The old man's ears twitched. He stopped and turned around to look at him. He asked unhappily, "Why are you calling me? Do you know me? I don't know you. Don't cause trouble. I'm telling you, if you provoke me, I'll kill you too. "
Hearing this, Li Rui was not the least bit afraid. He laughed and said, "So it really is you, Liu Erkui. I worked so hard to come all the way here from the city just to find you." Liu Erkui was a little puzzled. He turned around to look at him and said, "You came all the way from the city? What do you mean? " Li Rui smiled and glanced at the butcher's knife in his hand. "Tell me, where are you going? Are you going to kill the two policemen guarding your house, the leader of the district environmental protection bureau, or the owner of the chemical factory? " Liu Erkui gasped and asked blankly, "Who are you? How do you know everything?" Li Rui smiled and pressed his hand down, saying, "I came from the city to save you, the victims of the villagers. Put down the knife and find a place where no one is around. Let's talk. I want to know more about the pollution in the village. "
Liu Erkui looked at the knife in his hand and smacked his lips in embarrassment. He raised his head and looked at him in disbelief. "You're here to save us? Are you serious? " Li Rui said seriously, "The news about your village has already reached the ears of the city leaders. I was appointed by the city leaders to come here to investigate secretly. As for why I found you, it's because someone recommended you to me and said that you know all the details. Hey, this is my work ID. Take a look at it first. "Then he walked over to him, took out his work ID and handed it to him.
Liu Erkui took it and looked at it. He was surprised and happy. "The Municipal Party Committee's General Office? You … you were really sent by the city leaders? Your name is Li … Li something? How do you pronounce it? Forget it … I'll call you Director Li. Nice to meet you, Director Li. " He extended both hands to shake hands with him. As for the butcher's knife in his hand, he had already thrown it to the corner of the wall.
Liu Erkui used to be the village chief. Although he was not an official, he was familiar with the official meeting procedures. After confirming Li Rui's identity, he immediately wanted to shake hands with him.
Li Rui smiled. After shaking hands with him, he whispered, "The police are outside. It's not convenient to talk here. Let's find a secluded place and have a good talk. Don't worry, even if the Northern District Government doesn't make decisions for your village, the Municipal Party Committee's Song Shuji will. " Liu Erkui was moved to tears. He pulled Li Du's hand and walked under the big locust tree. He said, "Director Li, come to my house. I want to talk to you. I hate you so much … If you didn't stop me just now, I would have gone out with a knife to kill them. My family wouldn't be able to survive anyway …"
The two of them came to the front of the locust tree. Liu Erkui pointed at the half-empty heart of the tree and said, "Director Li, after you." He had a respectful look on his face when he spoke, but his tone was very natural. It was as if he was inviting him to enter the elevator first. Li Rui said awkwardly, "This … I didn't understand just now. How did you come out from the locust tree? Is … is there a tunnel under the locust tree that leads to your house? "
In fact, when Li Rui confirmed Liu Erkui's identity, he had already guessed that there should be a tunnel under the locust tree that led to the Liu family's courtyard. Otherwise, Liu Erkui wouldn't have been able to come out from the tree. This situation wasn't rare. People who had watched "Tunnel War" knew that in the North China Plain, there were many tunnels left behind during the Anti-Japanese War. Especially in the villages, wells, sweet potato cellars, old trees, cooking pits … they could all be used as tunnel entrances and exits. The more famous ones, such as Baoding's Ranzhuang, were all tunnels under the entire village. The locust tree in front of them had lived for hundreds of years. Naturally, it had experienced the Anti-Japanese War. The heart of the tree had long been hollow, so it wasn't strange that the villagers used it as a tunnel entrance.
Liu Erkui nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, that's right. This old locust tree has long been hollow. There's a tunnel under it that was dug during the Anti-Japanese War. However, it didn't lead to my house. When I was young, I had nothing better to do. I wanted to leave a way out for my family, so I dug a tunnel in the backyard that led to the bottom of the tree. If it weren't for those big-brimmed hats (who represented the police) forcing me into a corner, I wouldn't have come out from here. " Li Rui thought to himself that it was indeed so. He thought for a while and said, "It's not convenient to go in and out. Let's not talk at home. Let's just find a secluded place. I still want to ask you to take me to places with heavy pollution." Liu Erkui was easy to talk to. He nodded and said, "That's fine. Let's go to the northwest of the village. I'll take you there."
As he spoke, he led the way. Li Rui accompanied him by his side. As they walked, he explained the situation in the village to him.
Liu Erkui was the old village chief of Dongshui Village. He had been out of office for more than 20 years. He was 67 years old this year. He had high seniority and prestige in the village. Therefore, the villagers respectfully called him the old village chief. He told Li Rui that the chemical plant was located in the northwest area of Dongshui Village. The entire land of the chemical plant belonged to Dongshui Village. Therefore, the residents of Dongshui Village and the chemical plant were considered close neighbors. Five years ago, the chemical plant built by this Taiwanese businessman officially opened. Since then, various kinds of pollution had begun to occur in the ecological environment of Dongshui Village, including: air pollution. The entire Dongshui Village was shrouded in smoke and dust. The courtyard that was swept in the morning would be covered in black and gray dust at noon. The soil pollution caused the farmland near the chemical plant to be barren. The crops further away grew sluggish, and the output was significantly reduced. There was also the underground water pollution. The drinking water of Dongshui Village mainly came from underground water. Basically, every house had a well. In the past, they used a water press to draw water, but now they used an electric pump. In recent years, the underground water that was drawn up had a strange smell. Not only did people not dare to drink it, but even animals would turn their heads when they smelled it.
These were all environmental pollution problems on the surface. They seemed to be tolerable, but they also caused more serious health problems. In recent years, five people in the village successively died of cancer, including Liu Erkui's wife. Six other people had cancer. They were all cancers with high mortality rates, such as lung cancer and esophageal cancer. Liu Erkui's youngest son was also one of them. If it was only one or two people who had cancer, it could still be explained. However, so many people had cancer at once. It was obvious that there was a major problem with the local environment. There were sensible people in the village who gathered everyone to talk about this matter. After a group discussion, the villagers blamed it on the pollution of the chemical plant. They repeatedly asked the two village committee cadres to negotiate with the chemical plant. However, the chemical plant did not take the village committee seriously at all. Every time, they evaded the village committee.
The two of them kept walking as they talked. Soon, they left the village and arrived outside the chemical plant invested by the Taiwanese businessman. The chemical plant covered a large area and the walls were very high. Standing outside the walls, it was difficult to see the building inside. They could only see three huge chimneys that were 30 to 60 meters high. It was the same as when Li Rui saw them outside the village. Now, they were not emitting any smoke. It was as if they were abandoned.
Li Rui deliberately sniffed the air nearby. He did not smell anything pungent, but he could vaguely smell a strange smell similar to that of a Western medicine pharmacy.
Liu Erkui pointed at the three huge chimneys and cursed: "Those bastards in the plant are so damn smart. Usually, they are emitting smoke 24 hours a day. These two days, they saw that we made a big fuss. They were afraid that something would go wrong, so they reversed the working hours. They did not produce during the day and only started work at night. Director Li, you did not make it in time. If it was in the past, you would come here during the day. You can see that each chimney is better than the other. They are emitting black smoke, and the smell is choking. If you smell it, you will be choking for half a month. "
Li Rui frowned and said: "When I came here, I found that the ground was covered with a layer of black dust. Is it from here?" Liu Erkui said: "What do you think? You said that the ground is covered with a layer of black dust every day. When you step on it, there will be footprints. But the people from the Environmental Protection Bureau are lying and saying that there is no pollution. Are they treating us, old farmers, as fools? Let's go. I will take you to the back of the plant to see the place where the waste water is discharged. "Li Rui said:" Okay. " He thought that the villagers of Dongshui village were breathing this kind of visible dust every day. It would be strange if they did not have lung cancer. He hated that the Northern District Environmental Protection Bureau turned a blind eye to this.
The two of them walked around the outer wall of the chemical plant. They walked to the southeast of the chemical plant near the Sang Bai river. That was the place where the sewage was discharged from the chemical plant.
Along the way, Li Rui saw a shocking scene outside the chemical plant. The ground was silvery black, and there was not a single blade of grass growing on it. There was not even a single living thing on the ground. Even the most commonly seen ants could not be found here. The air was also empty, and there were no birds flying by. Even when he tried to listen, he could not hear any movement of living things. It was not an exaggeration to say that the chemical plant was simply a dead land.
Li Rui felt more and more depressed as he walked. It was as if a mountain was pressing on his heart. His heart was heavy and very uncomfortable.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
