After Lu Xingyan took his seat, he seemingly glanced casually at Chen Ningxi sitting one seat apart. She had been attentively listening to Tao Wanqing’s report on the progress of the wind power generation project. Due to the arrival of an important installation component today, everyone involved had stayed on-site at the construction site instead of coming over.
After lunch, the colleagues were taken back to the facility by Tao Wanqing to rest, with activities resuming at 1:30 in the afternoon.
Chen Ningxi planned to visit the wind power generation project site. Tao Wanqing drove her there in the facility’s engineering vehicle. Lu Xingyan asked Wu Jinchuan:
"Master, can I go with them to take a look?"
Wu Jinchuan shook his head. "Do you think this is a field trip? Go rest."
"Got it."
Lu Xingyan followed the others back toward the substation.
Chen Ningxi got into the back seat, and with a press of the gas pedal, Tao Wanqing drove the engineering vehicle toward the wind power project site.
Winter had set in. The sea wind was bitterly cold, slicing at the face like a knife.
They planned to install an offshore wind turbine today, but upon reaching the site, they found that work was halted. After communicating with the chief engineer, they learned that a crane had malfunctioned while lifting a specialized mounting base. They were currently waiting for repair personnel.
There weren’t any technical difficulties with tasks like setting up substations and power grids on land. The real challenge lay in offshore installations.
Noticing it was almost ti for the afternoon training session, Chen Ningxi bid farewell to the chief engineer and left the site.
On the way back, Chen Ningxi felt a headache coming on. The sea winds had been too harsh; even with a hat on, her scalp had gone numb, and it felt as though her brain had been frozen.
That afternoon’s training involved pole-climbing operations and wire-fabrication tasks. anwhile, Lu Xingyan focused on listening to Master Wu’s key points about temperature asurent:
Wu Jinchuan, holding the equipnt, said, "Rember, the key to accurate temperature asurent is selecting the correct emissivity of the target equipnt. Furthermore, operations must be conducted within safe distance limits. When using the infrared thermoter, position it as close to the target equipnt as possible and ensure the target fills the thermoter’s field of view. Understood?"
Lu Xingyan frowned tightly. "Understood."
"Good, you try first." Wu Jinchuan stepped back to let Lu Xingyan practice.
At that mont, Chen Ningxi walked over, raising her hand to cover her mouth as she coughed a few tis.
"Cough, cough..."
The session ended at 3 p.m., and based on the day’s overall performance, the top three participants would be eligible for a promotion in rank.
On the return bus, everyone sat in the sa spots as before. When Chen Ningxi boarded, she noticed that Lu Xingyan was once again seated beside Master Wu.
Wang Qing glanced at Chen Ningxi’s unusually flushed cheeks and asked, "Manager Chen, are you feeling unwell? Your face is so red."
Chen Ningxi coughed a few more tis before sitting down. "Might’ve been the wind at the project site earlier."
Hearing how heavy her nasal congestion was, Wang Qing asked, "Manager Chen, are you running a fever right now?"
"Yeah, I’m freezing all over." Chen Ningxi took a mask out of her pocket and put it on. "Don’t want to pass it to you."
"Don’t worry, I’m sturdy as a horse," Wang Qing replied.
Feeling unwell and rocked by the bus’s jolting movents, Chen Ningxi’s stomach churned. They made an unscheduled stop at a service area, where she rushed to the restroom to throw up.
When she ca back out, she looked utterly drained, lacking any energy.
Back on the bus, soone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned slightly to see that it was Lu Xingyan, handing her a cup of hot drink.
"Here, drink sothing warm; it’ll make you feel better."
Chen Ningxi accepted it. "Thanks. How much was it? I’ll transfer the amount to you."
"Really? It’s just a few bucks—no need for that." Lu Xingyan sat back without further disturbing her.
Half-asleep, she vaguely heard soone calling her na. Opening her eyes, she saw the familiar sight of the company compound.
Wang Qing said, "Manager Chen, we’ve arrived."
Chen Ningxi stood up. Behind her, Lu Xingyan hadn’t left yet either. Master Wu asked, "How are you feeling? Want to go to the hospital?"
"I’m fine. A bit of dicine will do the trick." Chen Ningxi followed the group off the bus.
Back in the office, she leaned back in her chair to rest for a mont. She rembered there were so basic dicines in her drawer. After rummaging through it, she managed to find a fever reducer.
After taking the pill, she got ready to leave for the day. At the parking lot, she ran into Lu Xingyan.
"Manager Chen," Lu Xingyan greeted. "You still don’t look too well. Consider going to the hospital."
"Hmm, are you just leaving now too?"
Lu Xingyan replied, "Got held up with sothing just now."
Chen Ningxi said, "Hurry up then. If you get caught in rush-hour traffic, you’ll be stuck forever."
Lu Xingyan smiled. "Alright, I’m off."
Both got into their cars, and Lu Xingyan waited until Chen Ningxi drove off before leisurely heading out of the compound himself.
Cheng Qiaobei sent her a ssage, saying he’d be working overti that night and that she shouldn’t wait for him for dinner.
Not sure if there was any dicine left at ho, Chen Ningxi decided to buy so cold and fever dicine on her way back. Once she got ho, she ditched her coat and imdiately headed to the bedroom. She collapsed onto the bed, pulling the blanket over herself as she drifted off to sleep.
When Cheng Qiaobei got ho, it was already past ten. The house was dark and silent.
After turning on the hallway light, he saw her shoes on the floor mat.
"Ning Xi," Cheng Qiaobei called toward the bedroom, but there was no response.
Under the glow of the living room lamp, he noticed her lying in bed.
"Ning Xi." He realized sothing was wrong. Approaching the bed, he noticed her heavy breathing. Turning on the bedside lamp, its light revealed her flushed face, red like a boiled shrimp.
When he touched her forehead, it was noticeably hot in his palm.
Grabbing a thermoter, he found her body temperature alarmingly high.
Chen Ningxi barely managed to open her eyes. "You’re back?"
Cheng Qiaobei glanced at the thermoter’s display. "You have a high fever. Did you take any dicine?"
Chen Ningxi replied, "I took one fever reducer before leaving work."
Cheng Qiaobei asked, "Did you eat dinner?"
"No appetite; I didn’t feel like eating."
He felt a pang of guilt. "This is reckless," he said, blaming himself as well. "I should’ve co back earlier."
Chen Ningxi reassured him, "It’s not your fault. I got chilled by the sea wind at the site earlier."
"Alright, don’t say anything more. Just lie down for now. I’ll make so porridge. You need to eat sothing before taking more dicine." Cheng Qiaobei tucked her in before rolling up his sleeves as he headed toward the kitchen.
Listening to the kitchen sounds, she drifted back into sleep.
When she awoke again, Cheng Qiaobei was beside her with a bowl of hot porridge. At her bedside were dicine and warm water.
Looking at the porridge, she said, "I really don’t feel like eating. I have no appetite at all."
"Co on, be good. You need to eat sothing before taking dicine." He scooped a spoonful and brought it to her lips. She turned her head away. "I can do it myself—it’s not that serious."
Forcing herself, she swallowed a couple of spoonfuls before handing the bowl back. "I really can’t eat any more."
Cheng Qiaobei bargained, "Just one more bite."
Under his coaxing, she managed to eat half the bowl before stopping.
After taking her dicine, she lay down again.
The fever made her body feel hot, and she kept kicking off the blanket. Cheng Qiaobei had no choice but to fetch a basin of warm water and use a towel to wipe her down repeatedly to help reduce the fever.
By the ti her fever subsided, it was already the middle of the night. Cheng Qiaobei had gone through countless basins of warm water. When he finally stood upright again, his back ached from exhaustion.
As the first snow of the season blanketed the world in quiet, pristine white, the chill of winter settled deeper.
When Chen Ningxi opened her eyes, she saw Cheng Qiaobei fast asleep. She quietly got out of bed, only to notice a basin of water on the floor with a towel soaking in it.
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