Chapter 2
"Such a serious incident has occurred, and your security director hasn't even shown up. With such a lack of attention to safety, it's no wonder nothing bad has happened!"
A man in his sixties spoke with a voice as loud as a bell, full of anger, as if the person who died was his closest friend.
"I'm so sorry, Director Sun. Director Tang immediately bought a plane ticket and caught the earliest flight back. But with the snow... the plane might be delayed. Director Sun, how about we go to the control room? It's warmer there..."
The equipment director bowed and smiled, glancing at the sullen-faced general manager as if for help, hoping for some help. However, the general manager seemed frozen in time, not even glancing at him.
"What? Someone died in your control room too?" Director Sun retorted unhappily, turning to look at Ding Xinqiao. "Xiao Ding, call Mayor Qin's office."
"Director Sun," the general manager finally spoke, raising his hand to shake Director Sun's hand, giving it a firm grip. "Our company will definitely give you an explanation on this matter. However, nothing has been fully investigated yet, and rashly alarming the mayor without being able to explain the situation will only make him anxious. We still have a protocol to work on this later... Please."
The general manager spoke earnestly, his eyes reddening at the end. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, his position as general manager would undoubtedly be jeopardized. At the very least, he would face a demotion or downgrade.
"Yes, Director Sun, please give us a little more time, at least let us investigate the cause of the accident..." the device director said hurriedly.
Director Sun snorted coldly, "I'll give you some time to figure out who to blame, ok?"
"No, no! How could it be..."
"Director Sun misunderstood. We really want to clarify things first..."
"Look at what you're saying. Our Emergency Management Bureau will also send investigators to participate in the investigation."
As if they could see that Director Sun's attitude was softening, the heads of various departments of Donghe Refining and Chemical Company expressed their opinions and offered suggestions, and they wished they could dig out their hearts and show them to Deputy Director Sun of the Emergency Management Bureau to show their sincerity.
Ding Xinqiao stood outside the crowd, gazing boredly toward the factory gate. He had been standing there for nearly an hour, his fingertips numb from the cold.
This was the only well that could be investigated at the scene. Four hours had passed since Liu Dong was found dead in the well that morning. Everyone who needed to investigate had gone in, and all the evidence that could be secured had been collected. Deputy Director Sun remained there to put pressure on the company and make them aware of the seriousness of the situation. It also served to demonstrate the Emergency Management Bureau's stance: an incident of this magnitude would not be taken lightly.
Another half an hour passed before Director Sun finally couldn't stand the cold anymore, so he came down the stairs that everyone had built for him for half a day and was willing to sit down in the conference room to talk.
Following the crowd, Ding Xinqiao glanced back at Chen Jingzhou, who was still guarding the manhole. The man had taken off his respirator and was squatting on the ground, poking at the snow out of boredom.
Aren’t my hands cold? With this thought in mind, Ding Xinqiao turned into the central control room.
At the same time, two cars, one white and one black, entered the gate of the Donghe Refining and Chemical Company's plant area one after the other. The driver of the white car, which had a police license plate, was Zhao Guoliang, who had returned from a trip.
In another black car sat Tang Ruxin, the safety director of Donghe Refining, whom everyone was waiting for.
"Speeding." Tang Ruxin leaned back in the back seat and looked at her phone.
The company's messaging group was abuzz. In less than two hours on the plane, Tang Ruxin had over thirty missed calls and thousands of unread messages. It had only been a little over half an hour since she'd gotten off the plane, and she was still reading.
"Boss Yu said that if you don't show up in front of him within ten minutes, he will fire me." Driver and assistant Song Mu looked aggrieved and answered pitifully after glancing at the rearview mirror.
"The speed limit in the factory is 20. If you insist on speeding, I will fire you anyway." Tang Ruxin kept looking down at her phone and didn't receive his signal of begging for sympathy.
After his boss said this, Song Mu could only step on the brakes and drive at a snail's pace towards the No. 1 Central Control Room.
The white police car in front of him had already disappeared. He wanted to report that car for speeding, but Tang Ruxin obviously didn't intend to do anything else. In fact, she only cared about him because his speeding would affect her reading information. The roads in the factory area were not as smooth as the asphalt roads outside.
In theory, Tang Ruxin should be in a bad mood, but Song Mu couldn't tell. She was as calm as usual. Her words were calm, her expression was calm, even when she was threatening, her brows were relaxed, and the pauses between words were as leisurely and slow as ever. It was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.
Donghe Refining and Chemical has been operating for over 20 years and has experienced numerous accidents, both large and small. This was especially true back in the days when safety production was not yet a key focus of management and control. Operations and processes were not standardized, and furnace explosions and pump house fires were commonplace. However, this was the first fatal accident at Donghe Refining and Chemical since its founding.
Safety Director Tang Ruxin had been in office for less than two years, and just as her work was getting underway, the factory's worst accident occurred. This parachuted-in, young, inexperienced, and highly educated safety director, a woman, was a natural scapegoat, with a ton of buffs stacked against her.
A year and a half ago, Song Mu learned he would be working as an assistant to a 27-year-old female security director. It felt like the sky had fallen. Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Song Mu prayed daily that this security director would be a ruthless, decisive, and decisive woman who could outmaneuver the senior officers and outmaneuver the local tyrants.
However, as soon as they met, the other half's world collapsed.
Tang Ruxin looks naive at first glance.
Song Mu thought, "Don't judge a person by appearances," but after a few more glances, he still felt she was a lady from a wealthy family. She was gentle and understated, speaking slowly and softly. In company meetings, no matter the level, she remained silent until called upon, and when she did, she kept her words concise and focused, without the slightest hint of an executive presence.
At that time, Song Mu had already contacted a headhunting company and had written his resignation letter.
A naive naiveté like Tang Ruxin would never hold the position of Security Director. He even made the somewhat impolite assumption that she was a relative or mistress of a high-ranking company executive. Of course, he dismissed the idea the moment it arose. If she had risen through nepotism, he would never have placed her in such a vulnerable position. A less demanding position with more pay would have been more suitable.
It wasn't that Song Mu hadn't inquired about her background; he simply couldn't find out. HR only said she was specially recruited by the general manager and immediately became a second-tier executive. Therefore, her resume was kept highly confidential, and no one except the HR director had ever seen Tang Ruxin's file.
Song Mu was skeptical of this claim. The general manager was only half a level above the department director, so how could he have the authority to hire a department director? At most, he could make an internal referral. And who could the general manager recommend someone to? He couldn't possibly recommend the HR director, who was on the same level as the security director. Thinking about it this way, Tang Ruxin was most likely connected to the board of directors.
But this brings us back to the original, irrational assumption: if you have connections, why would you want to be a security director? Sales director, HR director, even finance director, are all safer than security director.
Song Mu couldn't figure it out, so he could only wait for news from the headhunters and watch the show. He wanted to see if this naive person could last for half a year.
The slap in the face came quickly.
Tang Ruxin not only survived six months, but also accomplished what Song Mu called suppressing the seniority and defeating the local bosses within six months. And the first person she suppressed was Song Mu.
Song Mu was glad that he was a good person. He was respectful and dutiful in front of the newcomer Tang Ruxin. Apart from submitting his resume to the headhunting company, he did not do anything to let her down - he just wanted to change jobs, what kind of crime was that?
So Tang Ruxin simply took the love letter he had written many years ago to a colleague, who is now the wife of the HR director, photoshopped a recent date on it, printed it out and put it on his desk.
It wasn't a big deal, and even for him who was planning to change jobs, it wasn't a big deal at all. It was just a matter of face, if he didn't want it, then he didn't want it. At most, it would add some obstacles to his search for another job, but it wouldn't cut off his escape route.
However, this made Song Mu understand three things.
First, Tang Ruxin is not a naive person, and she can't even be considered a good person - she is insidious, despicable, and unscrupulous.
Secondly, she had already seen that he was going to leave, which proved that she had the insight to see the big picture from the details and would not be easily deceived.
Third, since Tang Ruxin had dug up dirt on him, she certainly wouldn't have found more than this. However, she treaded a fine line, avoiding revealing his most vulnerable aspects, leaving both a way out for herself and him. Even her threats were perfectly balanced; it's fair to say she was thoughtful.
Song Mu didn't know why Tang Ruxin was so eager to keep him. Perhaps she wanted to prove she could handle a senior figure like him, or perhaps she was reluctant to part with him, a talent with great potential. Song Mu leaned more towards the latter. After all, he wasn't old enough to prove her ability, and there were many people older than him.
So Song Mu stayed. Tang Ruxin's ability to identify talent was enough to make him stay. He stayed until now. For some reason, the headhunting company remained silent. Coupled with the overwhelming workload, Song Mu gradually lost interest in changing jobs.
You should still run away. In the current situation, it will be difficult to get through by being insidious, despicable or having a keen eye.
Song Mu sighed, parked the car, and turned to see Tang Ruxin still looking down at her phone, seemingly with no intention of getting out of the car. He couldn't help but remind her, "Mr. Tang?"
Tang Ruxin hummed softly and didn't move. "Tell Mr. Yu that I'm on the scene and will be there soon."
"Mr. Tang, delaying won't solve the problem, it will only solve me." Song Mu had to bring up his difficulties again. Why bother? Delaying for a moment wouldn't help, and it would only get him scolded.
Tang Ruxin ignored him, got out of the car and walked straight towards the sewage well.
According to the work group, the well is located in the northeast corner of the hydrotreating unit. Sewage lines from multiple units converge and pass through this well before reaching the wastewater treatment plant. The single valve in the well is used to control wastewater discharge when indicators exceed standards and to open the pipeline for maintenance.
This is all the information we have learned so far. Apart from his name, gender and job position, almost nothing else is known about Liu Dong himself, and no one seems to care.
Why was he in that well? Why didn't he have the required walkie-talkie? Why didn't anyone know he was at the installation site? What was he doing there? Did he fall in accidentally or did he go down the well on purpose?
There are so many questions. And now, there is no time to even clarify them.
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