He changed Tiwat

This morning, Ahao and the others testified that no one saw Qi Ding do anything last night, and that Qi Ding was gone when they woke up—but this testimony was too fake.

“Even if everyone drank last night, there shouldn’t be a single sober person. At least Sister Jinwu, you didn’t drink. The supply warehouse and the exploration team’s campsite are not far apart. It’s a bit absurd that Qi Ding had to get equipment, open the warehouse, and move gunpowder… all that commotion didn’t alert anyone.”

"When you arrange the testimonies, you should at least have some miners say that they vaguely heard some noises or saw shadows but didn't pay attention to them... Otherwise, others will know that you have colluded."

Han Fulai pointed to Qi Ding, who was still fast asleep. Qi Ding's round belly trembled rhythmically with his breathing.

"With his physique, he doesn't look like someone who can do heavy work. In the demolition team, he was in charge of things like gunpowder preparation and detonation, right? If you ask him to carry all his equipment and gunpowder down the mine, let alone get to the 'spirit stone,' he'd probably collapse from the distance from the gunpowder depot to this camp. I bet Lao Tu and A Hao helped carry the gunpowder down last night."

Old Tu and Ahao, those hardworking miners, were all incredibly robust, unlike Qi Ding, who was round and chubby.

Any investigator sent by the General Affairs Department or the Huishan Hall would have the same question when they met Qi Ding—where did this fat man get the courage to think he could blow up the "spirit stone" all by himself? Did Liang Jingru give him the courage?

"In addition, many things will come to light if the investigators talk to the miners—for example, the financial situation of this exploration team."

“I know a little about Qi Ding’s situation. I mentioned it to you before. He has an obsession with his lost toy doll.”

As Han Fulai spoke, he took out the tattered toy doll from his blank divine eye and placed it beside Qi Ding's pillow.

"Just this one toy doll consumed most of Qi Ding's savings back then. When the Layered Rock Abyss was still open, the miners still received wages and couldn't save much money... How come after the Layered Rock Abyss was closed, Qi Ding suddenly had the money to support his daughter taking a break from work to study for the civil service exam?"

As a test-taker from a poor small town, Han Fulai had to work while studying for the civil service exam because his family couldn't afford to take time off work to prepare. Families like his were lucky to even finish university; they were counting on their children to start working and support the family. Where would they find the spare money to let their children take time off work to prepare for the exam, or even attempt it a second or third time?

Miners like Qi Ding came from even poorer families than Han Fulai did back then, and studying abroad or even taking the civil service exam were usually not options for the children of miners.

The civil servants of Liyue's Eight Gates are mostly children of merchants, not just because of nepotism, but more importantly because of their economic foundation—the poor cannot afford a good education, which is the same in any world. And Liyue's civil service selection exam is clearly not designed for those who cannot afford education.

For the wealthy in Liyue, being a civil servant is not a big deal, but for a poor man like Qi Ding, his daughter passing the civil service exam is a source of great pride and honor. He wants the whole world to know that his daughter, Qi Nan, has passed the civil service exam.

This is the "world's disparity" resulting from the wealth gap in Liyue—some professions and connections are simply made for the rich.

"Although Haidif is a rich sucker... he wouldn't be so foolish as to pay you wages far above the average."

"Sister Jinwu, you probably know better than I what the miners in Liyue have been like since the Stranded Rock was sealed off. They've either gone to the docks to do manual labor or returned to their hometowns to farm. Many couldn't find work and even joined treasure-hunting gangs... Under these circumstances, the miners in this exploration team have actually managed to save up enough capital to invest in a small business..."

Jinwu couldn't help but cover his face when he thought of the scene just now where Lao Tu and Ahao surrounded Han Fulai and asked about the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce investment plan"... These guys talk too much and can't keep anything to themselves.

"...And you, Sister Jinwu, are able to send your daughter to study abroad and also have money to take care of those orphans from mining accidents who have lost their loved ones... Although this is commendable, if I were to investigate, I would still check your source of income."

"Sigh..." Jinwu sighed deeply.

"Second Brother and his 'Mingyun Class' members used to have good relationships with everyone at the mine. Even after they became a treasure-hunting gang, they never lost touch. When the brothers in the team were in trouble, Second Brother would help them out. We reciprocated by giving him whatever we had if he needed it... Anyway, the ore and gunpowder are, in the end, assets of the mine, and Haidifu doesn't need them, so he's always turned a blind eye."

"My second brother's treasure-hunting group has unearthed a secret passage leading to the bottom of the Layered Rock Abyss over the past two years. They usually use that passage to steal the raw ore left at the bottom before the mine was sealed off."

Actually, when Han Fulai asked the miners about their knowledge of "Second Brother," he had already suspected this. Jiang Xue had also told him that the Seven Star Formation was designed to protect honest people from villains, and that there were many "crooked ways" to bypass the seal. However, he still had one question.

"So can you explain why you had Qi Ding deliver a batch of gunpowder to 'Second Brother' last night? Since you have a long-term cooperative relationship, there was no need to deliberately stage a disappearance case last night, right? If you wanted to shift the blame for the missing supplies to 'Spirit Stone,' you could have done it once the seal was broken. Wouldn't staging a miner's disappearance be too conspicuous?"

Jinwu glanced at Han Fulai with a complicated expression.

"That's because...you broke the seal yesterday."

Chapter 154 A local official is more powerful than a distant one

"Huh? Because of me...?"

Han Fulai was genuinely surprised. So, you guys are rigging gunpowder and it's my fault? That's ridiculous!

However, he quickly realized that Jinwu had no reason to lie under these circumstances. She probably meant the effects of breaking the seal on the "Seven Star Formation".

As expected, Jinwu nodded and said, "Deputy Minister Han, you broke the 'Seven Star Formation' yesterday, which caused an earthquake."

"An earthquake..." Han Fulai thought carefully and remembered that there had indeed been an earthquake yesterday afternoon, and it was quite loud. However, it lasted for a short time and did not cause any major damage.

At the time, Zhiqiong said that this was called "the breath of the fleshy lump". The strata of the layered rock abyss were not stable, and earthquakes were quite common. Of course, Han Fulai did not take it to heart.

"Actually, Second Brother's treasure-hunting group set up several camps in 'Gathering Valley' and dug a tunnel from there all the way to the new mining area in the Layered Rock Abyss. They've almost emptied out the raw ore left in the new mining area over the past few years. I remember they even said a while ago that they were going to look for ore in the old mining area next..."

"Caiqiao Valley" is a place name, a valley directly north of the Layered Rock Abyss, not far from it. The new mining area of ​​the Layered Rock Abyss is also located northeast of the Layered Rock Abyss, and in a straight line, it is not far from "Caiqiao Valley".

It has to be said that this idea of ​​digging tunnels is very much in line with the style of the treasure-hunting gang—just like their namesake "Treasure-Hunting Weasel," the gang is very good at digging tunnels.

Incidentally, during their search for Qi Ding, they encountered the treasure-hunting gang at an ore warehouse not far from the main mining area. It seems they've emptied the new mining area of ​​all the ore and started developing new businesses.

“I heard that people from ‘Shenglu Hall’ came to break the seal, so I went to find my second brother’s men to tell them to stop immediately and not be seen by anyone down there,” Jinwu continued.

"Second Brother's men?" Han Fulai asked.

"Well... we contact Second Brother through his subordinates left in the Abyss of Layered Rocks. His treasure-hunting gang members disguise themselves as vendors and come here to sell us cheaply made jewelry or completely ineffective potions... In short, any vendor selling 'obviously fake' goods is one of Second Brother's men."

...Selling counterfeit goods is illegal, you know...Okay, being a treasure-stealing gang is illegal anyway, so one more won't make a difference...Han Fulai thought to himself.

"As it turned out, my second brother's men told me that the secret passage they had dug out collapsed during that earthquake..."

Han Fulai stroked his chin.

"Hmm... Actually, it's better that it collapsed. Otherwise, after the Abyss of Layered Rocks opened, they would have had to fill in the secret passage to prevent it from being discovered."

What he said made sense. Treasure-hunting gangs couldn't compete with the government for business. Now that the Layered Rock Abyss was truly open, the gangs obviously had to shut up quickly. For example, if Han Fulai had encountered a gang at the bottom of the Layered Rock Abyss, he should have notified the Thousand Rock Army to investigate, but Han Fulai, for his own purposes, suppressed the matter and didn't report it.

—And Jiang Xue doesn't seem to have any objections. Speaking of which, this Lord Yao Guangxing is currently playing the "bodyguard" very convincingly, and really doesn't care about anything except for matters involving knives and guns.

“That’s true… but, well, my second brother is always involved in accidents… so that time the landslide trapped him inside…” Jinwu’s expression grew increasingly helpless.

Han Fulai recalled the stories the miners had told him about his second brother's remarkable achievements. His status as a cautionary tale in the mines was probably partly due to his own bad luck. Han Fulai silently mourned for his second brother.

"...So Qi Ding took gunpowder down into the mine last night to save my second brother?" Han Fulai finally understood the whole story.

"Yes, Qi Ding is from the demolition team. It's very difficult to use explosives to open up a collapsed tunnel without causing a secondary collapse. Second Brother's half-baked team couldn't do this job, so we had to let Qi Ding do the hard work. I just didn't expect... it would end up like this."

Jinwu glanced at Qi Ding and shrugged.

“Actually, if everything had gone smoothly, he should have returned to the camp this morning as if nothing had happened, but Qi Ding didn’t come back. We also agreed that if things didn’t go well and the agreed time had passed, we would wait near the ‘Wishing Stone’ and I would bring people to find him. After we returned, we would blame everything on the influence of the ‘Wishing Stone’.”

“But when we discovered Qi Ding, he was indeed affected by the ‘Wishing Stone’… Could this be considered a case of something fake becoming real?” Han Fulai frowned.

"...We'll only know the specifics of what happened after Qi Ding regains consciousness. Perhaps the influence of the 'Wishing Stone' has expanded again. After all, we saw the proliferation of 'Luminous Stones' when we first went down into the mine, which suggests that the anomalies deep within the Layered Rock Abyss have likely become more severe," Jin Wu speculated.

Han Fulai pondered for a moment and said, "These are all issues to be discussed later. The most urgent task right now is to completely cover this up."

"Deputy Minister Han, you just said you had a solution?" Jinwu's eyes were full of hope.

"Of course," Han Fulai nodded.

Although the things the exploration team did could be considered "corruption" no matter how you looked at it, he knew even better that it was a helpless act by the workers.

If the laid-off workers hadn't been left without proper resettlement after the closure of the Chuangyan Abyss, the "Mingyun Class" wouldn't have needed to become bandits and treasure hunters, and the exploration team wouldn't have needed to collude with the treasure hunters to resell supplies.

Ultimately, this is the responsibility of the Seven Star Government.

The phenomenon of laid-off workers joining treasure-hunting groups and illegally reselling raw ores has been a long-standing issue in Liyue. The reason why various parties turn a blind eye is mainly because the problem cannot be solved, so they simply pretend not to see it.

Without industrial upgrading, where will we find more jobs for workers? And how will we increase welfare subsidies? That money isn't something Han Fulai can just come up with by talking.

Han Fulai's purpose was to solve these problems.

Workers' jobs, fertilizer production, and Liyue's industrialization are all closely related to the opening of the Stranded Rock Abyss.

To ensure the resumption of work and production at the Chuangyan Juyuan site, Han Fulai will use every means to remove obstacles.

"Sister Jinwu, gather the workers later and move the supplies warehouses from the camp up to the bottom. All the supplies you resold should be counted as losses during this exploration of the Layered Rock Abyss and reported to Steward Mu Ning."

"Will this... work?" Jinwu hesitated.

"You can't report it, but I can," Han Fulai smiled. "As the saying goes, 'a local official is more powerful than a distant one,' and the civil servants of Liyue are under my jurisdiction."

Chapter 155 Qi Ding has depression

The next day, Han Fulai found Mu Ning, the chief steward of the Layered Rock Abyss.

Mu Ning was holding an accident report in her hands, her brows furrowed.

"Steward Mu Ning, you're already busy so early in the morning?" Han Fulai greeted him casually.

"Ah, Vice Minister Han, good morning!" Mu Ning quickly put down the report in her hand. "I heard you went down into the mine yesterday to find the missing Qi Ding?"

"Yes, thankfully, we brought him back safely before he encountered any danger," Han Fulai replied.

"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright. We're so grateful for Vice Minister Han's help." Mu Ning nodded repeatedly.

As the general manager of the Stratorock Abyss, he was responsible for all related issues in the Stratorock Abyss region, including production safety.

It's good that Qi Ding is alright. But if something serious were to happen to him, Mu Ning, as the steward, would be the first to bear the responsibility for the negligence in management.

If you were to ask Mu Ning for his opinion on this matter, he would be filled with resentment towards the exploration team. If Jin Wu had gone through the proper procedures to report to him and notify the Qianyan Army to conduct a search and rescue operation, Mu Ning would at least have had the authority to direct the search and rescue, which would be equivalent to "locking the stable door after the horse has bolted" and there would always be an explanation to give to the General Affairs Department afterwards.

From Qi Ding's disappearance to his rescue, he, the general manager of the Cryogenic Abyss, did absolutely nothing. This is considered "irresponsible and inactive." If something had really happened to Qi Ding, he would at least have been dismissed and suspended. Even now that Qi Ding has been safely rescued, he doesn't know how to write the accident report. If he covers it up, so many eyes in the mine are watching; if he writes the truth, the fault for dereliction of duty is obvious... He's really worried about this.

Han Fulai smiled lightly and said, "Steward Mu Ning is too modest. Yesterday, I presided over the search and rescue operation. It was only because of the urgency of the situation that I took the initiative and overstepped my bounds. It was thanks to Steward Mu Ning's understanding of the greater good, his quick decision-making, and his willingness to cooperate with my operation that the missing miners were rescued in time! How could Steward Mu Ning be left out of this record of merit?"

"Oh... Oh dear!" Mu Ning was startled at first, then delighted, and immediately beamed with joy.

"No wonder everyone praises Vice Minister Han for his high level of competence. Your words are truly like a gentle breeze, so refreshing!"

"Haha, Steward Mu Ning, you flatter me."

The two clasped their hands in greeting, which subtly shortened the distance between them.

Han Fulai took two steps closer to Mu Ning and said, "Speaking of which, it was really nerve-wracking when Qi Ding got into trouble this time. You may not know, Steward Mu Ning, but Qi Ding is suffering from 'depression'."

“‘Depression’?” Mu Ning had obviously never heard of this term before.

“It’s a mental illness. Qi Ding’s abnormal behavior is all caused by this illness.” Han Fulai sighed with sympathy. “You know Qi Ding’s family situation. His wife passed away early, and over the years, Qi Ding has been depressed because of missing his deceased wife. He has also been separated from his daughter, whom he regarded as his pillar of support, for a long time, and he has a lot of work pressure, so he became ill from worry…”

"People with this disease tend to be in a negative emotional state for extended periods, are prone to extreme thinking, and have very unstable emotions. The reason Qi Ding inexplicably took gunpowder to the mine last night... was because he wanted to commit suicide!"

"What? Suicide! That's unacceptable!" Mu Ning's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Shouldn't we send him to Bubu Clinic for treatment as soon as possible?"

“Sigh. Only a mental illness can be cured by a mental one… Fortunately, we have brought him back, and Qi Ding’s condition is relatively stable now. However, we cannot be sure when this illness will relapse. Since it concerns his own health and the safety of production in the Laminar Abyss, I suggest sending him back to Liyue Harbor as soon as possible to reunite with his family. With his daughter’s care, perhaps his ‘depression’ will improve.” Han Fulai said seriously.

“Yes, yes, this is a major matter concerning the lives of miners and production safety. I will report to the General Affairs Department as soon as possible and ask them to send someone to pick up Qi Ding and take him back to Liyue Harbor for medical treatment,” Mu Ning said quickly.

"Well, then I'll leave it to Steward Mu Ning."

Han Fulai's face remained serious, but he secretly chuckled to himself, knowing that even on the continent of Teyvat, this "depression" was just as effective.

Back in his hometown, people with "depression" wouldn't be held responsible for anything, not even if they went down into a mine to sell gunpowder, or if they stole something, were caught framing someone, were exposed for falsely accusing them, or stabbed a driver in the neck a dozen times on the highway. In fact, the victims might even have to apologize to the person with "depression."

It's just that Liyue's technology is underdeveloped and it hasn't developed the internet yet. Otherwise, if Qi Ding had returned to Liyue Harbor with "depression," he could easily have become a popular online streamer. He could have launched a "Don't Laugh Challenge," followed by a "How I Overcame Depression" challenge, earning way more than he would from mining!

Han Fulai fabricated an incurable depression on Qi Ding, first blaming Qi Ding for the collusion between the exploration team and the treasure-hunting group, and then attributing all of Qi Ding's actions to "mental illness," thus completely absolving himself of responsibility—"He's so sick he's about to commit suicide, how pitiful! What's a little bit of gunpowder compared to a human life?"

Of course, this is not enough, since the exploration team is reselling much more than just this amount of supplies.

Han Fulai leaned close to Mu Ning's ear and whispered, "By the way, I heard someone say that you didn't come to the mine yesterday, Mu Ning, because the people from the Yanshang Tea House came?"

Logically speaking, Mu Ning, as the supervisor, should have come to check on the exploration team when they went down into the mine yesterday, but he happened to be busy and couldn't come.

Mu Ning's face stiffened, and she forced a smile, "Hey, they're all friends from Liyue Harbor, they wanted to talk about some old times..."

"I heard you also asked about the second young master of the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce, that...?" Han Fulai rubbed his fingers together, making a universally recognized gesture. "Oh dear, your father once told me with great satisfaction that Steward Mu Ning has now turned over a new leaf and is working much harder..."

"This, this..." Mu Ning's face scrunched up, and her hairline looked even higher.

Han Fulai gently put his arm around Mu Ning's shoulder and handed her Jin Wu's report on the loss of supplies.

"To be honest, Xingqiu, the second young master of the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce, is my sworn brother. He's incredibly generous, and as his sworn brother, I always have some respect for him..."

"Ah? Oh..." Mu Ning immediately understood and took Jin Wu's report on material losses.

But his face quickly scrunched up again.

"Um... Deputy Minister Han, this is a bit embarrassing to say, but the loss of warehouse supplies this quarter has exceeded 50%, isn't that a little bit high?"

This is more than just a little bit high.

The Abyss of Laminaria was already closed and only opened yesterday, so it's impossible for it to have consumed so many reserves.

If the General Affairs Department receives such a report on material losses and finds that Mu Ning approved it so casually, the Qianyan Army will first arrest Mu Ning and interrogate him, suspecting that he may have taken kickbacks for personal gain.

Han Fulai patted Mu Ning's shoulder affectionately, "It's just that you look tall. I believe that you, Mu Ning, have been in charge of the accounts of the Cryogenic Abyss for so long, you should be very skilled at bookkeeping, right?"

Chapter 156 The Art of Reimbursement for Civil Servants

"This..." Mu Ning looked troubled, thought about it carefully for a while, and still shook her head firmly.

"Deputy Minister Han, I can't do this."

"Oh?" Han Fulai looked at him with interest.

Mu Ning's thin lips pressed into a thin line, and after a while she spoke with difficulty: "I'm not an ignorant person... I understand what you mean. In fact, I know a little about these things too."

Mu Ning gently patted the damage report. He had been the steward of the Layered Rock Abyss for over two years, and even if he didn't know at first, over time he would eventually notice some clues.

When the Abyss of Laminaria was first sealed off, such activities were rare, and losses were kept within normal limits. But in the past year, perhaps they've become bolder with increased activity; the exploration team has emptied most of the supply depot. If no one investigates, Mu Ning could simply pretend not to know, but now…

Since Han Fulai was so kind as to come to him for expense reimbursement, it means that someone from above will definitely come to check the accounts.