Chapter 15

In the evening, at 7:15 PM.

The Dragon City Rescue Team submitted its first rescue report to the municipal authorities. Approximately 75% of Mine No. 03 had collapsed. The section of the mine where workers were conducting maintenance and inspection had collapsed entirely, its internal space almost completely flooded.

Based on the information above, the Dragon City Rescue Team concluded that the workers' chances of survival were virtually zero. They estimated that the search for the missing personnel and the discovery of bodies would require waiting for the rain to stop, bringing in heavy equipment, and excavating for about a week to get definite results.

Upon learning of this news, the municipal authorities immediately reported it to the mayor's office. Li Mingsheng issued important instructions: first, the rescue must not stop. Even in the face of heavy rain, they must find a way to dig. They must find the people alive or dead. Second, the mining group must properly settle the families of the victims.

In reality, at this point, everyone involved—the city, the mining group, Changqing Company, Tongji Association, and other organizations—knew that the workers could not be saved.

…

Since the people couldn't be brought back, financial compensation had to be provided.

After learning the details of the rescue, Yu Mingyuan immediately took people to the work area to negotiate with the mining company.

However, to Yu Mingyuan's surprise, when he returned to the mining area, he only saw the various units working tirelessly day and night on the rescue, as well as some low-level mining company leaders with little authority. He didn't see a single one of the big figures who could actually make decisions.

Since they couldn't see the decision-makers, the group couldn't leave. So that night, Yu Mingyuan, Su Tiannan, and the others all stayed at the work area, waiting for a response from Baolong Mining.

They waited for over a dozen hours. As the night passed, the leaders from Baolong Mining still showed no sign of meeting with Yu Mingyuan.

During this time, Su Tiannan repeatedly urged the clerks from the mining company, and even called Liu Xiaohai, but to no avail. They simply wouldn't show their faces.

The next day, around 9:00 AM, Yu Mingyuan completely lost patience. He found the deputy director of Baolong Mining's project department in the rescue area and directly told him that they needed to discuss the subsequent settlement of the workers immediately. Otherwise, the Tongji Association would have to report the situation to the municipal authorities.

This actually had an effect. About half an hour later, someone from the mining company's headquarters arrived—a deputy manager in charge of the company's legal affairs.

The group met in the office building, where Yu Mingyuan stated bluntly, "If the workers can't be rescued, or if they are all dead, then we must ensure that the workers' families receive appropriate financial compensation. This…"

"President Yu, let me say a few words." The deputy manager interrupted him directly. "There's a slight problem with the insurance."

"What problem?!" Yu Mingyuan asked in surprise.

"The insurance materials were submitted on Friday afternoon. The insurance company didn't have time to enter and review them because of the large number of people. In addition, Saturday is a workday, so the insurance company claims that the time of the mine disaster was not within the insurance period." The deputy manager pushed up his glasses. "However, we don't agree with this statement and are communicating with them. If necessary, we will sue them…"

Hearing this, Su Tianbei broke down. "Sue? How long would that take?! We can wait, but can the workers' families wait? Once the deaths are confirmed, the compensation must be paid promptly!"

"Mr. Su, I'm sorry, the company has its own procedures, and we must first coordinate with the insurance company…"

"This matter is due to your management negligence! Our workers hadn't even started their jobs yet. Why did you let them go down the mine? Didn't you consider the risks?!" Kong Zhenghui demanded.

The deputy manager of Baolong Mining looked at Kong Zhenghui and replied seriously, "From a legal standpoint, the workers going down the mine was the mistake of a very few members of management, and that person has already died. Currently, we have no way to pursue accountability… Furthermore, the workers were voluntary, not forced by the company, and the management was not aware of it!"

"What the hell does that mean? You're not acknowledging it, are you?" Su Tianbei angrily questioned. "You're not acknowledging fifty-some people?!"

"No, you are aware of the strength of Baolong Group, we certainly would never deny responsibility. But how to specifically pursue accountability and how to compensate, we need to follow the process…"

"Bullshit!"

The sound of arguing filled the office building, but neither side could solve the actual problem. Baolong Mining insisted on negotiating with the insurance company, while the Tongji Association wanted to discuss compensation immediately.

Both sides repeated the same arguments over and over, but it was all useless. In the end, the deputy manager of Baolong Mining got up and took his leave.

…

If there was a problem with the insurance, who specifically made the mistake?

The Tongji Association submitted the materials on time, and Baolong Mining didn't delay either. They indeed sent all the materials to the insurance company on Friday, but the insurance company temporarily refused to pay compensation on the grounds that the policy had not yet taken effect.

The three parties—the company, the organization, and the insurance provider—all had their own vested interests, so this matter was bound to drag on endlessly.

Morning.

On the way back to Dragon City, Yu Mingyuan and the others discussed the matter softly.

"No, let's go to the insurance company?" Su Tianbei suggested.

"It's useless to go to them. What kind of scale is the insurance company? It's a large group with assets of tens of billions. As long as it's within the procedures, they won't deliberately refuse to pay, as it would affect the company's reputation. Moreover, the regional负责人 (fùzé rén - person in charge) wouldn't get any money by deliberately holding up the matter, so what's the point?" Kong Zhenghui frowned and said, "We still have to go to Baolong Mining. They were the ones who let our workers go down the mine early. They had obvious management negligence. Moreover, the contract stated that Baolong Company is responsible for the insurance, so if something happens, they have to pay."

"Right," Su Tiannan nodded. "Zhenghui is right!"

"I'll call Yang Decheng again." Yu Mingyuan took out his phone and dialed the former's number, but it went unanswered.

"He's not answering the phone."

"He's probably hiding." Su Tianbei glanced at his watch. "Damn, can we really let him disappear in Dragon City? Let's split up and block him. Whoever finds him first, call immediately."

"Okay!"

Everyone nodded.

…

Around 3:00 PM.

Su Tianbei took three people to the back of Baolong Mining Company, preparing to stake out Yang Decheng. Tiannan, Mingyuan, Kong Zhenghui, and the others went to the Baolong Group headquarters, the Municipal Mining Safety Supervision Bureau, and the mining area to lie in wait.

Just as Su Tianbei parked the car, he saw Lu Feng walking over.

"What's wrong?" Su Tianbei asked, lowering the car window.

"You guys are having insurance problems too?" Lu Feng asked with a gloomy face.

On the highway from New York City to Dragon City, Su Tianyu and the others were in a lodging place, looking at the torrential rain outside, anxiously.

Due to the severe weather, many sections of the road were closed, and they were anxious but couldn't get back as quickly as possible.