February 9th, 2014, was the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, and workers were gradually returning to the construction site. That day, I drove Mr. Huang to the site to check things out. Besides Zhou Qian, the project manager, there were five workers present. Zhou had assigned them to sort out building materials and do some preparatory work. Mr. Huang pressed Zhou to finish the building early, promising him a five-million-yuan bonus once the project was completed. Zhou nodded, vowing to speed up the progress.
After the inspection, Mr. Huang was ready to leave. Just then, a worker appeared, holding two broken steel bars and walking toward Mr. Huang, talking about the shoddy materials. I was in the car and couldn't hear clearly, but I still felt worried. Before long, I saw Mr. Huang put his arm around the worker's shoulder, lead him to the foundation pit, and then push him down.
In that instant, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt, got out of the car, and looked at Mr. Huang. He just said, "Zhou Qian, handle the aftermath," and walked toward the car. I took a breath and got back in. Mr. Huang told me to drive back. Once we'd left the site, I asked him what had happened. "Some worker was being unreasonable, keep pestering about the materials," Mr. Huang said.
Xu Min asked, "Couldn't you just fire him? Why push him down?"
Mr. Huang replied, "A self-righteous person like him, if fired, would definitely go around blabbing. What if things get out of hand then?" Xu Min thought for a moment and nodded, "That's true."
Then Mr. Huang turned to me, "Fengzi, go back and oversee how this is handled. I'm afraid it won't be done properly. You take care of the aftermath." I nodded. After dropping Mr. Huang and the others home, I went back to the site.
By then, Zhou Qian was preparing mud, ready to bury the man. I looked into the pit—the man was already dead. I asked Zhou what the situation was and how he planned to handle it.
Zhou said, "Four workers at the scene saw Mr. Huang push him. I've called a car to send them elsewhere."
I asked, "Won't they talk?"
"They're all old workers. I gave each ten thousand yuan as hush money and told them to think about their families. They won't say anything. Even if they do, no one will believe them," Zhou replied.
I pointed to the dead man in the pit, "What about him? Aren't you afraid his family will report to the police?"
Zhou waved his hand, "He's new here. As long as we don't say anything, no one will know he was working at our site."
"What if someone comes looking for him?"
"Even if they do, it won't matter—they have no proof," he said.
I thought for a moment and nodded, "All right, then. That's how it'll be."