69: Chapter 69 Run! It's going to collapse!

Shen Weiyue put on his hat, ran out the door, and headed toward the deep foundation pit.

This construction site covered three hundred mu, considered a large real estate project, and it was said they were going to build over forty floors.

When he found his parents, the couple was just preparing to finish work and have dinner. Seeing him approach, they both smiled and introduced their promising son to their fellow villagers, who greeted Shen Weiyue with smiles.

The work teams led by construction foremen were usually fellow villagers from their hometown; people from the same place stuck together while away to look out for one another.

Of course, that didn't mean all fellow villagers were good people; after all, when fellow villagers met, besides tearing up, there was also the possibility of getting stabbed in the back.

After climbing down from the scaffolding, Shen Guofang immediately asked, "Why did you run over here? Don't run around the construction site."

"A rainstorm is coming, and there are safety hazards everywhere on this site. I was worried, so I came to check on you." Shen Weiyue let out a breath of relief.

"Don't talk nonsense. The foreman hates hearing the words 'safety hazard.' Don't say such things on the site."

Shen Guofang and Luo Chunhong unhooked their safety ropes, took off their work gloves to wipe away their sweat, gulped down half a thermos of water, and then started walking back with Shen Weiyue.

Passing by a deep foundation pit, Shen Weiyue glanced at the retaining structure and the condition of the pit edge, then frowned and asked, "It's about to rain, aren't they finishing work yet?"

"Finish work? It's still early." Shen Guofang also peered over and said expressionlessly, "They are from a different work team, not people from our county."

He pointed at the concrete mixer truck that was still pouring cement: "They're still pouring concrete here; it'll take until at least nine o'clock tonight."

"That means they have to work over ten hours a day. That's too exhausting."

"Yeah, although they're more exhausted, the pay is higher."

Old Shen's words were filled with envy, as if, as long as they could make money, their lives didn't matter.

As they walked and talked, just as the deep foundation pit was about to disappear from view, large raindrops suddenly began to patter down.

Curses erupted from the foundation pit; who knew how much the construction schedule would be delayed by this rain.

Shen Weiyue thought that since a rainstorm was coming, they should stop working, but to his surprise, although the concrete pouring had stopped, the workers just started doing other tasks.

In any case, no one left.

"Something is going to happen. Aren't they afraid of the danger in such heavy rain?"

"What danger? Didn't you see the sign over there? It says: 'Work hard in light rain, push through in heavy rain, find gaps to work in torrential rain, work for your life when there's no rain, roll up your sleeves and work hard.' There's no such thing as 'danger' on a construction site!"

"What if someone gets killed?"

"Pay compensation. A life is worth four or five hundred thousand. The boss has plenty of money."

The family of three jogged toward the prefab housing through the rain when Shen Weiyue suddenly saw a dump truck heading over there, overloaded with construction materials that towered above the top of the truck.

"Damn, this is bad!"

A flash of intuition struck him, and with a curse, he turned and ran back.

Years of work experience told him that with such a heavy rainstorm, given the drainage measures and the level of edge protection at this foundation pit, it was already extremely unsafe.

Now that an overloaded dump truck had appeared, it might very well trigger a collapse.

Shen Guofang and his wife didn't know what was wrong with their son, but they subconsciously followed him back, shouting as they ran, "Shen Weiyue, you bastard, what are you doing!"

"Something bad is going to happen! I have to go call those people up."

"You don't know jack shit. Don't talk nonsense, or be careful the foreman kicks us out."

"Lives are at stake! I can't worry about that now!"

Shen Weiyue sprinted, but by the time he reached the edge of the pit, the dump truck had already stopped at the edge.

That wasn't all; someone over there was directing a crane to move over, looking like they were about to unload cargo into the foundation pit.

"This is too dangerous! Get out of there immediately!"

Shen Weiyue shouted into the pit, but the sound of the rain drowned out his voice, and the workers ignored him, continuing with their tasks.

Shen Weiyue wiped the rain from his face and looked closely. Between the torrential rain and the pressure from the heavy truck, the slope of the foundation pit had become unstable, and the soil at the bottom of the pit had already slightly shifted.

He found a piece of steel pipe and slammed it against the railing. The harsh sound pierced through the rain and immediately attracted attention.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

A safety officer wearing a Red Hat looked over. Seeing him wearing a yellow hat, he roared angrily.

"It's about to collapse! Get the people down there up here immediately!" Shen Weiyue yelled at him.

"What?" The man tilted his ear. Seeing that he hadn't heard clearly and that Shen Weiyue's expression was anxious, he ran over.

"I said the slope is about to collapse! Hurry up and get the workers out!"

This time, Red Hat heard him clearly, but he didn't take Shen Weiyue's words seriously. Instead, seeing his youthful appearance, he questioned, "Which team are you from? Who is your foreman?"

After saying that, he picked up his walkie-talkie.

Seeing this, Shen Guofang's face changed. He rushed over and grabbed Shen Weiyue, apologizing with a smile, "I'm sorry, leader. He's my son, here to do odd jobs. He's inexperienced. I'll take him away immediately."

He pulled twice but couldn't move him. Shen Guofang hissed, "Leave now! If we don't leave, we're going to be in big trouble."

Shen Weiyue roared, "We can't leave! Look over there, look at that patch of soil, it's shifted..."

Red Hat felt a jolt of alarm. He looked where Shen Weiyue was pointing, and his pupils immediately dilated.

"Shit! Everyone down there, get up here now!"

"Over there! Yes, you guys, run! Get out of that area..."

Red Hat shouted at the top of his lungs. Only then did the people below panic and start running.

A few seconds later, the slope of the foundation pit where the heavy truck was parked collapsed with a roar, and the dump truck toppled over with it, smashing into the foundation pit.

The workers in the pit saw this and were so terrified their legs went weak; for a moment, they just froze on the side that hadn't collapsed yet.

"Damn you idiots, what are you standing there for? Get up here! You bunch of bastards!"

Red Hat's face turned pale, and he cursed in a frantic rage.

Everyone scrambled to climb up, and before long, they had all made it up. Not long after the last person climbed out, this side collapsed as well.

In the pouring rain, the group collapsed onto the ground, all of them still shaken.

"Foreman, where is the foreman?"

"I... I'm here."

"Take a headcount. Is anyone buried underneath?"

The foreman counted them and replied, "No, everyone made it up."

"That's good, that's good, phew..." Red Hat let out a long sigh of relief, but then heard Shen Weiyue remind him, "The dump truck driver is still in the truck."

"Fuck!"

Red Hat leaped up, staring into the pit in extreme anxiety, but he didn't dare make a decision.

Seeing this, Shen Weiyue added, "Don't go now. He has a safety space inside the truck. Wait for the collapse to stabilize before going to rescue him."

Even though he was an outsider and a newcomer, at this moment, everyone inexplicably trusted him.

Everyone waited in a safe area for a while. After a few minutes passed without further collapse, Shen Weiyue said calmly, "It's stable. Now we can figure out how to rescue him."