"What, five people seriously injured, the entire laboratory destroyed, with a loss exceeding 30 million RMB!" When Huang He returned to the country, he received this astonishing news.
"I don't care about any of that, I just want to know if the five injured people are alright, if Elder Ni is alright, and if Tong He is alright!" Huang He asked with a hint of urgency in his voice.
"No, Elder Ni was resting in his room at the time and wasn't in the laboratory. As for the five injured individuals, while their injuries are very severe, they are not life-threatening. However, two of the injured have suffered severe nerve damage in their hands, rendering them half-crippled."
"Tong He sustained minor injuries, nothing major!" the person in charge of Jiangnan Optoelectronics reported to Huang He.
"Immediately, at all costs, provide the best medical treatment for those five injured individuals, especially those with nerve damage in their hands. Whatever medication is needed, however much it costs, as long as it can be cured, find a way to fix it. They are either young people in their prime or the pillars of their families, supporting elderly parents and young children. I cannot let them be disabled for the rest of their lives because of my laboratory!" Huang He stated. The person in charge immediately replied that they were already doing their utmost, using all available medicine, but due to technical limitations, it was unlikely to be curable.
"I'll go personally!" Huang He hung up the phone, got out of the plane, and immediately got into a car, heading directly to a hospital in Beijing.
Since the local hospitals in Cao County were unable to handle such complex trauma involving extensive nerve damage, all the injured had been transferred to Beijing for treatment.
Fortunately, Huang He landed at the Beijing airport, allowing him to reach the hospital as quickly as possible. However, Huang He had to forgo any rest, managing only to catch a brief nap in the car.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Huang He discovered that two of the five critically injured individuals were still in the ICU, undergoing emergency treatment. The other three, though out of critical danger, were still unconscious and had not yet regained consciousness.
However, their families were all gathered outside. When they learned that their relatives' company boss, the incredibly popular Huang He, had arrived, they rushed towards him.
Several of Huang He's bodyguards moved to block the agitated family members, but Huang He stopped them. The families then surrounded Huang He and began questioning him intensely.
"I apologize, I just got off the plane and rushed here immediately!" Huang He first explained his tardiness, then clarified the reasons for the injuries, offering various words of comfort with extreme sincerity. He managed to calm down the agitated emotions of the families.
"Everyone, please rest assured. These five employees were working in the laboratory for Jiangnan when the accident occurred, so this is definitely a work-related injury. Our Jiangnan Group will bear all medical expenses. Therefore, you don't need to spend a single cent at the hospital, nor will any doctor ask you for money. All costs will be covered by Jiangnan Group, and even all expenses for you families at the hospital, such as food and accommodation, will also be handled by Jiangnan Group. In short, we will assume all losses from this incident. Please be at ease!" Hearing Huang He's promises, the families' attitudes improved significantly.
Previously, as Boss Huang He was absent, the representative responsible for handling the injuries for Jiangnan dared not make any promises, only covering the immediate medical expenses, which had greatly agitated the families.
Fortunately, now that Huang He had personally made these commitments, they were relieved. After all, Huang He's reputation across China was excellent. If there were a Douban rating, Huang He's personal score would likely be above 9.5, so they trusted his promises.
"What about the future? What will my husband do?" one family member sobbed. "Our family of five, plus three elderly parents, all rely on Lao Zhang's salary for a living. But the doctor just said that although our Lao Zhang's hands are not broken, many nerves are severed. His hands can no longer work like a normal person's. Even if he survives, what will he do in the future!"
This questioning resonated with many families. The family of another individual who would suffer similar disabilities as Lao Zhang remained silent, but the other three, while not facing direct disability, still had many subsequent treatment costs, and their bodies would inevitably be significantly affected to varying degrees, causing great anxiety to their families.
"This is exactly what I'm about to address!" Huang He said emotionally. "These individuals are all outstanding employees of Jiangnan. They have strived for the development of our Jiangnan Group up to this point, even sacrificing their blood. We will never forget them!"
"I promise you all here that during their treatment period, all expenses for these five employees will be covered by our Jiangnan Group. Upon their recovery and rehabilitation, they will all be promoted one level with a corresponding salary increase. Furthermore, unless they commit a severe violation of company discipline, as long as the company is still in operation, they will remain our employees!"
"If their injuries prevent them from performing their original duties, we will transfer them to other suitable positions and jobs that are not affected. If their injuries are so severe that they cannot perform any work, they can recuperate at home, and we will continue to disburse their monthly salaries into their accounts. Their work will be to rest and recover, awaiting the day they can return to work!"
"Thank you! Thank you, Boss!" Most of the families were deeply moved by Huang He's arrangements. Unlike a direct compensation of several hundred thousand yuan, Jiangnan Group was essentially taking care of these researchers for their entire lives.
Moreover, the salaries of these researchers were not low, most of them earning over 5,000 yuan, which amounted to 60,000 yuan annually, or two to three million yuan over a lifetime – a considerably larger burden.
However, this was undoubtedly the best outcome for these injured employees, as it eliminated their worries about running out of compensation and starving in the future.
Of course, there were indeed two employees whose wives had hoped for a lump-sum compensation, a substantial payout that would allow them to divorce and live comfortably thereafter.
Unfortunately for them, their wishes were unlikely to be fulfilled, as their husbands' parents would not opt for such a one-time settlement.
Subsequently, with Boss Huang's unstinting expenditure on life-saving efforts, three of the employees recovered smoothly and were able to return to work normally. Jiangnan had essentially just paid for the medical expenses.
Among the other two employees, one could still work normally, albeit only in theoretical research and unable to handle practical experiments, resulting in lower work efficiency but still capable of employment.
The last individual barely survived and remained at home recuperating, with Jiangnan's salary consistently paid monthly. Initially, it was 5,000 yuan per month, but as Jiangnan Group continually adjusted salaries, this employee's pay gradually increased from 5,000 yuan to 18,000 yuan per month, all of which Jiangnan Group paid in full, on time.
Consequently, this employee and their entire family were immensely grateful to Jiangnan Group, praising the virtue of Jiangnan Group and Huang He to everyone. Since this was an academic family with many university professors and researchers in other organizations, their stories helped attract many people to work at Jiangnan. They perceived Jiangnan Group as a company with a strong sense of humanity and impeccable conduct, which enabled Jiangnan Group to recruit numerous talents in the future and lay the foundation for many technological breakthroughs.
In a way, this individual was actually the most valuable.
Huang He stayed at the hospital for a full day and night. After the comatose employees regained consciousness and those from the ICU were transferred to regular wards, Huang He met with each of them individually, personally expressing his gratitude and condolences, and presenting each with 200,000 yuan in慰问金 (comfort money), before he rushed back to the research center in Cao County. Before he could even sit down, he slammed a document onto the desk and angrily exclaimed, "Summon that scoundrel Tong He here immediately!"
By this point, Boss Huang had a complete understanding of the entire situation. The responsibility for this incident lay entirely with Tong He.
At the time, Tong He was attempting to create a composite material of graphene. He believed that mixing these materials together would yield extraordinary results, but he had been unable to combine them using various methods.
Thus, he devised a most drastic approach: breaking down these materials into nanoparticles and then compressing them together under high pressure.
What was this?
It was an attempt to achieve a compound through physical means, extremely brute force.
However, the high-pressure mixing equipment in the laboratory could only withstand a maximum pressure of 6,000 units. Previous experiments had shown that 6,000 units of pressure were insufficient. As a result, Tong He, disregarding the equipment's limits, forcibly increased the pressure to over 11,000 units, causing the container to explode, leading to the catastrophic damage to the entire laboratory and the severe injuries to five employees.
It could be said that all of this was a consequence of Tong He's wilful persistence. Therefore, as soon as he finished comforting the severely injured employees, Huang He, filled with rage, headed to the base to settle the score with Tong He.
However, after Huang He's shouted command, Tong He did not appear for a long time. Only the person in charge, with a distressed expression, approached and said, "Chairman, Director Tong is currently conducting an experiment."
"Wasn't he also injured? How is he still conducting experiments?... No, how dare he still be conducting experiments! I get it, he's afraid to face me, so he's hiding in the laboratory, right!" Boss Huang grumbled, "I don't care what experiment he's doing now, you bring him to me immediately. If he doesn't come, then drag him here. If I don't chew his head off today, I won't be surnamed Huang!"
"This... this might not be possible... Director Tong said that as long as he is here, no one is allowed to call him out." The person in charge said with a wry smile.
"Why? Don't you understand who the boss here is?" Huang He asked angrily.
"However, Chief Engineer Ni also said the same thing. They are both in the same laboratory now. Chief Engineer Ni also stated that anyone, including myself, who dares to touch the laboratory door will not sleep for three days and three nights, making us all afraid to approach the laboratory!" the person in charge explained.
"Good heavens!" Huang He's mouth gaped open. With Ni Guangnan saying that, he himself was somewhat hesitant to approach the laboratory.