"Standing Committee Lu, Wang Caixia wants to meet you," Fan Chunfang said over the phone.
"Okay, I'll be right there!"
Arriving at a small hotel in the village, Lu Yiwei pushed the door open and entered. He saw Fan Chunfang sitting on one of the beds and Wang Caixia lying on the other. Her eyes were filled with fear and anxiety.
Lu Yiwei could understand Wang Caixia's feelings. Her husband had left his hometown and crossed the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers from Sichuan to Xijiang to dig for coal. It was all for the sake of earning more money and letting his family live a better life. It was also this group of "migrant workers" who used the cheapest labor force to directly boost the economic and social development. Obviously, their efforts were not proportional to the returns. Lu Yiwei was especially sympathetic.
Fan Chunfang introduced Lu Yiwei to Wang Caixia. Wang Caixia quickly begged in broken Mandarin, "Standing Committee Lu, you must help me find my man!"
"Don't be like this. You're not in good health. Sit down and let's talk peacefully." Lu Yiwei helped her to the bed and asked curiously, "Big Sis, didn't your man tell you which coal mine he's working at when he went out to work? Also, are you sure he's in Shiwan Village? "
Wang Caixia nodded blankly. Her cloudy eyes revealed a trace of anxiety and worry. "He's been working for a few years. He's always with people from the same village. I know he's in Xijiang, but I'm not sure where exactly. He hasn't returned home since he came out last year. I'm worried about him. It wasn't easy for me to find someone from the same village. But I couldn't find him after searching around. I beg you, you must help me find him. "
Hearing this, Lu Yiwei didn't feel good. If one had the ability to survive locally, why would he leave his hometown to work? He comforted her. "Big Sis, don't worry. As long as your man is in Shiwan Village, I'll definitely help you find him, okay?"
"Thank you, thank you …" Wang Caixia was moved to tears.
"What's your man's name?"
As Wang Caixia spoke in Sichuan, he couldn't understand her at all. He only heard the word "Liang". Helpless, he took out a pen and paper and asked her to write it down. But she couldn't read, which made the two anxious.
"Okay." Lu Yiwei put away the pen and paper and said, "Big Sis, there are many coal miners from Sichuan in Shiwan Village. I'll send someone to ask around."
Before leaving, Lu Yiwei felt something was wrong. He turned back and asked, "Yiwei, you heard something?"
Wang Caixia shook her head and said, "I don't know either. The people who went out with him all returned two months ago, but I didn't see him. I was afraid something might have happened, so I came to look for him. "
Lu Yiwei recalled a person who died in the fire in Shuangmiao Town. He did not seem to be from Sichuan, and his age did not match, so he ruled it out. Lu Lu Yiwei. Yi Yi had Caixia. During this period of time, people had been saying that someone had died in the mine, but no one was sure which mine it was.
Back at the township government, Lu Yiwei originally planned to let the deputy village head in charge of security investigate, but he did not want to alarm others, so he arranged for Li Ermao to secretly go to the major coal mines to inquire about the situation. Regardless of whether he was Wang Caixia's man or not, he would first find a worker from Sichuan to ask about the situation.
Soon, Li Ermao came back with the news. However, the results of the report shocked Lu Yiwei. Li Ermao said that the Sichuan workers in Shiwan Village had all left a few months ago, and none of the major coal mines had returned. Most of them were from Guoguogou Coal Mine. Dong Hua Coal Mine had taken over and fired them. Now, most of them were from Anhui.
"You mean you can't find a Sichuanese in the whole town?" Lu Yiwei asked.
Li Ermao nodded. "I searched for two or three days, but I couldn't find any."
"Oh." Lu Yiwei leaned back in his chair. He was puzzled by the strange phenomenon. He only cared about the safety of the coal mines. He rarely asked about the miners. How could they evaporate in one night? It was unbelievable. He asked, "Did you ask around? There's a man called Liangzi."
"I did, but they said they didn't know him."
"Oh." Lu Yiwei felt something was wrong. It was said that ants moving was a sign of rain. What would happen if the Sichuanese miners suddenly disappeared?
Lu Yiwei said, "By the way, did you hear about the recent accident at a coal mine?"
"Yes!" Li Ermao said. "A while ago, the winch at Wujiaozhen Coal Mine broke. One miner died and two were injured. But the coal mine was dealt with in time. Outsiders didn't know much. It's been such a long time, and it's only now that some news has leaked out. The news has been sealed very tightly. "
"Oh." Li Ermao's words gave him an idea. "Go to Wujiaozhen Coal Mine and see if there are any Sichuanese. If there are, bring them to see me."
"Okay, I'll do it now!"
Li Ermao had been trained for a while. He was more daring and straightforward. He was especially tight-lipped. It was unknown who leaked the news about Song Yong. Some nosy people in the town government were asking around. No matter what they asked, Li Ermao did not say anything. This made Lu Yiwei very happy.
In the afternoon, Li Ermao brought a miner back and entered the office. "Mr. Lu, I couldn't find anyone from Sichuan, but I found someone from Chongqing. I thought it's not far, so I brought him back."
The miner stood on the ground and looked at Lu Yiwei in fear.
Lu Yiwei hurriedly got up and sat down. He got Li Ermao to make him a cup of tea and lit a cigarette. "Old friend, don't be nervous. I'm just looking for you to understand the situation and relax."
"Sir, I didn't do anything illegal." The man said timidly.
Li Ermao was very perceptive. After making the tea, he closed the door and left.
To ease the atmosphere, Lu Yiwei started talking about family matters. "How long have you been in Nanyang County?"
The man took out his fingers that looked like old tree roots and counted. "It's been almost four years."
"Oh?" This was important information. Lu Yiwei asked unhurriedly. "Are you used to living in Nanyang?"
"It's alright. I'm not used to it when I first came here. Now, I'm no different from you. I eat noodles and steamed buns every day." The man grinned.
As the conversation went on, the man gradually let go of his burden. Lu Yiwei continued to ask. "Are there many people from your hometown?"
"There used to be quite a few, but not many now. They've all gone to Shanxi."
"Oh? Why? "
"There are many coal mines in Shanxi, and the wages are high. If you work in a small coal mine, you can earn more than 100 yuan a night. Who wouldn't want to work there? "The man's desire for money was very strong. The small coal mines he was referring to were usually black coal mines without any procedures or safety measures. They could dig a hole at any time. Those who went in could not stand upright. Basically, they had to crawl forward. One could imagine the feeling.
"Do you want to go there too?"
"Yes. Maybe I'll go there after this month. All my people have gone there. "
"Oh." Nanyang's coal production was not high, so the wages were not high. Lu Yiwei took the opportunity to ask. "You're not far from Sichuan. You can be considered half a hometown. Do you usually live together?"
The man said. "Yes, we used to live in the same province. Our living habits are basically the same. There were many people from Sichuan, but they also went to Shanxi a while ago. Almost all of them left. "
Lu Yiwei seemed to have found the answer. As expected, Wang Caixia's husband also went to Shanxi. However, he was very interested in the coal mine accident some time ago and asked about it.
The man said casually. "Actually, it's nothing. How can there be a coal mine that doesn't kill people? That worker was also unlucky. The mine gave his family 50,000 yuan and settled it out of court. "
At this point, Lu Yiwei felt that there was no need to investigate further. He sent the man away and returned to the small hotel. He told Wang Caixia about the situation and suggested that she go to Shanxi to look for her husband. However, Wang Caixia's next words surprised him.
Wang Caixia said that she had been looking for him in Shanxi for a long time but did not find him. She learned from her fellow villagers that her husband did not go to Shanxi at all.
How was that possible? Could it be that a living person had disappeared into thin air? But with just a few words from Wang Caixia, he couldn't make any sense of it and couldn't find any clues. Lu Yiwei had an ominous premonition. Could it be …
Things were back to square one.
In fact, he did not care about such trivial matters. However, since he had already promised her, he had to give her an answer. On the other hand, the situation he understood was very strange. He could not help but be suspicious. After careful consideration, he came to two conclusions. One was that it was purely a coincidence, and the other was that the other party was most likely dead.
He was a little shocked when he thought of the second possibility. Shiwan Village had been peaceful during this period of time. There had been no mining accidents. However, Wang Caixia concluded that her husband was in Shiwan Village, but he was nowhere to be found.
To be on the safe side, Lu Yiwei planned to personally go to each coal mine. It was not that he had to find Liang Zi, but he wanted to see if anyone was deliberately hiding something.
It just so happened that the county trade union organized a "cool" condolence activity in each coal mine. This activity was held every year. Usually, the deputy secretary in charge of the trade union would do it. However, this year, Lu Yiwei personally went to each coal mine to condolence. After going to several coal mines and finding nothing wrong, Lu Yiwei had the urge to give up. In the end, only the Dong Hua coal mine was left. He was hesitating whether he should go or not.
After all, the Dong Hua coal mine was taken over by Ding Changhua. Its management philosophy and safety were definitely more important than other coal mines. The possibility of an accident was very small, unless it was done improperly. He felt that it was absolutely impossible here. On the other hand, he really did not want to see Liu Qiang. Relying on his powerful background, he did not care about him at all. Every time he came to do something, he spoke in a commanding tone. After assigning tasks, he would turn around and leave.
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