Chapter 58

Upon hearing this answer, Yu Zhe's first reaction was that she had a conspiracy.

"When I say responsible, I mean responsible for your birth, old age, sickness and death. If you insist on a marriage contract to feel at ease, I can give it to you, but I am not responsible for this marriage."

Yu Zhe, who already felt like he was being cheated on before getting married, immediately said, "No need. You don't have to be responsible for my life or my marriage. Just do what you need to do and don't bother me."

"Let me ask you something. Do you know where the original funds for the initial construction of Donghe Refining came from?" Tang Ruxin suddenly asked.

"Part of it is the lottery that my father won, and the other part is bank loans and government support. Don't you know?" Yu Zhe wondered, as everyone in the industry knew about this at the time.

However, after Liu Lize completed all the procedures and obtained all the licenses, he changed his name to Tang Jiulin. As a result, after Donghe Refining and Chemical officially started operations, fewer people knew that the fire-fighting hero Liu Lize was actually Tang Jiulin, the legal representative of Donghe Refining and Chemical.

Tang Ruxin pondered, "Could there be... something wrong with these three parts of funds? Or are there any problems with the procedures?"

Yu Zhe frowned and thought for a moment. "When I was adopted, Donghe Refining already had its first plant. I only heard about the funding issue later. You were there when he founded the company, so you should know more about it than I do."

She also thought she knew it clearly, but when Luo Yi asked her suddenly, she became a little uncertain.

Luo Yi wasn't the type to act without purpose, and certainly not one to play a trick on her out of boredom. Only she would do such a thing. Asking Luo Yi for answers was a pipe dream; he'd taught her for three years and never given her a direct answer. Besides, after what she'd done last night to deliberately disgust him, she didn't want to see him.

After leaving the hospital, Tang Ruxin checked out of the hotel and went home.

She gave herself enough time to think about the direction, but she was still not ready to take Tong Jiayu to court. She didn't know the past causes and future consequences, she only knew that standing still would not solve anything.

She had brought Tong Jiayu into Donghe for refining, so even if the road ahead was thorny and thorny, even if the future held no peace, she had to keep going. To find out the truth, to uncover the root of all this, and to give an explanation to all the dead and injured.

However, after just a week away, the house was covered in dust.

On the polished marble floor, a line of shallow footprints could be seen, likely left there several days ago. Tang Ruxin leaned over and took a closer look. These footprints didn't look like Tong Jiayu's; they were too big and too long. Besides, Tong Jiayu wouldn't enter the house without changing her shoes.

Tang Ruxin took out the prepared pinhole camera detector and scanned all the possible hidden corners in the living room, then went up to the second floor and checked several rooms and bathrooms.

The detector remained silent. She wasn't sure if it was malfunctioning or if the camera was truly gone. The footprints at the downstairs entrance flashed through her mind, and Tang Ruxin called Yu Lei.

"Have you ever been to my house?"

"I've been there and removed the security camera in your house." Yu Lei seemed to be sleeping, speaking in a low and hoarse voice. His mouth was very close to the microphone of the mobile phone, so his breathing was obvious.

Tang Ruxin scratched her ear and felt itchy for no apparent reason.

"Sorry, I forgot you just got off work. Go to sleep." She remembered that he was on duty last night and immediately hung up the phone.

After putting away the detector, she went to Tong Jiayu's room. Sure enough, the photo was gone from the box under the bedside table. The empty vitamin bottles in the top drawer of the bedside table had also vanished.

Tang Ruxin carefully searched every corner of the room, including the few books on the corner shelf and under the sheets, leaving no place where the photo might be hidden. Then she discovered that half a pack of sanitary napkins in the bathroom cabinet was also missing.

There had to be some connection between these missing items. Yu Lei couldn't have taken them, so it could only have been Tong Jiayu. Photos, vitamin bottles, half a pack of sanitary napkins—why would she have taken only these?

Tang Ruxin thought for a moment, then squatted down and pulled out the top drawer of the bedside table, placing it on the floor. She then turned on her flashlight and shone it inside, trying to see if there was anything missing from the gap behind the drawer. Still finding nothing, she had no choice but to pick up the drawer and push it back in.

Her fingers touched the drawer's pull-out handle and felt some rough particles. Tang Ruxin lifted the empty drawer and saw some crushed white powder on the pull-out handle, like the uneven particles caused by the squeeze and rolling of the drawer's slide.

Tang Ruxin thought about it and felt that the vitamin pills must have accidentally fallen in. Those bottles of vitamins were the things that Tong Jiayu had cleaned up. Thinking of this, Tang Ruxin wrapped the white powder with a tissue.

Back in her room, Tang Ruxin turned on her computer and searched for keywords related to the photo's surroundings.

She was deeply impressed by the photo, which was almost engraved in her mind at first sight because the sense of incongruity was so strong.

The young man of about fourteen or fifteen stood in front of the paint-mottled green iron railing with a gloomy look. Behind him were endless green hills, with a faint wisp of smoke from cooking fires, a thin white line of flowing water, and several gray-white pagodas of different heights hidden among the dark green branches.

The boy's face was tilted to the side, his bangs covering most of his face and eyebrows, leaving only his smooth jaw and slender neck visible. Looking back now, Tang Ruxin wasn't sure if the person in the photo was Tong Jiayu. Compared to the plump Tong Jiayu now, the person in the photo was too thin.

She searched for a long time but made no progress. This type of scenery was common throughout the country. She couldn't recall any more details. There seemed to be something on that bridge with the iron railings. Tang Ruxin propped her head up and closed her eyes, trying to recall. What was it?

On the stone bridge floor, near the boy's feet, the color was different from the stone bridge...

The phone suddenly vibrated, interrupting Tang Ruxin's memories. It was Song Mu.

"Mr. Tang, the hidden danger inspection work you arranged earlier has been completed and is currently being rectified. The hidden danger statistics table and assessment details have been sent to your email. Is there anything else that needs to be done next?"

Tang Ruxin was momentarily lost in thought when she heard Song Mu's voice. The nitty-gritty details of on-site management seemed so far away from her. In fact, it had been less than two weeks since her suspension. So much had happened recently, like a flood that had broken through a dam, shattering her daily routine. Hearing these details of her work suddenly brought a wave of nostalgia back to her.

"Tell me your conclusion. Compared to previous special hazard inspections, are there any unusual results from this inspection?"

"Yes. This time the hidden dangers are few in number, concentrated in distribution, and have heavy traces of human activity," said Song Mu.

"Understood. No need to assess it. It's not the territory's responsibility."

——It’s her responsibility.

"Got it." Song Mu responded out of habit, but didn't hang up immediately. "Mr. Tang, how are you doing recently?"

"Don't call me Mr. Tang anymore. Just call me by my name." Tang Ruxin pressed her swollen forehead. "I'm sure you've heard about the acquisition of Donghe Refining. I can't possibly return to work there. I'll treat you to tea again when we have the chance."

Tang Ruxin was about to hang up when she heard Song Mu anxiously say, "Why not? Donghe Refining was just acquired, not bankrupt. Even if I can't serve as the safety director anymore, I can always take other positions..."

"I have a place to go." Tang Ruxin didn't want to argue with him about this, so she said it once and for all.

Song Mu said "Oh" and was silent for a long time before saying, "Then...goodbye."

"Thank you, Song Mu."

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[Sorry, I can't finish writing. See you in the sequel! Kneel down obediently.jpg]