Huang Mel stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the conference room on the 68th floor of the Shanghai Tower. His fingertips unconsciously ran across the cold glass, overlooking the endless river of cars below him. The glass reflected her neatly tailored dark gray suit. Her long hair was meticulously pulled into a low bun, revealing her clear jawline. Only the lingering red bloodshot eyes revealed her exhaustion from working for thirty-six consecutive hours.
"Mr. Huang, the tunneling parameters of the shield machine for the third phase of the East China Regional Underground Comprehensive Pipeline Project have come out," Chen Mo, the project manager, pushed open the door and entered with dense data on the tablet screen in his hand. "When the No. 3 Shield machine crossed the fault zone at the bottom of the Huangpu River, the torque suddenly surged to 2800kN·m, exceeding the safety threshold by 15%. The advancement speed was forced to drop to 2cm/min. The construction team has suspended operations and is waiting for your decision."
Huang Mel turned around and took the tablet with steady fingers without any trembling. As the top municipal engineering chief engineer in the country, she has presided over no less than twenty large-scale projects, from cross-sea bridges to urban underground transportation hubs. The more difficult technical problems are, the more it inspires her inner tenacity.
"Pull up the geological radar detection map, as well as the excavation data curve of the previous twelve hours, and compare it with the rock compressive strength report in the fault zone." Her voice was calm but with unquestionable authority. "Inform the geological exploration team, mechanical engineer and shield machine operation team leader to hold an emergency meeting in the command center on the third floor in ten minutes."
