190: Chapter 19 Scapegoat

At this moment, most of the staff's attention was drawn to the person who had fallen and been injured; they didn't notice at all that the trash can had already begun to burn.

"Alright! Stop moving him around. His bones are most likely broken."

"You, and you—the two of you take him to the hospital," a leader instructed.

"Yes, sir."

The two people who were pointed out helped the injured person up and headed outside.

They had originally wanted to call 120 for an ambulance, but the leader vetoed it and told them to take a taxi to the hospital instead.

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse. Go back to what you were doing. Don't crowd around here."

After the leader finished settling the matter, he was just about to find a place to take a nap when the power suddenly went out in the entire broadcasting hall.

After everyone let out a series of exclamations, no one thought too deeply about the cause.

Although power outages were rare at CCTV, it didn't mean they never happened.

Someone had just taken out their phone and was about to turn on the flashlight when they noticed something was wrong.

Near a certain power switch, why was there an open flame?

He rubbed his eyes, and after seeing it clearly, his lips trembled as he screamed loudly.

"Fire!"

This scream shattered the peace of the night.

Some people began looking for exits in a panicked frenzy.

Others turned on their flashlights, grabbed fire extinguishers, and rushed toward the flames.

Zhang Quanzhi, who had been relaxing in his office, stood up from the sofa the instant the lights went out.

His heart inexplicably skipped a couple of beats.

A chill ran down his spine.

He had a premonition that something bad was happening.

Just as he opened his office door...

Terrified roars, chaotic noise, and sounds of crying drifted from the distance...

"Fire! Everyone, help put out the fire!"

Zhang Quanzhi felt as if his heart had stopped as he stumbled toward the source of the noise.

In his mind, he involuntarily thought of the hidden danger Chen Shaoping had mentioned—the one he hadn't taken seriously enough.

...

After Chen Shaoping and Zhang Ying returned to the hotel, they took showers and went to sleep.

He had originally wanted to have some 'intimate communication,' but Zhang Ying was truly too tired; she fell into a dreamland shortly after getting into bed.

The night passed in silence.

The next morning when they got up...

Chen Shaoping, Wang Bo, Li Qian, and Zhang Ying took a flight from Kyoto to Hang City.

Xu Yali and Zhou Bule were in no hurry to return to Guangzhou, planning to enjoy the beautiful sights of Kyoto for a while.

At this time.

In a leadership office at CCTV.

Zhang Quanzhi and a group of key personnel from the gala organizing committee all wore bitter expressions as they received a scolding and criticism from their superior.

"What do you think you're getting paid for? Do you have water in your brains? The gala is already over, and you still managed to find trouble for me?"

"You should all be grateful there were no casualties. Otherwise, I would have made sure you all suffered the consequences."

A pot-bellied man in his sixties, his face full of rage, shouted while pointing at the noses of Zhang Quanzhi and the others.

He didn't spare them any dignity.

"You are all people with one foot in the grave; can't you be a bit more steady?"

"Hmm?"

Everyone kept their heads down and faces grim; no matter how the leader scolded them, they just bowed their heads and endured it silently, not daring to talk back.

The leader grew tired of shouting, and after taking a sip of tea, his tone softened slightly.

"Tell me, what was the cause of the fire? Have the negligent personnel been dealt with?"

Only then did Zhang Quanzhi dare to look up. "Leader, the cause of the fire has been investigated and clarified."

"It was because a staff member responsible for moving equipment lost his footing, tripped, and knocked over a speaker."

"Not only did he fracture his own shoulder, but he also tore the electrical wires connected to the speaker. The severed wires happened to swing into a trash can, which started the fire."

The leader's brow furrowed as he looked at them with dissatisfaction. "I approved so much funding for you; did you use such low-quality wiring?"

He glared at them; if these people couldn't give him a good explanation, he wouldn't mind investigating where all the gala expenses had actually gone.

Zhang Quanzhi felt a bit guilty, but fortunately, the group had already coordinated their story before coming to the leader's office.

"Leader, the quality of the wiring was not an issue."

"This wire had been crushed by two security guards moving heavy objects. It was already severely damaged, which is why it was torn so easily."

"Have those two security guards been dealt with?" The leader's expression improved significantly, and his tone leveled out.

"Not yet. We wanted to ask for your instructions, Leader, on how to handle them." Zhang Quanzhi felt much more relaxed seeing that the leader wasn't pressing further.

The leader looked pleased and said casually, "Fire the two security guards immediately."

"And that person who fell—he caused such a great loss to the station, so fire him as well."

"Furthermore, the station will not pay a single cent of his medical expenses. If he dares to make a scene, sue him directly for damages to the station."

Zhang Quanzhi and the others all nodded in agreement, seeing nothing wrong with this handling of the situation.

The leader thought for a moment and felt that for such a large accident, dealing with only three people was somewhat unjustifiable.

He then followed up with another question: "Who was the person in charge of safety inspections? They failed to detect such a serious hazard; their responsibility is the greatest."

"Fire him too. If the media finds out about this, he will bear all the responsibility."

Zhang Quanzhi was secretly delighted. The leader was truly considerate, having already thought of a way to cover their tracks completely.

"Leader, his name is Lin Shigong. We will resolutely carry out your instructions."

Just like that, a fire accident was properly resolved internally without alerting the outside world.

Everyone who needed to be dealt with was dealt with.

Even if someone investigated in the future, there were people in front to take the fall.

The most bewildered person was Lin Shigong.

He was originally a 'nice guy' in the logistics department. Because the gala organizing committee was short-staffed, he had been temporarily transferred to hold the empty title of 'Safety Officer.' Who would have thought he would suffer such an undeserved disaster?

In the end, his job was gone, and the blame was placed on him.

Meanwhile.

Just as Chen Shaoping walked out of the airport, the system's voice echoed in his mind.

[Congratulations to the Host for completing a piece of intelligence. Gained 1 paparazzi point.]

[Host's current paparazzi points: 31.]

He had been in a good mood, but suddenly he felt 'EMO.'

This seemed to be the smallest reward he had ever received.

Chen Shaoping quickly ran through everything in his head.

The only intelligence he had completed but hadn't received a reward for yet seemed to be the one about the CCTV wiring hazard.

But that shouldn't be right—wasn't it resolved? Even if it wasn't necessarily perfect...

Unless... unless an accident eventually occurred anyway, just much later in time.

Once he figured this out, his scalp tingled. If this had happened while the gala was still ongoing, the trouble would have been massive.

It could easily have caused a stampede.

It seemed that in the future, if he encountered similar intelligence, he had to see the hazard removed with his own eyes.

Beside him, Zhang Ying noticed his strange expression and asked softly, "What's wrong, Darling?"

"Nothing, nothing."

To make traveling in Hang City easier, the group discussed it and rented a business van; it was more convenient for getting around.

Wang Bo's parents had offered to pick them up at the airport, but they had decisively declined.

At this moment, Wang Bo was driving, his mouth never stopping as he introduced the best places to eat and have fun in Hang City.

Chen Shaoping, meanwhile, was sending messages in the dormitory group chat.

(Boss) Chen Shaoping: "San De, Four Jun, have you guys arrived yet?"