Chapter 161

Around 7:40 in the morning, Li Mingsheng arrived at his office early due to the mine accident.

Inside his office, Li Mingsheng looked at the heavy rain outside and frowned, asking Li Yuan, "What did the Mine Safety Supervision Bureau say?"

"They are currently carrying out rescue operations. The city's rescue center has dispatched more than a hundred people, and the fire department has also sent more than fifty," Li Yuan replied softly. "But the specific number of casualties cannot be fully determined at the moment. The situation in the collapsed mine is also difficult to assess..."

"The number of deaths is difficult to determine, but is it difficult to determine how many people went down into the mine in total?" Li Mingsheng glared and asked sternly, "What kind of nonsense is the Safety Supervision Bureau pulling? So much time has passed, and the exact number hasn't been clarified?"

"Baolong Mining had some trouble last night. Their general manager was kidnapped, and the situation there is quite chaotic. The cadres from the Supervision Bureau said they had to go to the scene to verify the situation, so there are no accurate figures yet," Li Yuan said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he saw his leader's anger.

"Excuses, all bureaucratic jargon! The manager isn't in charge of specific mining operations. Does his kidnapping have anything to do with counting the number of people?" Li Mingsheng said, frustrated as he sat back in his chair, "What a load of crap about being chaotic. Baolong is definitely figuring out how to cover things up!"

The room fell silent. After a moment of consideration, Li Yuan suddenly said, "Sir, I checked, and the Tongji Association has contracted some work from the mining company. They might know the real situation..."

Li Mingsheng immediately looked up upon hearing this. "Call Su Tianyu!"

"Okay!" Li Yuan responded.

Li Mingsheng then stood up and instructed, "Notify the rescue center, the fire department, and the flood control units to come to a meeting. This rainstorm is quite severe, and we need to be prepared."

...

On the road leading down from the mining area.

Sitting in the car, Su Tiannan turned to Yu Mingyuan and asked, "What do you think we should do about this?"

Yu Mingyuan pondered for a moment. "Whatever we do, we can't cover it up."

"Right!" Kong Zhengui immediately added upon hearing this, "We are different from Baolong Group. They are a commercial organization, and when something happens, they will definitely think of their own interests first. But we are a labor union. If more than fifty people die and you cover it up, engage in behind-the-scenes deals, then once it's exposed, your association will lose all credibility with the workers. And if the city investigates, our association's license will be revoked, and we'll become an illegal organization."

Su Tiannan added, "That's right. I also think we can't engage in backroom deals. When workers die, it involves a lot of compensation and resettlement issues. Even if we get the workers to agree now and pay the compensation, what if someone feels they weren't paid enough in the future and asks for more? If we give it to them, then everyone has to be compensated. If you don't, and the workers file a lawsuit and expose everything, Baolong Group can claim ignorance and say we're an outsourcing company to evade responsibility. But what about us? We can't evade responsibility! We'll be roasted over a fire, and someone might even face criminal charges."

Inside the car, everyone voiced their opinions, almost unanimously agreeing that they couldn't listen to Baolong Company. Even if it meant losing the job, they couldn't participate in their cover-up scheme.

Just as everyone was discussing how to deal with the situation, Su Tiannan's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"This is Li Yuan from the mayor's office. I just called Su Tianyu to ask about the mine accident, but he's in New York and said he doesn't know the specific situation. He told me to ask you," Li Yuan concisely stated his purpose.

Su Tiannan immediately replied, "Yes, Secretary Li, we also have workers who died..."

"How many people? Do you know?" Li Yuan pressed.

Su Tiannan hesitated noticeably upon hearing this. At this moment, he needed to make a choice: one, tell Secretary Li the actual situation truthfully; two, help Baolong Group conceal the exact information, or respond with vague, uninformed words. But this choice was very dangerous, because if Li Yuan thought Su Tiannan was lying or being evasive, it would affect Su Tianyu's relationship with Li Mingsheng.

After a brief pause, Su Tiannan, having almost no choice, replied, "113 workers went down into the mine, and all are currently missing. As for the technicians... I really don't know, because the mining company didn't disclose that information."

"113 miners are missing?!" Li Yuan was incredibly shocked to hear this number.

"Yes, our association alone has more than fifty people."

"...What is the specific rescue situation?" Li Yuan asked again.

...

At the same time, inside the office building in the mining area.

The leader of the Mine Safety Supervision Bureau asked Yang Decheng in a low voice, "Are you sure the group can suppress this?"

"Yes, the higher-ups have already instructed me to report this number," Yang Decheng replied in a low voice. "The rest will be handled by those above. This way, the pressure on your departments will be much less."

After pondering for a moment, the leader of the Supervision Bureau immediately made a call to the Municipal Office and said in a low voice, "Yes, yes, we are on site, and we have already counted the number of people. Twenty-two people went down into the mine, and all are currently missing. Yes, they were just some workers who went down to do repairs because of the rainstorm. Not many people..."

...

Five minutes later.

Li Yuan walked back into Li Mingsheng's office, seeing that the Secretary-General of the Municipal Government was also present.

"Did you ask?" Li Mingsheng asked directly after seeing Li Yuan.

Li Yuan cautiously glanced at the Secretary-General, not answering immediately.

"Stop being so sneaky, just say it!" Li Mingsheng reprimanded.

Li Yuan swallowed and immediately replied, "I asked... 113 workers went down into the mine, and all are currently missing. This doesn't even include the mining company's technicians. The rescue..."

"Bang!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Mingsheng slammed his hand on the table and roared in a rage, "Damn it! So audacious!! Didn't they say only 22 people went down into the mine? This is miles away from the actual number! Damn the Supervision Bureau, they spent more than three hours counting, and they give me such a big discrepancy?!"

Seeing Li Mingsheng's great anger, the Secretary-General immediately chimed in, "If it's being covered up to this extent, then the impact is indeed too severe."

"Have the director of the Supervision Bureau immediately detained! Isolate and investigate him, immediately!" Li Mingsheng pointed at Li Yuan and roared, "Notify the director of the Police Department and the director of the Procuratorate to come to a meeting. Have the judicial department set up an investigation team to move into the mining company!"

...

Inside the No. 1 mining area.

Just as Yang Decheng was preparing to continue operating the cover-up, the leader of the Supervision Bureau pushed the door open and walked in, roaring with a grim face, "What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to screw me over?!"

8:30 in the morning.

Su Tianyu arrived at New York Airport and asked the airline staff, "Can you give me a definite answer? What's the latest the flight will be delayed to?!"