Chapter 20 You Can't Understand This Cause and Effect
That afternoon, Jinxiu Shanhe Real Estate held a work meeting and began to conduct sampling inspections on the three collapsed floors of the business building, conducting a comprehensive inspection of everything from steel bars to concrete and building structures. At the collapse site, several engineers squatted on the ground to check the broken concrete layer, especially the load-bearing wall.
A fifty-year-old man wearing glasses picked up a piece of cement, looked down at it for a few times, and then shook his head and said, "The quality is definitely fine. If this project is found to have problems no matter where it is sent, I will take my head off and you can kick it at will."
Mr. Huang frowned and said, "Mr. Li, please be careful when you speak while working."
The person from the quality inspection department said: "Nothing is absolute, we still have to look at the report."
"Bang!" Engineer Li threw the concrete in his hand to the ground, stood up and said, "Are you questioning my thirty years of work experience? Let me tell you, not only do I say this, all the engineers in our group on site can tell with their own eyes whether there is a problem or not. Inspection is superfluous, and there is no need to write a report. I can absolutely tell you now that no matter the concrete grade or the steel grade, the yield strength, ultimate strength, elongation and weldability are all qualified. I graduated from the highest civil engineering major in the country. I can call my former mentor now and let you listen to what kind of answer the most authoritative construction engineering expert in the country will give."
Listening to Engineer Li's almost resounding affirmative answer, in fact, most people present knew that there was almost no problem with the quality of the project. The people inside Jinxiu Shanhe Real Estate were undoubtedly the most clear about this. They knew too well the level of construction standards of their own construction sites. Just like Mr. Huang himself said before, would you fool yourself when building your own house?
How much water is in your brain to do such a thing!
However, having said that, the collapse at the construction site has already happened, and that is an indisputable fact. There must be a problem, but we just don’t know where it is.
Mr. Huang sighed in his heart and said, "In this case, we still have to look at the data. Send the concrete and steel bars on site for inspection immediately. At the same time, let the experts from the design institute come to the site to conduct a second review of the architectural drawings. This construction site will be temporarily sealed and other projects will continue as usual. Get all the reports to me later. We have to give an explanation to the head office and the relevant government departments above..."
After the collapse occurred, leaders from Jinxiu Shanhe Corporation began to enter the site, and people from government departments also arrived. Fortunately, no one was killed at the construction site, which made many people sweat. In this era of highly developed Internet, even if only one person died in the collapse, you would see headlines about it on the news websites within five minutes. The remaining consequence would be that the construction site would have to be temporarily closed.
Around five o'clock in the afternoon, in the command office of the construction site, a group of Jinxiu Shanhe's senior executives sat together and discussed the accident that happened during the day.
Mr. Huang was browsing the webpage on his phone, and said, "In this information-rich age, what is the most fatal thing to a company? Scandals, rumors that are detrimental to the company's positive image. Today's incident has begun to spread online, but fortunately no one died, otherwise we would have to bear the notoriety of being a bad businessman."
The secretary next to him continued, "The PR department has already informed several major websites and media outlets, asking them to be as gentle as possible in their reporting. I have also told the news departments of several influential websites that we will send them our inspection reports as soon as we get them, and then publish them directly This way, we can turn the public opinion around."
"Well, we have to get the rhythm right." Mr. Huang nodded, looked at the time and said, "It's almost half past five. Urge them to get the report out before seven. We can't delay this kind of thing. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be for us."
The secretary said: "It should be fine, another half an hour..."
Before the secretary could finish his words, the lights in the office suddenly went out, followed by all the lights on the construction site and dozens of running machines.
Half past five, according to the ancient calendar, this time is called dusk!
In June, it is not dark yet when dusk comes, and it is almost the same as daytime. But this is also the time when it gets dark the fastest. In no more than two hours, the sky will be completely dark.
"The power is out?" Mr. Huang said in disbelief.
The East Fourth Ring Road is considered the urban area in Beijing. After the year 2000, power outages basically did not occur in the urban areas of major cities across the country except for circuit maintenance.
"There's no way there's going to be a power outage. For a project this large, if there's going to be a power outage in this area, the power department will notify us in advance. There won't be a sudden power outage."
"Call the power supply bureau immediately and ask the electrician to check the main switch and the circuit." Mr. Huang's heart was pounding. He always felt that something was wrong today. Why did all the accidents happen one after another?
More than ten minutes later, there was no need for the power supply bureau to respond. Everyone at the construction site realized that it was not a power outage. The lights in the surrounding areas were still on, only their area was out. At the same time, several electricians also came to the office.
"The main switch tripped, several wires were shorted, and the lines were burned..."
On this day, Jinxiu Shanhe Real Estate's experience was extremely eventful. From the sudden collapse of the tower crane, to the collapse of the three underground floors, to the power outage at the construction site, the series of accidents in one day left everyone confused.
In fact, it is normal to have accidents. No construction site is smooth sailing. But it is embarrassing if you can't find the cause of the accident.
Outside the gate of Jinxiu Shanhe Real Estate, on the opposite side of the road, a young man in a robe, carrying a canvas bag, squinted his eyes and quietly looked at the slightly quiet construction site.
"We are a clan of knife sellers. We are so sure about the future that we ask for divinations that are against the will of heaven. How dare you take over the karma of a knife seller?"
"I want to see if you can hold on to the end..."
