Affected by the overcast skies and rain, visibility in the mountainous area was poor, so poor that even the newspaper reporters busy snapping photographs failed to notice the situation unfolding over there.

But Wang Zhuo’s eyesight was unparalleled, far surpassing anything a telescope or microscope could offer; forget cloudy or rainy days, even on nights so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, he could clearly make out details two kilometers away.

Spotting activity in the distance, he stepped a few paces away, creating a small buffer between himself and Yan Xiaopeng, Qi Fei, and the others. He shaded his eyes as if looking into the distance, his gaze sharpening as he magnified the scene tenfold, piercing through the curtain of rain obscuring the view, taking in every detail of the situation.

Upon looking closely, he immediately recognized at least five or six of the individuals—they were all villagers from Taoyuan Village. Meng Mingliang himself was seated squarely in the middle of the crowd, entirely focused on squeezing blood out of a young man’s heel.

Wang Zhuo instantly understood: the young man had accidentally stepped on something sharp, piercing his shoe sole and wounding his heel pad. He focused his gaze; the injury was quite serious, with half a splinter remaining embedded in the sole, nearly poking through to the top of his foot.

Still, this wasn't a critical injury. At a standard community clinic, it would cost a little over a hundred yuan to fix, whether stitches were needed or not. The only consequence was that the young man wouldn't be able to work in the mining area for a short while.

With this assessment, Wang Zhuo relaxed. He shifted his gaze from the young man, casually scanning the immediate surroundings before withdrawing his focus.

After chatting with Yan Xiaopeng and Gong Qiang for a while longer, Wang Zhuo glanced over at the construction site almost by accident. The Taoyuan villagers had dispersed and resumed work. The injured young man was being carried by two companions toward the edge of the site, where the three were speaking animatedly with two men in work overalls.

After a short conversation, for some inexplicable reason, they set the injured young man down, leaving one person behind. Another dashed quickly toward the direction of the construction, and shortly after, Meng Mingliang appeared, leading several people, walking swiftly toward Wang Zhuo's location.

Wang Zhuo paused slightly. What on earth was happening now?

He frowned slightly, considered for a moment, and made a decision. Turning back, he smiled at Yan Xiaopeng, "Director Yan, why don't you take everyone back to rest for a bit? I see a few friends over there; I’ll go say hello."

"Friends?" Yan Xiaopeng looked slightly surprised.

Qi Fei chimed in with a smile, "We got to know some of the villagers back in Taoyuan Village; we got along quite well."

"Exactly, they are right over there," Wang Zhuo pointed into the distance.

Yan Xiaopeng and Gong Qiang followed his gesture but could only make out vague silhouettes; they couldn't discern faces, nor even tell if they were men or women. Both men silently acknowledged to themselves how incredible Wang Zhuo's eyesight was.

Glancing at the vehicles parked behind them, Wang Zhuo said cheerfully, "I think I'll take Commander Gong's pickup truck."

Gong Qiang was the chief engineer of the mining area. Customarily, everyone added the suffix 'Gong' (Engineer) after an engineer's surname as a term of respect. But since Gong Qiang's surname was Gong, the combination became 'Gong Gong' (which sounds like 'father-in-law' or 'eunuch'), a rather awkward association. This was why everyone awkwardly referred to him as Commander Gong instead.

Truly, the surname Gong was ill-suited for studying the sciences or becoming an engineer...

Driving Gong Qiang’s pickup, Wang Zhuo drove down the earthen slope. Using his X-ray vision, he looked toward the distance. Meng Mingliang and the others were now engaged in a heated discussion with the two men in work overalls.

"Why all the chatter? If I say no, it's no," the slightly thinner man in the work overall said impatiently. "The mine has rules: no one outside official capacity can use mine vehicles. Provincial and municipal leaders are arriving tomorrow; if anything goes wrong at this critical juncture, can you shoulder the responsibility?"

"But the round trip is only an hour or so, and the leaders aren't coming until tomorrow?" Meng Mingliang tried to press his case.

"I don't care; a rule is a rule," the man in the overall snapped. "He was careless while working; who can we blame for his injury? Why don't you just have someone carry him back? The village isn't that far anyway."

Meng Mingliang and the others resigned themselves to having the man carried back. After a brief discussion, they selected the three strongest young men for the task.

"Is it just the three of you?" another man in work clothes pulled out a small notebook and pen, asking, "Give me your names. There's no pay for today."

Hearing this, everyone immediately grew anxious. One young man argued back, "But we've already worked for most of the day."

This young man was none other than Meng Zhongmi, whom Wang Zhuo recognized. Earlier this year, Meng Zhongmi had even taken Wang Zhuo to observe his elder brother learning the 'Qin' technique.

In Taoyuan Village, Meng Zhongmi, at eighteen, was already considered prime labor, working hard to save money to marry a wife by the end of the year.

"Most of the day?" The man in the overall seemed to find this hilarious. "So what if it was most of the day? If you walk off halfway, who finishes the remaining work? I should deduct your lost labor fees."

"Are you going to play fair or not?" Meng Zhongmi grew furious, clenching his fists tightly.

"You want to hit me, huh?" The man in the overall sneered, thrusting his face forward. "Go ahead, hit me. If you do, forget about any wages you've earned so far."

Upon hearing this, the others quickly restrained Meng Zhongmi. Twenty-odd people had worked here for over a month; they couldn't afford to lose that pay over a single slap.

Meng Mingliang thought for a moment and arranged, "Zhongmi, you stay. Da Niu and Er Niu, work hard and take Xiao Nian back. Today's wages will be divided equally among everyone; everyone gets a share."

Just as he was saying this, Wang Zhuo arrived rapidly in the pickup truck, bouncing over the gravel road, and screeched to a halt right in front of the group.

Opening the door and stepping out, Wang Zhuo scanned the scene and asked Meng Mingliang, "Village Chief Meng, what is going on here?"

"Wang Zhuo?" Meng Mingliang's eyes lit up, not just because he saw Wang Zhuo, but because Wang Zhuo had arrived in a vehicle.

The villagers all knew Wang Zhuo; they knew he was a good man and fair-minded. Seeing him appear with a car immediately brought smiles to their faces; Xiao Nian finally had a ride home.

"It's like this," Meng Mingliang briefly recounted, "Xiao Nian injured his foot while working and can't walk. We asked the mine to provide a vehicle to take him home, but unfortunately, the mine regulations don't permit it."

Wang Zhuo asked with surprise, "The mine should have a medical team; why didn't you call someone over to treat him?"

"The medical team only treats official mine employees," Meng Mingliang said with a bitter smile. "Some of our people have sustained minor injuries before; we always handled it ourselves."

"This is outrageous!" Wang Zhuo became genuinely angry. He had repeatedly stressed that all personnel must be treated equally, yet the execution below was clearly the opposite.

"Are these two in charge of directing your work?" Wang Zhuo pointed at the two men in work overalls standing nearby.

"Yes." Meng Mingliang reached out, about to introduce them to Wang Zhuo, but Wang Zhuo waved him off.

"I have no interest in knowing who they are." Wang Zhuo cast a look of disgust toward the pair and said to Meng Zhongmi, "First, get Xiao Nian into the truck."

Then, he pointed at another young man, slightly older than the injured one, and instructed, "Are you He Yuan? Go summon all the Taoyuan people from the site. Tell them to knock off work for today, drop whatever they're doing, and come here immediately."

He Yuan froze, looking hesitantly at Meng Mingliang, unsure whether to go or stay.

The two men in work overalls, seeing Wang Zhuo suddenly arrive in a pickup truck—a vehicle typically reserved for mine management—had kept quiet for a moment, preferring to assess the situation. Now, seeing Wang Zhuo disregard them entirely and start ordering around the temporary workers under their supervision, they had to intervene.

"Excuse me, who might you be?" The one holding the pen asked tentatively.

"I have nothing to say to you." Wang Zhuo glanced at him, then pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket.

Damn it, zero signal.

Out of options, he reached out toward the man in the overalls and said coldly, "Give me the walkie-talkie."

No walkie-talkie either? Where did this guy pop up from? The two men in overalls exchanged glances, their minds filled with questions.

Seeing the two remain motionless, Wang Zhuo strode forward, roughly snatching the walkie-talkie from the shoulder strap of the thinner man's overall. "Which channel is for the Chief Engineer?"

Seeing his aggressive posture, the man in the overall grew somewhat uneasy. He tried a conciliatory tone, "Friend, let's talk this out calmly, shall we?"

Wang Zhuo snorted, feeling something stuck to the back of the walkie-talkie. He flipped it over and saw, as expected, a sticker printed with channel instructions. With a cold smile, he switched the device to Channel 01.

Yan Xiaopeng and Gong Qiang, along with Qi Fei and the others, had just settled into the office constructed from precast panels. The water for tea hadn't even started boiling yet, when the walkie-talkie on the table crackled to life with Wang Zhuo’s voice.

"Hello, hello, this is Wang Zhuo. Director Yan and Commander Gong, if you can hear me, please respond immediately."

Guan Yingying asked with surprised laughter, "Where did he get a walkie-talkie?"

"His tone is off," Qi Fei frowned slightly. "It sounds like something urgent has happened."

Yan Xiaopeng picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the transmit button, and said, "This is Yan Xiaopeng, I read you."

"Director Yan, please hurry to... Village Chief Meng, where is this location?"

At this point, Wang Zhuo paused, then continued, "Come to Construction Site Number Four, and bring a doctor with you on your way."

Hearing this, Yan Xiaopeng immediately became tense. "Please wait, we're on our way right now!"

The walkie-talkie's volume was quite high, and the exchange was brief, yet everyone present on both ends heard it clearly. Everyone on Yan Xiaopeng’s side instantly jumped to their feet. An injured person was a serious matter, especially if it might be Wang Zhuo who was hurt?

On the other side, the Taoyuan villagers, led by Meng Mingliang, hadn't grasped the full situation. They didn't know how important 'Director Yan' and 'Commander Gong' were, but they understood Wang Zhuo possessed significant influence—he had not only summoned a doctor but also called for the mine's top leadership.

As for the two men in work overalls, who had been so arrogant moments before, hearing that this young newcomer could summon Yan Xiaopeng, the number one figure at Taoyuan Copper Mine, with a single call, their faces turned ashen. This young man was clearly siding with the bumpkins from Taoyuan Village; what fate awaited them, they didn't need to guess.