"Chen Feng, you scared me to death just now. That water was so deep, and you jumped in without a second thought."
As Chen Feng brought the rescued woman back to the boat, Cheng Lu quickly came forward.
"The water in the reservoir is indeed deep, but in a critical moment, one can't afford to think too much about it."
Chen Feng replied with feigned ease.
In reality, he had swallowed quite a bit of water while rescuing the person, and he felt quite uncomfortable.
"By the way, Chen Feng, why did you bring the drowning victim back to our boat?"
Cheng Lu asked softly.
"This is not a simple drowning incident. To prevent further accidents, I had to bring the victim back."
Chen Feng replied with a serious expression.
"What do you mean?"
Cheng Lu was bewildered.
"All signs indicate that this woman was pushed into the water. As for the reason, we'll have to ask her to find out."
Chen Feng said gravely.
"Really? In broad daylight, there's a murder case?"
Cheng Lu was stunned.
"Miss Cheng, think about it. The railing on that sightseeing boat is quite high. How could a normal person fall into the water?"
Chen Feng's rhetorical question convinced Cheng Lu.
After ten minutes of detailed questioning, the drowning incident began to take shape.
The drowning victim was named Chen Dan, a reporter for the Jiangcheng Daily. She was here for an undercover investigation into the pollution incident at the Wuli River Reservoir.
After a week of investigation, both overt and covert, all the evidence was on her phone.
Just today, Chen Dan was preparing to return to Jiangcheng with the evidence when she was unceremoniously pushed into the reservoir. If it weren't for Chen Feng's heroic act, she would have surely died.
"Is the reservoir polluted? It doesn't seem like it. The scenery has been beautiful all the way here."
Cheng Lu asked Chen Dan with a hint of doubt.
"That's the insidious nature of this chemical plant. They use special agents to make the black wastewater transparent. At first glance, it looks like nothing is wrong. However, if it were sent for testing, the toxin levels would be off the charts."
Chen Dan said earnestly.
"Reporter Chen, now that you mention it, I do recall something. Normally, reservoirs have a lot of fish. But there are very few fish in the Wuli River Reservoir. We haven't seen anyone fishing along the way. The number of anglers can tell you a lot about the water quality."
Chen Feng said with sudden realization.
"Therefore, I must publish all the evidence in the Jiangcheng Daily. However, I fear I won't survive to return to Jiangcheng."
Chen Dan said gloomily.
She didn't fear death that much. Frankly, if she were afraid of death, she wouldn't have come to the Wuli River Reservoir to investigate water pollution in the first place.
What she feared was that after her death, the issue of Wuli River Reservoir pollution would never be brought to light.
"Reporter Chen, isn't that a bit exaggerated? It's not ancient times; they don't just kill people to silence them so casually."
Cheng Lu asked, perplexed.
She believed that a polluting company might send someone to beat Chen Dan, but she didn't believe they would hire assassins to kill her.
This is a civilized society, and the police are very strict about murder cases. How could they openly hire killers?
"Miss Cheng, you don't know this, but the toxins in the wastewater of this chemical company that pollutes the Wuli River are potent carcinogens. It severely violates chemical safety laws, and production was strictly prohibited years ago. However, to gain high profits, this boss took a huge risk and is doing it secretly. Once the authorities find out about this, the responsible parties will face life imprisonment or the death penalty. That's why this boss sent people to hunt me down."
Reporter Chen explained.
"So that's how it is. Don't worry, Chen Feng and I will escort you back to Jiangcheng."
Cheng Lu said righteously.
The Wuli River Reservoir is an important connection point for the provincial capital's water supply project. If the toxins were to spread uncontrollably, the safety of millions of people in the provincial capital would be at great risk. She felt obligated to escort Chen Dan back to Jiangcheng to expose the crimes of the polluting chemical enterprise.
"You two will escort me back to Jiangcheng? Isn't that a bit much? You have no connection to this matter, and there's no need to put your lives at risk. That chemical plant boss is already desperate."
Chen Dan replied softly.
"We are from Jiangcheng and have a duty to protect the Wuli River Reservoir. Besides, my car is parked by the shore. If we take the highway, it won't take long to get back to Jiangcheng. Once you are back in Jiangcheng, you'll be safe."
Chen Feng explained.
Hearing this, Chen Dan felt much better.
Thus, after about ten minutes, the three of them got ashore and into Qin Yan's car.
"Chen Feng, this isn't the way to the highway."
After driving for about five minutes, Cheng Lu felt something was amiss.
"This is indeed not the road to the highway. This is the road to the provincial highway."
Chen Feng replied to Cheng Lu's query while driving.
"Taking the provincial highway? Why?"
Cheng Lu was stunned.
There was a highway entrance near the Wuli River Reservoir, so why weren't they taking the highway but a difficult provincial road?
"Miss Cheng, everyone knows that taking the highway is the most convenient way to get back to Jiangcheng. Similarly, the assassins sent by that polluting enterprise must be thinking the same way. Therefore, if we were to take the highway, we would definitely encounter those assassins."
Chen Feng explained calmly.
After hearing this, Cheng Lu was thoroughly impressed with Chen Feng.
His mind was so meticulous, thinking through every small detail.
Chen Feng wasted no time and focused on driving.
Driving on a provincial road is different from driving on a highway. On the highway, one can drive while listening to music without slowing down.
The provincial road is not like that. It's too narrow and winding. To drive fast, one must pay absolute attention to avoid accidents.
In Jiangcheng, at the office of Mingchen Chemical's boss, Shen Mingchen was on the phone with a dejected expression.
"What? You didn't see Chen Dan's car on the way back to the highway?"
What a bunch of incompetents! It was easiest to silence Chen Dan at the Wuli River Reservoir, yet they let her get in the car alive.
"Yes, boss. We checked the highway surveillance through acquaintances, and found that the Mingshan Town official car never entered the highway."
His subordinate replied softly.
"What? Mingshan Town official car?"
Shen Mingchen's eyes lit up.
"Yes, the car that rescued Chen Dan is an Mingshan Town official car. We also asked around through acquaintances, and it's the car belonging to the Deputy Mayor of Mingshan Town, Qin."
His subordinate explained in detail.
"Understood. You guys come back quickly. Don't be an embarrassment."
Shen Mingchen cursed them fiercely.
"Boss, aren't we going to keep looking?"
His subordinate asked tentatively.
"You wasted so much time on the highway, the Deputy Mayor of Mingshan Town's driver would have already reached Jiangcheng. What are you still looking for! You useless fools don't need to worry about this matter anymore. I'll handle it myself."
With that, Shen Mingchen hung up the phone and made a call to Wang Delai, the mayor of Mingshan Town.
Although Mingchen Chemical was a Jiangcheng enterprise, it had a secret factory in the vicinity of Hewu Village in Mingshan Town, so it was natural to have contact with Mingshan Town. Therefore, knowing Mayor Wang Delai of Mingshan Town was reasonable.
"Boss Shen, is there something you need?"
Wang Delai asked excitedly.
Shen Mingchen rarely contacted him. When he did, it was usually with money.
"Do you have the phone number of the Deputy Mayor Qin's driver?"
Shen Mingchen got straight to the point.
"Yes."
"Send it over quickly."
"Boss Shen, spreading private mobile numbers everywhere, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Wang Delai didn't care why Shen Mingchen was looking for Chen Feng. He only cared that since Shen Mingchen had come to him again after a long time, he had to extort a good sum from him.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. Send it over quickly, and I'll transfer a hundred thousand yuan to you immediately."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Delai's cousin's bank account instantly received a hundred thousand yuan.
Wang Delai had always been cautious about illicit income, never using his own bank account.