In Longcheng City.
After Su Tiannan finished recording his confession and had just reunited with Yu Mingyuan and others, he received a call about an accident in the mining area.
On the phone, Yang Decheng said to Su Tiannan in a hurried tone: "Go directly to the mining company headquarters. I will have a helicopter pick you up to the mining area. Hurry!"
After ending the call, Yu Mingyuan, Su Tiannan, Su Tianbei, Kong Zhenghui and others rushed directly to the mining company.
When everyone arrived, it was around 7:10 in the morning, and the rainstorm was even heavier. When Su Tiannan and others rushed to the main building, they saw the city rescue team's plane hovering over the mining area, organizing a rescue operation.
The group quickly walked into the main building and came to the small conference room, where they met Yang Decheng and Lu Feng who had just arrived.
After Su Tiannan and Lu Feng exchanged a glance, they immediately turned to Yang Decheng and asked, "How many of our workers are buried down there?! What's going on? Our workers haven't officially started work yet, who notified them to go down to the mine...?!"
"Xiao Su, calm down first."
"How can we be calm?" Yu Mingyuan was also a little angry: "We are a trade union. We have to share the responsibility for such a big thing."
"Is it any use for you to question me now?" Yang Decheng also shouted, "Was it my decision that caused the mine disaster? Xiao Su, you know, we were together last night and went to the police station together. I haven't rested yet and I'm still confused!"
After hearing this, everyone stopped blaming Yang Decheng, because Su Tiannan was indeed with the other party last night, and they later gave their statements together at the police station, so the mine disaster did not have any direct relationship with him.
The atmosphere in the quiet small meeting room was a bit depressing. Yang Decheng winked at his secretary and asked him to lock the door to avoid being disturbed by others.
Yang Decheng pondered for a while and spoke first: "There are no outsiders in the room, so I will speak directly. The headcount has been counted. There are 58 people from Tongji Club, 33 from Changqing Company, and 22 from other small contracting companies and the dock workers' union. In this disaster, the workers from your two companies suffered the most, so I came to you first."
"What's the current rescue situation?" Yu Mingyuan couldn't help but ask.
"The city rescue team and the mine's own rescue team are doing their best to rescue the workers. But the mine is nearly 400 meters deep, and the entire mine tunnel structure has been destroyed by the landslide. I personally think that the workers' hope of survival is very slim." Yang Decheng lit a cigarette and said, "Let's make it short. My point is very simple. Since something has happened, we must get it under control. When we report to the higher-ups, we must also be reserved..."
"What do you mean by having reservations?" Lu Feng asked.
"You can't report the actual numbers." Yang Decheng said bluntly.
"Hidden? How is that possible?!" Kong Zhenghui frowned and said, "The insiders involved multiple associations and multiple mining district departments. Once the truth is revealed...!"
"As long as there are no problems with your association, there will definitely be no problems with the company." Yang Decheng interrupted and replied, "I have already taken care of the relationships at the top, and all the management levels at the company have also held meetings. We will only report the death toll of 22 people to the municipal government, and keep the level of the mine accident to the lowest level. This way, it will not attract much public attention, and it will be easier for us to report to the top."
"What about the suffering workers?" Su Tiannan asked.
"The company will compensate!" Yang Decheng said bluntly, "The highest insurance payout is about 980,000 yuan. If we settle privately, I can raise the price to about 1.2 million yuan per person. This will be 20% more than the normal payout! I believe the workers' families will definitely agree. Let's put it bluntly, the person is already dead, so the money is a guarantee, right? If we give them 20% more, they can get more benefits."
When everyone heard this, they all fell silent.
In fact, it is not difficult for the people in the room to guess Yang Decheng’s true thoughts. The other party wants to conceal the casualty data. The motive is very obvious. They want to protect the interests of the group and their personal interests.
To put it in a bigger picture, the mining company under the Baolong Group had just started working, and now more than 100 people were killed in a mining accident. Is it possible that the higher authorities will not investigate? Once you report the numbers and the public pays attention, the matter will be completely blown up.
A large-scale mining accident involving more than 100 people, no matter what excuses your management company has, you are responsible for it. Either it is a management loophole or an operational error of a specific department, in short, the work must be stopped for rectification.
Four large mining areas, thousands of miners, thousands of managers and technicians, as well as equipment that needs management and maintenance, will all be in a state of stagnation.
How much money will this cost
Mining development also has a construction period. If the contract signed with the partners and sellers cannot be fulfilled in the end, it will cause huge economic losses and even lead to lawsuits.
Therefore, from the perspective of the Baolong Group, they certainly hope to make a big deal out of a small matter. As for whether human life is lost or not, in the face of pure commercial interests, it will definitely not be the first factor to be considered.
On a smaller scale, the top executives of companies like Yang Decheng are all tied to the interests of the company. They may receive huge dividends from the mining company, or they may have shares, or even a gambling agreement, etc. The premise for protecting these interests is to keep the mining company running normally. So at this juncture, they are more anxious than anyone else, and they hope that the matter will be as small as possible, and they may even conceal it from their superiors.
Inside the meeting room.
Yu Mingyuan pondered for a while and said, "We can't hide the truth. We are an association, and if something goes wrong..."
When Yang Decheng heard Yu Mingyuan say no, he immediately interrupted and said, "Xiao Yu, let's not waste time. If you can hold the workers' families accountable, I will sign a ten-year labor contract with you to ensure that you will have work for a long time in the future. As for cash, you name a price, and as long as it's not outrageous, our mining group will support you in the form of donations."
Yu Mingyuan frowned when he heard the voice.
"Stop working, it's not good for everyone. You need to live, we need stability." Yang Decheng spread out his palms and said urgently: "The miners have already had an accident. To put it bluntly, they are all dead. Why are we still arguing about this? We pay more money, the miners' families get benefits, everyone is safe, and the higher-ups don't have to worry about the death toll of more than 100 people. This is a win-win situation for all parties!"
Yu Mingyuan turned his head and looked at Lu Feng, who hesitated for a while and said directly: "The person is mine, but he is managed by Changqing Company. I can't make the decision on this matter. I need to discuss it with the higher-ups."
"One hour. I'll give you one hour." Yang Decheng stood up and said to the crowd, "Everyone, I still say the same thing. The dead are dead. Don't fight with yourselves. Otherwise, the work will stop, and you workers and the association will not get a penny. You have to return the advance payment you paid. That's it!"
…
District 1, New York City.
Su Tianyu also learned about the incident in the union, but when he was about to return, he received a text message from the airline.
"Due to heavy rains in many areas including Longcheng, flights have been postponed indefinitely."
Su Tianyu was extremely anxious.