It's not because I have a strong sense of responsibility, but what I saw and heard after the mine accident deeply touched me.
My purpose is not to explore the truth itself, but to expose the ugly deal hidden behind the truth.
I asked for leave from the town, in order to go back to the county to study for a driver's license. In the morning, I studied at the driving school; in the afternoon, I used it to conduct undercover investigations.
I went to see Wang Fusheng first. He showed a kind of relief at surviving the disaster, and kept saying: "Brother, no matter what, we brothers have survived this ordeal."
I responded, "Can we sleep peacefully?"
He widened his eyes and said with a surprised kiss: "We didn't do the evil, and we didn't cause the disaster. Why are you making it hard on yourself?"
Listening to his guilt-free explanation, a sense of sadness rose from the bottom of my heart: "Tell me the truth, is there any discrepancy between the facts and the accident appraisal results?"
He replied impatiently and angrily, "No!"
He continued, "Hongjun, don't be confused. We are all beneficiaries. Or there are no losers in this matter. Everyone is happy."
I couldn't hold back my emotions and shouted, "What about the families of the miners?"
He snorted, "You work in the family comfort department. You should have seen the expressions of those families when they received the compensation. Who wasn't overjoyed? In the face of interests, human nature is like this. Grief is temporary. Only money can bring people a sense of security."
I was speechless. I had indeed witnessed what he said, and even worse, some family members fought over the distribution of the compensation on the spot. This is the greedy nature of human beings.
I lamented, "What about the six lives?"
He softened his tone and patted my shoulder: "Brother, that's their fate. Don't be hard on yourself and don't make a joke of the defendant becoming the plaintiff. In this matter of Tongxiang Town, I swear to heaven that I have never taken a penny of money that was not in accordance with my conscience. I believe that you did. Just based on this point, we have a clear conscience."
This is his logic as an official. As long as he is clean, he will allow himself to fail in his duties. I left sadly because neither of us could convince the other. As the saying goes, people with different ideals cannot work together.
I returned home in a depressed mood. Qingwan's shortness of breath and palpitations had worsened in the past few days. I didn't want to affect her mood, so I had to force a smile.
After dinner, I had just helped Qingwan lie down when Wang Yanshu called and asked me to go to her house to discuss the matter. I wanted to turn it down, but my mother-in-law said that Qingwan would be taken care of by her and I should not delay the work.
When I arrived at Wang Yanshu's house, it looked like she and her wife had been waiting for me for a long time. Before I even sat down, Wang Yanshu couldn't wait to say, "Chief Guan, I heard that you're being stubborn again, being partial and not considering the overall situation. Can you be more polite?"
As soon as she opened her mouth, she knew that Wang Fusheng had revealed the content of our conversation in the afternoon to his classmates.
I insisted on my own opinion and told her everything I thought. Finally, I questioned her: "Director Wang, you are my first leader in the system. You made me understand a truth, that is, doing something for the people is the minimum conscience of an official. Now, why have you forgotten this original intention?"
Xu Shaojia, who had been sitting on the side without saying a word, slapped his thigh and said, "Hongjun, well said. I support you!"
With a "bang", Wang Yanshu threw the white porcelain water cup to the floor, and the cup immediately shattered into pieces: "Xu Shaojia, don't join in the commotion and put him on the spot. What's the point of a brave soldier sacrificing himself without even dodging a bullet? How brave, how brave! You have become stupid because of reading too much."
Xu Shaojia and I were stunned by her rage. Xu Shaojia immediately changed her tune and said to me, "Hongjun, she is right. Don't be impulsive. Impulsiveness is the devil."
Oh, intellectuals really have no moral integrity!
Another conversation that ended unpleasantly.
The next afternoon, I made an appointment with Zhang Weitang, the owner of Taixiang Coal Mine, and the meeting place was set at the secluded little hotel where we first met.
He looked haggard, tired and in a very low mood.
I said, "Mr. Zhang, I won't beat around the bush. Let me be honest with you. What exactly is the cause of this flooding accident?"
He hesitated for a moment, and seemed quite surprised by my question: "Hasn't the investigation team come to a conclusion?"
I stared straight into his eyes, and he dodged under my aggressive gaze.
I threatened him, "Tell me the truth. There is no way you can hide it. To be honest, my college roommate is now working at the Provincial Coal Industry Technology Research Institute. I have already asked him to invite an expert to investigate the cause of the accident."
It is true that the boss works at the Coal Research Institute, but the story of inviting experts was made up by me to scare him.
After hearing my half-serious threat, his defenses began to crumble.
His face was pale, and he touched the tip of his nose subconsciously from time to time, and sometimes he lowered his head to stare at the tips of his feet.
Finally, he mustered up his courage and made up his mind to fight to the end. He said to me, "Zhenzhang Guan, I have been working in coal mines for so many years, and you are the first official I have met with a clean record. For this reason, I don't want to hide it. This flooding is caused by water accumulation in the goaf area of Tongshun Coal Mine, which has crossed the boundary and caused water damage in the goaf."
This is exactly what Wang Fusheng predicted when the mining disaster first occurred.
I took advantage of the situation and pressed him, "Did you come up with this conclusion of the city's expert group?"
He smiled bitterly and replied, "After the accident, I was like a lamb to be slaughtered, and the police restricted my personal freedom. It was County Chief Zhang who asked them to lift the control measures on me and let me participate in the rescue, so I was freed. How could I have the time and opportunity to run this thing?"
What he said was consistent with what I knew, and it seemed that he was not hiding anything.
So I asked again: "In your opinion, who is behind this incident?"
He simply revealed the inside story without reservation: "Tongshun Coal Mine is the property of the Tian and Zheng families. Once the truth about the flooding accident is made public, it will be like pulling out carrots and bringing out mud. Their cross-border mining will be exposed. Therefore, they cannot let the truth come to light."
He picked up the water cup in front of him and took a big gulp. He then continued, "Zhang Weiguo stole 15% of my shares. In order to maximize his own interests, he delayed the acceptance of Tongshun Coal Mine and even cut off the power supply, which led to water accumulation in the goaf. This was the direct cause of the accident. In order to cover up the truth, these two hostile forces actually made peace and jointly characterized the accident as an irresponsible accident."
This is basically consistent with my judgment, but I was still shocked when I heard Zhang Weitong say it word by word.
I asked, "You have been fighting against the Tian and Zheng families for so long, why did you finally choose to compromise with Zhang Weiguo?"
He asked me unexpectedly, "You have a special relationship with General Manager Lin. Do you still need to ask me about this? Did she really not tell you about this?"
I replied in confusion: "What does this have to do with her?"