Zhao Qingshan was pale, and his arms were trembling from working for a long time.
He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, "Uncle Chen, the imperial relief team has arrived. Perhaps they can go down into the mine to provide assistance..."
"shut up!"
The foreman shouted, and the mallet almost touched Zhao Qingshan's nose.
"Once or twice is one thing, but now that the Imperial Envoy is here to oversee flood control and disaster relief, if you dare to offend the Princess, everyone will die!"
Zhao Qingshan looked helplessly behind him, "Aunt Chu, Brother Feng... everyone! There is hope, there is hope that they are still alive..."
Those whose names were mentioned all had family members who had been drowned in the mine pit, but some avoided eye contact, some ignored it, and some even glared angrily.
"More than twenty days have passed, how could he still be alive..."
"Shut up! It's all because of you that we're all going to be punished by having to move stones!"
"Exactly, the mine was flooded, and we finally got a few days of rest..."
They were sinners, not slaves; what good would it do them to work and move stones?
Like many others, Zhao Qingshan's father was submerged in the mine pit during the flood.
After the water level subsided slightly, people were organized to go down into the mine to search.
But they were all flooded, and even the best swimmers, and even those who used pig bladders to store gas, could not find any survivors.
Gradually, everyone gave up, hoping only that they could collect their loved ones' bodies after the flood receded.
Only Zhao Qingshan constantly encouraged people to go down into the mine to rescue people.
At first, people sympathized with and comforted them, until the metallurgical supervisor became so annoyed that he assigned them all to the task of building retaining walls.
The foreman, too lazy to scold him anymore, turned his attention directly to the middle-aged man beside him.
"Old Qi, keep a close eye on them. If they cause any trouble, everyone will have to work two hours a day!"
The crowd immediately stirred, and they moved stones without a moment's rest. After four hours a day, they were so exhausted that they could barely straighten their backs.
Add two more hours... wouldn't that be torture to death?
The way everyone looked at Zhao Qingshan immediately became even more strange.
“Qingshan, we are all very saddened by your father’s predicament. Many of us also have family members trapped down there, but more than twenty days have passed and we have long lost hope.”
"Why bother talking to him so much? He's ruined so many of our lives."
"I'm warning you, if you dare to spout nonsense again, don't blame me for turning my back on you and showing no mercy!"
...
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