How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Just then, a small voice came, "There's...there's still one person."

Boss Fan grabbed him and asked, "What happened?"

"That's right, it's Li Dachuan's nephew, Li Xiaoshan. He insisted on going to rescue people and went into the coal mine despite our attempts to stop him."

"Why didn't you stop him? He's just a teenager, couldn't all of you stop him?"

In reality, it's not that they can't be stopped; it's just that people insist on courting death, and they can't interfere too much, lest they take their anger out on them in the future.

Boss Fan knew exactly what they were thinking. He was secretly furious. Over the years, he had neglected his management, and his subordinates had gradually become scheming against each other, only maintaining a facade of harmony.

Guo Zixing's eyes darted around. "Boss Fan, what should we do with this child? Should we still try to save him?"

Boss Fan glared at Guo Zixing, but Guo Zixing seemed not to notice and continued to sigh, "Sigh, two of them have passed away. It's really pitiful."

The people around them thought the same way, but asking them to go and save people was absolutely out of the question.

Boss Fan is different. He is the owner of the mine and the top boss of Wushan. Everyone has to look up to him. Now that something has happened, if he sits by and does nothing, he will probably lose the support of the people.

Even though he has decided to leave, he doesn't want to lose all the money he's built up over the years. It's always good to finish what you start.

He understood what Guo Zixing was thinking: he wanted to put him on a pedestal, make him realize how difficult it was to deal with the miners of Wushan, and then make demands to force him to back down.

Boss Fan walked towards the coal mine, saying, "I'm going to check the situation. If I can rescue them, that would be great. If not, don't say I, Old Fan, am disloyal."

"We can't go."

"That's right, it's too dangerous," everyone advised.

But the more they tried to persuade him, the more insistent Boss Fan became. In the end, he pushed everyone aside, grabbed his miner's lamp, and went down into the mine.

No one had the courage to go down with them. They all stood around the mine entrance, worried. Some went to the Fan family to inform them that if anything happened, they could ask his wife to take charge.

"May I ask who you are?" Seeing that Guo Zixing and his companions had come with Boss Fan, but were all new faces, he asked.

"My name is Guo Zixing. I am a friend of Boss Fan. These are my deputies. I heard that there was an accident at the mine, so I came to take a look."

No matter how Guo Zixing tried to hide it, his refined and noble air was still undeniable. The visitors guessed that he was of extraordinary status and were therefore very polite to him.

"My name is Zhuang Qianfan, and I am also one of the team leaders at the mine."

"Team Leader Zhuang." Although he is called a team leader, he is also considered one of the small owners of the coal mine, similar to other small-scale coal miners, except that he has the backing of a large mine.

The two exchanged names and chatted.

As Boss Fan descended into the mine, the opening was quite spacious, and the headlamp overhead could illuminate the path ahead.

The further they went in, the narrower the tunnels became, and Boss Fan's heart grew heavier. This did not meet his requirements. He had said before that the mine tunnels must be dug wide so that it would be easy to escape in case of trouble.

Perhaps he hadn't been down in the mine for a long time, because it seems that no one took his words seriously afterward, and they just widened the mine entrance to get by.

The mine tunnels were winding and twisting; with each additional step, the chances of survival diminished.

Years ago, Boss Fan was also a frontline worker, but he stopped going down into the mine after he became a boss, so his current experience is from many years ago.

The gurgling sound of flowing water was not a good omen; it proved that the waterway had been breached. Even the once-proud Mr. Fan could only crawl forward now.

"Hmm," a faint groan came from that direction. Boss Fan hurried over there; it seemed someone was still alive, but he didn't know if it was Li Dachuan or Li Xiaoshan.

The mine tunnels were narrow and difficult to navigate, and the ground was extremely damp. Every step you took would sink several centimeters, let alone someone as big as him.

The walls were seeping water, murky and foul-smelling, and water dripped intermittently from above. Boss Fan knew he couldn't go any further, but the sound of breathing was so close. If he gave up now...

"What bad luck," Boss Fan thought to himself, but still moved quickly toward the source of the sound.

"Crack!" came the sound of wood breaking.

Mr. Fan was filled with worry and quickened his pace to run forward. He saw an incredibly thick beam lying on the ground, and on the other side was a dark hole, through which he could vaguely see figures moving about.

Mr. Fan was thrilled; at least the trip hadn't been in vain.

"Is he still alive?" Boss Fan asked, not daring to shout loudly, for who knows if the sound might trigger some dangerous area.

"Hmm." A childish voice came from inside.

It turned out to be Li Xiaoshan.

As Boss Fan moved closer to him, it became much more difficult to move around than before.

The entrance to the cave was narrow, and several wooden beams lay across it, forcing Boss Fan to crawl forward, his movements restricted at every turn. His miner's lamp was dim, and Boss Fan could only make out Li Xiaoshan's outline.

Mud kept falling from above, and Boss Fan calculated in his mind that this mine would probably collapse in less than fifteen minutes, so he had to hurry.

Fortunately, Boss Fan, aside from everything else, is quite strong. He pushed the beam aside with one hand and piled it up to the side, which allowed him to hold on for a while.

Finally, they reached Li Xiaoshan, and Boss Fan looked at him. It turned out that below was a dark, bottomless underground river; no one knew how it had been dug.

At this moment, Li Xiaoshan was clinging tightly to a broken section of track with both hands. It was usually used for transporting coal cars, but now it had become Li Xiaoshan's lifeline.

Seeing his fingertips turn white and he was covered in cold sweat, I knew he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Without further hesitation, I grabbed his hand and lifted him up with a burst of energy.

"Huff," Li Xiaoshan gasped for breath, his hands already stiff.

"Can we still walk? We can't delay any longer, this place is about to collapse."

Li Xiaoshan nodded with lingering fear and followed Boss Fan as they crawled out. He was small and thin, and should theoretically be more agile than Boss Fan, but he had already exhausted too much energy by struggling to support his body. The fact that he was still conscious was a testament to his good fortune.

The two of them moved with difficulty, one in front of the other.

Suddenly, Boss Fan's heart started pounding like a drum.

"not good."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the crossbeam supporting the top of the mine tunnel broke with a few cracking sounds.

"Run!" The two ran forward, the mud falling behind them like a storm.

"Hurry up and save people!"

Hearing the commotion, Zhuang Qianfan quickly called for help, and people around him gathered with shovels.

Guo Zixing and Qingru exchanged a glance. Could it be that Boss Fan was buried just like that?

Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and those on the ground lost their footing. Guo Zixing protected Qingru and ran towards a more spacious area, while Zhuang Qianfan and the others dared not act rashly.

Once the shaking subsided, everyone's expressions were grave.

Some of the more timid workers even burst into tears.

"Waaah... Boss Fan is dead too, what are we going to do now?"

Zhuang Qianfan's face was grim; no one had expected the mine to collapse so quickly.

"Who said my husband is dead? I'll tear his mouth apart!" Madam Wang rushed over; she had also felt the shaking earlier.

"Zhuang Qianfan, where is my husband?"

“Boss Fan, he…” Zhuang Qianfan couldn’t say it, and pointed to the collapsed coal mine.

"Hmph, you coward. It's not like you've just started mining. What's a kiln collapse? Haven't you seen one before? Do you cry like your father died every time a kiln collapses?"

Wang was furious and berated everyone. Her men weren't idle either; they snatched shovels from the workers and started digging at the mine entrance themselves.

"Hmph, all you do is cry and whine when the coal mine collapses. You're not even as good as a woman."

Guo Zixing didn't know much about coal mines, but since Boss Fan was buried underground, he couldn't just stand by and watch. If Boss Fan really was dead, he needed to maintain a good relationship with the Wang family to handle the Wushan matter.

"Although we met by chance, I admire Mr. Fan's noble character. I don't believe that heaven will not favor good people."

Wang glanced at him again, and Guo Zixing calmly took the shovel and started digging with Wang.

Sergeant Zhang and others naturally stepped forward to help, but Qingru, who wanted to help, was pushed aside.

Watching them rescue people helplessly, Qingru knew she couldn't help much, so she observed the mine from the sidelines.

"Someone's here! Someone's here!" someone shouted, and everyone rushed over. They saw a hand sticking out from under his feet.

Wang hurriedly pushed the crowd aside, saying, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and save them!"

They dug Boss Fan out of the ground, where Li Xiaoshan was still lying on top of him. Due to the lack of oxygen underground, both of them had already passed out.

While they were rescuing people, Qingru also asked someone to call a doctor.

Fortunately, the doctor had brought a young apprentice with him, and upon seeing the condition of the two, he quickly took measures.

First, clean the mouths and noses of the two people, then press on their chests and abdomens to help them breathe.

A short while later, the two woke up.

"That's great, he's awake." Qingru was also very happy.

Looking at Boss Fan with lingering fear, Wang asked, "How are you?"

Mr. Fan shook his head gently, indicating that he was fine. The doctor then urged everyone to stop crowding around, saying, "Mr. Fan has inhaled too much gas and needs fresh air right now. Why are you blocking his way?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately dispersed. Wang handed Boss Fan over to Zhuang Qianfan and went to ask the doctor about the situation.

"As the saying goes, 'Fire toxins disturb the mind.' External evils are all poisonous substances, and their nature is fire. Fire toxins easily rush upwards into the brain, disturbing the mind. 'The brain is the sea of ​​marrow.' If the sea of ​​marrow is unstable, one will feel dizzy and lightheaded, and may even lose consciousness," the old doctor said.

"Explain it more clearly," Wang said, unable to understand the old doctor's stilted words.

"So... never mind, this is the medicine I prescribed. Take a look, I'll go back and brew it first. When Boss Fan gets back, you can have someone bring the medicine over."

"Hmm," Wang replied, glancing at the prescription before returning it.

Zhuang Qianfan had two sedan chairs made to carry the person away.

As Boss Fan left, he gave Wang a wink, and Wang was overjoyed, immediately falling a few steps behind.

"Zhuang Qianfan, come here, I have something to say to you."

Zhuang Qianfan stepped forward respectfully and said, "Please speak."

"My husband, Lao Fan, thinks that things aren't very peaceful lately, so for everyone's sake, the mine should be shut down for now."

Zhuang Qianfan was startled. "This...the mine has had kiln collapses before, why is it stopping this time?"

“In the past, only a few people died when the kiln collapsed. Look at this time. Besides, Wushan has been dug for so many years. Is there no end in sight? Are you just going to sit around and do nothing but squander your resources? Don’t you have any other plans?”

Wang Shi practically gave an explicit indication, while Zhuang Qianfan lowered his head in thought.

"Okay, I understand."

Wang didn't care what he knew, but repeatedly instructed, "No mining is allowed. No one is allowed to have any ideas before Lao Fan speaks up."