As the pipe rolled down, Chen Hao was bending over to untie the rope. He paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked up at the edge of the trailer—it had been firmly stuck just moments before.
"Was it not tied securely enough?" he muttered, reaching out to adjust it.
Nana had already walked to the base of the waterwheel without turning her head: "The fixing method is correct; the ground has subsided by three millimeters."
"Huh? You can sense that too?"
“I can sense that you secretly ate two bags of potato chips last month.” She squatted down and traced a few lines on the terminal with her fingertips. “The uneven stress on the foundation piles has caused a slight shift in the upper frame. Touching it now is like giving a massage to a person with a crooked neck.”
Chen Hao withdrew his hand and scratched the back of his head: "So...it's going to collapse?"
"It won't collapse, but the installed drive unit will explode."
"His tone was as calm as if he were saying 'the rice is burnt.'"
“Because this isn’t the first time there’s been a problem.” She stood up and tapped the spindle interface lightly with her metal fingers. “With an angular deviation of 7.3 degrees, the torque transmission efficiency drops by more than 40 percent, and it will inevitably resonate and tear within three minutes of operation.”
Chen Hao looked up at the iron frame, which wasn't fully erected yet, as if looking at an untamed wild bull. "So, are we repairing the bull now, or changing the saddle?"
"Fix both."
The sun had just climbed over the riverbank, and a breeze blew in from downstream, carrying a damp, earthy smell. Instead of returning to base, they spread out the blueprints right there on site. Chen Hao sat cross-legged on a flat stone slab, welding torch resting beside his knees, taking a bite of half a compressed biscuit in his hand, his cheeks bulging as he asked, "You mean this thing has to be perfectly fitted? Can't we just make do? We can't see the water flow anyway?"
“Anything that’s passable is called a craft project.” Nana projected the 3D model onto the terminal screen, rotating it to show the connection points. “This is the core of the power output; it’s not like you can just wrap a broken heel with tape.”
"I fixed a radio with tape last time, and it lasted for three months."
"For those three months, it automatically played the Peking Opera 'The Empty City Stratagem' every morning at eight o'clock."
"It sounds nice."
"But it woke you up twice and even taught the parrot in the neighboring birdcage to sing 'I was originally a carefree man from Wolonggang'."
Chen Hao grinned, then sighed, "Alright, you tell me how to change it."
She pulled up a new set of parameters: "We need an adjustable bracket that can fine-tune the level of the mounting surface in real time. I'll provide the design drawings, and you'll be responsible for the on-site welding."
"I had to do it again?"
"Your welding pass rate has increased by 22 percent compared to last month."
"That's because I'm used to throwing the welding torch around."
Even so, he still used the rocks to stand up, dusted off his pants, picked up his toolbox, and walked towards the pile of recycled metal. The nine sets of pipes he had hauled back yesterday were neatly stacked to the side. He picked out two straight ones, measured their lengths, and then casually picked up a piece of scrap steel plate to use as a base plate.
“If you worked on a construction site, the boss would definitely treat you to meals every day.” Nana stood to the side recording material numbers.
“That’s right, someone like me can shine anywhere.” He said as he fixed the steel plate to the clamp and turned on the portable cutting machine, “especially when the flames are particularly strong.”
Amidst sparks, the first support blank was cut off. His movements weren't fast, but steady, each step following the dimensions Nana had given him. If it was slightly off, he would slowly smooth it out with a file.
Before noon, the four adjustable supports were finished. He wiped his sweat; his clothes had several small holes burned by sparks, and smoke was still rising from his chest area.
"Your clothes could be used as a sieve if you turned around." Nana took the parts and inspected them one by one.
"Highly breathable, suitable for summer."
She didn't reply, but instead installed the first support into its designated position and activated the miniature hydraulic rod to test the load-bearing capacity. Several sets of data appeared on the screen, and a red light flashed.
"The left side is 1.5 millimeters lower."
"What? So precise?"
"Otherwise, why do you think I wouldn't let you try hitting it with a hammer?"
I thought you would say 'on a gut feeling'.
"I am not a chef."
The second adjustment took twenty minutes. The third time, the error was reduced to 0.2 millimeters. The fourth time, the terminal finally displayed a green notification box: [Matching Complete].
Chen Hao slumped to the ground, panting heavily: "Do you think people live just to wait for this green light?"
"What you're seeing now is an estimated value; it hasn't actually been implemented yet."
Can't you let someone be happy for a moment?
"Okay. You can get back to work after you've had your fun."
He rolled his eyes, struggled to his feet, and the two of them worked together to hoist the drive bay into place. This time the process was much quieter; there were no alarms, no flashing red lights, only the faint hum of the robotic arm slowly advancing.
When the last bolt was tightened, a message popped up on the terminal: "[Transmission system docking successful, simulated operation stable, estimated efficiency 89.6%]"
Chen Hao stared at the string of numbers for five seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Wow, it actually works?"
Nana retracted the robotic arm and tapped the screen with her fingertip to check the various indicators: "Three trial installations, seven parameter adjustments, taking six hours and eighteen minutes. Forty-three minutes faster than expected."
"That means we're getting more and more in sync."
"That means you've finally learned how to read the direction of arrows on blueprints."
"I used to think arrows were just decorative paintings."
The evening wind picked up, whipping up debris and welding slag from the ground. The waterwheel was mostly complete, its massive frame standing on a high platform on the riverbank. The blades weren't fully installed yet, but its outline already exuded an imposing presence. The drive compartment was embedded in its core, like a newly installed heart.
Chen Hao squatted beside the base, still holding the welding torch in his hand, his elbows resting on his knees, looking up at the behemoth that he once thought could "just be hung on the river and spin around".
"Do you think it would make a 'whoosh' sound if it actually started spinning? Like a train?"
"According to the fluid dynamics model, it will emit a low-frequency hum, close to the key of C."
"Could you add a speaker to it so it can play music while it's spinning?"
"No. And you're not qualified to make such a suggestion."
"I'm doing this to improve the happiness of the project participants."
"Your sense of happiness is built on the foundation of someone else's damaged eardrums."
He chuckled twice, then said nothing more, simply reaching out and gently patting the metal frame. The metal was cold, its texture rough, but sturdy.
Nana stood in front of the control panel, synchronizing the last batch of data. Her fingers swiped rapidly across the screen, scrolling and refreshing the information. Suddenly, the terminal emitted a short beep.
She stopped.
His brow furrowed slightly.
Chen Hao noticed the commotion and turned to ask, "What's wrong?"
She didn't answer, but instead brought up the real-time monitoring chart of the transmission system again. The curve was stable, the values were normal, and everything seemed fine.
But she glanced again at the thermal imaging feedback of the spindle connection point.
The temperature distribution... seems a bit off.
It wasn't a malfunction or an alarm, but rather an extremely subtle anomaly—the heat radiation from the left support ring was 0.8 degrees Celsius higher than that from the right.
It's almost negligible.
But she knew that some collapses begin from these “almost negligible” points.
She turned to look at Chen Hao, her voice still calm: "Give me the welding torch."
Chen Hao was taken aback: "You want to change it again?"
"Remove the third support first."
"Wasn't it just installed?"
"It's generating heat."
"who?"
"The support frame. And that seam you welded."
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