A golden ray of sunlight shines through a mesh ventilation window at the top of the east wall and into the spacious basement of 40 square meters. Li Shicheng, general manager of Dahua Coal Mining Co., Ltd., who was sitting on a sofa chair in pajamas and smoking silently, really saw the countless dust and clouds of floating green smoke rising and dancing in the beams. He also noticed a small detail that no one noticed: a dead leaf that had withered early and slid against the metal mesh outside the ventilation window, stirring up the sunlight that had entered the room and giving the still sunlight a sense of movement.

Wang Tianjun, the company's chief miner, a fat man of about forty years old and unsightly, kept pacing back and forth around the sun, spitting out a heartfelt sigh from his mouth, intentionally or unintentionally aggravating the melancholy atmosphere in this basement. Zhao Dezhen, the deputy general manager, smoked cigars one after another, his expression was wooden and cold, like a clay statue.

"It's over! Finished! It's all over! Definitely! ”

Wang Tianjun rubbed his fat and white hands, and repeated this frustrating sentence again and again, which made the general manager Li Shicheng uncertain and extremely annoyed. For a while, Li Shicheng almost wanted to get up from the sofa chair and slap the chief miner's hateful fat face a few times.

The chief miner didn't know the psychology of the general manager, and he didn't want to know, he just said his:

"It's over! General Manager, we're all done! Definitely! I've never heard of a gas explosion of this magnitude! I can't believe it's true! But it's true! This fact shows that from the moment of the explosion, everything was completely finished! ”

Li Shicheng was so bored that he couldn't wait to cover his ears. To distract himself, he fixed his eyes on the ventilation window in front of him: the dead leaf that was blocking the metal mesh of the ventilation window was blown away by the wind, and the sunlight poured through the pores of the metal mesh into the dark floor of the basement without reservation.

"Alas! It's unimaginable! It's unimaginable......" continued the chief miner.

Li Shicheng finally couldn't hold it anymore, stood up and leaned half of his body into the bright sunlight, and said in an unquestionable tone:

"That's it! All right! Don't say these disheartening words! Let's talk about the situation from beginning to end and see what else we can do now. No matter how serious this disaster is, we must face the reality and take our responsibilities! ”

He sat down in the sofa chair again. He tried to regain his confidence, speaking as loudly as he could, and keeping his body as straight as possible. After sitting upright on the sofa chair, he ran his hand back through the messy hair on his head.

Wang Tianjun immediately keenly perceived the change in Li Shicheng's mentality, immediately realized his humility and insignificance, re-corrected the proper relationship between the chief miner and the general manager, and a smile was piled up on his fat face at the right time, and he also returned to normal, and as in the past, he boasted about his profound knowledge:

"Li Gong and Zhao Gong, as the two of you know now, last night, at 11:35 a.m., there was a gas explosion of unprecedented scale and unprecedented in the history of mining in my country. Gas, commonly known as 'dirty gas', is a general term for various harmful gases released from underground coal and surrounding rock. Gas, is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas, according to the European and American mining experts, its specific gravity is 0.554, not soluble in water, but easy to diffuse, when mixed with air to a certain concentration, that is, the gas content of 5 to 16 percent, when encountering the fire source can explode, and cause a large area of combustion. Therefore, we can conclude that the concentration of gas in our Tianjiapu mine last night did exceed the explosion limit. In addition, there are generally two states of existence of gas under the mine: one is free, also known as free; Second, it is the suction form, and the suction form is divided into two kinds, one of which is ......"

"That's it! All right! Mr. Wang, let's talk about last night's incident first! Zhao Dezhen finally interrupted Wang Tianjun's words impatiently.

Mr. Chief Miner was obviously a little unhappy, and he was talking about it!

"Yes, last night......" he had no choice but to change the topic back to last night, "Last night, there were more than 1,000 potters in 18 contractor cabinets, including more than 120 underground handymen of all kinds of the company. Judging by the magnitude and intensity of the explosion, the situation was terrible! Here we still need to talk about the gas problem, it is important to know that the gas problem is a major problem in today's coal mines! The factors involved in the gushing of gas and the resulting explosion are highly complex, depending on both the gas content of the coal seam in the mine and the mining conditions. Mr. Gregoire, a French mining expert and a well-known vein geologist, has made an incisive discussion on this issue......"

Noticing Li Shicheng's bored gaze, Wang Tianjun was forced to give up a perfect opportunity to show off, and reluctantly cut off the French Monsieur Gregoire.

"Because gas is a gas, it often gushes out in large quantities with the mining of coal seams; This kind of gushing is generally in a very short period of time, a few minutes, or even a few seconds, gushing out dozens or even hundreds of tons. Yes, it must be noted that gas has weight, and like all substances in the world have weight, gas also has weight, and gas gushing out will produce a great impact, accompanied by a strong sound. In 1892, there was a serious gas explosion in the TVA coal mine in England, and there was no deep understanding of the gas problem at that time......"

"Mr. Wang, can it be simpler?"

"Yes! Yes! I'm going to try to keep it simple, to make this very complicated matter as simple as possible. Gas gushing can generally be prevented, such as being equipped with good ventilation equipment, designing and developing reasonable return air and air inlet roadways, etc., but sadly, so far, most of the Chinese self-operated coal mines do not know what gas is! No, no, Li Gong, Zhao Gong, I'm definitely not talking about you! Actually, it's my fault, it's my fault—yes! If I had explained to you the science of gas earlier, you would have known how important an expert in coal geology is to a coal mining company! I just talked about the explosion. Yes, with regard to the explosion of gas, generally speaking, the following three conditions should be met: first, there is a large amount of gas gushing out that exceeds the explosion limit; Second, the mine itself lost the ability to quickly ventilate and evacuate gas; Third, there is the source of open flames. Last night's explosion in our Tianjiapu mine undoubtedly met the above conditions, otherwise, the explosion would not have been established. ”

Wang Tianjun spoke seriously.

Li Shicheng and Zhao Dezhen couldn't laugh or cry, and after talking for a long time, this erudite chief miner only demonstrated whether the explosion could be established! Isn't that hell?! With a bang, Dahua Company was almost reimbursed, thousands of lives were buried, and thousands of angry potters and villagers surrounded the manager's building, forcing them to hide in this dark, damp basement.

"That's it! Mr. Wang, none of us doubted the authenticity of the explosion. Now I urgently need to know what is going on underground: the personnel, the equipment, and the immediate consequences of this explosion! Li Shicheng said sternly.

Wang Tianjun was stunned for a moment, he saw from the face of the general manager Tie Qing that the bad effect of his scientific speech, he had to try to remedy it, he had to use his profound and profound knowledge to prove: a chief miner who is proficient in mine geology is very important to a coal mining company and a coal mine disaster!

"Yes, yes, the explosion was real, and therefore, it was also valid, and that brings us to the conditions for the formation and storage of gas. As we all know, coal evolved from plants in ancient times, and plants will produce a series of quite complex chemical reactions in the long and long history of forming coal. Mr. Gregois, a well-known French mining expert and vein geologist, has a famous formula that demonstrates the decomposition of plant cellulose, and this formula goes like this——"

Mr. Chief Miner took out a pen like a big black worm from the pocket of his suit jacket, and meticulously wrote a string of letters and numbers on a blank piece of paper:

（C6

H10

O5

）4

→C9

H6

O+7CH4

↑+8CO2

↑+3H2

O

The eggs produced by the big black worm lay on the white paper, constantly shaking in front of Li Shicheng and Zhao Dezhen, Li Shicheng was almost fainted, but Zhao Dezhen was dumbfounded.

"This well-known formula illustrates a problem and tells us exactly what the composition of gas is......"

"Enough! That's enough! Mr. Wang, I repeat, I'm anxious now! I don't need to know what damn France, what Gregoire, what famous formula! What I want to know: what is going on in the well now! Personnel, equipment, as well as the direct consequences of the explosion and the loss of the company! ”

"Yes! Yes! ”

Wang Tianjun was shocked by Li Shicheng and had to say goodbye to the venerable Gregoire and the lovely France again.

"The situation down the ground, it's terrible, it's bad, it's true! It is estimated that about 95 percent of the people in the underground have died from the explosion or other hazards caused by the explosion. There are three other hazards: first, the fire caused by the explosion; second, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and many other asphyxiating gases brought by the explosion; Third, it is...... This one...... This one...... Other injuries, such as the rapid expansion and contraction of the air, can cause instant death, as well as complex situations such as roofing and flakes......"

Li Shicheng asked anxiously:

"So, more than 1,000 people in the well are going to die?"

Wang Tianjun nodded his fat head:

"You can think so! Science has always been unforgiving! ”

"So, what about the underground tunnels and equipment? Will there be serious damage? ”

Mr. Chief Miner thought for a moment and replied:

"In general, this is not the case, except for the serious damage to the equipment located at the center of the explosion and on the combustion channel. However, it was the fire that could be fatal, and the fire caused by the explosion would not only burn down the machinery and equipment in the mine, but also, if not properly controlled, burn the entire coal field......"

"So, what remedy do we have now?"

Wang Tianjun let out a long sigh, shook his head and said:

"As I have said repeatedly, we Chinese and Chinese self-operated coal miners have never had a deep understanding of the dangers of gas, and I personally have no way to do it until now!" Now that the fire has burned and the explosion continues, it is extremely dangerous and almost impossible to organize ground personnel to go down the well to rescue! In addition, the equipment cannot be transported in a short time, and most of the people underground are killed, so it is also meaningless. ”

"Well, let's watch this fire burn down! Can't we do anything? Zhao Dezhen swept Wang Tianjun with his white eyes and asked coldly.

Wang Tianjun kept wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief, as if he had worked extremely hard and made great determination, before he took a long breath and muttered:

"The only way...... The only way to do this is ...... Only by immediately sealing the wellhead and cutting off the air supply from the ground to the ground to the ground, so that the ...... so that the air in the ground is naturally depleted during the combustion process; Then, cause the fire to be extinguished, and then send people down to clean up the scene......"

"Is there no other way?"

"No, only then can the company minimize its losses and the country can keep the coalfield, that's true...... What a harsh reality! I...... I don't want to talk about it, I know that we can't do it now. The potters and villagers surrounding this building will devour us alive! Moreover...... Besides, it's inhumane, and there may be a few lucky people alive in the well, we ...... We...... This also ...... We should also be responsible for them! ”

Chief Miner Wang Tianjun's words are extremely sober, not to mention that he will immediately send someone to seal the well, even if he wants to get out of the manager building of Dahua Company now, it is absolutely impossible! But Li Shicheng is not the kind of soft egg who is pinched in the mud, he is ready to fight with his life to deal with this major crisis in front of him. For this reason, within an hour after the disaster occurred, he sent several urgent telegrams to the Provincial Department of Industry, the Ningyang County Governor's Office, and the Ningyang Town Guard Office, informing them of the explosion and applying for rescue. Zhang Heran, the governor of Ningyang County, is a consultant of the company, and Zhang Guixin, the envoy of Ningyang Town, also had close contacts with Dahua Company in the past, and Li Shicheng believes that they will never stand idly by! Moreover, this major disaster, which involved thousands of lives, occurred on the ground under their jurisdiction, and they had to deal with it even if they had no relationship with Dahua Company and no friendship with him Li Shicheng.

However, now, he can only wait, waiting for Chen Xiangyu, the assistant manager of the company, to deal with the initial commotion and impact of the kiln people, and waiting for Zhang Guixin, the town guard, to send rescue soldiers......

In the midst of this anxious waiting, Li Shicheng developed a feeling of being buried. He felt that the basement he was in was like a tomb made of ash and steel bones, burying him, Dahua Company, and the extraordinary dream of an industrialist.

The gold watch on his wrist walked around and around, leaving behind him one frame after another, and throwing back to eternal history. He wanted to cry for his mine, for his career, for the time he had paid, for his record of failure after failure.

It's worth crying again.

Li Shicheng was born an industrialist, starting to run an industry at the age of 20, and in 20 years, he has run 13 factories and failed 12 times. His father was a former Qingdao Tai, who was very wealthy, and it is said that he had a close relationship with Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, who was in charge of foreign affairs. Later, his father died in office, leaving him 1.8 million taels of silver and thousands of acres of land, laying a solid foundation for him to start an industry. At the age of 20, despite the opposition of his mother and family, he founded the first cloth factory in Suzhou, but in the autumn of that year, a fire burned all the cotton collected by the cloth factory, causing the factory to close. At the age of 21, he was clever enough to invent an "ink grinding machine" and founded the "Sibao Machinery Company", specializing in the production of "ink grinding machines". In his opinion, his ink grinder is perfect, as long as the flywheel is cranked by hand, the ink block fixed next to the inkstone can be quickly grinded, which is both labor-saving and time-saving, and can be mass-produced. He produced a large number of bars, and there were always thousands of bars, but the ending was very miserable, and the literati and rioters ignored it at all; At this time, ink and ink came out one after another, and the "Sibao Machinery Company" was forced to close. At the age of 22, he invested in a coal kiln, and when the small kiln reached a depth of 60 meters, it coincided with a sudden flood and the coal kiln was submerged. At the age of 24, he founded the "Shicheng Foreign Fire Factory", but due to poor management, he could not compete with his rivals and closed down two years later. At the age of twenty-six, he re-established a cloth factory, operated dismally for five years, and made tens of thousands of taels of silver......

In the end, he found his foothold in Tianjiapu and decided to engage in mining. But at this time, he only had less than 700,000 taels of silver on hand, and he could no longer engage in such a large-scale undertaking alone. He searched for people to join the stock market for several months, from Beijing to Shanghai, from Tianjin to Qingdao, he searched for his relatives and friends who helped run the industry, and finally led to the birth of "Dahua Coal Mine Co., Ltd." - for the birth of this company, he sold 2,000 acres of land in his hometown.

For Dahua Company, he almost staked his life.

Conscientiously summing up the lessons of the past, he was cautious and very successful in running the Dahua Coal Mining Company. In the first three years of production, he recouped all the investment he had made in the construction of the mine, and four years later he began to make a profit, and by now he had dug up nearly a million taels of silver deep underground. Just when he was proud, Taro Yamamoto, the general manager of the Japanese East Asia Company, proposed to co-establish Dahua Company with him, but he refused without thinking about it. On his fortieth birthday, he was so confident and proud! He felt that he could play with the world in the palm of his hand, and he forgot all the past twelve failures, and began to dream one wonderful dream after another. He even thought of a phrase for himself that could be engraved on his tombstone in the future: "He trampled the world under his feet......" and now, with an explosion, this devilish world once again tore him to pieces.

This is the thirteenth defeat.

The basement he was in was pressed with three floors of bluestone and red brick buildings, pressing a heavy world. He felt this heavy oppression. He couldn't breathe. Ever since he was woken up in his sleep and hastily hid in this basement, he had a feeling of not being able to breathe.

When the catastrophe that led to his destruction happened, he was sleeping with his fourth aunt in his arms, sleeping very solidly and very deadly. The tremor of the earth in the rumbling explosion did not wake him up, he was woken up by the fourth aunt. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the flame. The firelight flickered and expanded in the night sky outside the window, and a bright and dark light wave shone through the bright window, through the light blue gauze curtain on the window, into the magnificent bedroom in which he was located, and he saw the frightened eyes of the fourth aunt in the flickering firelight.

At this moment, the telephone in the bedroom rang, and he hurriedly pounced on the phone in his pajamas, clutching the microphone tightly in his hand, and a series of frightened voices flew into his ears...... He was stunned, put down the phone, didn't have time to say hello to the fourth aunt, didn't have time to change clothes, and ran to the company's official building in his pajamas. As soon as he ran out of the gate, he heard the thrilling whistle......

When he broke into the official building out of breath and climbed up the stairs to the conference hall on the second floor, the conference hall was already full of people, and the company's deputy manager Zhao Dezhen, chief miner Wang Tianjun, assistant manager Chen Xiangyu, and some miners and technicians had already arrived here one step ahead of him.

At this time, he completely lost his mind, and did not hesitate to go to the main well site with Zhao Dezhen and Wang Tianjun. He didn't think about his own safety at all! He had no idea that there would be such a serious disturbance that night.

However, the assistant Chen Xiangyu reminded him:

"Gong Li, this won't work! You can't go to the site! It's dangerous! It's dangerous! The crazy potters can do anything! Besides, even if you go, you can't control the situation! This has come to this, and I advise you not to go! Hide from it! At the site of the big well, you can send miners and mine police! In addition, it is necessary to immediately send a telegram to the provincial government, the county governor's office, and the Ningyang town guard office for help, and strive to control the situation as soon as possible! Otherwise, we will die without a place to bury! ”

Wang Tianjun immediately echoed:

"That's right! Associate Chen is right! Definitely! There is nothing we can do about such a serious explosion, and even if we go, it will not work. Admittedly, we failed! Dahua is finished! Definitely! ”

Sure enough, just as they were urgently negotiating, angry potters had already swarmed from all directions, roaring all the way to the official building like an overwhelming wave. Looking at the crowd outside the window, Chen Xiangyu immediately made a decision, and said to Li Shicheng and them in an almost commanding tone:

"Gong Li, you can't go out, you can't go anywhere, go to the basement and hide immediately! I'll take care of everything here! ”

Li Shicheng calmed down at this time, and said firmly:

"Nope! I am the general manager of the company, and I can't be irresponsible for such a serious disaster in the company! ”

Chen Xiangyu said coldly:

"You can't afford it! This catastrophe is unprecedented! My General Manager! ”

"But...... But ......"

"Hide, it's too late!"

He was almost pushed downstairs by Chen Xiangyu and Zhao Dezhen, and walked into this gloomy basement. At the door of the basement, he grabbed Chen Xiangyu's hand tightly, choked his throat, and said tremblingly:

"Take care, Xiang Yu, take care!"

Chen Xiangyu nodded solemnly to him, turned around and strode through the dark corridor to the ground, towards the noisy building.

He was buried in the ground, like a beetle that had lost its life and the ability to struggle, falling from the pinnacle of his brilliant career to the abyss.

Again, he recalled, it was his thirteenth defeat.

This time, he lost badly, very badly, almost completely. He had secretly calculated in his mind that if all the potters in the mine died in a disaster, the compensation of his relatives alone might bankrupt him! His failure this time was worse than the previous twelve failures!

The hour hand of the gold watch on his wrist pointed to the figure 10, and he became restless. He thought of the vast land under the sun for no reason, and he felt that he could not be buried in the grave forever, and wait like this forever! He desperately needs to know everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen to the company! He can't just be like a dead beetle, hiding here and being fiddled with!

He let out a long sigh, straightened the strand of hair hanging down from his forehead, tried his best to sweep away the frustration on his face, and calmly said to Zhao Dezhen and Wang Tianjun:

"I'm going up! I can't stay here any longer! Chen Xiangyu can't cope with the above situation! ”

As soon as the day dawned, Tian Dahao took thousands of potters and villagers to surround the official building of Dahua Company. Hu Gongye and Tian Er were wise, they expected Li Shicheng to escape, and sure enough, Li Shicheng ran away, and Zhao Dezhen, deputy general manager, and Wang Tianjun, the chief miner, also ran away! Tian Dahao couldn't figure out why these bastards who were invincible in the past ran so timely and so neatly? The mine is full of people, where did they get out? When did you run out?

Tian Dahao decided that there was fraud in this!

After enclosing the official building on all sides, Tian Dahao and a group of brothers smashed open the doors of all the rooms on the upper and lower floors of the official building, searched room by room, and finally found Chen Xiangyu, the assistant director of Dahua Company.

Chen Xiangyu is in his early thirties and is a native of Beijing. When Tian Dahao saw him, he was burning some messy pieces of paper in an office room full of filing cabinets on the second floor, and his movements were very calm and calm. When Tian Dahao and a group of brothers smashed the glass and smashed the door open, he threw a stack of pieces of paper into the fireplace, and then slowly turned around, and two aggressive eyes looked over the top of the frame of the glasses, staring at Tian Dahao and the gang for half a minute.

Then, this young man with an extraordinary temperament spoke, speaking in a standard Beijing accent and in an extremely stern tone:

"Get out! Get me out! Is this where you should be? This is the company archives, do you know? ”

Tian Dahao was shocked and involuntarily retreated. When he retreated to the doorway, the threshold about two inches above the floor nearly tripped him; He stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

This fall woke Tian up from a big fall.

, what time is it? The dog slave of this company still dares to show off his power like this? For this reason, I have to give him some color!

"Holy shit! Who are you? ”

Chen Xiangyu's hair flicked back of his head, and he said proudly:

"You don't have the right to talk to me in that tone!"

Tian Dahao grabbed a steel gun from the hand of a brother potter, pointed it at Chen Xiangyu with the muzzle, and asked again:

"Fuck, what the fuck are you?"

Chen Xiangyu smiled coldly:

"Who am I, I have nothing to do with you, anyway, I'm not the general manager of the company!"

"Then tell me, where is the general manager now?"

Chen Xiangyu is on fire:

"I repeat it again! You don't have the right to talk to me in that tone! ”

"We're going to settle accounts with Li Shicheng's dog!"

"General Manager Li's office is upstairs, you can find it yourself!"

"He ran away!"

A meaningful smile appeared on Chen Xiangyu's handsome face. He spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders like a foreigner:

"So, what's the use of you looking for me, I'm the same as you, I'm hired by Dahua Company!"

Chen Xiangyu's tone softened a little, and he sat down on a chair covered with pigskin, and at the same time, he also beckoned Tian Da to make trouble for them to sit down:

"Workers, sit down, sit down! Don't be so tense! Things have come to this point, everyone needs to be calm and restrained, right? ”

Tian Dahao and the four or five brothers who followed him were attracted by Chen Xiangyu's unflinching spirit—from the moment they broke into the building, all they saw were panicked faces, and all they heard were incoherent words, and it could be said that they were the only one who was so calm and calm as Chen Xiangyu.

They sat down on the chairs in the room—this time, it was the brethren who sat down first, and Tian Dafu did not sit down, and he felt that it was a little awkward and a little wrong to sit down in front of this young man so calmly.

"Sit down, brother, sit down and talk!" Chen Xiangyu actually walked up to him, pressed two strong hands on his shoulders affectionately, and then handed him an open silver cigarette case. Somehow, he reached out and took out a black, thick cigar and lit it on fire.

Looking around, a few brothers were also smoking there, and he felt a little at ease.

At this time, that Chen Xiangyu spoke calmly and freely, and he spoke reasonably, which made Tian Dahao unconvinced.

"Workers, who did you just ask me for? I can tell you that my name is Chen Xiangyu, and I am the associate manager of Dahua Company, and I can speak on behalf of Dahua Company until Mr. Li Shicheng returns here. First of all, I would like to state that I fully understand your feelings and understand your actions, including the siege of this official building, which is understandable. If you change the position, I am you, and I also have to beware of irresponsibility on the part of the company and absconding with money! ”

Tian Dahao almost doubted his ears, how could the young man in front of him, who was in a straight suit representing the company, understand everyone's mood so well? His facial expression was very sincere, and it was by no means fake.

Tian Dahao listened carefully.

"Workers, it is with great sadness to tell you that, as you know, this catastrophe can almost be said to be devastating, and the situation is much worse than we initially estimated! However, we must also think calmly and reasonably: this disaster is not man-made by Dahua Company, just like wind and rain, Dahua Company is unpredictable! In this disaster, you paid with blood, and Dahua Company also destroyed mine equipment worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, and from the bottom of my heart, no one wants to encounter such an unfortunate thing! ”

Tian Da couldn't hold back and interjected and asked:

"Holy shit! What was Li Shicheng doing when the accident happened? ”

"General Manager Li has been away from home for the past few days, the company is ready to develop the No. 2 new well, borrowed a sum of money from the Shanghai bank group, and he went to Shanghai with Zhao Dezhen and Wang Tianjun."

"Really?"

"I don't lie to you!" Chen Xiangyu continued the topic just now, "Since it happened, we have to face it!" On behalf of Dahua, I would like to tell you that the company will never go out of business because of this disaster, and that the company has the ability to pay adequate compensation and bereavement expenses to the victims of this disaster and their families. At this point, I hope you believe in me and believe in Dahua Company! I hope that you will persuade the workers who are surrounding the building to stop their brutal and destructive actions, and not to fall for the deception of some people, which may lead to bloodshed and riots! ”

A clever worker found the flaw and bluntly said:

"Li Shicheng and the person surnamed Zhao are not here, does what you say count?! What do you use to guarantee it? ”

Chen Xiangyu didn't think about it, and immediately replied:

“**！ Regarding the seriousness of this disaster, I have instructed the telegraph office to send several urgent telegrams to the Provincial Department of Industry, to the Ningyang County Governor's Office, and to the Ningyang Town Guard Office, imploring the ** side to come forward to deal with it. You can't trust me, you can't trust Dahua Company, you always have to believe it! ”

This is not unreasonable, and the worker has nothing to say.

"Then, Mr. Chen, we still have something to ask." Another worker with a full beard opened his mouth.

"Please."

"You just said that your Mr. Chen can represent the company, and we would like to ask you: It has been more than ten hours since the explosion occurred last night, what have you done on behalf of the company, Mr. Chen? What other measures have you taken besides waiting for the rescue and arbitration of the ** side? The beard was gloomy, the eyes sunken in their sockets shone with an unpredictable light, and the cheekbones were as bright as if they had been painted with oil. The corners of his mouth were raised, with a mocking smile.

"This ...... Well...... this" Chen Xiangyu didn't know how to answer for a while. After thinking about it, he asked, "May I ask your brother's surname?" ”

The beard smiled slightly:

"Your surname is Wang, Wang Dongling, the foreman of the twelfth cabinet."

"Oh, Cabinet Twelve Foreman!" Chen Xiangyu let out a long sigh and said, "Since you are a foreman, you must know more than these brothers!" As you know – and, as I said earlier, this catastrophe can almost be described as devastating. When the explosion happened, there was nothing the company could do about anything! However, despite this, I dispatched the technicians on duty and the miners in ventilation, explosion, and drainage to urgently consult emergency measures. At the same time, a mine police team was dispatched to protect the ...... at the scene"

The bearded Wang Dongling interrupted Chen Xiangyu's words hatefully:

"I'm asking about people, the thousands of people under the kiln! What rescue measures have you taken against them?! ”

Tian Dahao was also reminded by Wang Dongling, regained his courage, opened his eyes wide, and echoed Wang Dongling:

"That's right! Why don't you organize a rescue team to go down to the kiln? Fuck me! You've watched these thousand men die under the kiln! Even if they are all dead, they have to carry the corpses out! ”

Chen Xiangyu looked at Wang Dongling and Tian Dafu and didn't talk, and when they had shouted enough, he said calmly:

"I thought about it, I thought about organizing manpower to go down the mine to rescue the mine, from the west slope of the mine. However, there is not much hope of success. Foreman Wang should know that it will take at least an hour to go down the inclined shaft to the main roadway of the big shaft, and in this hour, there is a possibility of another explosion underground! I can't let everyone go down the well and die! I say this for a reason! ”

Wang Dongling nodded gloomily, as if agreeing with Chen Xiangyu's explanation. While nodding, he slowly stood up and walked in front of Chen Xiangyu:

"Not bad! Mr. Chen's remarks are all well-founded! Mr. Chen should not be responsible for the people who died! But—"

Wang Dongling snorted, and a breath of air came out from his round and large nostrils, like a horse's snort:

"However, as far as I know, as far as I know, our cabinets have reported to the company many times about the continuous gushing of 'dirty gas' from the kiln. The company has been ignoring and not dealing with it until today's tragedy, doesn't this have anything to do with the company? ”

This remark was quite weighty, and the crazy feelings of Tian Dahao and other brothers were immediately stirred, as if a basin of oil had been poured on the firewood and grass that was about to be extinguished. They shouted again, and some even rolled up their sleeves and rolled their arms, and were about to use force.

The statue of Chen Xiangyu generally stood in the center of the room, indifferent:

"Foreman Wang, you have to be responsible for your words, you said that 'dirty gas' gushed out, and your major cabinets have reported to the company, then, you show me evidence! Bring out your report sheets! ”

"What were you burning when we entered?"

"It's not about you, it's just some expired coal sales receipts."

"You're lying!"

"No, I'm not lying. At least I haven't heard of your report. Foreman Wang, may I ask, when did you report the situation underground to me? ”

"Hmm...... However, we have spoken to the Mining Division, and we have presented a report. ”

Chen Xiangyu smiled coldly, shrugged his shoulders, and spread his hands:

"I don't know. I don't know it, so I can't talk nonsense! Foreman Wang, I advise you: There must be a basis for your speeches in the future! According to! Do you understand? ”

"The people in the mining department are not dead, you can't rely on it!"

"Yes, everything should be judged by the a**! The responsibility that should be borne by the company, the company will never rely on it! ”

"So, except for waiting for the ** judge, you don't care about the people under the kiln?"

Tian Da roared from the side.

Chen Xiangyu's eyes suddenly flashed with moving tears, and he said firmly:

"Workers, I understand your feelings! Understand! But I don't have the authority to send many more people to death! Now, the wind shaft on the ground has not stopped, and as long as there is no second explosion, the workers under the kiln will not die for a while! And this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest, the Provincial Department of Industry will organize relevant mining experts to come to us......"

At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps in the hallway. A miner who was ordered to wait at the scene broke into the door and reported that a second gas explosion had occurred under the kiln, and the rescue team organized by Hu Gongye and Tian Er was wiped out.

Chen Xiangyu was stunned for a moment, and asked hurriedly:

"Didn't anyone come up alive?"

"Yes, from the first explosion to the second explosion, a total of 87 people climbed up from the west inclined shaft and the Dongfeng shaft one after another, and according to some of the last people who came up, they did not encounter the rescue team......

"Stupid, stupid!"

"And ...... And ......"

"What else?"

"And, Mr. Chen, the town's deputy ...... Deputy Speaker Hu Delong Hu Gongye, and ...... and the chairman of the board of directors, Tian Dongyang Tian Er, has brought people here...... This official building, to ...... I want to talk to the person in charge of the company......"

Before the words fell, with a chaotic sound of footsteps and the sound of something falling to the ground, Hu Gongye's loud voice sounded at the staircase of the corridor:

"Are all men dead? Is there anyone else in Dahua who will breathe? Yes? ”

Chen Xiangyu immediately realized that a more serious crisis was coming, and a more difficult opponent had come out. For a moment, he had a premonition that he might be doing something in this crisis.

He seemed to want to say something to the miner, but his pale lips only moved, but he didn't utter a word. He turned around resolutely and walked out of the file room calmly, a smile of dignity on his face.

He smiled and walked towards Hu Gongye and Tian Er.

Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, he suddenly felt several pairs of powerful arms leaning out from behind him; These large black hands, firmly grasping his arms, his shoulders, his collar, pushed him forward, pushed him forward, and made it almost impossible for him to stand on his feet.

He heard Tian Da's rough voice:

"Gong Ye, Second Master, there is one here who can breathe!"

A gasp with a strong smell of garlic almost suffocated him. He struggled to get rid of the shoving, tearing, and degrading of his dignity, and to get rid of the abominable smell of garlic.

At this moment, a punch flew from the left rear of his body, hitting him in the head and knocking his glasses to the ground. One piece of the lens was shattered. He didn't care about the pain in his head, desperately broke away from the crowd, and bent down to pick up the glasses on the ground......

When he picked up his glasses and straightened up, Hu Gongye's ** face had already appeared in front of him......

One of the lenses in the glasses had a hole in it, not like it had been dropped, but like it had been shot by a bullet, and the hole was as thick as a thumb, not very regular, and not very smooth. Although the other lens was not broken, two white cracks appeared, and the cracks stretched into the grooves of the frame along the white shattering point in the center of the lens, completely distorting Chen Xiangyu's vision. Chen Xiangyu saw the blurred and overlapping image of Hu Gongye through the two badly damaged lenses on the bridge of his nose, Hu Gongye looked like a constantly shaking prawn in his eyes, Gongye's bright head and the braid on his chest became very blurred, and even disappeared from his sight for a moment.

He noticed Hu Gongye's gloomy and terrifying eyes. There was a light in these eyes with a strong sense of destruction, and he couldn't help but feel a flustered heart.

He was a little scared.

He took off his glasses, wrapped them in a handkerchief, put them in the jacket pocket of his suit, and then squinted his eyes to look at Hu Gongye.

Hu Gongye pressed out a breath from the depths of his chest cavity and expelled it through his nostrils:

"Huh? Don't you know me Hu? ”

"Gongye, where are these words! A few years ago, the contemptible people accompanied our company's general manager Li Gong to visit Gongye's mansion, don't Gongye remember? ”

Gong Ye picked the corners of his mouth upward, showed the mutilated yellow teeth in his big mouth, and said with a cold smile:

"Oh, you're that stinking bastard?"

Chen Xiangyu forcibly suppressed the anger in his head, and said respectfully but not humbly or arrogantly:

"Contemptible Chen Xiangyu."

"Can you represent Li Shicheng? On behalf of Dahua? Tian Er, who was standing beside Hu Gongye, asked.

Chen Xiangyu nodded.

"You know all about the explosion?" It was still Master Tian Er who was asking, and he asked very kindly.

Chen Xiangyu nodded again.

Tian Er sighed:

"Young man, don't be so hard-hearted! You must know that the folk customs here are very fierce! There is such a big thing in the company, and it is not something that your tender shoulders can afford! There are thousands of potters gathered downstairs now, and they can tear you apart with a handful of them! Or let's say, where did Li Shicheng and Zhao Dezhen hide? ”

"They're in Shanghai."

"Fart!" Hu Gongye was furious, raised his arm coldly, and slapped Chen Xiangyu very sharply, "I also asked a few big cabinets just now, and several counters saw him yesterday!" ”

"Then, you can ask the counters for someone!"

Hu Gongye was simply mad:

"If you are so presumptuous, Lao Tzu will beat you into a pulp!"

Chen Xiangyu didn't answer, he silently stretched his hand into his arms and looked at Hu Gongye coldly, ready to deal with an incident that might endanger his life. At this moment, he suddenly felt that he was so weak and powerless, and his wit and courage seemed to be useless. He knew that the Gong Ye in front of him had done everything, and in a fit of anger, it was really possible to kill him!

He was desperately prepared.

However, Hu Gongye had no intention of making a move, and Gongye was still stubborn in finding Li Shicheng:

"Bastard, tell me, where are Li Shicheng? As long as you say it, I will never embarrass you! ”

Chen Xiangyu said very earnestly:

"I really don't know! Yesterday morning, Li Gongqing told me that he wanted to raise a sum of money in Shanghai for the development of new wells. I think he's gone, maybe at night! ”

"It can't be!" Tian Er didn't believe it at all, and his chubby head shook like a rattle.

"Yes, maybe it's impossible, maybe it's hidden, but I really don't know, Gong Ye, Second Master, you are celebrities in the town, well-read, I think, there is one thing, you will be clear, that is: Li Gong, Zhao Gong, they will never and cannot abscond with money, even if they hide temporarily, I'm afraid it is just to avoid the wind and wait for the referee of the ** side."

Second Master Tian was a little satisfied, and smiled with a round chin:

"Well, that's pretty much what you say! Then get everything in the spot! Tell us, where are they hiding now? Something so big happened to the company, thousands of people died, and they hid and didn't even see their faces, which is a bit unkind, right? ”

"I really don't know!"

Gong Ye was impatient, waved his hand, and ordered:

"Don't ramble with this bastard! Tie it up first! ”

Tian Dahao and Wang Dongling, who were hugging Chen Xiangyu, immediately moved their hands to twist Chen Xiangyu's arm. At this moment, Chen Xiangyu almost had the idea of fighting to the death, and at this moment, a voice that Chen Xiangyu was very familiar with sounded at the staircase:

"Don't do it, what are you doing? I'm here! ”

It's Li Shicheng!

Chen Xiangyu was taken aback.

Hu Gongye waved his hand and motioned for Tian Dahao and Wang Dongling to release Chen Xiangyu; turned around and walked towards Li Shicheng.

Chen Xiangyu immediately sensed the seriousness of the matter. He knew that the company would not be able to control the situation before the ** officials arrived and the Ningyang town guard Zhang Guixin and his soldiers did not arrive at the mine! At this time, it would be extremely disadvantageous and a mistake to talk to Hu Gongye! Hu Gongye will rely on the weapons in his hands, relying on the power of the family, inciting the emotions of the potters, putting forward a series of non-cent demands to the company, forcing the company to sign, and as long as the company signs, everything will be irreparable!

Li Shicheng was simply dizzy!

Li Shicheng can't be allowed to fall into the hands of Hu Gongye! As long as Li Shicheng falls into the hands of Hu Gongye, Dahua Company will no longer exist, and Tianjiapu Coal Mine will be finished!

In a hurry, Chen Xiangyu quietly but quickly bypassed a few potters around him, and followed closely behind Hu Gongye and Tian Er.

Hu Gongye walked in a hurry, and when he passed through the door of the company's conference hall, he opened a distance of three or five steps from Tian Er behind him. At this moment, Chen Xiangyu suddenly stepped behind Hu Gongye with an arrow step, grabbed the braid at the back of Gongye's head, pulled him around, and then pulled out a snowy dagger from his arms and pressed it on Gongye's bruised neck:

"Stop! Stand for me, whoever dares to take another step forward, I will slaughter Gongye! ”

"Chen Xiangyu, what are you going to do?" Li Shicheng's voice changed, and he shouted in horror.

Chen Xiangyu said rudely:

"It's none of your business! You give me back too! ”

Hu Gongye didn't buy it, and shouted:

"Up! Damn, give it to me! Beat this bastard to death! Hit! You guys fight! ”

Chen Xiangyu slammed Gong Ye's braid, and then forced the tip of the dagger under Gong Ye's Adam's apple:

"I repeat, whoever dares to move will slaughter Gongye! My surname Chen counts! ”

Gong Ye is engaged in politics, and Gong Ye knows the relationship between daggers and politics. Gong Ye is honest and doesn't dare to move.

Tian Dahao and Wang Dongling picked up the gun, but looking at Chen Xiangyu who was hiding behind Gongye, he was helpless.

Chen Xiangyu dragged Gong Ye back, retreated to Li Shicheng's side, and motioned for Li Shicheng to follow. When he, Li Shicheng, and Hu Gongye retreated past the staircase and retreated into the unmanned corridor on the other side of the stairs, Chen Xiangyu said loudly:

"Workers, brothers, I repeat once again, the company is responsible for this explosion! The company will implore ** to arbitrate this! General Manager Li will never abscond with money! I hope you don't listen to rumors and cause chaos! I, Chen and Hu Gongye, have no grievances and no hatred, and I will never hurt him a finger! However, in order not to escalate the situation, I will ask Gong Ye to stay upstairs and chat with General Manager Li. Please go downstairs now, I beg of you! ”

Second Master Tian didn't move.

Tian Dahao, Wang Dongling and the potters did not move.

The hallway was frighteningly quiet for a moment.

Chen Xiangyu sweated in a hurry:

"I repeat, workers, I am not commanding you, but asking you! The underground fire is still burning, the life and death of more than 1,000 workers are unknown, and we people on the ground can't make any more trouble! Stand down! Let's go back first! There's no good in messing around! If you don't retreat, I'll take Gongye's knife! Again, what I say counts! ”

However, no one retreated.

Chen Xiangyu's hand holding the knife began to tremble slightly.

At this moment, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out outside the building......