Regarding this question, Jiang Cheng directly chose to ignore it.
"By the way, Mom, which room is mine?"
"First room on the left upstairs. The bedding is all ready."
"Thanks, Mom. You're the best."
Li Yan was secretly delighted in her heart, but her mouth still expressed insincere disdain, "Alright, go on up, don't be an eyesore here."
...At midnight, most people were immersed in sweet dreams.
However, in a certain highway tunnel in the west, a series of faint explosions rang out.
Although the sound wasn't loud, it was exceptionally piercing in the silent night.
It was as if it were the horn of a demon rising from the abyss.
Immediately after, the entire tunnel began to collapse.
Massive rocks and dust flew everywhere, as if the earth's fury had erupted at this moment.
Smoke and dust filled the air, and a choking smell permeated the entire tunnel.
Fortunately, it was late at night, and there weren't many vehicles on the highway.
Otherwise, this sudden disaster would have caused unimaginable casualties.
Ten or so minutes later, several large trucks began to speed toward the scene.
The drivers saw the burial at the entrance from a distance, and their faces instantly turned pale.
They understood that if they didn't slow down in time, they would likely crash into the obstacles ahead, causing a serious traffic accident.
So, they gradually pressed the brakes without hesitation.
But because the speed was too high, the vehicles still let out a piercing screech from the brakes.
Fortunately, the driver of the first truck was very alert and turned on the hazard lights to warn the vehicles behind.
The vehicles behind slowed down one after another.
Otherwise, crashing directly into it in the middle of the night when their mental state wasn't at its best would have led to unthinkable consequences.
Several vehicles stopped quickly by the roadside; the drivers got out, their faces full of lingering fear.
Everyone knew they had just brushed past the gates of hell.
The group immediately placed warning triangles behind their vehicles to alert subsequent cars to be safe.
Then they walked to the emergency lane and began calling the police and the Bureau of Transportation.
With such an incident, people from the Road Traffic Bureau also appeared at the scene to inspect the accident before dawn.
On this late night, these large trucks became the lifesavers on the highway.
At this time, the entrance of the tunnel had been hit by a massive rock from above, striking the arched steel support not far away.
Large and small debris near the support completely blocked the entrance.
Rescue personnel had already prepared rescue equipment.
Once it was confirmed that no one was trapped inside.
They would begin clearing the debris at the entrance to restore traffic as soon as possible.
But while checking the tunnel's surveillance, everyone found it unbelievable.
The cameras in the tunnel section had suddenly gone black during that time.
Nothing could be seen.
The group stood at the entrance with very heavy hearts.
No one knew what the situation was like inside.
Nor did they know if anyone was trapped.
Let alone what the source of this tunnel collapse was.
Because the incident was so sensational.
As soon as it was light, a large number of reporters arrived for filming and interviews.
Major news outlets began reporting on the tunnel collapse one after another.
As time passed, rescue work proceeded intensely.
Finally, after several hours of effort, the rescuers successfully cleared the debris at the entrance and entered the tunnel.
They found that no one was trapped inside, but the tunnel's structure had been severely damaged and required large-scale repair work.
Soon, this matter began to occupy the headlines.
[Tunnel collapse; fortunately, no casualties. The Transportation Bureau investigated the cause overnight, but specific reasons have not yet been announced.]
[Why did a project built less than two years ago collapse overnight??]
[According to investigations, other tunnels on the same highway have also shown cracks of varying sizes; safety concerns are worrying.]
This accident drew widespread social attention; people were praying for those potentially trapped, hoping they were safe.
Although there was an intention to handle this matter discreetly, the highway closure still caused dissatisfaction among many netizens.
Especially for office workers and transport teams who needed to use this highway to save travel time.
Once the sensitive term "road safety" was publicized, keyboard warriors began to chime in.
In particular, anonymous accounts began posting photos of tofu-dreg projects in other tunnels online.
Those pictures with cracks caused even more panic among netizens.
Soon after, news of the bidding company outsourcing the project to other companies began to be exposed online.
And the outsourced companies included the moderately sized Zhengde Group.
Once this inside information was leaked, it made netizens so anxious that they began tagging the Regulatory Bureau and China Railway Management on the Social Media Platform.
Such large projects generally require immense strength, even participation from China's state-owned enterprises in the bidding.
The company that contracted the highway section and tunnel was a subsidiary under a public institution directly affiliated with the Chengdu District.
Unexpectedly, after that company won the bid, it actually outsourced the project to other small companies.
When Fang Wende saw this news early in the morning, he began to tremble.
He knew very well in his heart that this project was an illegal sub-contracting opportunity he had obtained through some kickbacks.
At the time of construction, since most of the funds were used only for greasing palms.
The remaining funds for the project were limited, so he privately reduced some of them, leading to a reduction in raw materials and even using the lowest-priced materials for construction.
Coupled with the fact that the higher-ups repeatedly demanded they rush the schedule, the quality became even more inferior under constant pressure.