At around 11 o'clock late at night, at Tufang Street in Zhanan District, Yu Mingyuan and others got off the car and met their third sister who had been waiting there for a while.
"How many families did the former district chief take people to visit?" Yu Mingyuan asked the third sister.
"I went to five or six houses." The third sister replied softly, "When I arrived, they had just finished."
"Well, let's go and take a look." Yu Mingyuan nodded.
The third sister looked at everyone and suddenly said with red eyes, "There is one more thing."
"What's the matter?" Su Tianyu asked.
"... Jiu... Jiu's wife drank pesticide and committed suicide." The third sister replied in a trembling voice: "Luckily, the neighbors found her and sent her to the hospital. She has just been rescued and is currently in a coma."
When everyone heard this, they were shocked and speechless for a long time.
There are four people in Jiushu's family, including two children. The eldest son is twenty-three or twenty-four years old. He also went down to the mine a few days ago, and his body has not been found yet. His youngest daughter has just entered junior high school.
The family was already living in poverty, and now they have lost their two main laborers. They don’t know how they will get through the rest of the day.
Some families may be eager to get compensation, but some families value people more. What's the point of asking for money when the person is gone
Jiushu's wife has been seriously ill, and most of the family's expenses are borne by her. This time, Jiushu wants to make more money in the short term by opening a mine. On the one hand, he wants to use it for his wife's health, and on the other hand, he is also thinking about finding a wife for his eldest son.
Therefore, Jiushu's wife chose to commit suicide, in fact, it was more out of guilt. She felt that she was a burden to her husband and children. If it weren't for her, maybe they wouldn't have to go down to the mine and do those dangerous things.
Once people become poor, even their thoughts and motives become extremely simple. Making money, living, waiting for aging, waiting for death, all the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness are so difficult to hide.
After everyone was silent for a long time, Yu Mingyuan lowered his head and said, "After we finish walking, let's go see her."
"Okay!" The third sister nodded heavily and led the group to the pigeon tower.
…
The Lu family has a total of six people, living in the relief agency community built by the relief agency. In a 45-square-meter, one-and-a-half-bedroom house, there live two elderly people in their seventies, a middle-aged couple, and a pair of children who are in school.
The pillar of the family, Lu Hengyuan, died in a mine accident a few days ago. Although the body has not been found yet, the family is completely desperate. After such a long time, even if the person was not crushed to death or drowned, he must have suffocated or starved to death.
When Yu Mingyuan, Su Tianyu and others arrived at this family's house, the hostess of the house couldn't even find chairs for everyone to sit in. They looked at the Tongji Association's management with numb eyes and at a loss, not knowing what to say.
The small living room was inexplicably filled with a special smell, like the smell of Chinese medicine, or like the smell of stench or decay. The smell was difficult to describe, but it existed in every household in this community.
It seems that this taste has become a commonality that is difficult to get rid of. There is no discrimination or prejudice, but it exists objectively.
"Sister-in-law, don't worry." Yu Mingyuan had seen Lu Hengyuan's wife in the union, so he said softly: "We just need to stand for a while."
"Okay, okay." Lu Hengyuan's wife moved all the paper money and half-finished paper figures piled up in the living room to the corner, leaving space for everyone to talk.
These ghost money, paper figurines, gold ingots, etc. were not prepared for Lu Hengyuan, but for Mrs. Lu's daily work. She worked in a plastic factory during the day and took some odd jobs in a funeral clothing store at night to earn some subsidies.
"That's right, sister-in-law." Yu Mingyuan paused, frowned and said to the Lu family, "We have communicated with Baolong Mining, and they think that the full compensation according to the insurance contract is a bit too high..."
"The contract says so, why is the price so high?" Mrs. Lu asked numbly, "We didn't blackmail anyone. We should follow the agreement."
Mrs. Lu's words were full of dissatisfaction. She thought that Yu Mingyuan was just like the person who had just come here to lower the price.
"We also agree to get full compensation." Yu Mingyuan immediately explained: "And the union has also been working in this direction."
On the sofa, he looked at the dazed old man and asked in a hoarse voice, "Can the union help us get our money back?!"
"We will definitely ask for the money, but we are afraid that while we are chasing for the money, some of the families of the deceased workers will privately sign a settlement agreement with Baolong Mining." Yu Mingyuan said bluntly: "If this is the case, there will be internal problems, and Baolong Mining will definitely not agree to our demands. It is impossible to have the same result and pay two amounts of money. Do you understand what I mean?"
The old man pondered for a while, then said clearly: "If anyone wants to sign a settlement agreement with Baolong Mining, I will not live anymore, I will kill him...!"
Everyone was silent.
"The former district chief who just came has filled up the safe at home, and he also wants to help the big group to hold us accountable for our lives... We don't agree." The old man frowned and said, "They should pay the amount of compensation written in the contract."
Hearing this, Mrs. Lu lowered her head and wiped away her tears: "If we had a choice... we definitely don't want money, we want people. But... but the problem is that there is no choice now. Old Lu is gone, and I can't let his son go down the mine in the future, right?!"
"Don't worry, unless the union is gone, we will definitely get the money back!" Yu Mingyuan took out his wallet, took out all the cash from it, put it on the table and said, "Give us some time."
…
That evening.
Yu Mingyuan and others went to the homes of six miners who died and talked with their relatives. Except for a small number of people who were somewhat shaken, most people insisted on full compensation.
In this way, the pressure within the union is much less, at least there are not so many different voices.
After visiting six stores, Yu Mingyuan, Su Tianyu and others donated all the cash they had on them.
Poverty cannot be disguised, and we really feel embarrassed to offer condolences with nothing in our hands and just talk about policies.
It was not until the early morning that Yu Mingyuan and others went to the hospital, while Su Tianyu and Su Tiannan waited in the car for Ermao from Changqing Company.
Su Tiannan sat on the back of the chair, smoking a cigarette, and suddenly asked: "Xiao Yu, do you think that establishing a trade union can change the current social environment?"
"It can't be changed." Su Tianyu replied without hesitation.
"... I don't know what's going on recently, I always feel that Longcheng is too depressing and I can't see any hope." Su Tiannan took a deep puff of cigarette and said softly, "Let me lead the team in this arm wrestling match with Baolong Group!"
…
Baolong Group, in the magnificent sky garden rest area.
Xu Jinbo sat under the parasol in the rooftop open-air garden, eating a midnight snack, and whispered to Yang Decheng: "Tongji Association is not stupid. There is no benefit in being too serious. The most practical thing is to let the workers get their money quickly. I personally think that they will compromise. When we negotiate again, you can also raise the compensation amount. About 400,000 per person, that's about right..."
Yang Decheng was a little unwilling: "Four hundred thousand, more than one hundred people, and nearly fifty million in compensation. Damn, this money has to come from our mining company...!"
At the same time, Lao Hei drove to Longcheng.