Chapter 62 Compensation Must Be Made

Li Haotian feigned misunderstanding, and said, "I was in too much of a hurry to get here and forgot to ask Shaojie to brief you. It's good that you've arrived. The injured have already been sent to the hospital, but the family members of the young man who lost his life are making a scene, refusing to leave and demanding compensation."

Hong Haifeng had already noticed that area. The deceased's family members were guarding the body, alongside quite a few villagers.

If they were to forcibly remove the corpse at this moment, it would likely provoke the villagers' dissatisfaction, which was the exact reason why Li Haotian had not acted rashly upon arrival.

Just then, Li Haotian's cell phone rang. After answering it, he looked at Hong Haifeng and said calmly, "County Magistrate Zhang has already arrived."

With a chemical plant explosion and casualties involved this time, Zhang Donglai naturally had to come to the scene.

"I'll go welcome County Magistrate Zhang first."

With those words, Li Haotian hurried toward the entrance of the chemical plant, with Hong Haifeng following closely behind.

How could Lu Hao and the others dare not follow? They all went along as well.

At the entrance of the chemical plant, Zhang Donglai, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, had already stepped out of his car. Someone handed him a dust mask, and several leaders and staff members from relevant county departments had also arrived together.

After everyone gathered, Zhang Donglai said with a stern expression, "The very first phone call I received this early morning was about the explosion and deaths at your Fangshui Township chemical plant. This is truly wonderful news."

The expressions on Li Haotian and Hong Haifeng's faces could not have been uglier, but Li Haotian still took the initiative to speak, "County Magistrate Zhang, we have troubled you. I have repeatedly emphasized the safety of the chemical plant, but our work supervision still fell short. We accept your criticism."

"Is criticizing you of any use now? It is fortunate that you have all arrived at the scene. If either of the top two leaders had been absent, I would certainly have reported this to the County Magistrate and the Party Secretary, and recommended revoking your official appointments."

Zhang Donglai swept his gaze over the two men. "However, since you are both present, I believe you can still take control of the situation. Let's go, take me to inspect the site and promptly handle the issues at hand."

Li Haotian and the others hurriedly led the way into the chemical plant.

Hong Haifeng walked alongside, repeatedly pondering Zhang Donglai's words just moments ago.

Li Haotian had told him to wait in town, yet came straight to the scene himself. Fortunately, Lu Hao had urged him; otherwise, had he started out even a few minutes later, he, the township head, might have arrived even later than Zhang Donglai, the deputy county magistrate. Not only would he have been reprimanded, but he might very well have been knocked back to square one.

At this thought, cold sweat broke out across Hong Haifeng's back.

Inside the chemical plant, Lu Hao had already squeezed his way into the crowd. He wanted to catch a glimpse of the deceased's condition before the leaders arrived.

Several family members of the victim were surrounding a body lying on the ground. No one could possibly feel comfortable seeing the remains after a dust explosion; the deceased had inevitably been blown beyond recognition, mangled into a bloody mess mixed with dust, making it unbearable to look upon.

In addition to them, there were quite a few villagers and workers at the scene. The uninjured workers were from other workshops.

Now that one workshop had exploded, they were naturally afraid that the other workshops might suddenly blow up as well.

As for the remaining villagers, they were family members of some injured workers. Although the injured had been sent to the hospital, their families were certainly not going to leave; they were bound to stay behind to demand compensation.

A wave of distress washed over Lu Hao. The lives of the poor possessed no dignity. In impoverished places like this, people had to toil under the scorching sun and driving rain, eating dust and swallowing dirt just to make a living. To earn money, they were forced to take jobs at the chemical plant, and even in death, they would be used as leverage for compensation, unable to rest in peace.

At that moment, Li Haotian, Hong Haifeng, and the others had also accompanied Zhang Donglai to the scene.

The villagers had spontaneously gathered around, all staring eagerly, waiting to see how these officials would handle the matter.

"Manager Liang, tell everyone to move the deceased away first and not crowd around with so many people. We can discuss other matters afterward," Li Haotian said to a young man nearby of about Lu Hao's age.

Liang Kun was the manager of the chemical plant, and his father was the owner of the plant as well as the richest man in Fangshui Township.

As soon as the accident occurred at the chemical plant, Liang Kun hurriedly notified Li Haotian, which was why Li Haotian had been able to arrive so quickly.

"Everyone, listen to me. The incident has already happened, and the township leaders attach great importance to it. Township Party Secretary Li and Township Head Hong have both arrived, and our County Magistrate Zhang is here as well. They are all here to solve problems for you. Please move the deceased away first, and our chemical plant will definitely provide compensation afterward," Liang Kun said to the villagers.

However, one of the victim's family members suddenly stepped forward and shouted loudly, "If you want to solve the problem, solve it right here! Without two million in compensation, we are not leaving."

"Two million? Are you out of your mind? Working in our chemical plant, the highest-paid worker only makes three thousand yuan a month! Two million? Do you take our chemical plant for a sucker?" Hearing this, Liang Kun instantly flew into a rage.

If it were a matter of paying a hundred thousand or so to smooth things over, he would have swallowed the loss. But now these troublemakers dared to open their mouths wide like a lion, completely ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth.

"Don't think we don't know! Your chemical plant took advantage of the poverty in Fangshui Township to exploit our labor, paying us a fraction of what people get outside. Most of the money went into your pockets and the deep pockets of the officials above! Isn't it only right to compensate us now?" another family member of the victim said with an angry expression.

Hearing someone daring to expose the dark underbelly of the chemical plant, Liang Kun flew into a rage from embarrassment, his face flushing red as he yelled, "You're talking bullshit! Over the years, Fangshui Township has relied entirely on our chemical plant for development. Do you have any idea how many villagers from miles around work and earn a living at our plant? Without our chemical plant, the meager earnings from your farming wouldn't even be enough for your sons to build houses and get married."

Some villagers nearby could no longer stomach it and directly retorted, "Rely on you for development? My foot! We came to work at your chemical plant just because it's close to home; otherwise, we would have gone to work outside long ago. Look at this lousy environment you've created—terrible air quality, and wearing masks every day doesn't even help. How many people have worked here only to develop lung problems later on, with some even contracting pneumoconiosis? And you still haven't compensated them to this day!"

Seeing villagers airing the chemical plant's dirty laundry in front of the leaders, Liang Kun lost all face and said, red-faced and furious, "You are utterly ungrateful! Without our chemical plant, you wouldn't even make this little bit of money, and now you're pinning every single problem on us."

"If we don't pin it on you, who should we pin it on?" Another worker from the plant joined the argument. "Ever since your chemical plant opened for business, our township's green mountains and clear waters are gone, the rivers are polluted, and the air is polluted. Now, to make matters worse, you can't even guarantee a safe working environment for us! In the past people just got injured, but now people have died. You must take responsibility!"

"That's right, you must take responsibility, and the township government must take responsibility too. You must pay compensation!"

"Even the villagers from the surrounding villages who got sick working here must be compensated one by one!"