"No!" Li Shufen cried out in heart-wrenching sobs. "This isn't my Dabao, it can't be, you must have made a mistake."
Xie Xiuhua, staggering with her two sons, rushed forward and grabbed Li Ming, starting to hit him. "Don't talk nonsense! My Dabao won't die! You must be mistaken."
The village chief whispered to Chen Hao, "Go quickly and take the urn containing Li Ming's ashes."
The Wang family has lost their minds; they might knock over the urn containing the ashes.
The village chief and Su Xiaonuan exchanged a glance, then walked together toward the man who looked like a leader.
"Hello, I am the village chief. May I ask your name?" The village chief extended his hand to the other party.
"Hello!" The man shook hands with the village chief with a somber expression.
"Village chief, this is Secretary Hu from Pingshan Coal Mine." Li Ming ran over after getting away.
"I'm sorry, this happened unexpectedly. This mine accident was caused by Comrade Wang Dabao's improper operation..."
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Xingfa rushed over and punched the man surnamed Hu. "Stop making excuses! What do you mean by 'improper operation'? My son died in your mine, so you have to take full responsibility."
"Wang Xingfa, don't be impulsive!" The village chief grabbed his hand as he was about to attack again. "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Now, you all need to sit down and have a proper talk. Da Bao is gone, but his family still needs to live. Let's have a good talk and see how much compensation the mine will give."
Su Xiaonuan didn't want to get involved in this mess, but she just couldn't stand by and watch.
Xie Xiuhua had collapsed to the ground, her tears dried up, looking utterly miserable and hopeless. And what about her two children, the older one was only 12 years old and the younger one was only 8? How would this widow and her children survive in the future?
"Secretary Hu, then please come to our village committee office to talk!" Xiao Nuan waved her hand.
"Secretary Hu, please!" The village chief also gestured an invitation, then turned to Chen Hao and instructed, "Take Da Bao home first."
Those family members who had previously planned to work as temporary laborers in the mine with Lan Guangxue were filled with lingering fear.
They are now extremely grateful to Su Xiaonuan. If it weren't for her stopping them, their own family members might have died.
Moreover, Su Xiaonuan also helped everyone earn more money.
Therefore, these people felt an urge to kowtow to Su Xiaonuan in gratitude.
Looking at the group of people who had followed, Su Xiaonuan immediately understood.
These were the people who had wanted to go to the mine with Lan Guangxue, along with their families. She waved her hand. "Go and comfort Da Bao's family, tell them to cheer up and come listen to the compensation from the mine."
Everyone responded and left.
The Wang family was the least popular family in the village, but now that they had encountered such a misfortune, everyone felt great sympathy for them.
Secretary Hu was invited to sit in the bright and spacious office. He thought to himself, "This village is not poor or backward. It even has such a large-scale winery. Why would they follow Lan Guangxue to work as temporary laborers in the mine?"
"Secretary Hu, please have some tea!" Su Xiaonuan personally brewed the tea and served it to him, then brewed a cup of tea for the village chief as well.
"Good tea!" Secretary Hu took a sip, put the cup down, and pointed to the winery's operating room. "Is this place alright? How much do the workers earn a month?"
"Not much, only about fifty yuan," the village chief said.
"Fifty yuan isn't much?" Secretary Hu's eyes widened like saucers. "Many of our regular employees don't even reach this standard. Your tone is frightening."
"It's really not much. The winery is just starting out. Once sales begin across the country, the workers' wages will increase," said Cai Chang. "We operate on a pay-for-work system. As long as orders increase, their wages will rise."
"If it's so good, why do some villagers still want to work as temporary laborers at our mine?" After all that buildup, Secretary Hu finally voiced his doubts.
“When they went there, our factory was still in the planning stages.”
"That's amazing. They opened a winery of this size in just a few months."
The sounds of Wang Dabao's family crying and cursing could be heard coming from the courtyard.
Chen Hao rushed in, panting. "Village chief, they're trying to break in, what do we do?"
"Let them in!" the village chief waved his hand.
As soon as the adults entered, they rushed towards Secretary Hu, but Su Xiaonuan used force to stop them.
"Get out of the way!" They all had bloodshot eyes, as if they wanted to devour Su Xiaonuan alive.
"Secretary Hu is here to handle the compensation for the accident. Your unreasonable behavior will not end well. The person is already dead. Now the only thing to do is to sit down and talk about our terms. This is the most practical way to survive."
"Yes, I'm here today to talk to you about this matter." Secretary Hu said in an authoritative tone, "First of all, I have to talk about the cause of this accident. Wang Dabao was not the person on duty for this blasting. Lan Guangxue was drunk, and he took it upon himself to go and do the blasting in Lan Guangxue's place. Due to improper operation, he not only killed himself, but also injured two other workers. That's the cause of the accident."
"Lan Guangxue, Lan Guangxue, hand over Lan Guangxue, and we'll make him pay with his life."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Secretary Hu said confidently. "Given this situation, our mine is not required to pay compensation. Out of a sense of righteousness and morality, we will not pursue the losses caused to our mine by Wang Dabao. The higher-ups sent me with 500 yuan for funeral expenses. In addition, Lan Guangxue was negligent in his work, and the higher-ups have decided to deduct 20 yuan from Lan Guangxue's salary every month to subsidize Wang Dabao's wife and children until Wang Dabao's two children reach adulthood."
"Is a human life only worth this much money? We won't do it."
"This is already the maximum mercy we can show. Wang Dabao was just a temporary worker, and the accident didn't happen while he was on duty. It was due to his personal relationship with Lan Guangxue. In fact, the other two injured workers at our mine should be seeking compensation from Wang Dabao. If Wang Dabao hadn't died, your Wang family would have had to pay a large sum of money to the other two injured workers," Secretary Hu said firmly. "Furthermore, the losses at our mine are estimated to be several hundred thousand yuan. The entire operating area was destroyed by Wang Dabao."
“A person is dead, so you can say whatever you want. Who knows the truth?” Wang Xingfa pointed at Secretary Hu. “Can you produce any evidence?”
Secretary Hu stared at the Wang family for a while, nodded, took out a set of photos from his briefcase, and handed them to Su Xiaonuan, indicating that she should deliver them to the Wang family.
Su Xiaonuan didn't look at it, took it and handed it directly to Wang Xingfa.
Wang Xingfa was shocked when he saw the first photo, which showed the scene of the explosion. His family also came over to look at it. The next photo showed three people being dug out of the ruins. Two of them were alive, one had his leg blown off, and one had his hand blown off.
After seeing these photos, the Wang family stopped making trouble. If Wang Dabao were still alive, he would be a useless person, living would only be painful, and he would only be a burden to his family.
Secretary Hu seized the opportunity to say, “I still have Lan Guangxue’s duty records here, and there are witnesses as well. After the incident, the mine has already punished Lan Guangxue, and he has no objection to the punishment for this dereliction of duty. He is willing to pay 20 yuan a month to support Wang Dabao’s two children.”
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