173: Chapter 173 Participation

Thick smoke billowed.

Mr. Smith hurried over, brandishing his cane. His tailcoat fluttered in the wind, and the mustache beneath his top hat made him look particularly furious.

"Gentlemen, what on earth happened? Why are you gathered here? Why has the production equipment stopped?"

Paul was a worker in his forties. At this moment, he and his fellow workers were covered in oil stains. He glanced at the workers busy outside the ventilation duct nearby while raising his hand, hoping Smith would listen to him.

Undoubtedly, as one of the most senior workers at the Hualefu Group factory, Mr. Smith chose to patiently listen to him speak.

"Sir," Paul said, having had little education, "Xiao Hua got stuck inside while cleaning the ventilation duct. We're currently trying to pull her out."

Xiao Hua was a child who had just been recruited into the factory, working as a duct cleaner for a meager wage to support herself.

Although those xia people workers, who only kept their heads down and worked, were not very well-liked by the other workers, it was different for these children sent to work in the factory.

That was just a child.

"I imagine you know how much the machine downtime is costing me, don't you?"

"Yes... yes, I understand!" Sweat beaded on Paul's forehead, and his calloused hands clenched tightly before slowly loosening. "I hope you can give us a bit more time to save her."

"Fine, but you must bear the losses caused by the delay yourselves." Smith glanced at his pocket watch. "You have twenty minutes. All of you will be responsible for the losses from the shutdown during this period, and the work hours must be made up double. Do you understand?"

"I understand, sir... thank you for your magnanimity!" Paul's shoulders slumped slightly, and signs of wavering appeared on the faces of some surrounding workers.

Time continued to pass.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

The workers were trying their best to help the girl trapped inside escape.

But how could the heavy ventilation blades be handled with the tools the workers could bring in?

The child was wedged in the angle of the blades, unable to move and having difficulty breathing.

Someone suggested using tools to cut the blades, but they were sharply reprimanded by the foreman who had just arrived.

"You bastard! Do you know what you're saying? This is the property of the Hualefu Group! Do you know the consequences of doing that? You can't take that responsibility!"

Paul naturally knew him—Georg, one of Smith's most trusted lackeys, a typical scab... as those people from the damn Labor Union called him.

"Then tell me, how do we save her?"

"Save her?" Georg picked his nose. "Is that important? Is her life a life, but the customers' time and the factory's reputation are not?"

"You!"

"Enough, enough, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense." Georg waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to start the equipment directly.

"The maintenance was going fine, but you're the one who insists on restarting the machines," Paul said in a muffled voice. "You have to take responsibility."

"Responsibility? I am only responsible to the factory! It is our honor to enable the factory to produce more!" Georg shrugged.

"Time's almost up." Smith glanced at his watch again. "Georg, prepare to start the machines."

"Please wait! There's still a fellow worker inside who hasn't come out! Mr. Smith, I beg you, please give us a little more time!" Paul's face instantly turned pale.

A thin adult worker was still inside trying to save the girl. Once the machine was turned on...

With a thud, Paul knelt down before Smith.

"Sir, I beg you... you can't do this. I'm willing to pay more... I hope you can give me a little more time..."

"Enough! I don't want to hear your nonsense here. Return to your posts immediately!" Smith shouted harshly.

"ENOUGH!!!"

A youthful voice rang out.

Georg was kicked directly to the ground by a gold-and-gray shadow. Then, several subordinates who were still dazed were also knocked down one by one with punches.

Then, this petite girl delivered a flying kick, knocking Smith to the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow... my clothes..."

Smith rolled around on the ground in pain, yet he was still worried about his clothes.

The expensive tailcoat was stained with dust from the ground, and his top hat had flown to the side, making Smith look particularly ridiculous.

"You bastard! You should be hung from a lamppost just like those capitalists!" the girl cursed. She then ran to Paul and helped him up. "Comrade, get up quickly, I'm here to help you!"

"You are..." Paul and the other workers on the ground were still in a daze.

"It doesn't matter who I am. Now pull your fellow worker out and let me go in. I have a way! Saving lives is what's most important right now!" she said.

"Well... alright then. Daniels! Pull Jack out!"

"Got it!" someone responded from the duct opening.

"Damn it! Do you know what you're doing..." Smith struggled to get up, preparing to curse, but all that greeted him was a small fist to his face.

With a thud, he lay back down.

The thin Jack was pulled out. He was stunned to see such a small child. "What do you plan to do..."

"Don't talk, hurry up!" The little girl untied his rope, threw her trench coat, hat, and bag to the side, revealing a white naval jacket and short skirt.

She tied the rope and nimbly crawled inside.

With her superior vision and flexible body, she quickly located Xiao Hua's position.

The girl was stuck there, on the verge of fainting due to poor breathing.

"Hang in there! I'm coming!"

She had already traversed winding chimneys before; this short distance naturally didn't trouble her.

Reaching the fan blades, she inspected them and then decisively applied force from the innermost part of the blade, snapping it off in one go and letting it fall freely into the duct.

She then quickly grabbed the exhausted girl, braced her legs against the duct, and pulled the rope with her other hand, signaling for them to be pulled up.

After about three minutes, the two little ones saw the light again.

Xiao Hua, having survived the ordeal, was still just a child after all. No matter how strong she tried to be, she could only wail loudly at this moment.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Alert comforted her, then she untied the rope and stood up. "Quickly take her to the hospital for an examination!"

"Daniels, take Xiao Hua to see Dr. Lake!" Paul ordered, then looked at the golden-haired girl.

Her white clothes were now filthy, but she didn't seem to care, showing a somewhat goofy smile.

"It's good that she's okay," she said.

"Thank you, Miss..."

"Wait, wait, wait, you can't call me that, Comrade..."

...

...