Black Gold 1983

Sui'er's mother and Tian Mancang were speechless, unable to find a single word to refute her.

Actually, the reason why I wanted Tian Suier to marry Xu Dongsheng was not only to protect Tian Mancang's position as captain, but also because I genuinely thought Xu Dongsheng was a reliable person.

He has a stable job, a decent appearance, and no bad habits. Compared to the well-known Renye, he is flawless in every way.

But today, in the labor relations department, seeing Xu Hongbing's aggressive attitude, the couple calmed down and thought it over. The two families had already reached such a tense point, so there was no point in forcibly bringing them together.

But when they turned their heads and saw Renye standing to the side, the couple shook their heads in unison, finding him displeasing no matter how they looked at him.

Sui'er's mother grew angrier the more she thought about it. She grabbed Tian Sui'er's arm with considerable force and pulled her straight towards home, leaving Renye's family of three standing there without saying a word.

Li Yue'e blushed with embarrassment, staring at her good son, and rolled up her sleeves, wanting to rush up and give him a beating first.

Seeing this, Renye quickly hid behind Renshouyi and shouted, "Mom! Stop hitting me later, Dad and I have things to do."

Ren Shouyi frowned slightly, immediately understanding his son's thoughts, and reached out to stop the angry Li Yue'e: "Alright, what will it look like if others see this?"

And so, after Li Yue'e's tirade, the father and son left the family compound.

As soon as they stepped out of the residential compound, Renye eagerly pulled Renshouyi to a quiet, secluded spot by the dirt road. After looking around to make sure no one was around, he dared to speak:

"Dad, people from Shigou Village just said they dug up a woman's body underground in the West Second Mining Area."

"A female corpse?" Ren Shouyi's face instantly darkened, his tone filled with disbelief: "The West Second Mining Area has been sealed off for over three years, how could there possibly be a female corpse down there?"

He was present at the time of the roof collapse.

All the victims were male miners. After the accident, not a single body was found. All the bodies were recovered, and the list was checked over and over again without any errors.

Moreover, there have never been any female workers at the underground working face, and even the surface dispatch room is staffed entirely by male employees. How could a female corpse suddenly appear out of nowhere?

"Could it be..." Ren Shouyi paused, not finishing his sentence.

Renye knew what he wanted to say.

In the early 1980s, the security around the mining area was far worse than it is now, and there were occasional rumors of missing persons.

But Ren Shouyi dismissed the idea as soon as it came to mind. After all, the West Second Mining Area had been sealed off for so many years, and the wellheads were sealed with red bricks. Ordinary people couldn't get in, let alone transport a corpse in and hide it.

"Dad, this is strange. But now is not the time to ponder it; we need to go and take a look."

Ren Shouyi was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Let's go."

Shigou Village is located west of Hongxing Mine. The father and son rode their old-fashioned bicycles along the bumpy dirt road, hurrying along the way. After about thirty or forty minutes, they finally saw the entrance to Shigou Village in the distance.

As we approached the old locust tree at the village entrance, we saw a group of people gathered there, all with solemn expressions, heads bowed and whispering among themselves.

Ma Dewang stood at the front of the crowd with a blank expression. Behind him stood Ma Tiejun, Ma Xiaojun, Ma Maocai, and Ma Dehou, all of whom were familiar faces that Ren Ye had seen before.

Further on, there were two elderly men whom Renye had never seen before and whose names he did not know. However, both of them had their brows furrowed tightly, and their expressions were full of unease.

Renye gripped the brakes tightly, his toes firmly planted on the ground, and the father and son got out of the car one after the other, walking step by step toward the crowd.

"Shouyi. It's been a while." Ma Dewang's gaze passed over Renye and landed on the man with a limp behind him, his tone carrying a hint of solemnity.

Ren Shouyi looked at him and nodded: "Secretary Dewang, it's been a long time."

Several younger people nearby also came forward to greet him respectfully, going through the formalities of politeness first.

"Don't stand there." Ma Dewang stepped aside to make way: "Let's go into the village first, and talk inside."

Ren Ye didn't move, and asked directly, "Uncle Dewang, where is that female corpse down there now?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people present changed.

Ma Dewang didn't rush to answer, but glanced at Ma Dehou.

Ma Dehou took the pipe out of his mouth and said in a muffled voice, "It's still in the well; I didn't dare touch it."

"What's the situation now?"

Ma Dehou took a breath, as if unsure how to begin: "It's incredibly strange! That corpse has been sitting there for who knows how long; the flesh isn't even completely rotten yet!"

Renye's brows furrowed instantly, a chill running down his spine. The environment underground was damp and enclosed, and the corpse would decompose quickly. It was indeed incredibly strange that the flesh could remain intact for so many years.

Madelin also spoke up: "I've worked in coal mines for half my life. What haven't I seen down there? Rats, snakes, even wild cats and dogs have gotten trapped and died in there. But this is the first time I've seen a person die down there and still be alive.

"Could it be that he died not long ago, and someone secretly brought the body in?" Ren Shouyi asked thoughtfully.

Madelin shook his head decisively: "Absolutely impossible. You know the ins and outs of mining. Back then, there was a major roof collapse in the West No. 2 mining area. The entire tunnel collapsed and was completely sealed off. We dug a vertical shaft down the hillside on the side and then excavated horizontally to reach the heart of the ore layer where the roof collapsed back then."

"The entire collapsed rock layer was completely sealed off; no one could possibly get in there. That body must have been trapped in the collapsed layer for many years; it couldn't have been deliberately hidden there later."

Ma Dewang added, "Furthermore, I've checked the village's household registration, and there haven't been any missing persons in the past two years. I've also asked around in the surrounding villages, and I haven't heard of any families losing their eldest daughters."

"That's strange." Renye pondered for a moment. There were no recent missing persons, and the body had been trapped in the sealed collapse layer for many years. Who exactly was this female corpse? And how did she end up in the West Second Mining Area?

"It's really weird!" Ma Xiaojun poked his head out from behind the crowd. "Brother Ye, you didn't see it, that corpse... oh my god, I didn't dare look at it for long, it was terrifying!"

Ma Maocai glared at him: "Shut up! You talk too much, always making a racket!"

Ma Xiaojun shrank back after being scolded, but unwilling to give up, he took half a step forward and cautiously said, "I wasn't just making things up! Brother Ye, Uncle Shouyi, I bet that thing isn't human at all, but the legendary boil!"

Upon hearing the words "boils," Ren Shouyi's expression changed drastically!