The car sped all the way towards Wancheng, Lin Shuyue and Li Weisheng took the time to catch up on their sleep.
Lin Shuyue woke up and saw Li Weisheng and Huang Qiang standing outside the car smoking.
Lin Shuyue got out of the car, and a gust of wind with a little heat wave blew in her face. Li Weisheng threw a bottle of drink to Lin Shuyue. Lin Shuyue reached out to take it and caught it steadily. It was cold to the touch, and it was iced jasmine green tea.
She unscrewed the bottle and took a sip. As the cold water went down her throat, the remaining sleepiness immediately disappeared completely.
"How long have we been here?"
"Ten minutes."
Lin Shuyue got the answer and looked across the street.
The factory gate is tall and spacious, and outside is a 40-story factory building. On the roof of the factory building stand nine large neon characters glowing white: "Taishida Group's Second Branch".
She looked at the watch on her hand and it was already past twelve o'clock.
But the factory is not dark. Looking inside from the gate, there is a street lamp every few steps. The third and fourth floors of the factory are brightly lit, and there are many green trees planted along the walls.
There were lights on in a few rooms in the two small buildings that were obviously dormitories.
Some workers who had just finished their night shift and were wearing moon-blue uniforms came out, some went to the canteen, and some went to the night snack stalls. Thus, the quiet midnight became lively.
Seeing that Lin Shuyue was completely awake, Huang Qiang said, "Time is running out, get to work quickly."
The main purpose of their visit now is to visit the granary in the factory, so they have to investigate from the source and find out who is the rice supplier of Taishida.
And these things are not secrets.
Lin Shuyue put on her makeup under the light, then carried her bag and went to a store farther away from Taishida where there were fewer people.
After spending 40 yuan on snacks and a pack of better-quality cigarettes, Lin Shuyue played with her cell phone and leaned against the counter to chat with the boss who was guarding the counter.
The night was long and it was boring to stay in the store. Lin Shuyue bought a lot of things, and she was pretty, so she didn't look like a bad person.
The boss was happy to answer Lin Shuyue's questions.
Lin Shuyue sighed: "Boss, I just came here to look for a job. I've been to many places. This Taishida is really big. How many people are there in it?"
The boss opened a shop opposite Taishida and knew the basic information of Taishida. When he heard Lin Shuyue's question, he said, "This Taishida is the largest factory in our town, with nearly 10,000 employees. The recruitment requirements of this factory are very high, and a junior high school education is required."
"Beautiful girl, you should know about Taishida, right? Look, there are commercials on TV." The boss pointed to the TV right in front of him. It was just the commercial time after the TV program had finished.
"Of course I know. How could I not know? I didn't expect that such a big factory like the one on TV is actually here." Lin Shuyue pretended to be very surprised.
Lin Shuyue's mind was normal. In her previous life, she often watched TV commercials and would buy products advertised on TV. But when she suddenly passed by the production area of one of the products one day, she was very surprised.
If she were to really describe that feeling of surprise, it would probably be like watching a star on TV every day, and then encountering him by chance when she go out.
The second branch of Taishida was built in this town, and both the indigenous people of the town and some merchants are very proud of it.
The boss became talkative after hearing what Lin Shuyue said: "That's right. All the Taishida baby rice cereal in the country is made here. They consume a ton of rice every day! They also have a dairy cow breeding area here, just on the outskirts of the town. There are a lot of grasses planted there, and you can see a lot of cows walking there every day, just like on the grassland. Many people regard it as a tourist area and go there for tourism."
Lin Shuyue was very cooperative: "Wow, one ton of rice must weigh 2,000 kilograms. Wouldn't the grain sellers have to deliver the rice to them every day?"
"They don't need to deliver goods every day. They only deliver once a week. They can't handle delivering goods every day. They're not vegetables. Look, today is the day for delivering rice. I guess the truck will be here soon." This is not a secret. The boss has told many people about it.
"Beautiful girl, although the requirements to get into Taishida are high, the salary is high and the benefits are good. My friend works in the loading and unloading workshop there and he earned more than 3,000 yuan last month." A salary of more than 3,000 yuan is already considered a high salary in this era.
After the boss finished speaking, someone came over to pay the bill. While he was busy, Lin Shuyue greeted him and left.
The boss didn't say anything and went about his own business.
Lin Shuyue went to the car, and Huang Qiang and Li Weisheng came back.
Li Weisheng said: "I heard that a rice supplier will deliver the goods today."
Lin Shuyue also nodded to Huang Qiang: "I found the same thing."
Huang Qiang got three sets of factory uniforms and work badges, and the three of them found a nearby public toilet to change into them.
It was already one o'clock, and the night shift workers who had come out for supper had gone home one after another, and the factory gate was closed. The two shops that Lin Shuyue and Li Weisheng had just inquired about were also closed.
Huang Qiang drove the car to the back door of the factory, turned off all the lights, and waited there.
There is a residential area near the back door, and occasionally a few drunk people would stagger past the car.
Lin Shuyue and the other two divided the work, with each person on duty for two hours.
At 3:10, Lin Shuyue called Huang Qiang and Li Weisheng.
Three semi-trailers drove in from the alley, the iron gate at the back of the factory was opened, and more than a dozen loaders in work clothes were already waiting.
The car stopped, the person in charge invited several drivers into the factory canteen, and the loaders began to move the rice.
Lin Shuyue and the other two looked at each other, walked over in the dark, and joined the group moving rice.
It was already late at night, there was no moonlight in the sky, and there was no light around the car. The work clothes worn by Lin Shuyue and the other two were the same as those of the loaders. So the three of them, each carrying a bag of rice, mixed in with the crowd of loaders and unloaders and entered the factory.
The three people gradually separated, and Lin Shuyue followed behind the two loaders in front. The button camera on her button had started working.
Lin Shuyue listened to their conversation. The middle-aged man on the left whispered to the slightly younger man on the right: "Liu Bing, did you smell it? The rice delivered this time has a musty smell again."
The man named Liu Bing whispered, "How can I not smell such a strong smell? The leaders of this factory are really corrupt. They make so much money every day, but they are not willing to use good rice."
"The factory needs so much rice that people would probably sell it for 50 cents a pound. Tell me, why use moldy rice?"
"Moldy rice is cheap. Last time I heard Mr. Wang talking on the phone with someone. This kind of rice is old and moldy, and it only costs a little over 10 cents per pound. Can a can of rice noodles use a pound? Add some of those rotten vegetables, how much money can the boss make from a pound of rice? He is very evil-minded."
The middle-aged man who was talking to Liu Bing said, "Of course, only a wicked person can open such a big factory. But don't go out and say anything. We get an extra 50 yuan an hour for carrying rice at night, which means more than 150 yuan for a whole night. How much money can we make just by doing this in a month?"
Liu Bing said, "How could I not know that? But I told my relatives and friends not to eat this rice noodles. I really don't dare let my children eat things made from moldy rice."
"Brother Zhang, you have worked in the factory for so many years, have you built a house at home?"
"It's built with two floors. It's the first one in our village!" Brother Zhang was very proud, and the topic of their conversation completely went off topic from here.
Lin Shuyue followed them to the granary. The light in the granary was very dim. After Lin Shuyue put down the rice bag, she walked past them quickly. Because the light was too dim and it was too dark, Lao Zhang and Liu Bing did not see what Lin Shuyue looked like.
Lao Zhang just asked, "Who was that person who just walked by? Was it Liang Guang?"
"Really? He looks a bit like him. This kid is really capable. Look how fast he runs. He really doesn't feel tired at all."
"He's young. I was like this when I was young, I worked very hard. Now that I'm older, I can be lazy if I want to."
While the two were talking, Lin Shuyue hid behind a tree. After they left, Lin Shuyue quickly returned the same way and hid among the grain bags.
There were few people in the granary at night, perhaps because there were ghosts here. There were not even any cameras installed. Apart from the loaders coming and going, there was no one inside.
Lin Shuyue hid in the corner and sent messages to Li Weisheng and Huang Qiang, and they both replied quickly.
They all got in.
Lin Shuyue put her cell phone into the space, and took out a small knife from the space, inserted it into the nearest rice bag, and the rice instantly poured out of the bag.
Lin Shuyue reached out and caught part of it.
These rices are all normal long-grain rice, with a stronger musty smell. If you look closely, you can see that the texture of the rice is yellow, and some of the rice has black spots in the yellow.
Lin Shuyue took a deep breath and continued to check the rice warehouse. He checked ten bags and found that all of them were moldy. He then went to other granaries and found the same thing.
Lin Shuyue left the rice warehouse and walked around the factory with a swagger.
This time she went to the rice soaking area on the first floor.
Li Weisheng is already inside.
Li Weisheng said: "I just came from the polishing area. These moldy rice will be polished there. After passing through the polishing area, these rice will be polished and there will be no trace of mold."
The rice was polished before being soaked. Lin Shuyue reached out and grabbed a handful of rice from the rice soaking pool in front of her. The white rice stung her eyes. She leaned in and smelled it. After being polished and soaked, the rice no longer had a trace of moldy smell.
"I really can't smell it anymore."
Li Weisheng took out a bag of ground rice noodles: "I took this rice noodles from the grinding area over there. It has a rice aroma."
Lin Shuyue took it and smelled it. It had a strong rice aroma. People would believe her if she said the rice was new rice that had just been harvested from the fields!
"What a beast." Lin Shuyue gritted her teeth.
The two continued walking forward as they talked. They followed the signs and arrived at the fruit and vegetable processing area.
The fruit and vegetable processing area was very large, and from outside one could hear the hum of electrical appliances and fans running inside. A blue array of fruits and vegetables appeared before the two.
Because of the hot weather, various vegetables spoiled very quickly, and the smells of various vegetables mixed together, which was very unpleasant.
Lin Shuyue watched helplessly as the employees in front of her who were processing vegetables picked off the rotten parts of the vegetables, cut off the rotten parts of the fruits, and threw the rest into the fruit and vegetable washing machine, which was soon transported to the next process.
There were not many people around at night, and the two men moved very quietly, standing in the dark. They came quietly and left the fruit and vegetable processing area quietly.
Huang Qiang sent a text message, and the two of them found a place to climb over the wall. Then they waited for ten minutes and Huang Qiang came out to meet them.
It was already six o'clock, and the three of them left quickly.
They took off their work clothes and returned to the back door. The rice on the two semi-trailers had been unloaded and left. The back door was also closed.
The first thing the three of them did after getting in the car was to open a bottle of mineral water that Huang Qiang had bought as a backup in the car and drink it.
Li Weisheng leaned back and said, "Do you think our trip in was too smooth?"
Lin Shuyue rubbed her face vigorously. "We came too quickly. I guess the news about the children getting into trouble because of eating their rice noodles hasn't been reported yet. And I just went to the store to take a look."
"In the location of a rice noodle company, there is no rice noodle of this brand sold in the supermarket! What does this mean? It means that they have done risk control and they have sold the toxic rice noodles to other places. If the news came from other places, they would have the time and space to clean up these things."
"Plus, we came in the middle of the night, when people are most relaxed, and we caught them off guard."
Taishida's behavior is really disgusting, just like the toxic milk group in the previous life, who sold the toxic milk powder to underdeveloped areas. Their intentions are despicable!
"Fuck, what a jerk." Li Weisheng had already forgotten how many times he had cursed them.
Apart from anything else, the fact that they used moldy rice was enough to make Li Weisheng hate them. He was just glad that his niece was not yet ready to add complementary food, otherwise his niece would definitely be one of the sick children! Because his mother had mentioned this topic once at home!
But while he was feeling lucky, he was also deeply saddened for the infants and young children who had eaten the Taishida rice cereal. Those children were not just cold numbers, but real people!
"Tell me first what you have found out." The three of them exchanged information. After Lin Shuyue finished talking to Li Weisheng, it was Huang Qiang's turn.
Huang Qiang said: "I went to the cafeteria and heard the factory leaders chatting with the deliverymen. They said that if they delivered two more times, the moldy rice would be gone."
"The factory leaders expressed great regret. They also said that since they received the moldy rice, the factory's profits have increased by 150 percent compared to the same period last year."
Li Weisheng pounded his fist on the car seat: "These people have evil hearts. They know that moldy rice cannot be eaten, but they still use this rice in baby products."
Lin Shuyue said: "Marx said that if capital has a 50% profit, it will take risks. If it has a 100% profit, it will dare to trample on all human laws. If it has a 300% profit, it will dare to commit any crime, even at the risk of being hanged. To put it bluntly, it is the interests that move people. Now we should wonder where there is so much moldy rice."
An ordinary rice mill would not have so much moldy rice.
Huang Qiang started the car and left from the back door of the Taishida branch, saying calmly: "It's reserve grain, the national reserve grain."
Reserve grain refers to grain and edible oil that the government reserves to regulate the total supply and demand of social grain, stabilize the grain market, and respond to major natural disasters or other emergencies.
Reserve grain is of great significance to national security. Reserve grain is used by the state to "save lives"! Once a major disaster or war occurs, sufficient grain reserves can at least guarantee the people's food problem. In addition, the state can also adjust grain prices and stabilize prices by selling reserve grain.
There are such granaries all over the country. But as the number of granaries increases, the number of borers also increases. This batch of moldy rice is the result of the granaries being flooded due to the recent rain.
So why did the granary flood? Was it because the granary was built with shoddy materials, was it because the annual maintenance fees were pocketed by others, or was it because the storage managers did not conduct regular inspections?
None of this is known.
However, it is wrong to circulate problematic warehouse grain into the market in order to cover up mistakes!
Lin Shuyue said: "It's time to milk the cows in the morning. Let's go to the dairy farm on the outskirts of town."
"That's exactly what I meant."
Twenty minutes later, the three of them stopped at the "Taishida Dairy Farming Area". This was a very large plain, covering an area of roughly fifty acres. Some places were surrounded by iron fences, and some were surrounded by brick walls.
Looking from afar from where they are now, they can see that there is a lot of green grass planted in the dairy farming area. There was wind this morning, and the green grass swayed left and right with the wind.
Black and white cows were eating grass leisurely on the green grass.
Lin Shuyue and the other two pretended to be tourists, paid the entrance fee, and walked inside.
The ticket is not expensive, three yuan per person.
After walking through the long corridor, we arrived at the milking area. A group of milkers in work clothes were milking in the cowshed. There were also employees putting grass in the trough. There were more than 30 cows in this row, with a total of three rows. This number of cows seemed a lot, but it was definitely not enough to supply Taishida.
Lin Shuyue and the other two mixed in with a group of parents who had brought their children to play, and discussed things in low voices.
Lin Shuyue said: "I observed carefully when I came in. The fence here is very large, half larger than the place we are seeing now."
"There's something fishy going on."
The three of them acted separately.
Lin Shuyue walked and strolled, and slowly came to a place with a sign saying "Tourists Are Not Allowed". She looked inside and there was no one.
She opened her mouth and asked, "Hello, is this the way to enter the toilet?"
She waited quietly for two minutes, but no one answered. Lin Shuyue walked in through the gate.
After passing what was obviously the staff dormitory, a wooden door appeared in front of her. She gently pushed it open and saw a different scene.
Compared with the grassland pastoral next door, this is a huge shed, with skinny cows in the shed, about fifty cows in one cowshed, and ten cow pens in total.
There was a foul smell here, the cows' dung was in the cowshed, and every step the cows took, they stepped on the dung. Flies and mosquitoes were flying everywhere, and the grass the cows ate was not the green grass outside, but the yellow straw, which was trampled everywhere.
Lin Shuyue endured the stench and took pictures of the environment again and again.
Then, after hearing footsteps, she quickly slipped out the door and walked to the staff dormitory area. She had already put her camera and mobile phone away.
Two milkmen wearing straw sandals and leather skirts came in carrying milk buckets. When they saw Lin Shuyue wandering around, they immediately became nervous.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to go to the toilet, and I found this place while searching. Brother, where is the toilet here?"
The two milkers relaxed instantly after hearing what Lin Shuyue said: "The toilet is just ahead. Go out this door and walk for another two minutes."
Lin Shuyue thanked them quickly and ran quickly to the place they pointed out.
After he left, the two milkers were still chatting: "What's wrong with Lao Liu? He lets tourists come here and he doesn't even know it. This has happened so many times!!"
"He must be hiding somewhere and calling again. I told him a long time ago that the woman from the plastic factory was with him not because she liked him, but because she wanted his money. He didn't believe it at all. What do you think we can do?"
"What nonsense! He's already forty years old. He finally has a woman to follow him. If she doesn't want money, what does she want from him? We have to talk to the team leader. We can't let him go on like this. He has to deduct his salary!"
"Yes, what if something goes wrong? This isn't the first time he's done this. We've given him so many chances."
The conversation between the two was gradually hidden behind the door.
Lin Shuyue went to the toilet and gathered at the milking area in front.
Compared to the shed behind the dormitory area, the milking area here is much better.
They eat grass and live in a good shed with no feces to be seen. Even the walls of the shed are painted white.
The contrast of the environment is too obvious, so obvious that it is dazzling.
Li Weisheng was taking pictures of the cows, and Huang Qiang went somewhere unknown. The three of them gathered outside.
It was already past ten o'clock, and the three of them got in the car and left Dongguan.
After entering Pengcheng, Lin Shuyue passed by a newsstand and bought three newspapers. The front-page headline of the Pengcheng Metropolitan Newspaper was an article Lin Shuyue had written last night, [ "Many infants and young children were hospitalized with diarrhea, suspected of eating "Taishida rice noodles"." ]