Chen Hao kicked aside the pebble in the way by the field, his trouser leg still covered in ash from burning the insect carcasses the night before. He was about to sit down against the control box, but before his shoulder even touched the metal, Nana's voice rang out from beside him.
"Water quality alert: impurity concentration of 18.3, exceeding the safety threshold."
He paused, gripping the edge of the container, and slowly turned his head: "What did you say? Water's joining in the fun too?"
"The irrigation water contains excessive levels of rust particles, organic sediments, and microbial metabolic residues, which will affect root respiration efficiency with long-term use." She pointed towards the water purification chamber, and the joints of the robotic arm made a slight sliding sound. "The electromagnetic purification system is ready and needs to be manually connected to the main power module."
Chen Hao sighed, wiped his face, and his fingertip brushed against a dried scorch mark—probably from when he was shaking off bugs last night. He frowned and rubbed it a couple of times, but couldn't get it off, so he gave up. "I was catching bugs until my eyelids were drooping last night, and now I have to fix the water? This isn't farming, it's running a general repair shop."
Nana didn't reply, but instead stretched out her arm, projecting a clear circuit diagram that floated in mid-air. The red and blue lines were labeled with positive and negative symbols, and the connection points were highlighted with green circles.
"Look carefully before you answer," she said.
"I know, I know, it's not like I've never touched electricity before." Chen Hao muttered as he squatted down and opened the side cover of the air purifier. Several wires were exposed inside, the metal contacts slightly darkened. He squinted at the projector for a while, yawned, and casually pushed the plug back in.
"Beep—System startup."
The machine gave a low hum, like the moo of a cow with its throat stuck. Then, the connecting pipe jerked violently, and a thick, ink-like stream of black liquid gushed out with a "bang," hitting Chen Hao squarely in the chest.
He leaned back, almost sitting in the mud. Black water dripped down his clothes and onto his shoes, making a soft sizzling sound, like water droplets splashing into a hot oil pan.
"Oh my god—!" He looked down and saw a large wet patch on his chest, with the edges of his clothes already turning white and bubbling. "This stuff can even corrode fabric?"
"Reversed electrode connection causes the electrolysis reaction to proceed in reverse, and metal ions in the water are reduced and precipitated, forming a colloidal suspension." Nana quickly cut off the power and reached out to pull him away from the nozzle area. "I suggest that you confirm the color correspondence before operating next time."
Chen Hao stood there, one hand clutching his chest, the other wiping his face. The black residue on his face was impossible to wipe off, sticking stickily to his skin. "So I have to memorize color charts? Red is the father, blue is the mother?"
"Red is the positive terminal, and blue is the negative terminal. The markings are located three centimeters below the interface."
"Then why didn't you zoom out the projection just now?" He rolled his eyes.
"You had already closed your eyes and were yawning."
Chen Hao opened his mouth, but didn't refute. He did yawn, and he yawned quite enthusiastically.
The two disassembled the connector again. This time, Chen Hao stared at the interface for a full ten seconds, repeatedly comparing the projection and the actual object, before carefully aligning the plug and slowly pushing it in.
"Are you done yet?" he asked.
"Contact is stable, voltage is normal."
"Then...start it?"
"Can."
Nana pressed the start button.
This time, the machine emitted a steady hum, like an old-fashioned refrigerator starting up after being plugged in. The water pipe trembled slightly twice, and then clear water slowly gushed out, gradually thickening before finally pouring into the main drain with a gurgling sound.
Chen Hao stared at the stream of clear water for several seconds, then suddenly grinned and said, "At least it didn't spray mud all over my face."
"The first failure consumed about seven liters of purification fluid, but subsequent processes have automatically compensated for it."
"Does that mean I got criticized for nothing?"
"Data records show that the error can be classified as 'human error,' and it is recommended to establish a standardized inspection process."
"Alright." Chen Hao took out a marker from his tool bag and wrote four large characters on the side of the control box: **Red Positive, Blue Negative**, and then drew an arrow pointing to the interface. "I'll be looking at this from now on."
Nana scanned the line of text, her eyes flashing slightly: "The font is tilted at a 37-degree angle, which does not affect recognition."
"You're criticizing my handwriting?"
"Simply state the facts."
Clear water flowed forward along the ditch, sunlight reflecting off its surface in dappled patterns. In the distance, a few tomato plants trembled slightly, as if finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Chen Hao took off his coat, wrung it out a few times, and black water dripped onto the soil, immediately raising a layer of ash on the surface. He frowned and hung the coat on the railing to dry, then squatted by the ditch and tested the water temperature with his hand.
"It's cold."
"Constant temperature output, suitable for the current crop growth stage."
"That's good." He propped himself up on his knees and stretched his wrists. "Finally done. Should we spread fertilizer next? Turn the soil? Or..."
Before she could finish speaking, Nana suddenly raised her hand.
"Abnormal signal".
"What's wrong now?"
"A minute current fluctuation was detected in the water flow, which appeared periodically at intervals of 4.3 seconds."
Chen Hao put his foot down again after lifting it: "Wasn't it just fixed? Why is it breaking down again?"
"The source has not yet been located, but the fluctuation amplitude is increasing." She brought up the monitoring panel, where a waveform curve was gradually becoming sharper. "If it continues to increase, it may interfere with the stability of the electromagnetic field."
"Could it be that one of the connectors is loose?"
“All physical connections are locked.” She turned to the back of the water purification chamber. “The investigation should focus on external sensors.”
The two went around to the back of the equipment. It was near a drainage ditch, the ground was slightly damp, and several spare pipes lay across the ground. Nana crouched down, her sleek eyes scanning every inch of the metal surface.
Chen Hao also bent down to check, his fingers tracing the pipe. Suddenly, his fingertips touched something unusual—the edge of a copper plate on an auxiliary grounding wire was sticking up, with half a piece of withered grass underneath.
"Has this thing always been like this?"
“It was in normal condition during yesterday’s inspection.” Nana took the copper strip and examined it carefully. “The oxidation level is high, which may indicate a slight continuity.”
"Can even the slightest breeze trigger an electric current?"
"In a high-frequency electromagnetic environment, any non-ideal grounding can become a source of interference."
Chen Hao scratched his head: "So we have to fix it?"
"The entire grounding module needs to be replaced."
Do you have any tools?
"Yes, but installation takes ten minutes."
"Then hurry up."
Nana got up to get her toolbox. Chen Hao stayed where he was, casually pressing down the protruding copper piece. Just as he pressed it down, a soft "pop" sounded in his ear, like a small spark exploding.
He pulled his hand back and found that his fingertips were a little numb.
"Don't touch it." Nana had returned and handed him a pair of insulated gloves. "The peak fluctuation just now increased by twenty-two percent."
I only touched it!
"Sufficient to form an instantaneous loop."
She skillfully removed the old module, replaced it with a new one, tightened the screws, and then scanned it again with a testing instrument.
"Grounding impedance meets standards, interference source eliminated."
Chen Hao watched her pack up her tools and couldn't help but say, "You robots are so efficient at your work, unlike me, I have to wash myself before I can even connect a wire."
"Proficiency is gained through practice."
"It's not like I'm fixing equipment every day."
The water continued to flow, and the waveform returned to normal. Nana stood in front of the control box and began to archive the operation log for this operation.
Chen Hao leaned against the box, still clutching the wet wrench in his hand. He looked up at the sky; the clouds were thicker than in the morning, and the wind was picking up, causing the fill light bracket to sway gently.
"If the water is clean, can the land be saved?"
"As long as no further human error occurs, the system can maintain stable operation."
"Heh." He chuckled, looking down at the water droplets rolling off the wrench. "Looks like I'll have to be a smart lazy person from now on."
In the distance, a clear stream was merrily flowing into the branch canal of the pumpkin patch. The soil darkened slightly after absorbing the water, and the leaves of several seedlings trembled gently.
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