When she saw the dog have an accident, Yao Wei was even more nervous than Lu Xi'an. She hurried down the stairs after him and picked up the dog, which had landed on its back, to check it over.
The dog's four legs twitched. Only after confirming nothing was wrong did she relax.
Lu Xi'an leaned over the upstairs railing and glanced down. "Is it okay?"
"It's fine."
Yao Wei shook her head and set the Mechanical Dog down.
"I knew it," Lu Xi'an said. "The dog came with me from north to south, and it's always been pretty sturdy. Tough as nails. Rolling down the stairs is no big deal."
The Mechanical Dog stood motionless, apparently adjusting its control system to its new limbs again.
Lu Xi'an had expected that.
What he hadn't expected was Yao Wei suddenly saying in a faint, distant voice, "This still isn't the south."
Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised. The woman seemed rather sensitive about the subject.
He asked, "Then where is the south?"
Yao Wei fell silent and didn't answer.
So Lu Xi'an didn't press her.
He went back inside, took Yao Wei's tools, and carefully removed the air conditioner, holding it in his arms.
Yao Wei made sure the dog was truly all right. Once she'd finished reprogramming its movement controls and it was bounding around again, she carried it upstairs.
As soon as she entered the bedroom, she saw Lu Xi'an waiting for her with the air conditioner in his arms.
"Give me a hand. The inside of this pipe is vacuum-sealed, and we don't have a pump to remove the air. We'll have to take the outdoor unit, indoor unit, and pipe down together."
Lu Xi'an explained.
Yao Wei stepped over and took the air conditioner from him. It was very light for her.
Lu Xi'an reminded her, "The pipe isn't long enough, so you'll have to hold the air conditioner here for a while. We don't have the proper tools to take it apart, so I'll have to remove the whole thing, outdoor unit and all."
"Okay."
Yao Wei agreed and stood still, holding the air conditioner.
Lu Xi'an opened the bedroom window and leaned out to inspect the area. Afterward, he took a hammer from Yao Wei's toolbox and smashed a hole in the wall with all his strength, breaking one of the rebar rods.
The hole extended all the way to the window, giving Lu Xi'an room to move the pipe sideways and remove the outdoor unit along with the air conditioner.
Yao Wei stood where she was the whole time. She didn't know what an outdoor unit was, but Lu Xi'an seemed to know, so all she had to do was follow his instructions.
It seemed Lu Xi'an knew a lot about things besides air conditioners, too, like parasites, bacteria, and protein in meat.
She understood parasites and bacteria, but she didn't know what protein was.
Before, she had simply trusted that Lu Xi'an was right because her own life experience told her what he said would benefit her. So she had obediently listened.
It was the same now.
When she saw Lu Xi'an climb out the window, she looked outside too and immediately understood what the outdoor unit was.
On the outer wall below the window was a metal box the same color as the air conditioner. It was covered in dust and mottled with rust.
The angle wasn't ideal, so Lu Xi'an had to step all the way outside the window to remove the outdoor unit.
He was incredibly strong now, and lifting the unit was effortless.
In his previous life, he wouldn't even have dared to imagine such a thing.
"I'll come in. Step back."
As he spoke, Lu Xi'an carried the outdoor unit inside by himself, adjusting the connecting pipe as he went to keep it from snagging on the mess of things on the wall.
One of them climbed back in through the window while the other stepped back. Before long, they'd moved the entire air conditioner beside the bed and set it down on the mattress.
"Come on, let's take the air conditioner to the car and see if I can install it," Lu Xi'an said. "The pool water should have frozen over, but it's pretty warm now, so it'll probably thaw soon. We can wait until we've filled our containers before leaving. What do you think?"
The weather in this world changed so drastically. If his constitution hadn't undergone a complete transformation after he'd arrived here, he would probably have fallen ill and died in the extreme swings between heat and cold.
Yao Wei nodded, then picked up the outdoor unit by herself and carried it out of the bedroom.
Lu Xi'an had planned to insist on carrying the heavier outdoor unit himself, but seeing how easily Yao Wei carried it—as if it were the dog—he gave up and followed with the indoor unit.
The Mechanical Dog followed behind them, its four wheels spinning as it ran smoothly and quickly. At the top of the stairs, it braked to a sudden stop.
Its tires were fixed in place, so they didn't interfere with the dog going downstairs. Still, as it ran down, it inevitably swayed just like before, looking a little comical.
When they reached the car, they set down both units. Lu Xi'an started examining them, trying to decide where to install everything.
In the end, he chose a spot beside the trunk. The metal window grille would let him secure the indoor unit, and since it was next to a window, it would also be easy to make a hole for the pipe.
As for the outdoor unit, Lu Xi'an hesitated for a long time before deciding to put it on the roof. That way, it wouldn't fall off over bumps.
There might be other minor issues with this arrangement, but of the two evils, the roof was the lesser. It was the best option.
Before installing the air conditioner, though, there was one thing he needed to get the car owner's permission for.
"I need to cut a hole in your car so I can feed the pipe through. Is that okay? If not, we can forget it."
Lu Xi'an said.
Yao Wei frowned and considered it for a long while before asking, "Will the air conditioner work after it's installed?"
"Didn't we use it the whole time before? We're just moving it from upstairs to your car. The air conditioner will be fine."
Only then did Yao Wei nod. "Okay. I'll cut the hole."
She still didn't trust Lu Xi'an's handiwork.
So Lu Xi'an stepped aside, showed Yao Wei where the hole needed to go, and let her do it.
After Yao Wei had made the hole, Lu Xi'an understood why the woman hadn't trusted his handiwork.
The hole was perfectly placed, right next to the window. It would be easy to open the window and fit the pipe through. Once they closed the window, it would squeeze the pipe just enough to seal it tightly, without a single flaw.
He definitely couldn't have done such a precise job himself.
"Impressive!"
Lu Xi'an praised her. He removed the metal grille from the rear window and lowered the window, then fed the indoor unit through. He held the pipe in place, raised the window again, reattached the grille, and started securing the air conditioner.
There was plenty of rope in Yao Wei's car. With a little effort, they could fasten the air conditioner firmly to the metal grille.
The outdoor unit on the roof was even easier. The car had a roof rack, so they could simply tie it down.
Once everything was in place, Lu Xi'an called for the dog to get in and connected the power.
"Vrrrr—"
The air conditioner started up, and the temperature inside the car quickly rose. Lu Xi'an adjusted the settings, switching it to cooling. A cool breeze soon filled the car, making it wonderfully comfortable.
"All done. Pack it in!"
Lu Xi'an smiled with satisfaction and turned to Yao Wei. "How is it?"
"Mm."
Yao Wei's response was brief, but at least she nodded.
Next, the two of them went to the faucet to test it. The pipe was still frozen, and no water came out.
Lu Xi'an tapped it with the wrench he was still holding, but that didn't help either.
They waited another half hour. At last, the faucet, which had been left open, came back to life. Water trickled out slowly, then flowed faster and faster until it gushed out in a satisfying stream.
They hurriedly filled all their bottles. Yao Wei also took a pot out of the car and filled it with water.
Looking at the pot, Lu Xi'an couldn't help sighing wistfully. "I used to have pots too—not just one, either. A stockpot, a steamer, a clay pot, a wok. I had the whole set, but..."
But when he left Wanhu Village in Dongmen County, they hadn't been easy to take with him, so he'd had to leave them behind.
Worse still, back when he was in Wanhu Village, he had to ration oil and salt, so he'd never even used the wok.
What a hard life!
He sighed, but Yao Wei didn't respond. Seeing her carry the pot of water back to the car, he followed and said, "Are we planning to cook the rest of the pork? We should've kept the bones. We could've made soup with them."
The pot must have been hidden behind something before. He hadn't noticed it at all.
"Oh."
Yao Wei had never made soup with pork bones, but she'd gradually come to trust Lu Xi'an's knowledge, so she said, "Then we'll go back and get them."
Lu Xi'an: "..."
Before you continue