Chapter 82 Midsummer 5
At the same time, Yunxin approached the farmer and asked, "Has anything unusual happened around here recently?"
The farmer woman who was asked the question smiled and said, "We don't have as many novelties here as we do in the city."
"I just asked an older woman, and she didn't say that," Yun Xin muttered, her voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the person in front of her to hear.
She pursed her lips, offering a polite, forced smile. "Thank you. I'll ask someone else."
This implies that something unusual did happen, but she was simply unaware of it.
"What's going on in the village that I, Chen Jinhua, don't know about?!" The peasant woman, unable to save face, said angrily, "Three months ago, a local thug got drunk in the middle of the night and collapsed on the road. Unfortunately, there was a puddle on the road, and he happened to be face down in the water and drowned!"
“A month and a half ago, the Zhang family at the village entrance started making a scene, saying that Zhang’s wife had given birth to triplets, none of whom were her husband’s children, and that the three children had different fathers!”
"Ten days ago, a factory near the village illegally discharged waste gas, and it was already dark! It took a long time to return to normal."
"None of these things are particularly special. I'm embarrassed to even mention them to people. Only those shallow-minded, unsophisticated people find them novel and tell everyone they meet about them."
Is the factory illegally discharging waste gas?
Yun Xin's eyes narrowed as she thought of Minamata disease and the large amount of industrial chemical waste buried beneath the town.
There is a situation where residents are in great danger, but she cannot perceive it in the short term: that is, severe environmental pollution!
Because she is better at perceiving death, and environmental pollution is a long process that can take decades from its onset to its demise.
"Auntie, the factory is illegally discharging waste gas. Aren't you worried about living nearby?" Yun Xin was very surprised that the residents didn't take it seriously even though they knew about it.
"Hey! The factory's been here for over ten years, if something was going to happen, it would have happened long ago." Chen Jinhua said dismissively. "Even if this is reported to the government, it'll just be a fine, why bother?"
"Anyway, after the factory was built, the villagers smelled a pungent odor every now and then, but nothing seemed to happen."
Yunxin was shocked by the villagers' audacity.
She temporarily set aside this topic and inquired carefully about the factory's exhaust emissions.
"There was a loud bang, and black smoke started billowing from above the factory, turning the clouds in the sky black. Looking from the village towards the factory, the clouds in other places were fine and clear, but there was a huge patch of dark clouds around the factory," Chen Jinhua described the scene. She added, "I was feeding the pigs at the time, and I looked up and saw it. Besides me, many other people in the village saw it too."
"Later, the clouds drifted and drifted, even above the village, and only dispersed after a long time."
At this point, Chen Jinhua belatedly realized, "Something feels off to me."
The other party seems overly concerned about the factory's emissions. Could they be a government-appointed investigator?
Chen Jinhua's train of thought suddenly went astray.
Yun Xin sighed, "Auntie, after the illegal discharge of waste gas happened, did anyone in the village say they weren't feeling well? Or did any poultry, plants, or trees die mysteriously?"
Chen Jinhua felt uneasy after hearing this. "Recently, many crops have withered... Trees that were growing well are now having their bark peeling off for no reason, and their leaves are cracking..."
“The chickens raised by the villagers and the birds that nested in the trees were fine in the afternoon, but suddenly died overnight.”
"Several people said they had rashes and wanted to go to the city for treatment. The children's faces were swollen, and their eyes were red..."
Chen Jinhua stopped talking on her own.
She stared blankly at Yun Xin, completely baffled. So many strange things had been happening lately, why hadn't anyone paid any attention before Yun Xin brought it up?
The situation is clearly quite serious!
"Auntie, you're the one who said those things, don't look at me." Yun Xin looked back innocently.
Chen Jinhua panicked, "Ah, I, this..."
For a moment, she didn't know what to say. In the end, all her words boiled down to one sentence: "Daughter, what do you think we should do about this?"
Before Yun Xin could answer, Chen Fangfang rushed back. Ignoring the people around her, she rattled off a string of words like a machine gun, “I walked around the village and found that no matter where I went, I didn’t feel good. I felt like I wanted to run away right away.”
"I discussed it with my friends, and we decided we don't need this employee benefit trip!"
"If the vice president agrees, I'll ask my friend for leave, buy my own train tickets, and go home. If he doesn't agree, we'd rather quit than not leave!"
As she spoke, she also advised Yunxin, "Sister Xinxin, you should leave too. Those little employee benefits aren't worth risking your life for."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jinhua nearly fainted. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Is the situation really that bad?"
Chen Fangfang was quite resolute, disregarding the lives of others, "Anyway, that's what my sixth sense tells me! Whether it's right or wrong, I believe it!"
"This...this..." The incident happened so suddenly that Chen Jinhua didn't know whether to confront the factory directly or notify the villagers first. There were so many things to do, and she was completely lost.
Yunxin, however, was more experienced. "In this situation, of course you should call the police."
As he spoke, he skillfully took out his phone and made a call.
I waited for a long time, but the phone was just dial tone; I couldn't get through.
Chen Fangfang said weakly, "Sister Xinxin, I saw a report on the way here. It said that there was a huge mudslide in the neighboring city, and other cities sent people to help, but they were too busy with their own city's affairs."
Yun Xin, "..."
What a coincidence, things have all come together.
Even if the call is connected, the police station probably won't have enough officers to conduct an investigation.
Yun Xin sighed and dialed a different number, "Luckily, I know a lot of people."
Chen Jinhua felt that the recent events were somewhat surreal.
They were living a perfectly good life when suddenly someone came along and said they were in danger. The absurd thing is, when she thought about it, it really was true.
Then, the other party made a phone call, and soon after, a helicopter came to a stop near the village.
Then a group of people got off the plane, some collecting samples, others conducting tests.
Chen Jinhua watched everyone bustling about, looking completely bewildered. She tugged at Yun Xin's sleeve and whispered, "Girl, what are you doing?"
"Investigate how serious the situation is," Yun Xin explained. "If we do the preliminary work first, it will be easier to handle the matter once the police are available to take over."
Although it's unclear when the police will be available.
It's possible that they resolved the matter before the police arrived.
"Oh, I see..." Chen Jinhua nodded as if she understood.
After calming the villagers down, Yun Xin went over and greeted him, "President Li."
With a solemn expression, General Manager Li took the initiative to explain the situation, saying, "I have already sent employees to conduct a biological investigation, and I believe the results will be available soon."
"Okay," Yun Xin replied.
Although I was in a hurry, some things can't be rushed; investigation and analysis are essential steps.
"Thank you again for giving me another chance to save someone," Mr. Li said solemnly.
Who would have thought that after helping four thousand people move in the small town, he would still have the opportunity to get an SS rating?
That's the advantage of having a wide network of connections!
If he hadn't met Yun Xin early on, he would never have had such a good opportunity.
Yunxin: The police station is too busy, so she has to find a tool (a big grudge) who is willing to pay and do the work?
Fortunately, the residents benefited, and Mr. Li gave positive reviews, so everyone has a bright future.
Even the workers, happily doing their jobs, wanted to schedule another appointment.
"This will cost a lot of money. Once or twice is fine, but can you afford it three or four times?" Yun Xin was genuinely worried about President Li's financial situation.
"Money is just an external thing." It had been several months since we last contacted each other. I wondered what Mr. Li had been through. His words carried a sense of vicissitude. "These days, I've come to realize that the most important thing is to be alive. Without enough attribute points to build a solid foundation, one careless mistake and you're gone."
"Disasters come too quickly and suddenly, sometimes even at unexpected times and places, they just happen without warning."
"For example?" Yun Xin asked, curious about what President Li had gone through.
Mr. Li chuckled self-deprecatingly, “There’s a risk of food poisoning. There’s chemical waste buried under the school, and most of the students studying there get cancer and skin diseases. You could sleep in your own apartment and the building collapses in the middle of the night.”
"Problems can occur in all aspects of life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation; it's impossible to guard against them all."
"The only thing I can do is to improve my own and my family's attributes. At least when disaster strikes, we can hold out a little longer."
Yunxin was speechless.
That makes sense; life is full of crises, and ordinary people have virtually no way to survive.
Of course, Ms. Li is no ordinary person in the conventional sense. She suspected that the other party was deliberately playing the victim and showing weakness, but she had no evidence.
"We've found the results!" As soon as the test results came out, the lab technician rushed over to report to General Manager Li.
"What's going on?" President Li, no longer displaying the melancholy he had shown in front of Yun Xin, instantly changed his demeanor and asked with an air of authority.
“It’s TCDD.” The lab technician said gravely. “It’s a toxic chemical, extremely poisonous and carcinogenic, known as the ‘poison of the century.’ Its toxicity is equivalent to 900 times that of arsenic and 1000 times that of potassium cyanide.”
"TCDD can cause serious skin diseases and can also affect the reproduction, immunity and development of mammals."
"This substance is highly persistent and takes a very long time to decompose in the natural environment. Until then, residents will continue to be harmed by the harmful substance."
“We detected large amounts of TCDD on tree leaves and other vegetation. If it rains, these toxic substances will be washed into the soil and affect crop growth.”
Yun Xin suddenly remembered, "Residents said that crops were withering in large numbers, and livestock and birds were also dying abnormally. If residents had fed their poultry with poisonous crops..."
The lab technician's expression darkened further. "Then TCDD will be distributed in the fatty tissue of livestock and poultry. Once people eat this meat, they will experience symptoms such as nausea and headaches."
When Chen Jinhua saw the lab technician coming over to report, she secretly ran over and stood to the side to listen in.
She could tolerate it before, but she finally couldn't listen anymore. She was utterly bewildered, "The factory only emitted some industrial waste gas, how could it be so serious?"
Laboratory technician: "What they emitted may not be ordinary waste gas, but rather TCDD, a highly toxic gas. There are several locations in the village where the TCDD levels are significantly higher than the standard."
Chen Jinhua was petrified.
What is this?
You are sitting at home and disaster strikes from the sky?
Sitting at home all day, doing nothing, can you breathe in highly toxic gases and kill yourself?
Chen Fangfang also heard what the lab technician said.
She pondered for a moment, then turned to her friend and asked, "If I remember correctly, the vice president went to the area where he felt the worst to get some fresh air?"
friend,"……"
How am I supposed to answer that? How am I supposed to answer that??
(End of this chapter)
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