Campus Cultivation Master
Chapter 447 - 448: Interlocking Rings [Part 1]

Chapter 447: Chapter 448: Interlocking Rings [Part 1]

Chu Feng’s face changed upon hearing Tang Min’s words, and he said, "What exactly happened? Wasn’t the construction site supposed to be on holiday today? How could something like this still happen?"

This year marked the year of the major family conference, and nothing was destined to be calm. Chu Feng too was worried that someone would sabotage the construction site, which is why he had previously arranged with Ning Xiaoman to start the break earlier this year.

Ning Xiaoman was about to speak when she seemed to aggravate a wound on her forehead, causing her complexion to subtly change color.

Chu Feng looked at Tang Min and said, "You should rest for a bit, Secretary Tang, you go ahead."

Tang Min nodded and said, "Alright. Actually, the chairman came today to hand out bonuses to the workers on the site. But somehow rumors spread that whoever worked the most would get the largest bonus. This led to everyone working frantically, which wouldn’t be a problem if it was just that. However, an accident occurred—the scaffolding on one of the construction layers collapsed, and seven or eight workers fell from it. Then a group of workers, driven by intense emotion, came to seek an explanation from the chairman, and that’s when the conflict broke out."

Hearing Tang Min’s words, Chu Feng’s expression grew darker and he asked, "Were there any casualties?"

One worker died, two were critically injured, and the other five suffered fractures of varying degrees," Ning Xiaoman said with a heavy tone.

Chu Feng asked, "What’s the situation with the reporters outside?"

Tang Min said, "We don’t know who informed the reporters, but a large group of them came rushing over as soon as they caught wind of it. And somehow the higher-ups found out, they have already instructed us to halt the land approval process."

Having listened to Tang Min, Chu Feng knew that the series of events had been carefully planned beforehand.

Spreading rumors, causing an incident, inciting reactions, fermenting chaos... A full-fledged plan executed flawlessly, leaving Chu Feng absolutely no time to cope with everything. Even if Chu Feng knew it was a setup, he was completely out of options.

The trap had been laid too perfectly, with each element fitting tightly into the next.

"This is clearly a trap set to frame us," Tang Min said indignantly.

Chu Feng said, "Knowing that it’s a setup doesn’t help us now, we need to focus on resolving the issue. Are the injured and the deceased taken care of?"

"The injured have been taken to the hospital, and I’ve instructed public relations to notify the family of the deceased to claim the body. As for compensation, we will try our best to meet the requirements of the deceased’s family," Ning Xiaoman replied.

Pausing, Ning Xiaoman said, "However, this incident isn’t our fault at all, it’s clearly orchestrated by someone. If we let them dictate the terms, the mastermind behind the scenes could very well make excessive demands from the victim’s families, potentially putting us in an even more passive position."

Ning Xiaoman’s assessment wasn’t just a possibility; such an outcome was inevitable.

The person orchestrating behind the scenes had been meticulous. Wasn’t this what they were scheming for? Now that their desired outcome had happened, they would surely seize the opportunity to crush Chu Feng and his team completely.

Chu Feng asked, "Have you caught the person who spread the rumors?"

"There are too many people spreading rumors; we simply have no idea who started it, and there’s no way to begin the investigation," Ning Xiaoman said.

The adversary’s scheme was indeed clever, with thousands of people working on the construction site. Once the rumor took hold, there was no feasible way to trace the source.

"We must investigate anyway; the rumor monger is crucial," Chu Feng said.

"I will have someone look into it with all they’ve got, but what do we do about the current situation?" Ning Xiaoman asked.

"Give money to those who deserve it, and record exactly how much you hand out; I will find someone to foot the bill," Chu Feng said.

A spark of inspiration struck Chu Feng, "Right, when handing out money, check it against the roster. See if there’s anyone who’s not on the roster and compile a list of those who’ve left in the past few days."

The person who wanted to spread rumors among the workers surely had to be one of them.

If he was indeed a worker, he wouldn’t do it without a significant payout. And these migrant workers’ most notable characteristic might be their timidity. Especially if suddenly given a large sum of money to do something they knew was wrong, they would become even more frightened.

In fear, what would they do? They would definitely try to escape amidst the chaos.

Of course, it was also possible they wouldn’t flee, but at least searching in this way offered a chance.

Following Chu Feng’s instructions, the company urgently transferred a batch of cash to settle the matter completely.

Indeed, once the money arrived, the mood of the agitated crowd outside began to calm down. After all, if they were receiving money, that was enough.

Furthermore, as Chu Feng had directed, the distribution of money was based entirely on the roster.

From morning until afternoon, when everyone had received their payment, a list of workers not present on the site was also compiled.

After excluding those who had left half a month earlier, only a few dozen names remained. Then, by narrowing down the dates further, just three names were left.

These three were present in the morning but not in the afternoon.

The site took roll call every day, so it was immediately apparent who was present and who wasn’t.

Of course, this was also thanks to Ning Xiaoman’s strict establishment of management regulations on the construction site. Otherwise, without such strict management, finding these three individuals would have been very difficult.

"Three Men Make a Tiger, huh?" Chu Feng said with a cold smile as he looked at the list of three names, "Bring them back."

"It’s going to be tough; they might have already left East River by now," Ning Xiaoman said.

Chu Feng replied, "No matter, even if we can get just one back, it’s worth the effort. Have their coworkers inform them to come back to collect money, make them believe that we’re resigning ourselves to bad luck, ready to swallow this bitter pill."

"Got it," Ning Xiaoman said.

Chu Feng didn’t leave, as for the reporters, Tong Hu had already sent them off. Chu Feng had promised to hold a press conference the day after tomorrow.

While Chu Feng was at the construction site waiting for those three workers, he received a call from Pei Wending.

"Brother Chu, Happy New Year," Pei Wending said with a cheerful voice, speaking auspicious words.

Chu Feng knew the purpose of Pei Wending’s call and went straight to the point, "Brother Pei, I won’t make things difficult for you. You can handle things whichever way you want, I just have one request. This matter truly has nothing to do with us; we were also victims of a setup. I would like to conduct my own investigation into this matter."

Pei Wending made an immediate decision, "No problem at all, Brother Chu, you can investigate on your own. I will instruct my people to cooperate with you."

Chu Feng replied, "No need for cooperation, I know it’s not easy for you, Brother Pei, to do even what you’ve done. I won’t trouble you any further."

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