Chapter 210 I just want to create an accident for one person
As the last boulder was removed, the high-pressure airbag inflated with a dull thud, slowly expanding the deformed steel frame. Gravel pattered down, and the escape passage finally widened enough for an adult to pass through.
"Release the ropes!" Fang Jun gave an order, and three rescue ropes dropped into the darkness.
When the first worker's hard hat appeared at the entrance of the cave, the scene erupted in excited cheers.
The six trapped people were pulled up one by one.
The injured Lao Meng was the first to be carried out on a stretcher, and Zhou Yingxing was the last one to come up.
The emergency personnel who had been waiting for a long time immediately took over and sent him to the ambulance.
Police officers from the Yangcheng General Police Criminal Police Team also arrived at the scene quickly.
Li Qihan ordered the police officers to search the workers' dormitories.
At the same time, medical staff at Huaquin Hospital quickly conducted a comprehensive examination on the six rescued workers.
Five workers slumped beside the ambulance, their faces covered with a mixture of dirt and tears. Some were sobbing softly, while others were looking at the sky and breathing deeply. The joy of surviving the disaster flowed silently among them.
Only Zhou Yingxing was sitting alone on a stretcher in the corner. His scarred face was still as stiff as a mask, but his tense shoulders and slightly trembling hands revealed the turmoil in his heart.
When Xia Lili and Li Qihan approached, his calloused fingers suddenly clenched the edge of the stretcher, and his knuckles turned bluish-white.
Li Qihan held his police officer badge between his slender fingers, the metal badge reflecting a sharp, cold light in the sunlight. His voice was steady, yet carried an irresistible sense of oppression: "Zhou Yingxing, how much of a role were you involved in this collapse?"
Zhou Yingxing raised his head abruptly, his scarred face twisted. "It wasn't me! How could I possibly harm my own brother?"
He pointed a trembling finger at his fellow workers who were receiving treatment and said, "These are my brothers who have lived and eaten with me for several years!"
Fang Jun strode forward and grabbed Zhou Yingxing's muddy collar with his rough hands: "Still trying to quibble?!"
His eyes widened in anger, veins popping out on the back of his hands. "All the screws on the bracket were broken by someone, the evidence is irrefutable!"
"I really don't know!" Zhou Yingxing was strangled to the point of having difficulty breathing, but he still shook his head stubbornly. His bloodshot eyes were filled with fear, "Comrade police, I swear..."
"swear?"
Fang Jun sneered and suddenly let go of his hand. "Then explain to me why a person with ALS would appear at the scene of the accident by such a coincidence?"
He leaned forward and asked, "Are you thinking of using your life in exchange for compensation?"
Zhou Yingxing was struck by lightning, and a look of disbelief appeared on his stiff face: "You...how did you know..."
"The national medical system is connected." Li Qihan observed his every movement calmly. "You were diagnosed at Yangcheng Third Hospital half a month ago."
"I really didn't move the bracket!"
Zhou Yingxing suddenly became excited, his voice hoarse like sandpaper being rubbed.
But then, his shoulders slumped, and his entire body seemed to have lost its backbone. "But...but when this happened, I did...did think about just dying..."
Raindrops dripped down the brim of his safety helmet, mixing with the tears from the corners of his eyes and hitting the ground.
His rough fingers unconsciously rubbed the holes in his overalls. "I also encountered a similar collapse accident on a construction site eight years ago. I know that this accident is not serious. As long as the firefighters drill an escape route in time, the trapped people can be rescued."
"After I was diagnosed, I kept thinking about what I, a dying person, could do for my daughter and what I could leave behind."
“But I don’t have the ability to make a lot of money.”
"I heard from Zhang Ying that if someone dies in an accident on a construction site, they can get hundreds of thousands of yuan in compensation."
Li Qihan's eyes glared: "Who is Zhang Ying?"
"Zhang Ying?"
Du Weifeng's face suddenly changed. "Captain Li, Zhang Ying is the excavator driver who made the mistake today!"
Zhou Yingxing's voice gradually faded, filled with deep regret. "When the passage suddenly collapsed today, I... I thought it was an opportunity given to me by God."
He rubbed his rough hands together and said, "After the firefighters open the escape route, I plan to let my fellow workers go first..."
Rain dripped down the edge of his helmet and formed small puddles on the ground.
His eyes were hollow. "I've done the most underground work on this construction site, so I know better than anyone where the structure is most vulnerable. And it's raining today..."
His Adam's apple rolled. "I brought a chisel with me. I wanted to wait until they were all out and then find the worst water seepage..."
At this point, he suddenly trembled violently: "But I really didn't know there was methane underground! I didn't know drilling underground would cause explosions!"
He suddenly grabbed Li Qihan's sleeve, his knuckles turning white from the force. "If I had known that this would kill so many people, I would never have died from the pain—"
His voice stopped abruptly, as if all his strength had been suddenly drained away.
The face, stiffened by ALS, was now twisted into a painful expression, with turbid tears flowing down the scar.
Li Qihan keenly noticed the key point in his words: "You said 'the passage suddenly collapsed'? So the initial collapse was not your plan?"
Zhou Yingxing shook his head blankly: "It wasn't me. I originally just wanted to create an accident... that belonged to me alone..."
Just then, two firefighters came over with a man wearing a helmet.
The man had dark skin and wore white gloves stained with engine oil. His legs and feet trembled when he walked. It was obvious that he was a driver of construction vehicles all year round.
"Captain Li, Captain Fang," the firefighter pushed the man forward, "this is Zhang Ying, the driver of the excavator."
Xia Lili raised her eyebrows, thinking that it was true that when you mention Cao Cao, he will appear.
Zhang Ying hunched over, his eyes wandering: "Officer, I... I'm here to turn myself in..."
His voice trembled. "Old Zhou gave me two thousand yuan to deliberately hit the support today..."
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Yingxing stood up suddenly from the ground, stumbling a bit due to the violent movement. "When did I ever tell you—"
"I have evidence!" Zhang Ying suddenly raised his voice and took out his mobile phone with trembling hands, "This is the transfer record that Lao Zhou gave me!" A transfer of 2,000 yuan was clearly displayed on the screen.
Zhou Yingxing was so angry that he was shaking all over. His face, which had been stiff due to ALS, was now red. "Zhang Ying! This money was clearly yours because you said yesterday that your mother was in the hospital and you needed it urgently. That's why I—"
His rough voice was filled with incredible pain. "This is my last savings! How could you slander me?"
Zhang Ying, however, didn't dare meet Zhou Yingxing's eyes. He simply nodded and bowed to the police officer, "Officer, I really didn't know there was methane underground... Old Zhou just told me to touch it lightly, to create a small accident, so he'd be trapped underground and find a chance to commit suicide, leaving a huge compensation for his daughter..."
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