Double evil in the business district

Xiao Yue stood up suddenly, her face changing dramatically. The intermittent exclamations and noisy voices on the other end of the phone made her heart sink. "What happened?" she asked sharply.

"Construction site...land collapse...people are trapped..." The project manager's voice was trembling and the complete words were almost inaudible.

The conference room erupted in an uproar, with everyone looking at each other in disbelief. Shen Ting's eyes flashed, and he immediately stood up and walked over to Xiao Yue, "Address, I'll be there now."

Xiao Yue quickly reported the project address and immediately arranged for other senior executives to stay at the company to handle follow-up matters. She grabbed her coat and rushed out of the meeting room with Shen Ting.

Along the way, Xiao Yue repeatedly called, trying to contact other project site managers, but the calls either went unanswered or were busy. Anxiety and unease washed over her like a tide, and she gripped her phone tightly, her palms sweating.

Arriving at the scene, Xiao Yue and Shen Ting gasped at the sight. The construction site, once bustling with activity, was now a shambles. Huge steel frames were twisted and deformed, piles of building materials were scattered across the ground, dust billowed, and a pungent odor filled the air. Cries and cries for help echoed incessantly, and the scene was in chaos.

"Engineer Li! Engineer Li!" Xiao Yue shouted the project engineer's name loudly, his voice hoarse.

A man covered in dust stumbled over. It was project engineer Li. His face was filled with fear as he pointed at the landslide. "Boss Xiao, Boss Shen, this landslide came so suddenly. Many of us...many of our coworkers are buried underneath..."

Shen Ting acted decisively, contacting the fire department and medical rescue team immediately and mobilizing Shen's rescue supplies and personnel to provide support. However, due to the suddenness of the incident, the rescue supplies needed time to be deployed, and the lives of the trapped people were in danger.

"Doctor Zhao! How is the injured person?" Xiao Yue anxiously asked the emergency doctor who rushed to the scene.

Doctor Zhao was sweating profusely, his tone heavy. "The situation is very grim. Several of the injured are already in critical condition. We need to get them to the hospital as soon as possible."

Watching the injured being carried out, Xiao Yue's heart ached. Fighting back tears, she began organizing the on-site staff to rescue themselves and each other. However, some, terrified by the sudden disaster, ignored instructions and simply fled, further disrupting the situation.

"Don't panic, everyone! Follow my instructions!" Xiao Yue shouted at the top of her lungs, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the noisy cries.

Shen Ting hung up the phone, his face terribly gloomy. He walked over to Xiao Yue and said in a deep voice, "It will take at least another hour for the relief supplies to arrive."

Xiao Yue looked back at him, his eyes filled with helplessness and despair. At this moment, a worker stumbled over, pointed at the hillside in the distance, and shouted in fear: "The mountain... the mountain seems to be still sliding..."

Director Chen stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the chaotic scene before him, a sinister smile on his face...

Xiao Yue took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. She knew this was not the time to panic; she had to take control of the situation. She picked up the megaphone again and shouted, "Everyone, don't panic! We are Xiao's employees, and we have responsibilities and we must take on the responsibility! Now, follow my command and organize personnel immediately to rescue the trapped people!"

Her voice, with its undeniable power, finally calmed some of the employees. They began to spontaneously organize themselves and, under Xiao Yue's direction, carried out simple rescue efforts. However, some employees were still overcome by fear, crying and running around, some even blaming Xiao Yue and the Shen family.

"It's all your fault! If you weren't trying to meet the deadline, how could this have happened!" A worker pointed at Xiao Yue and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Xiao Yue's heart ached like a needle. She knew that no matter how much she explained, it would be useless. She could only silently endure the accusations and continue to direct the rescue work.

Elsewhere, Director Chen, hiding on the outskirts of the crowd, watched the chaotic scene unfold before him, his smile growing wider. He pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and whispered, "The plan is going smoothly. Xiao Yue and Shen Ting are in dire straits now, so this is a good time for us to take action..."

He hung up the phone and walked towards his car, which was parked not far away. He opened the door, got in, and dialed another number.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang? I'm Old Chen... Yes, yes, it's about the landslide at the Xiao construction site... Oh, it's so tragic. I heard many people were buried underneath... Let me tell you, this incident was caused by the poor decision-making of Xiao Yue and Shen Ting... In order to meet the deadline, they ignored the safety hazards, which led to this tragedy..."

Director Chen exaggerated the incident, placing the blame on Xiao Yue and Shen Ting, and hinted to other shareholders that continuing to let Xiao Yue run the company would lead to even greater losses. His words, like the venom of a venomous snake, quickly spread within the Xiao Group, causing panic and dissatisfaction among many shareholders.

Meanwhile, Shen Ting anxiously awaited the arrival of relief supplies. He kept calling and personally coordinating the rescue efforts on the scene. He understood that every minute of delay could mean the loss of a life.

"Mr. Shen, we have tried our best, but the mountain roads are rugged and the rescue vehicles cannot arrive quickly." A staff member ran over with sweat on his forehead and reported the situation to Shen Ting.

Shen Ting's face grew even darker. He clenched his fists, trying to suppress his inner anxiety and anger. He knew that now was not the time to complain, and he had to find a way to solve the problem as soon as possible.

At that moment, Engineer Li stumbled over, his face pale and panicked. "Mr. Shen, I... I think I know the cause of the landslide..." He gasped and spoke intermittently.

Shen Ting grabbed Engineer Li's shoulders and said, "What's going on? Tell me!"

Engineer Li took a deep breath, pointed at the landslide, and said in a trembling voice, "I... I just checked the situation on site and found... found..." He suddenly paused, his face becoming even uglier, his eyes filled with fear, "I found that the supporting structure... a key component on the supporting structure... is missing..."

Engineer Li pointed at the exposed reinforced concrete structure, his voice trembling so much that it was almost inaudible. "The supporting structure...the key connecting component...is gone! I...I clearly remember checking it before, it...it's still there..."

Shen Ting's face turned pale. He forced himself to calm down and quickly walked to the edge of the landslide site, carefully examining the broken structure. He reached out and touched the exposed rebar, a chill running through his fingertips and into his heart. This connecting component was specially made, strong enough to withstand several times the pressure. How could it disappear out of thin air?

"Are you sure?" Shen Ting's voice was terribly low.

Engineer Li's face turned pale and he nodded repeatedly, "I'm sure! This... this can't be a natural fracture, unless... unless..." He didn't dare to say any more, but the meaning of his words was self-evident - man-made destruction.

Shen Ting turned around abruptly, his eyes blazing as he swept over the crowd. At that moment, everyone seemed shrouded in a shadow, and fear and uneasiness filled the air.

Meanwhile, firefighter Zhou led the firefighting team in a sea of ​​​​fire. Thick smoke billowed, flames raged, and the building occasionally made teeth-grinding cracking sounds, as if it might collapse again at any time.

"Team two, break through from the east side! Team three, control the spread of the fire! Pay attention to the trapped people!" Firefighter Zhou's voice was hoarse, but he still insisted on directing the rescue work.

Several firefighters risked their lives to rush into the fire scene and search for trapped people. However, due to the complex structure of the building and the fierce fire, the rescue progress was extremely slow.

"Report! Three trapped people were found on the east side, but the passage is blocked and cannot be approached!"

"A trapped person was found on the west side. The situation is critical and requires immediate rescue!"

As the bad news continued to pour in, Firefighter Zhou's heart sank. He looked up at the blazing building, feeling overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness.

Xiao Yue paced back and forth anxiously, constantly making phone calls to urge the arrival of relief supplies. However, due to the rugged mountain roads, the rescue vehicles were unable to arrive.

"Shen Ting, we have to find a way!" Xiao Yue's voice trembled slightly, but she tried to remain calm. "How many people are still trapped?"

Shen Ting took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "According to preliminary statistics, there are at least ten people trapped. The specific situation is still being confirmed."

"What do you think about the connecting parts?" Xiao Yue looked straight into Shen Ting's eyes. She knew that there might be a bigger conspiracy behind this accident.

Shen Ting was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I suspect it was sabotage, but I have no evidence right now."

"We must find out the truth as soon as possible!" Xiao Yue said firmly, "We can't let the mastermind get away with it!"

Suddenly, a violent explosion was heard. The two men's faces changed drastically, and they looked up at the fire. A huge fireball shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire night sky.

"Not good!" Shen Ting growled and ran towards the fire scene.

Xiao Yue followed closely behind, her heart pounding. She knew that this sudden explosion meant a greater crisis, and they were standing in the center of the storm.

Engineer Li slumped on the ground, his eyes empty, muttering to himself: "It's over... Everything is over..."

Firefighter Zhou pointed at the flames rising into the sky and shouted hoarsely, "Everyone, retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Director Chen sat in the car, looking at the flames rising into the sky in the distance, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he muttered to himself: "Xiao Yue, Shen Ting, this is just the beginning..." He put down his mobile phone, started the car, slowly drove away from the scene, and disappeared into the night.

The harsh noise of communication interruption came from the intercom in Xiao Yue's hand. She turned her head sharply to look at Shen Ting, "Shen Ting..."