Chapter 66: Can you please be more restrained? This is a company, and I’m still here?
Something had indeed happened.
At over two in the morning, while everyone was sound asleep, a marine traffic accident occurred off the coast involving the “Ming-890” fleet belonging to the Zheng Group. The tugboat “H” had collided with a container ship, causing nine barges to detach from the tugboat. It was no small matter.
Hearing this, Chen Wengang’s breath hitched, his eyes blank, unable to tell if it was from shock or if he just wasn’t fully awake yet.
Not wanting him to worry, Huo Niansheng waved a hand in front of his eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
Chen Wengang grabbed his hand. “Did the tugboat sink? What about the barges?”
“We won’t know until later.”
“What were they carrying?”
“I think it was yellow sand. There should be other things too; we’ll know when it gets light.”
“Oh… they weren’t loaded with crude oil?”
“Probably not, it’s not an oil tanker.” Huo Niansheng tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear. “What’s wrong? Are you still groggy?”
Chen Wengang frowned, let out a breath, and only then realized he had broken into a cold sweat. He looked up, staring at Huo Niansheng with a peculiar expression.
His gaze fell back to his phone resting on the nightstand; it was fully charged at 100%, but still steadfastly powered off.
No wonder it had been so quiet. The moment he turned it on, there would likely be a barrage of messages and calls flooding in.
Chen Wengang felt his eyelid twitch.
He lowered his eyes in deep thought.
A tugboat collision, barges breaking loose—it seemed both identical to and different from the trajectory of his past life. So, the moment he was woken up, he had panicked, thinking it was the same accident the Zheng family had faced in his previous life, where an oil tanker carrying 70,000 barrels of crude oil sank in international waters. The resulting oil spill was a marine disaster that caused the Zheng Group’s market value to evaporate by over 15 billion overnight, not to mention the incalculable environmental pollution.
Such an earth-shattering accident meant that the Zheng Group didn’t fully step out of its shadow for several years.
For the people involved, it brought an endless string of foreseeable and unforeseeable troubles.
Therefore, ever since he came back to this life, it was impossible for him not to have given Zheng Bingyi a subtle heads-up in advance.
The causes of ship collisions, apart from weather and water conditions, were 80% human error. The news that year had shocked the world, and the cause of the accident as well as the personnel responsible had been investigated thoroughly. Chen Wengang even remembered the first and last name of the captain responsible.
In fact, he had found evidence of that man’s dereliction of duty and safety violations several times, and conveniently reported it to Zheng Bingyi. He had just recently confirmed that the man had been fired. Chen Wengang thought that was the end of it. He had lowered his guard, believing everything would be safe and sound from then on.
So why did a different ship crash?
It was as if fate was reminding him that Oedipus was still Oedipus; the future was not so easily rewritten.
He subconsciously rolled over and hugged Huo Niansheng.
Huo Niansheng patted his back. “What exactly is wrong? Why such a big reaction?”
Chen Wengang buried himself in his embrace. “It’s just a bit sudden. Let me digest it.”
He couldn’t explain his bewilderment, so he could only wipe his face and face reality. Outside, the sky was beginning to turn a hazy gray. After hugging him for a while, Chen Wengang steadied his nerves and reached for his phone. Knowing that turning it on would unleash pure chaos, he couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh.
Huo Niansheng suddenly spoke up. “If you don’t want to get mixed up in it, you can just stay here with me.”
Chen Wengang smiled and said, “What do you take me for? The whole family must be in an uproar right now, I have to go take a look.”
To say this matter didn’t concern him wouldn’t be accurate; he was a part of the Zheng family, and this was an obligation.
Huo Niansheng got out of bed and put on some clothes. “Alright then. I’ll take you over.”
Chen Wengang opened his mouth, but his attitude was one of opposition. “Don’t go.”
Huo Niansheng stared intently at him.
Chen Wengang paused for a long time. Many flimsy excuses floated through his mind, and he forced himself to pick one, recalling that Huo Zhenfei had called yesterday to ask Huo Niansheng to visit Huo Kaishan. “Don’t you still have to go to the hospital… you go take care of your business, I’ll call you.”
Huo Niansheng’s gaze held a bit more scrutiny, but he ultimately agreed.
Turning on his phone indeed resulted in dozens of messages exploding in.
Before he even had time to read them, he received a call from Zheng Bingyi, instructing him to go straight to the port.
By the time Chen Wengang rushed there, live television reporters were already in position, broadcasting the scene to the cameras and monitoring the rescue situation in real-time.
The wind by the sea was strong, blowing into the microphones and creating crackling static. There were many onlookers as well, with quite a few people on the pier whispering and discussing matters amongst themselves.
The situation was less optimistic than imagined—the reporter was explaining to the camera that after the nine barges broke loose, they were drifting aimlessly at sea, at the mercy of the waves. One of the barges was loaded with a dangerous chemical, methanol, posing a massive hidden danger of sinking and polluting the waters.
Zheng Bingyi sat in command, his aged face extremely stern as people constantly came over to report on matters.
Seeing Chen Wengang arriving late, he knitted his brows slightly. “What were you doing this morning?”
Chen Wengang knew he was overwhelmed. “Sorry, my phone died. Is there anything I can do now?”
“Your task today is to help receive the families. Comfort them well; don’t let them cause a scene at a critical juncture like this.”
“Understood. How many people are involved in the accident, and how is the rescue work going?”
“We are waiting for news from the rescue team.” Someone else approached, leaving Zheng Bingyi with no time to spare. “Go check on Maoxun first.”
Chen Wengang pushed his way against the flow of the crowd and found Zheng Maoxun on the pier.
He was currently being grabbed by the mother of a victim crew member, who was crying her heart out.
The Second Young Master Zheng had lost all his airs; even though he wanted to comfort her, he was at a loss. Two company executives were crouched beside her, trying to soothe her.
The atmosphere was incredibly heavy. Although this wasn’t an extinction-level ecological disaster like the sinking of the oil tanker in his previous life, it couldn’t be called a small accident either. Ten workers on the tugboat were already confirmed dead, five were injured, and 22 were missing.
Over thirty people meant over thirty entire families behind them.
Family after family of wives, children, and elderly parents were on their way to the port; this grief would soon expand and spread infinitely.
By the end of the day, Chen Wengang was just as exhausted and overwhelmed. He, Zheng Maoxun, and a few company leaders worked hard to maintain order at the scene and comfort the victims’ families, but that was easier said than done. Dozens, even a hundred anxious or heartbroken family members were uncontrollable when agitated, nearly crushing the pier. Some almost fainted from crying; others screamed and shouted emotionally.
At this time, Baldy was no longer invisible, sticking closely by Chen Wengang’s side the entire time.
During a brief respite, however, Chen Wengang gave him a task: “You are responsible for convincing your boss not to come over here.”
Baldy didn’t understand, but he unconditionally complied.
In short, Huo Niansheng respected his wishes and didn’t show up.
In the evening, the logistics department brought drinks and food again. They took them and distributed them to the families one by one, earnestly urging them to eat a little.
Many staff members hadn’t even had a drop of water or a grain of rice themselves, including Chen Wengang. But he wasn’t hungry either; his ears were filled with nothing but crying and sighing.
He saw a young woman squatting in a corner, wiping her tears as she looked at photos on her phone.
Chen Wengang couldn’t bear to watch this scene. He hadn’t let Huo Niansheng come because he was afraid that he himself would break down at the sight of these things.
In order to tow back the barges, the Zheng Group dispatched rescue tugboats and auxiliary tugboats to the incident waters. The Huo and Li families both called to inquire, and this time the He family proved the most loyal, dispatching two “Hercules” semi-submersible vessels to assist in the rescue without a second word. The operation lasted for an entire day until news finally arrived: the semi-submersible vessels were towing back the barge loaded with methanol. At least this provided a sigh of relief.
It was nearly eleven o’clock when Chen Wengang and Zheng Maoxun finally left the port, but they didn’t go home.
Originally, they had planned to spend the night at a nearby hotel, but midway there, they were relentlessly pursued by reporters, so they simply changed course and returned to Zheng Group headquarters. Whether it was the public relations department, the emergency department, or them, no one was going to get any sleep tonight, so it really made no difference where they made do.
Chen Wengang pulled out a folding cot used for noon naps from a cubicle. The bed was very narrow and close to the floor. He lowered himself and lay down in exhaustion.
Over there, Zheng Maoxun brought Huo Niansheng upstairs.
The two of them had come over together. Chen Wengang was lying in a very rigid, proper posture, his hands resting folded over his stomach, his head not turning even a fraction as his gaze stared straight up at the ceiling. This posture seemed to help him quietly think about things, or perhaps it was just suitable for spacing out.
Zheng Maoxun was also thoroughly exhausted himself. He casually pulled out some colleague’s cot nearby and collapsed onto it.
“Don’t lie there so stiff and straight. What are you doing, you scared the crap out of us.”
Chen Wengang smiled. Huo Niansheng sat down beside him and grasped his hand. “Are you okay today?”
His gaze slanted toward Huo Niansheng. “We’re not ‘okay’ or ‘not okay’, just tired.”
“Why were you guys sent to comfort the families? Did anyone give you a hard time?”
“It was alright. Their feelings are understandable, their agitation is understandable. When you see them like that, you have nothing left to complain about. At least we are still whole and sound, and our friends and family are alive and well. We have to be understanding of them. It’s actually a good thing they can vent their emotions.”
Huo Niansheng smiled and tightened his grip on his hand. The cot was narrow; no matter how lightly he sat, he still took up a quarter of it, pressing tightly against Chen Wengang’s waist and hip. Huo Niansheng leaned in close to him, propping an arm beside his face. “So why exactly wouldn’t you let me come over?”
Zheng Maoxun sensed the atmosphere was off. “Hey, you two? Can you tone it down a bit? This is the company, and I’m still here.”
The other two completely ignored him. Zheng Maoxun scoffed; his legs were sour and heavy, and he didn’t have the energy to care if they were crossing any lines.
Chen Wengang turned his gaze back to the ceiling, answering a question that wasn’t asked. “I’m thinking about whether some things are just destined to happen.”
Zheng Maoxun crossed his legs and rotated his ankle. “Hard to say. I’m an atheist, but I think this stuff is pretty mystical. Take this time for example—last year, a Taoist priest at Qingguang Pavilion or somewhere told me our family was going to face a calamity. Looks like he was spot on, right?”
“Didn’t he tell you if this calamity could be averted?”
“I didn’t believe him at the time. I’ll go ask again next time.”
Chen Wengang finally let out a snort of laughter. After laughing, he suddenly felt hungry, and his stomach let out a rumble.
Huo Niansheng hauled him up. “Kang Ming said you didn’t even eat? What’s going on again?”
Zheng Maoxun asked, “Who’s Kang Ming? That bald guy from today? I was wondering who he was. I didn’t eat either, why didn’t he ask about me?”
Chen Wengang glanced at him. “Do your two burgers and two cokes count as not eating?”
“Why don’t you look at how many steps a grown man like me took today! That just lined the bottom of my stomach, it’s long gone. Hurry up and order something else, and include me in.”
There weren’t many places still open at this hour. Huo Niansheng didn’t have any food delivery apps—people like him basically didn’t need to rely on takeout to survive—so he used Zheng Maoxun’s phone. Chen Wengang leaned against him, whispering as he reached out to point at the screen.
They selected two portions of white clam and fresh shrimp congee, paired with marinated sliced conch, squid flowers, large prawns, tofu skin, and cold tossed cucumbers. Zheng Maoxun was too lazy to even sit up and look, just saying anything was fine. He turned his head and scrutinized them sideways; this scene gave him a feeling he couldn’t quite describe.
The delivery driver dropped off the late-night snack. The three men sat on the low cots, dragging a filing cabinet between them to use as a table. As Chen Wengang was unpacking the food, Zheng Maoxun suddenly remembered, “How come we haven’t seen Zheng Yucheng all day today? While we were working ourselves to the bone, what was he busy with?”
Huo Niansheng actually knew quite clearly. “You’re looking for your brother? He’s at the hospital.”
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