Chapter 148: Nine Days Became Six
Jingwei watched his father wait for the obedience he had always shown him.
Beyond the glass entrance of Rong headquarters, 30 people were quickly turning into more than 40 people as they crowded beneath an overhang that offered shade without relief.
Rong Jianfeng’s cousin stood at the front with one hand pressed against the barrier. His wife crouched beside a child lying across two pieces of luggage.
The exterior sensor displayed 74 degrees.
Every minute Jingwei delayed increased the likelihood that someone outside would die.
Opening the headquarters without restrictions would only move that danger inside.
"I won’t release both barriers," Jingwei answered.
Rong Jianfeng’s expression hardened. "There are children out there."
"And 87 people in here," Jingwei sighed, wondering when his father had turned into a man like this.
But his reminder silenced the office.
Nine days of food and drinking water had already become a source of conflict. Increasing the population would shorten that time, and no promise of future deliveries could replace what they consumed.
Jingwei opened the eastern entrance schematics.
The reinforced vestibule between the exterior and interior barriers had been designed to contain armed intruders. Its ventilation operated independently from the headquarters cooling system, allowing security to isolate anyone trapped inside.
It could hold the crowd temporarily.
"We open the exterior barrier for ten seconds," Jingwei decided. "Everyone who reaches the vestibule remains there until security searches them and completes a count. The inner barrier stays closed."
His father looked toward the motionless child. "She cannot wait for an inspection."
Qinghe enlarged the entrance feed. The camera couldn’t provide enough detail for a diagnosis, but the child hadn’t moved since the call began.
"If she has heatstroke, bringing her inside the vestibule won’t be enough," Qinghe warned. "She needs active cooling immediately."
Jingwei studied the two barriers once more.
"The child enters the headquarters first. Her parents can accompany her, but they surrender everything they brought before crossing the inner barrier," he said after a moment.
Rong Jianfeng’s cousin would consider the search insulting. His father would consider it unnecessary.
But neither opinion mattered.
Jingwei contacted Director Han at the secondary control station.
"Place a medical team behind the inner barrier. Two guards will receive the child and her parents. Everyone else remains inside the vestibule until you identify them."
Director Han glanced toward the crowd on his monitor. "They may rush the interior door once they realize it isn’t opening."
"Deploy shields, not firearms. If they force the barrier, seal the corridor behind your officers and withdraw."
Rong Jianfeng heard the instruction. "You expect members of our own family to attack security?"
Jingwei raised a single eyebrow. "I expect people trapped in 74-degree heat to stop behaving rationally," he agreed.
The answer left no room for his father’s certainty that status would restrain them.
Hanchuan remained beside Zhiyi without approaching the controls. He watched Jingwei establish the admission procedure but offered no decision of his own.
Rong headquarters belonged to the Rong family. Its remaining supplies, its occupants and the people outside its doors were Jingwei’s responsibility.
Hanchuan would interfere only if the consequences reached Xiling.
"Security is in position," Director Han reported.
Jingwei activated the exterior intercom.
"Move behind the yellow line. The entrance will remain open for ten seconds. Anyone who has not crossed the threshold when the warning sounds must leave the area."
The announcement caused the crowd to surge forward.
Several people shouted that they had arrived with Chairman Rong’s cousin. Others pressed against the barrier as though proximity might guarantee admission. The woman beside the child lost her balance and caught herself against the luggage.
Jingwei kept the door locked.
"Repeat the instruction," he said to Director Han. The other man transmitted the warning again, but no one retreated.
Rong Jianfeng reached for his office controls. "Let me speak to them."
Jingwei allowed the connection.
His father’s voice emerged through the exterior speakers.
"Everyone behind the line. The door will not open until the entrance is clear," he called out. And the effect was immediate.
People who had ignored the recorded instructions began forcing one another backward.
Rong Jianfeng’s cousin lifted the child while his wife gathered their bags. He remained in front, but he ordered everyone else behind the painted line.
For one brief moment, the authority Rong Jianfeng understood still existed.
Jingwei waited until the space before the entrance cleared.
"Open it," he announced firmly, knowing that this was completely the wrong decision to make.
The exterior barrier released.
Heat entered the vestibule in a visible distortion. Rong Jianfeng’s cousin carried the child through first, followed by his wife. Everyone behind them abandoned the ordered line and rushed forward.
The ten-second warning sounded while people were still forcing themselves through the entrance.
An elderly man stumbled across the threshold. Someone behind him fell against his back, preventing the barrier from closing.
"Hold it," Jingwei instructed.
Director Han didn’t question the change. Two people inside dragged the elderly man clear as the countdown continued.
Twelve seconds after opening, Jingwei sealed the entrance.
The barrier closed against a man’s outstretched hands.
He struck the glass once before stumbling backward. Eight other people remained beneath the overhang with him, staring at those who had reached safety.
Jingwei checked the count.
Thirty-one people had entered the vestibule.
Nine remained outside.
A younger man attempted to guide an unsteady woman toward an abandoned sedan. The others stayed near the sealed door, apparently expecting another opportunity.
Jingwei disabled the exterior release, ensuring that there wouldn’t be one.
Inside the vestibule, Director Han’s officers separated the child and her parents from the crowd. Their bags remained behind while the medical team transferred all three through the interior barrier.
Qinghe began issuing treatment instructions through the connection.
"Remove her outer clothing and apply cool water to her skin. Don’t use ice. Monitor her airway and core temperature. Tell me immediately if she begins seizing," he said, his eyes narrowing on the screen in front of him.
As the medical team moved the child away, protests erupted inside the vestibule.
Several people demanded to follow their relatives. One man claimed that his position within the Rong Group entitled him to speak directly with the chairman. Another insisted that security had no authority to confiscate private property.
Director Han allowed them to exhaust themselves before answering.
"No one enters until the search is complete. Sit against the wall and wait for your name," he said.
The command lacked Rong Jianfeng’s social authority, but the shields and sealed barriers gave it something more reliable.
The crowd obeyed.
Bags were opened. Names and family connections were recorded. Every usable supply was placed in a separate section of the vestibule.
The newcomers had brought clothing, computers, jewelry and bundles of cash.
Among 31 people, they possessed 11 bottles of water and enough packaged food for less than one meal.
But things that didn’t feed them? There was more money than they could quickly count, and more jewelry than 15 people could wear.
Zhiyi entered the updated population into the headquarters inventory.
The calculation changed immediately.
Nine days became six.