary it was. His father was complying because his sister-in-law had nearly died and the cooling system was failing. He hadn’t accepted that the family’s former hierarchy had become dangerous.
Rong Jianfeng looked at Jingwei again.
"I will follow this plan until the government restores access to the district. After that, you and I will discuss where your obligations belong."
He ended the call before Jingwei could respond.
The office disappeared from the communications wall. Jingwei’s mother, sister and aunt vanished with it, replaced by temperature reports and the headquarters inventory.
Silence settled over Xiling.
Jingwei stared at the empty section of the wall.
His family had accepted the restrictions, but they had also learned that he would remain safe while they suffered. Nothing he did remotely could erase that division.
Zhiyi closed the calculations on her tablet before rising from her chair.
She approached Jingwei but stopped outside the distance most people considered natural for comfort.
Her restraint should have made her attempt less obvious. Instead, the deliberate space revealed that she had come to him despite not knowing what comfort required.
"Your aunt’s temperature is decreasing," she reminded him. "Closing the exterior floors should also reduce the demand on the cooling system."
Jingwei already knew both facts, and Zhiyi knew that he knew them.
She was offering the only reassurance she trusted: evidence that his decision had helped rather than harmed the people he loved.
"Thank you," he replied.
Her shoulders loosened slightly, as though he had confirmed that she had selected the correct response.
"They shouldn’t have blamed you," Jingwei continued. "Nothing happening inside that building is your fault."
Zhiyi looked toward the blank video feed. "They blame me because Hanchuan supported me. And because I had Hanchuan, I had all of you."
"That doesn’t make you responsible for the choices we made afterward."
"No," she agreed. "But it makes me the reason they can identify."
The distinction was too precise for Jingwei to dismiss.
His family couldn’t accuse the Heat, and they couldn’t reach the decisions that had excluded them from the shelters. Zhiyi had a face they could place between themselves and everything they had lost.
Hanchuan crossed the remaining distance and rested one hand against her back. The contact happened without thought, as natural as breathing.
Jingwei looked away.
His phone vibrated before anyone could speak again.
The head of security at Rong headquarters had sent an urgent request for a private connection.
Jingwei accepted it immediately.
Director Han appeared inside a stairwell instead of the security office. Sweat darkened the collar of his uniform, and his breathing remained unsteady as he checked the closed door behind him.
"Young Master Rong, I need new instructions." He lowered his voice when movement sounded on the other side of the door. "Chairman Rong has removed me from command."