Chapter 29 Clue: "Wait for me obediently"

The Chengbei project was ordered to suspend work for rectification due to that safety accident, and coupled with the internal liquidation of the Qiao Group, this suspension lasted for three years.

After Qiao Yunzheng and her entourage arrived, the groundbreaking ceremony began in an orderly manner.

As the chief officiant, Qiao Yunzheng, wearing a safety helmet, stood at the very front of the group.

Fireworks, incense, offerings, ribbon-cutting...

Once this complicated process is completed step by step, the groundbreaking ceremony is considered finished.

The people who had gathered together exchanged a few pleasantries and then dispersed to return to their respective work stations.

At the very center of the construction site stands a spherical storage tank for hydrogen fluoride, as tall as a three-story building. This enormous structure, coupled with the muffled rumble of machinery, creates an inexplicable sense of suffocation and oppression.

A series of fine, dense pains rolled in like a tide, assaulting Qiao Yunzheng's heart.

This enormous creature took his father away without any mercy.

This cold, steel behemoth remains unaffected by the loss of a vibrant life; after a brief pause, it continues to produce chemical products that can be exchanged for substantial wealth.

All the structural components of the bluish-gray spherical tank have been replaced with new ones, gleaming with a cold, piercing white light under the blazing sun.

The project manager, who was standing nearby, noticed her staring intently at the massive machine. He assumed that as a pampered young lady, she had never seen such a behemoth before. So, he tactfully approached her and introduced the machine: "This equipment is a key item for rectification. It has already been rectified and debugged according to the instructions from above. Would you... like to go up and take a look?"

Because of the scandal surrounding the safety accident in the previous project team, all those involved were held accountable, and the entire team was completely reshuffled from top to bottom. That's why this project manager was appointed to take on this hot potato in a time of crisis.

Although the accident did not cause widespread damage, it caused quite a stir in Kunming because the head of the Qiao family had died.

The project manager naturally knew how heavy the responsibility was on his shoulders. Hearing that the new head of the group was coming to inspect, he had already prepared himself with utmost vigilance.

He had prepared a complete written document in advance and handed it to Qiao Yunzheng: "All the components here, from large trusses to small nuts, have passed inspection at a 100% rate. Here are the manufacturer's factory report, the professional agency's test report, the construction log, and some acceptance materials... to ensure that similar problems will not occur again..."

Qiao Yunzheng continued to look at the spherical tank, while Wen Hong naturally took the report from his hand and casually flipped through it.

The project manager had never met Wen Hong before and didn't know his identity. Even with his less-than-handsome safety helmet, his tall stature and long legs made the project manager take a second look.

No one spoke for a moment. Wen Hong seemed to move casually, but she flipped through the pages quickly, pausing at key points and occasionally raising her eyebrows slightly.

His aura was so intense that it was far more intimidating than that of the actual boss next to him.

The project manager couldn't help but feel nervous and could only secretly rub his hands together to calm himself down.

Wen Hong spent ten minutes reading through the stack of documents, closed it, tossed it back into the project manager's arms, and turned to ask Qiao Yunzheng, "Should we go up and take a look?"

On a summer afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, the dry air is filled with the sharp smell of steel and concrete being baked. Taking a breath feels like countless tiny metal shavings are drilling into your nostrils.

That feeling wasn't pleasant at all.

Qiao Yunzheng's gaze was fixed on the top platform of the spherical tank, her body tense like a stone. Her throat moved slightly, but she did not answer immediately.

Suddenly, a warm, large hand covered hers and grasped Qiao Yunzheng's slightly trembling hand.

Wen Hong took a step forward and stood in front of her, his tall figure completely blocking her view.

The scene before Qiao Yunzheng's eyes instantly gained color and warmth.

It was the pure white daisy on his chest, his sharp jawline, and his prominent Adam's apple.

He forcefully occupied her gaze, leaving her no choice but to look at him, his voice unusually gentle: "Go to the back office and rest for a while, wait for me there, I'll just go up and check."

Qiao Yunzheng's eyes welled up with tears.

He probably saw through her fear and sadness.

After saying that, Wen Hong immediately patted the top of her head: "Listen to me, go!"

After saying that, he turned to the project manager, who looked surprised, and said, "Engineer Zhao, let's go upstairs! By the way, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

Seeing their unusually intimate actions, the project manager suddenly realized what was going on and nodded hurriedly, "Ah... okay, okay, no problem."

The two turned around and walked side by side toward the entrance to the steel frame staircase of the spherical tank.

Qiao Yunzheng suddenly reached out and tugged at Wen Hong's sleeve: "Wait a minute," she blinked, made up her mind, and said firmly, "Let's go up together!"

Wen Hong frowned slightly, looking her up and down, still hesitant: "Are you sure there's no problem?"

Qiao Yunzheng nodded, forcing a relaxed smile: "It's no problem, why would I be so delicate? Besides, you're here, aren't you?"

Whether the words were sincere or just casual politeness, Wen Hong was pleased and smiled, "Okay then."

On the east side of the spherical tank, there is a row of spiral steel frame stairs that spirals upwards along the curvature of the tank's surface, extending to the top platform to facilitate workers' operations and monitoring of the tank.

As they walked, the project manager pointed out the areas requiring rectification one by one and explained them to them, even down to the strength grade of the bolts and the connection method.

The steel components have a brand-new and clear surface texture, without any trace of wear.

As he spoke, the project manager couldn't help but sigh, "If we had renovated this old tank area earlier, that incident wouldn't have happened..."

After speaking, she realized that the boss next to her was the daughter of the deceased chairman, and immediately fell silent.

Qiao Yunzheng only paused slightly, showing no displeasure.

Instead, she wanted to learn more about the details of her father's final moments.

Qiao Yunzheng learned most of the details of the accident from other people's accounts and the statements in the accident report. When she rushed back from abroad, her father was already lying in the hospital's intensive care unit, his body covered with cold tubes.

"How much does Engineer Zhao know about that matter?" Qiao Yunzheng asked calmly, suppressing the sharp pain in her heart.

Seeing that his rashness had not displeased the boss, the project manager felt a little relieved.

He observed Qiao Yunzheng's expression, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously began, "I wasn't there either. A friend of mine was involved in this project, and I heard about it from him piecemeal. What he said was largely the same as the official report, except..."

He glanced at Qiao Yunzheng again before continuing, "The issue of aging equipment in the old tank area has been reported to the project team many times over the past few years, but it has been rejected every time."

Qiao Yunzheng stopped in her tracks, somewhat surprised: "It was rejected?"

"Yes!" The project manager shook his head regretfully. "The approval was that although there was some aging, it was still within the safe period. In addition, the renovation costs were huge, so it has been delayed year after year."

This seemingly insignificant detail was something Qiao Yunzheng had never heard of.

Wen Hong suddenly asked, "Does the old chairman know about this?"

The project manager wasn't entirely sure of the details either, so he gave a vague answer: "At first, I probably didn't know, because I heard from a friend that when the old chairman came to see it that day, he got very angry on the spot, blaming the leadership team for dereliction of duty and treating safety like a joke. He even climbed up to the back of the tank to check parts that were hard to spot, who knew..."

He couldn't bring himself to say anything more.

The three of them fell silent for a moment.

Without him needing to say more, probably everyone in Kunming knew what had happened that day.

When Qiao Zhende climbed to the top platform of the tank to check the wear on the back of the tank, a seemingly sturdy railing suddenly broke, and Qiao Zhende fell from the nine-meter-high platform.

It is said that when he landed, he was still talking to the safety squad leader on his walkie-talkie.

Originally, if it had just been a fall from a high platform, there might have been a chance of survival, but the falling steel pipe just happened to break the sampling tube at the bottom of the tank.

The rumbling of the machines became the perfect tool to cover up the sound of the gas pipeline leak.

By the time they discovered it, the colorless gas had already dispersed, severely burning Qiao Zhende, who had fallen into a coma.

Before they knew it, they had reached the platform on top of the tank.

Qiao Yunzheng stood where the manager pointed.

The railings there have been replaced with thicker ones, and barriers and safety warning signs have been added.

Perhaps because she was too close to the tank, the scorching heat became even more intense, rushing into Qiao Yunzheng's lungs and bringing tears to her eyes.

Wen Hong didn't speak, but silently took her hand.

A moment later, Wen Hong suddenly asked a completely unrelated question: "Is your friend still with the Qiao family?"

Although the project manager found it strange that he was concerned about this, he still answered honestly, "He's gone. As one of the people in charge, he was disciplined. I haven't seen him in a long time..."

He was still sighing when Wen Hong asked, "Do you have a list of all the work teams that have worked on this project all along?"

Although the project manager found it strange, seeing the man's serious expression and imposing aura, he dared not be negligent and hurriedly said, "Yes, the list of the new team has just been submitted. As for the previous one... there should still be some information in the office."

“Okay,” Wen Hong nodded, “Please find it and take a look later.”

As the three of them walked down the road, Wen Hong suddenly asked, "Engineer Zhao, do you have your friend's phone number?"

Now, not only the project manager, but even Qiao Yunzheng, who had recovered from her shock, couldn't help but look at him: "Wen Hong, what's wrong?"

Wen Hong's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before quickly shifting away.

He remained nonchalant, chuckling self-deprecatingly, "Professional hazard, I guess! Just asking casually, nothing to worry about, don't overthink it."

Author's note: Thank you so much to "Sunshine" for the 5 bottles of nutrient solution! Mwah! (Hugs and spins her around~)

We've enabled the paragraph comment feature, so everyone can chat together!