Chapter 25

In the depths of the artificial lake, more than three meters deep, two intense blue flames danced, their eerie blue light rippling through the water.

The moment the high-temperature flames touched the outermost damaged pipe, a large amount of black smoke began to rise to the surface with the bubbles.

The sharp-eyed workers could vaguely make out a rectangular cut slowly opening along the damaged section of the outer pipe.

On the shore, workers continuously shouted updates about the reactor's temperature to the center of the lake.

50 degrees, 49 degrees, 47 degrees, 45 degrees...

The gradually dropping temperature made all the workers' hearts sink.

They were worried about their bonuses; if this batch of raw materials was ruined, they would only get overtime pay at best.

Two gray-haired professors were on the phone, discussing with other experts in the chemical industry to see if there were any other processes that could shorten the reaction time of diethanolamine.

Ye Qing also squeezed to the shore, watching the two divers work underwater with great interest.

After about ten more minutes, the outermost pipe was cut open. The two divers quickly surfaced, each holding a pair of pliers.

The middle of the steam pipe was a thick layer of glass fiber. To weld the inner pipe, they had to clear away this layer of glass fiber.

Half an hour had already passed, and the two divers were working desperately, using the pliers to pull the glass fiber.

However, the glass fiber was very thick, and it was difficult to apply force underwater. After a lot of effort, the divers only managed to clear a small area along the damaged section.

"Time is running out, hurry up!" Boss Rong Wei was so anxious that he almost jumped into the water to take the pliers himself.

The divers, whether they heard or not, continued to work at their own slow pace.

As time ticked by, Boss Rong Wei's expression slowly shifted from anxiety to despair.

The minute hand on the Vacheron Constantin watch on Boss Rong Wei's wrist had already made a full circle. But at this point, the divers had just cleared the middle layer of glass fiber, exposing the inner pipe.

With the help of underwater searchlights and the divers' headlamps, Boss Rong Wei could see the crack. He almost wanted to throw himself into the lake.

The steel of the crack had been bent outward by the high-pressure gas, creating a massive opening over thirty centimeters wide across the pipe.

The gap between the edges of the crack was large enough to fit a fist.

In normal welding procedures, these bent edges would need to be hammered back into place before welding could continue.

But this was underwater welding, and it was impossible to use a hammer for adjustments.

The two divers, using their flippers, surfaced, removed their breathing apparatus, and said with fatigue and guilt, "Boss, it's impossible. The damage is too severe. We can only cut out this section and replace it entirely."

Rong Wei collapsed onto a small boat with a thud. The news spread to the shore, and the two professors sighed, exchanged a few words with some employees, and then got into their car and left.

They understood better than anyone that every minute of delay increased the risk of the raw materials being ruined.

Since welding was impossible now, the raw materials would definitely be scrapped.

The two small boats returned to the shore, and Rong Wei was helped down by an employee. His face was pale as paper, and large beads of sweat covered his forehead.

Li Huaxing, the chairman of Huaxing Heavy Industry, patted Rong Wei on the shoulder. "I need to go to the third factory to handle things. You need to hold on."

The professors left, the chairman of Huaxing Heavy Industry left, and the originally enthusiastic workers who had been watching also dispersed, leaving only two employees who looked like management.

Why stay and jinx the boss after he had messed up such a huge deal?

The people from the two underwater companies were packing up their equipment. Since they couldn't complete the job, they would only get a few thousand yuan in labor fees, so they were naturally in a bad mood.

"Boss Rong, let me give it a try?" Ye Qing quietly approached Rong Wei and whispered.

Rong Wei remained seated on the ground, unmoved by Ye Qing's offer.

"Boss, what should we do?" An employee in a white lab coat came over to ask.

Rong Wei still didn't react, like a block of wood.

The employee gently shook his shoulder and repeated the question, his voice filled with sorrow.

This employee had worked at Gangjie Chemical since its founding and knew better than anyone how much Rong Wei had sacrificed over the past decade.

From a small, unknown workshop to one of the top chemical plants in Zhongyun, the boss had paid a tremendous price.

Securing this major contract with BASF Germany was the greatest affirmation of Rong Wei's decade of hard work.

Now, everything was over.

The raw materials would need to be disposed of at great cost. Failing to deliver the diethanolamine would result in breach of contract fees that would make Gangjie Chemical bleed.

As for future cooperation?

Which company would be willing to continue working with a partner who messed up on their first collaboration?

The employee shook Rong Wei's shoulder again, and Rong Wei finally snapped out of his stupor.

To everyone's surprise, he burst into tears, covering his face and sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's over, it's all over. Where am I going to get that much diethanolamine?" Tears streamed down Rong Wei's face, and he cried his heart out.

Since the beginning, it had been a hopeless situation.

Why did fate have to give him false hope with those two underwater construction companies?

Rong Wei felt like the sky was falling. He had failed at the last step, the final welding step.

"Boss, should we drain the raw materials into waste barrels?" the employee asked responsibly.

Rong Wei suddenly stood up, his eyes determined. "No, since there's no way out, we'll reconnect the steam."

"Tell the boiler room to reconnect the steam and burn the heavy oil at maximum capacity." Rong Wei wiped away his tears. "Didn't the professors say that increasing the ratio of ethylene oxide and accelerating the stirring could speed up the reaction of the raw materials?"

"Add it! Even if we die, we'll die with clarity, not like this."

The employee hesitated but didn't try to dissuade the boss. Since the professors had said there would be no explosion or leakage, it might be better to try and let the boss see the futility of it all.

The order was quickly given, and the boiler room, which had never stopped, immediately closed the exhaust valve and reopened the steam pipe valve.

A few breaths later, the long steam pipe suddenly shook, as if a dragon was passing through it.

Then, a huge explosion sounded on the surface of the artificial lake, and a massive plume of steam shot up over twenty meters high, unimpeded by the glass fiber.

The temperature inside the reactor slowly began to rise. But even to return to the previous temperature, it would take at least half an hour.

Moreover, it wouldn't reach the original fifty degrees, as the steam would leak more without the thick glass fiber barrier.

Standing by the artificial lake, Rong Wei shed tears silently.

"Boss Rong, let me give it a try. I can do underwater welding too," Ye Qing stepped forward again, offering his services.

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