Chapter 35

Wei Yuan sat by the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at Jingang. They were on the sixty-sixth floor—until about six months ago one of the busiest office towers in the city. The third-tallest building in Jingang.
Outside it was grey. From here it was as if a great grey shadow hung over the whole city.
The double doors behind him opened. Someone came in and looked at Wei Yuan by the window with concern. “Dr. Wei, you shouldn’t be up this high. It’s not safe.”
It was someone in something like a security uniform. He had been the building’s temporary security chief. But nothing was the same anymore. Because of the “erosion,” the higher you went the more unsafe it was. Most floors had been evacuated. Everyone was trying to get to the ground.
Wei Yuan looked at him. “… It’s all right. I just wanted to see it one last time.”
This view of Jingang—he might never see it again.
Once, even from up here you could see the lights, the dense flow of people on the ground like a musical staff.
In just a few months it had all become history. The last batch of people had left today. A few months ago, who could have imagined this?
Half an hour later the security chief escorted Wei Yuan out of what had been a conference room. One wall was covered with a large screen—now black with “rust.” The guards gave it a wide berth.
They came to the elevator shaft. The shaft had been cleared. The elevator was gone—only a black shaft straight down.
The first “change” in this building had started with the elevators.
The smooth metal doors had gradually been covered in a dark, rust-like substance. No amount of cleaning had removed it.
Then all sixteen elevators in the building had gone the same way. When maintenance had opened the shafts, the cables were covered in that black substance. A touch—and it scattered like dust…
The security chief pulled on a rope as thick as a wrist and drew up a “basket.” He helped Wei Yuan in, then stepped in himself. They lowered the rope bit by bit. If Jiang Shan, who still knew nothing, could see this primitive way of going down, she would be stunned.
The security chief controlled the basket carefully. It took about twenty minutes to reach the ground safely. Zhang Zheng and the burly “Lao Gao” were waiting below.
“Lao Wei.” Zhang Zheng went over at once. “A whole crowd’s waiting for you, and you’re here enjoying the view.”
Wei Yuan looked at Zhang Zheng and Gao Wenwu. “What’s wrong?”
“Propaganda’s waiting for you to meet about the evacuation. And Songshan Hospital has sent a letter…” Zhang Zheng frowned at the mention of Songshan. He clearly didn’t like it.
He asked Wei Yuan: “Why did you agree to send that girl to Songshan Hospital?”
Unlike Zhang Zheng’s open displeasure, Gao Wenwu hardly ever spoke. He did what Wei Yuan said. He never questioned.
Wei Yuan paused, then said slowly: “Even if we didn’t send her, Songshan would have come for her. Better to send her ourselves.”
A public row would help no one—especially now.
And by sending her first, they kept a little control.
Zhang Zheng said reluctantly: “Those people are heavy-handed. She won’t be… mistreated, will she?”
Gao Wenwu looked at him. “I thought you didn’t like her. Why care if she’s hurt?”