Chapter 68: Jia Dongxu Injured

Peaceful days always pass in a flash; in the blink of an eye it was 61 year. This year was the final year of the disaster, and also the hardest to endure, because after these two years of consumption, many things had run out. The country's foundation was already thin, and now there was no fresh pork supply on the market; it had been replaced by canned meat, which was also extremely scarce.

These two years Li Qiang almost sold all the produce from his space to Yagangchang; for Yagangchang it was merely a drop in the bucket, but better than nothing. Yet these supplies gave Li Qiang a huge accumulation of wealth.

After listening to Li Qiang's persuasion, He Yuzhu also began to pay attention to Ma Hua, and after several months of observation and testing, He Yuzhu formally took Ma Hua as his disciple.

"Qiangzi, a safety accident has occurred in the fitting workshop; you must immediately send people to maintain order and meanwhile investigate the cause of the accident." Li Qiang was looking at the newspaper when he heard the phone ring on the desk; just as he picked up the phone, the anxious voice of Factory Director Yang came through.

"All right, Factory Director, I'll go right away," Li Qiang responded, put down the phone, and walked out.

Now it is 61 year; according to the original plot, Jia Dongxu dies in 61 year, leaving a posthumous son Huaihua. Now Factory Director Yang informs him that a safety accident has occurred in the fitting workshop, and Jia Dongxu is in the fitting workshop—could the victim not be Jia Dongxu? Li Qiang thought as he walked.

"Qiangzi, you've come," Li Huaide saw Li Qiang bringing Security Section personnel over and immediately went to meet him.

"You go first to maintain order. Brother Li, what's the situation?" After assigning tasks to the Security Section personnel, Li Qiang asked Li Huaide.

"According to workers' reports, an apprentice worker violated regulations in operation, causing one death and two injuries; the fatality was that apprentice worker, and the injured were a Level 4 Worker and a Level 3 Worker," Li Huaide said softly.

"Then I'll go have a look," Li Qiang thought, hearing that the deceased was not Jia Dongxu, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief; frankly speaking, Jia Dongxu was still a decent person, and now he had also been promoted to Level 3 Worker, so the Jia family's days were just beginning to improve.

Li Qiang arrived at the scene; a worker covered in blood lay on the ground, beside him lay an injured person, and Jia Dongxu was also sitting on the ground holding his arm.

"Factory Director, first send the injured to the hospital," Li Qiang said as he approached Factory Director Yang.

"I've already notified the driver of the small vehicle team to come over," Factory Director Yang said, frowning. Although Yagangchang often has accidents, they're usually minor; this time, with one death and two injuries, it counts as a serious safety accident, and superiors will definitely send people down to investigate—if mishandled, even I, this Factory Director, could lose my position.

Factory Director Yang had just finished speaking when someone came running over.

"First send the injured coworkers to the hospital," Factory Director Yang recognized the person running over—it was the driver from the driver team.

With the help of coworkers, Jia Dongxu and another injured worker were helped onto the outside vehicle and rushed to the hospital.

"Factory Director, I suggest sending the corpse to the hospital as well," Li Qiang said softly.

"Qiangzi, we've already confirmed it—the person is dead; sending them to the hospital would be pointless," Factory Director Yang said in a low voice.

"Factory Director, regardless of whether it's meaningful, we must send them; it's a matter of attitude—otherwise, if the family or higher-ups kick up a fuss later, we'll be on the defensive," Li Qiang continued.

"What you say makes sense," Factory Director Yang suddenly realized. He hurriedly arranged for personnel to notify the Transport Team to come and send the corpse to the hospital.

He wouldn't let the small vehicle team's people transport the corpse to the hospital; the small vehicle team only had three jeeps, and one had already been used to send the injured worker to the hospital. Moreover, the small vehicles are all assigned to leaders: one for the secretary, one for Factory Director Yang, and one for mobile use. The jeep that just took Jia Dongxu and them to the hospital was the mobile one; now only two remain—one is the secretary's assigned vehicle, the other is Factory Director Yang's assigned vehicle. People consider it taboo to use a vehicle to haul a corpse, so using either of those cars to transport the corpse to the hospital would be inappropriate; only a truck from the Transport Team could be used.

"Qiangzi, ride in my car to the hospital to check the situation. I need to stay here and wait for the superiors to send people down to investigate the accident cause," Factory Director Yang said, patting Li Qiang on the arm.

"I understand," Li Qiang understood Factory Director Yang's meaning; over the phone he had him first investigate the accident's cause—although the superiors would also send people down to investigate, he also wanted to learn the concrete details of the accident as soon as possible.

"Shanhe, first go to the workshop and ask the coworkers about the situation; I'll go to the hospital," Li Qiang summoned Chen Shanhe to his side and instructed him.

"Don't worry, Section Chief, I've got it," Chen Shanhe—Li Qiang's confidant—said; Li Qiang really didn't feel at ease entrusting this to anyone else.

"You must find out the details thoroughly," Li Qiang urged.

"Don't worry, Section Chief," Chen Shanhe assured.

"Old Li, go to the hospital together with Qiangzi," Factory Director Yang said to Li Huaide, who was in charge of logistics; for this matter, there would be a lot of follow‑up work, and indeed his assistance as the logistics head was needed.

"All right, Factory Director," Li Huaide replied, not saying anything else and directly agreeing.

"Factory Director, don't forget to have someone notify the injured workers' families," Li Qiang reminded.

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it," Factory Director Yang said.

Li Qiang and Li Huaide rode in Factory Director Yang's assigned car to the hospital. Factory Director Yang sent someone to the warehouse to summon Yi Zhonghai over.

"Factory Director, you're looking for me?" Yi Zhonghai came to the workshop and saw large bloodstains still on the floor; he didn't understand why Factory Director Yang had summoned him.

"Master Yi, a safety accident occurred in the workshop; Jia Dongxu was injured and sent to the hospital. I know you're his master—go back and notify his family to rush to the hospital right away," Factory Director Yang said without further ado, directly stating the reason he had called Yi Zhonghai over.

"All right, Factory Director," Yi Zhonghai replied, stuttering as he answered; having worked in the workshop for many years, he could infer from the large bloodstains left at the scene that the accident must be serious, and moreover, the person involved in the accident was still his old‑age dependant—how could he not be nervous?

Yi Zhonghai had just reached the workshop door when he heard workers discussing that someone had died on the spot and two were injured; this made him even more nervous, thinking the deceased was Jia Dongxu—wasn't that just a futile effort like trying to fetch water with a bamboo basket? Actually, it's also his fault for not asking how seriously Jia Dongxu was injured; Factory Director Yang's thoughts were all on considering the accident's cause and subsequent handling, so he overlooked this detail. He knew Jia Dongxu's injury wasn't serious; he had only wanted Yi Zhonghai to go back and notify the family, never expecting Yi Zhonghai to misunderstand and think the deceased was Jia Dongxu.