Chapter 80: Sudden Danger
"Although buying a hundred lottery tickets gives you a better chance of winning than buying just one, someone with good luck can win with just one ticket!" Lin Tian explained with a smile.
Bai Shishi didn’t believe Lin Tian could see through the stone; she attributed it to his good luck.
Understanding her doubts, Bai Shishi apologized, "I’m sorry about earlier!"
"Miss Bai, there’s no need to be so formal!" Lin Tian awkwardly smiled and quickly changed the awkward topic, "What should we do next?"
"Let’s go back to the tea house. I initially thought I could show you around the stone betting market, but instead, I ended up being the one who learned a lot!" Bai Shishi laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Then let’s go!"
The two got in the car and drove towards Xianglong Tea House.
In the elevator, Bai Shishi and Lin Tian entered and stood in separate corners.
Since there were only two people in the elevator, Bai Shishi suddenly said, "Lin Tian, I will ask someone to help you sell this imperial green jade. The price will be absolutely fair, but I won’t take a penny; it’s all yours!"
"I said it’s a gift to Miss Bai, and as a man of my word, I mean what I say!" Lin Tian shook his head, indicating he didn’t want it back.
"No way!" Bai Shishi also shook her head.
Just as they were arguing, the lights in the elevator flickered suddenly.
"Buzz!" With a sound.
The elevator shook violently up and down, but fortunately, Lin Tian and Bai Shishi stood with their backs against the elevator wall, preventing them from falling.
Even so, waves of dizziness reverberated in their minds.
"What happened?" Bai Shishi’s panicked voice came from the darkness.
"It should be a power outage; the elevator is stuck in mid-air!" Lin Tian’s eyes blinked open and closed, barely adjusting to the sudden darkness.
"Power outage? How do we get out?" Bai Shishi, encountering such a situation for the first time, asked anxiously.
"We have to wait for the power to come back on or stay quiet here and wait for rescue!" Lin Tian appeared very calm. Though it was also his first time experiencing an elevator suspended mid-air due to a sudden power outage, his composed demeanor allowed him to handle it calmly.
"How long will that take?" Bai Shishi asked worriedly about waiting in a dark elevator.
"I don’t know!" Lin Tian answered frankly, and reminded, "We should adjust our breathing. If the elevator can’t be opened for a long time, we could be in trouble!"
Being trapped in an elevator, the most dangerous and deadly consequences could be difficulty in breathing, leading to suffocation if prolonged.
After saying this, Lin Tian slowly walked toward the elevator buttons, found the emergency button by memory, pressed it, and returned to his spot to sit down.
Meanwhile, he adjusted his breathing rate. If the power outage lasted long or rescue took time, proper preparation was necessary, and at moments like this, maintaining steady breathing was crucial.
"No, I need to call for help!" As Lin Tian pressed the emergency button, Bai Shishi took out her phone from her bag.
"It’s useless; there’s no signal here!" Lin Tian replied with confidence, as if he had already checked the phone.
"Indeed, there’s no signal!" Bai Shishi saw the phone’s signal bars were none, feeling particularly disappointed.
"Stay calm and quiet, wait for rescue!" Lin Tian repeated.
"Calm? How do I stay calm, trapped in this damn place; it’s getting hot!" Bai Shishi’s emotions began to flare, and she instinctively turned on her phone’s flashlight. Instantly, the phone’s screen brightness increased, bringing a glimmer of light to the dark elevator.
The faint light from the phone’s flashlight wasn’t strong, but it was enough to light up the relatively small space of the elevator, allowing Lin Tian to see Bai Shishi, and vice versa...
Placing the phone in the center of the elevator, Bai Shishi sighed and controlled her breathing, as Lin Tian suggested, sitting opposite him.
"Huff, huff..." The elevator was unusually quiet, with only the increasingly heavy breathing of the two.
"I find it hard to breathe?" Bai Shishi broke the silence in this tranquil environment.
"Hmm?" Lin Tian, who had his eyes closed to calm himself, jerked in surprise upon hearing this, instantly realizing something, as a bad feeling crept into his heart.
It had been about five minutes since the power went out, and although the emergency button had been pressed, no rescue had arrived, which implied the rescue wouldn’t be swift.
In such a short time, the oxygen level in the elevator had depleted so rapidly, likely due to an issue with the ventilation.
And considering the elevator’s air wasn’t naturally ventilated with the outside, coupled with the two of them breathing for so long, the oxygen was almost used up, creating a hypoxic environment in the elevator.
Because of her smaller lung capacity, Bai Shishi was already showing signs of shortness of breath. A delay of a few more minutes could lead to dizziness and eventually fainting from lack of oxygen.
Lin Tian dared not think further about what might follow, nor did he wish to dwell on it. He immediately asked Bai Shishi, "You’ve taken this elevator often; do you know where the vent is?"
"The vent?" Bai Shishi shook her head, "I never paid attention to that when I took the elevator!"
Every elevator has a vent, usually on the top, but due to different manufacturers, the vent’s location varies. Searching for it now would inadvertently waste time, which isn’t good news for Bai Shishi, already struggling to breathe.
"Now, we both need to start breathing on and off, holding our breath in between, to conserve air as much as possible!" Lin Tian’s face appeared extremely serious under the flashlight’s reflection.
"Then I need to check the vent; you shine the phone’s light for me!" Lin Tian stood up, looking towards the top of the elevator.
Bai Shishi already found it hard to breathe and now had to alternate between breathing and holding her breath.
Isn’t this difficult for her?
Yet, there was no other option but to follow Lin Tian’s instructions, while picking up her phone to shine light upwards in the elevator.
With the light, Lin Tian clearly saw that the top of the elevator was a flat steel plate, typically used to protect the elevator’s interior space. This steel plate could be removed, and once gone, there would be a vent above, allowing for faster air circulation inside the elevator.
His eyes narrowed slightly, Lin Tian immediately saw through the elevator’s ceiling, noticing six vents. However, due to the recent violent shaking, something had fallen and blocked the vent openings.
This prevented easy air entry inside the elevator, and coupled with low pressure at the lower floors.
Resulting in Bai Shishi’s current breathing difficulties.
"I guess we have to remove the steel plate?" Lin Tian reached out but couldn’t grasp it.
The height of the steel plate was such that even on tiptoes, he couldn’t reach it, though a jump just allowed his fingertips to brush it.
This was truly awkward!!!