Chapter 89
Chen He was silent for a while, then he bent his knuckles and knocked on the large metal bucket beside him: "These buckets shouldn't be the original ones, right?"
"Of course not. Ten years ago, to save costs, they used cheaper plastic barrels, and they all burned up in the fire."
Chen He's eyes flashed: "Plastic bucket? Wouldn't that easily generate static electricity and cause sparks..."
Boss Niu quickly raised a hand and said, "Xiao Ni, don't you dare say anything nonsense. If Qiu Song's parents hear this, they'll come and extort money from you! No, that's a special anti-static plastic oil drum!"
Boss Niu cursed with lingering fear: "You don't know what Qiu Song's parents are capable of!
"The public security and fire departments have determined that Qiu Song bears primary responsibility for the accident, and I have no liability for compensation.
"My shop collapsed, and a customer's car burned down. I still have to claim compensation from them.
"I felt sorry for them because they lost their son, so I didn't even think about asking for compensation. But then they bit me back!
"If they're not satisfied, they can go to the Public Security Bureau or file a lawsuit!
"They refused to do so. They just asked for money. They hung a banner at my door and used a loud speaker to play 'Unscrupulous auto repair shop, return my son's life' on repeat...
"I had to repair the workshop, compensate the customers for their cars, and my son was taking the college entrance exam. I also had to deal with them. It was so exhausting!"
Chen He thought silently: No wonder after Qiu Yue got into trouble, they were so skilled at causing trouble at Teacher Feng's house.
She asked sympathetically, "Did they extort money from you?"
Boss Niu raised his head and stroked his beard. "That can't be done. I'm fighting fire with fire. I bought a loud speaker and recorded a message saying 'Pay me for the repairs and a car,' and I'm going to bombard them with it. Sooner or later, I'll drive them away."
Chen He gave a thumbs up: "To deal with such people, you must fight back."
Boss Niu shook his head helplessly. "Business hasn't been good since then. I thought about selling the shop, but who would dare take over a shop that's had something like this happen? I had no choice but to make do with it all these years."
Chen He walked back to where he was and sat on the small stool. He asked, "Did Qiu Song smoke before?"
Boss Niu hesitated for a moment and said, "I've never seen him smoke. When I was recruiting him, I told him not to smoke. He said he never smokes.
He sighed, "I should have thought that he would smoke when he entered society at such a young age.
"Probably to get the job, he lied to me that he didn't smoke.
"Then he couldn't resist the urge to smoke, so he prepared the oil and smoked secretly while I was away. That's what happened."
Chen He was puzzled. "Isn't the shop closed? Will he still be working at 8 o'clock?"
"The store is closed, but Qiu Song is very hardworking. If there's work left during the day, he'll voluntarily work overtime at night, needless to say. It's not surprising."
"Is there any surveillance footage of what happened?"
"No. Ten years ago, surveillance equipment was so expensive, I couldn't afford it."
"Then why are you so sure it was caused by him smoking? Did you find a cigarette butt, a lighter, or something?"
"The cigarette butt must have burned up. Where can I find it? As for the lighter, I have it in the kitchen. I use it to boil water and light the stove.
"The fire department said that after they inspected the scene, they determined that the fire started at the location of that barrel..."
Boss Niu stood up, walked to a large iron barrel, and patted it with his hands:
"The barrel placed here at the time was for gasoline. It was a military green chemical plastic barrel, explosion-proof and anti-static. It was about the same size as this one, also 200 liters. There were two more like it next to it."
Pointing to a wall on the other side where a pile of tires were stacked, he said, "This wall was burned black and had large cracks on its surface. It was later repaired and painted.
"Firefighters can use smoke and fire marks to deduce the fire's starting point, cause, and speed of spread.
"The fire department analyzed that only when gasoline vapor reaches a certain concentration and encounters an open flame will it cause an explosion in an instant.
"Qiu Song must have forgotten he was smoking a cigarette when he opened the oil drum lid.
"Qiu Song must have been engulfed in flames at the time, and instinctively ran towards the back door. But he must have panicked, tripped over the tire, and fell a few steps away from the door. Right here..."
Boss Niu walked for a while, then stamped his feet to signal, "When a person's body is on fire, they feel pain and confusion. Once they fall to the ground, they can do nothing but roll around, and it's difficult to stand up again.
"The delay caused the fire to explode—the firefighters said the explosion was equivalent to 10 kilograms of dynamite.
"The roof collapsed, and the steel beams fell and crushed him, burning him... When they finally carried him out..."
Boss Niu couldn't bear to continue. "Besides smoking, what other open flames could there be? It can't be that Qiu Song lit a fire next to the oil drum for fun, right? So this is the conclusion of the matter."
Chen He's heart trembled and his chest felt a little tight. He could hear the sound of raging fire and screams in his ears.
She lowered her head and let her hair fall down to cover her face, so that Boss Niu wouldn't see her pale complexion.
He held onto an oil barrel and took a few deep breaths before he adjusted himself and his complexion returned to normal.
Taking a look at the place where Boss Niu pointed, there were no traces of the tragedy of that year left on the ground.
She didn't dare to imagine too much and looked around.
The large factory building has a roof that is a combination of old and new, and faintly visible blackened marks on the walls that are not completely covered.
Suddenly, just like the spark that ignited the sea of fire, a flash of inspiration came to my mind, and divergent thoughts spread out like a burning net.
The storyteller suffers from an occupational disease.
Her eyes were deep as she blurted out, "Besides smoking, there are other possibilities."
Boss Niu was completely bewildered. "What else could be possible? How could a little girl like you be more powerful than the firefighters and the police?"
Chen He cast his gaze towards the distribution box on the far wall and asked, "Does your home's power switch trip?"
Boss Niu nodded: "It will trip. It happens all the time when you use high-power electrical equipment."
Chen He said: "Is it possible that Qiu Song was using some electrical appliance at night, which caused the circuit breaker to trip, and when he went to check, he used an open flame, such as a lighter, for lighting.
"He was holding a lighter and passed by an oil drum, which happened to be cracked and leaking oil. The concentration of volatile substances in the air was relatively high, causing the explosion?"
Boss Niu showed a hint of admiration on his face. "Nizi is quite capable! The distribution box was burned at the time, and it's unclear if it was a tripped switch, so the fire department also mentioned this as a possibility."
He shook his head. "However, power outages are common. The store has several flashlights ready for this purpose. You can always use one at hand."
"Qiu Song is used to using a flashlight and wouldn't be stupid enough to use a lighter for lighting. So, this possibility was ruled out at the time."
Chen He tapped her solar plexus with her finger. "That makes sense. Let's try a different approach."
Boss Niu looked at her warily: "Where are you going? What's going on in your head, girl?"
"For example, someone sneaked in through the back gate."
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