Chapter 918: Another Accident

Over at Dabeiyao, a building that had just been topped out was still wrapped in dense scaffolding, the setting sun plating the iron pipes in a layer of rusty red light.

The workers tiling the exterior walls reached their quitting time and nimbly climbed down one by one, the iron pipes clanging loudly under their feet.

Lao Li shoved his tools into his canvas bag and leaned in toward Lao Sun, his face wearing that ambiguous smile peculiar to middle-aged men: "Lao Sun, after we eat, how about a trip to the hair salon? Let's relax a bit."

Lao Sun waved his hand, a look of disdain appearing on his furrowed face: "No, no. My son is in his third year of high school this year, his grades are great, and getting into university is a sure thing. I have to save up for tuition; I can't waste a single cent."

Lao Li curled his lip and scoffed: "Why bother? You'd be better off letting him honestly farm at home; maybe he'll have a bowl of porridge to give you then. You insist on sending him to the city, and when the time comes, he'll find a city wife, and you'll have a fine mess on your hands!"

"My son isn't that kind of person!" Lao Sun stiffened his neck, his voice rising a notch. "He's going to take the university entrance exam in Si Jiu Cheng this year, and he'll stay here once he does. When I can't work anymore, I'll just live in Si Jiu Cheng..."

Lao Li squinted at him, a mocking curve to his lips: "Your son might not be that kind of person, but what if he finds a wife from Si Jiu Cheng? Will that wife not look down on you? Anyway, the Si Jiu Cheng women I've seen all look down their noses; they're incredibly snobbish..."

"That's not true at all!" Lao Sun grew anxious, his face flushing red. "There are good women in Si Jiu Cheng too. Look at our second boss, He Jia; how good she is to us. Every holiday, doesn't she give us big red envelopes? If anyone has a headache or a fever, she even takes the initiative to come over and ask how we are."

Lao Li laughed, that laugh carrying the clarity of someone who had seen it all: "You said it yourself, she's the second boss. She's good to you so that you'll work hard. When a capitalist is good to you, it's always for a purpose."

Lao Sun continued to argue with his neck stiffened: "Then our big boss, Qin Tianzhen, is pretty good too. Even when she was pregnant, she came to the construction site every day to ask after us. Could that be faked?"

Lao Li waved his hand, his expression one of "talking to you is truly exhausting," and turned to unbuckle the safety rope at his waist.

He jumped to the lower level of scaffolding, and the iron pipes made a strange sound.

The disaster happened in that very instant.

No one saw clearly whether it was Lao Li's jump that shook loose a specific buckle, or if someone had planted the seeds of disaster here long ago—in any case, the entire wall of scaffolding suddenly collapsed with a roar, like a giant beast whose tendons and bones had been pulled out.

Iron pipes flew in all directions, sweeping across everything like the tails of out-of-control giant pythons, and a piercing sound of metal clashing exploded in the air.

Lao Li was the first to miss his footing; his feet went empty, and his whole body plummeted straight down from the tenth floor.

He didn't even have time to let out a cry of alarm; by the time he hit the bottom, he was already broken and mangled, lying crooked on the ground without a sound.

Lao Sun fared slightly better than Lao Li—he still had his safety rope attached, which swung him through the air twice before the scattered steel pipes came crashing down on his head and face.

He fell from a slightly lower position, which saved half his life, but when he landed in the dirt, blood was already seeping from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes had lost their focus.

Along with them, over a dozen other workers fell, scattered across the construction site ground in disarray; some were wailing while clutching broken legs, others curled up and motionless.

Blood mixed with dust, seeping into dark red stains on the ground.

The scene instantly erupted into chaos.

Cries, curses, and the piercing sound of rolling iron pipes blended together; some were screaming at the top of their lungs to call 120, while others knelt on the ground, clawing at the steel pipes pinning their companions.

He Yuzhu was currently arranging security work at the chip factory when his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, and He Jia's sobbing came from the other end, her voice cracking: "Dad... there's been an accident at our office building construction site... a whole wall of scaffolding collapsed, it must have been tampered with... over a dozen people fell from over ten stories high... three died on the spot, and seven more... the doctors say... say they are in critical condition..."

He Yuzhu's hand tightened around his phone, his knuckles turning white, yet he didn't utter a single word of blame to He Jia.

He knew clearly in his heart—this was aimed at him.

"Where are they now?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"I called Aunt Huang Ying and Aunt Jiang Mei; they brought several ambulances and are performing emergency rescue on-site. They'll be heading back to the hospital soon."

"I'll be there immediately." He Yuzhu hung up the phone, turned to tell his supervisors to follow his arrangements, and turned to walk into the restroom.

He didn't care about the two tons of gold anymore; he directly had the system activate the Time-Space Tunnel. A flash of white light appeared before his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was already standing at the construction site gate.

He ran from the gate into the site; less than two minutes had passed.

He Yuzhu saw at a glance that Huang Ying and Jiang Mei were installing respiratory equipment for the victims on the ambulance.

Just as he was about to walk over, his pant leg was suddenly grabbed by a bloody hand.

A weak voice came: "Doctor... save me... my son is taking the university entrance exam this year... I can't have an accident... if I have an accident, he won't be able to go to university... there will be no hope for my family..."

He Yuzhu looked down and saw a man with an honest face.

His face was full of wrinkles, his legs were covered in blood, and his voice grew quieter and quieter, like an oil lamp about to go out.

He Yuzhu didn't say a word; he pulled a bottle of Concentrated Spirit Spring Water from his chest, squatted down, pried open Lao Sun's mouth, and poured half the bottle in.

Lao Sun's throat moved, and a glimmer of light slowly gathered in his cloudy eyes.

He Yuzhu then handed several bottles of Spirit Spring Water to Huang Ying and Jiang Mei, lowering his voice: "Give half a bottle to each of them."

Jiang Mei took the small bottles, her eyes lighting up instantly; the scene of saving Man Yatou last time was still fresh in her memory—that medicine was simply miraculous.

Her tightly furrowed brows began to relax.

Huang Ying also hurriedly fed the Spirit Spring Water to the several dying workers. After they finished drinking, she raised her voice: "All ambulances, head straight to the hospital! Don't delay here!"

Seeing there was nothing left for him to do at the scene, He Yuzhu walked over to Lao Sun and squatted down, finding that Lao Sun's spirit had clearly improved; his lips had color, and his eyes were clear.

He smiled and patted Lao Sun on the shoulder: "After you recover, do you still want to come back to the construction site to work?"

Lao Sun nodded vigorously, his eyes reddening: "The bosses here are good, they pay well; I'm willing to work here for the rest of my life."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu felt a warmth in his heart and suddenly had an idea: "After you recover, come find me, He Yuzhu; I'll give you a good job."

Just then, He Jia ran over from the side, tear tracks still on her face, her voice hoarse: "Dad, this accident was definitely someone playing tricks."

He Yuzhu nodded, looking at her guilt-ridden face, and didn't blame her for a single word, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

He Jia's tears couldn't be held back anymore; she threw herself into his arms and sobbed, her shoulders heaving.

Only then did Lao Sun realize that He Yuzhu was He Jia's father, and he was so excited his voice trembled: "Boss He... your whole family are good people... I, I want to report something to you... recently, there's a guy in our construction team called Shouhouzi who's been acting strange; he used to smoke Zhongnanhai cigarettes, but these past few days he's suddenly started smoking Zhonghua..."

He Yuzhu winked at He Jia.

He Jia understood; she wiped her tears and turned to run, her high heels clicking on the gravel as she ran to catch the person.

The ambulance was about to leave, and Lao Sun was lifted onto a stretcher.

He Yuzhu leaned into his ear and whispered a few words; Lao Sun nodded vigorously, his eyes shining.

He Yuzhu straightened up and added: "Once you're recovered, I'll appoint you as a department manager."

Lao Sun was so excited he almost bounced off the stretcher.

Early the next morning, He Yuzhu sat in the conference room at the He Group headquarters; the morning light shone obliquely through the floor-to-ceiling windows, cutting a bright strip of light across the long table.

Qin Tianzhen was the first to report, frowning, the string in his throat pulled tight: "Dad, Shouhouzi has run away. Someone at the site saw him hail a taxi and leave; at the time, he said a friend had been in a car accident and he had to rush over."