Zeyu kept the engine running while Manager Chen waited beside the cab.
During Zeyu’s last visit, the manager had apologized for a scuff on the showroom floor before showing him some of the strongest sales figures in the region.
He had always wanted everything at this branch to look its best. Now cardboard covered the windows, and someone had taken apart a display platform to make places to sleep between the cars.
"What relocation program?" Zeyu asked through the speaker. "Who told you there were company shelters?"
Manager Chen glanced toward the woman approaching from the forecourt. She was still carrying the kitchen scissors, holding the closed blades against her palm.
"It was Gao from regional distribution," Manager Chen replied. "He came in two company vans. He said headquarters was moving employees and their families somewhere with its own cooling system."
Zeyu knew the name.
Distribution Manager Gao arranged vehicle transfers between branches. He had access to keys, schedules, and the paperwork people here would expect him to carry.
Zeyu tried to remember his face, but all he could picture was a row of men around a conference table.
"When did he come?" Zeyu asked.
"Eight days ago." Manager Chen wiped his upper lip, avoiding the swollen side of his face. "He came back the next evening for the first group."
The woman stopped beside him. Strips of fabric covered two of her fingers, stained where she held the scissors.
"My daughter went with them," she said. "And my mother. They told us anyone who couldn’t work should go first. The rest of us were needed here."
Zeyu looked past her at the stripped cars.
If the employees believed their families were safe, they had a reason to stay and do what they were told. They would work in this heat and guard the branch while they waited for their turn to leave.
"What did they ask you to do?" Zeyu asked.
"Take out the batteries and drain whatever fuel was left," Manager Chen replied. "We were supposed to sort the spare parts in the service department, too. Distribution Manager Gao said they’d collect everything when they came for the second group."
Behind Zeyu, Shichen leaned forward, his seat creaking beneath him.
Nobody spoke although Zeyu almost wished someone would.
He needed a moment to think, but the woman was watching him, waiting beneath the company sign.
"Did anyone let you know your families had arrived?" Zeyu asked.
Manager Chen started to answer, but the woman spoke over him.
"They told us they couldn’t call. They had to save power, and they couldn’t let everyone find out where the shelter was." Her fingers tightened around the scissors. "That makes sense, doesn’t it? You wouldn’t want people turning up there."
Zeyu could feel Hanchuan watching him.
She wanted him to tell her the explanation was true. She had waited days without hearing from her mother or daughter, and now he had arrived in a vehicle with working air-conditioning and enough room to live inside.
"I didn’t approve any employee relocation program," Zeyu told her. "I didn’t send Distribution Manager Gao here."
Manager Chen stared at him. Beside him, the woman gave a small shake of her head.
"Then someone else did," she insisted. "Your father, maybe. Another director. Someone must have been making decisions while you weren’t answering."
Zeyu didn’t know what everyone in the company had done since the Heat began. Before he could explain that, she turned to Manager Chen.
"Show him the notice," she said. "You kept it. Let him see."
Manager Chen reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a folded sheet in a clear plastic sleeve. The plastic clung to his damp skin, and he struggled to free it before holding it up.
Jingwei adjusted the side camera until the page filled the display. Zeyu saw the company letterhead, the stamp at the bottom, and his own name beneath the line approving the transfer.
He read it twice.
The notice promised transport, a place to stay, and priority for employees’ families. Those who stayed behind would keep their places as long as they finished the work assigned to them.
It sounded like any other company notice. Zeyu had read hundreds like it. Seeing those familiar words used to keep people here made his stomach turn.
"I didn’t approve this," Zeyu said.
Manager Chen lowered the sheet enough to look at him. "But they came in company vans. Distribution Manager Gao knew us. He had the staff list."
"I believe you." Zeyu loosened his grip on the wheel when he realized how tightly he was holding it. "I’m telling you I had nothing to do with this."
The woman looked back toward the showroom.
People had gathered in the open doorway to listen. A man with a towel over his shoulders stepped into the yard, but Manager Chen raised a hand, telling him to stay back.
"Where did the vans go?" Zeyu asked. "Did anyone follow them?"
Manager Chen glanced at the woman. "They said anyone who left would lose their place," he said after a moment
"You told us that," the woman said, turning toward him.
"That was what they told me," Manager Chen replied. "I was passing it on."
"You stopped my husband from following them," she continued.
Manager Chen lowered his hand. The paper bent inside its sleeve as he gripped it.
Zeyu could still hear the delivery man begging at their door. Less than an hour ago, people had blocked the road and fired at them to get what they wanted.
Here, someone had driven up in a company van, carrying a notice with Zeyu’s name on it. The employees had helped their families climb inside.
"Did Distribution Manager Gao tell you where the shelter was?" Zeyu asked.
"An industrial compound north of the freight yards," Manager Chen replied. "He didn’t give us an address."
The woman took a few steps toward the cab. Jingwei straightened, watching her, but she stopped before reaching the door.
"You can call him," she told Zeyu. "He’ll answer you."
Zeyu glanced at the phone controls. Once, that would have been enough. He could have called Gao, demanded an explanation, and had someone sent to the branch that afternoon.
"He hasn’t answered us since the collection," Manager Chen said quietly.
Zeyu looked back at him. "What collection?"
"They came for the batteries and fuel three days ago." Manager Chen glanced toward the cars. "Different drivers this time. They said Distribution Manager Gao was at the shelter."
Zhiyi spoke from behind Zeyu. "Ask whether those drivers brought another passenger list."
Zeyu repeated the question through the speaker.
Manager Chen looked toward the showroom. The man with the towel was crossing the yard now, ignoring his earlier warning to stay back.
"Yes," Manager Chen admitted. "For the next departure."
"Who’s on it?" the woman asked.
Manager Chen kept looking at Zeyu. He had seemed relieved to see him a few minutes ago. Now he stood clutching the notice, saying nothing while the man from the showroom came closer.
The man was carrying a clipboard. Before Manager Chen could stop him, he held it up toward the camera.
"My wife’s name was on this yesterday," he said. His voice shook, but he held the page still. "Then Manager Chen told me there’d been a change."
Zeyu read the crossed-out name. Someone had written another above it in blue ink.
Beside the mobile base, the woman turned slowly toward Manager Chen.
"Whose name did you put there?"