Chapter 2769

Su Xinghui lifted his son up, spun him around, and then tossed him into the air before catching him, making Niuniu giggle with excitement.

After putting Niuniu down, Su Xinghui said to him, "Niuniu, call Uncle Zhai!"

Niuniu obediently called out, "Hello, Uncle Zhai!"

Zhai Yingjie smiled and said, "Hello to you too!"

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Niuniu, go play. Daddy needs to keep this uncle company."

Niuniu then ran off to play with his grandfather.

Zhai Yingjie quickly said, "Mayor, you don't need to keep me company. You should go play with your child."

Su Xinghui said, "How could I do that? Since you've come to my home, you are my guest, and I must keep you company."

Zhai Yingjie had no choice but to sit down in Su Xinghui's living room. He said, "Mayor, your son is truly adorable."

Su Xinghui said, "You should hurry up and have a child with your wife, then you won't have to envy other people's children for being cute."

Zhai Yingjie smiled somewhat bashfully and said, "Yes, I'd like to have one soon, too."

Just as Su Xinghui had arrived in the capital to seek funding, a major incident occurred in Yinshan County: several gold and silver mines in the county were exposed by news media for causing massive environmental pollution.

This incident was first exposed by several web portals. Initially, a post was published on a portal's forum, disclosing photos and evidence of the pollution caused by local gold and silver mines in Yinshan County. The post described in detail the impact these mines had on Yinshan County's environment and the harm caused to the health of the local people.

The photos were shocking to behold. Cyanide was used to extract gold and silver, and these mines were all privately operated without any environmental protection facilities. Wastewater from the extraction ponds flowed all over the mountains and fields; wherever it went, even the grass withered, and in some places where the wastewater had flowed for a long time, not a single blade of grass could grow.

As this water flowed into mountain springs and streams, the streams suddenly turned pitch black and foul-smelling. The fish in the streams turned belly-up and were almost entirely wiped out; the few that were lucky enough to survive became deformed.

These streams were the main source of drinking water for the local mountain residents. After being polluted, they had no water to drink and had to go much further away to fetch water or dig for groundwater.

However, the permeability of these cyanides was extremely strong. Although the groundwater did not look polluted on the surface, it was actually being permeated and contaminated by the cyanide. Consequently, after the local mountain residents drank this water for a long time, their incidence of illness increased, and all sorts of strange diseases struck, especially the incidence of cancer, which increased significantly.

Some mountain residents even gave birth to deformed children.

The photos showed wastewater from the extraction ponds flowing everywhere, the pitch-black and foul-smelling streams, the barren ground where nothing grew, the mountain residents suffering from strange diseases, and the deformed infants. These photos would make anyone with a conscience feel horrified, or even filled with righteous indignation.

The post also stated that these gold and silver mines were basically all run by connections of local leaders. They made a fortune mining here, while the local common people gained nothing, left only with deep disasters.

After this post was published, it was immediately scrambled to be reposted by other web portals. Subsequently, several newspapers and periodicals also reprinted it. This caused the matter to blow up, creating a stir that was almost nationwide.

After the matter escalated, the website that originally published the post revealed that, in fact, it was not just Yinshan County; the entire Baozhou City had such gold, silver, and copper mines, which caused huge pollution to the local environment during the mining process and posed a huge threat to the health of the common people.

These posts were likely made by netizens from various counties and districts in Baozhou after they saw the post about Yinshan County. They also attached many detailed photos and evidence, which were very persuasive.

On the very day Su Xinghui arrived in the capital, reporters from several highly influential domestic media outlets arrived in Baozhou together, demanding to conduct interviews and investigations into Yinshan County and several other counties and districts involved in environmental pollution. This left the Baozhou City propaganda department feeling somewhat overwhelmed. ===== CHAPTER 2771 =====