Chapter 55 Three Years Ago
Chapter 55 Three Years Ago
When Rose came out of the Xavier's company, she found that the time was still early. Thinking of that these days she was too busy with her and Burke, she didn't have time to care about Tina's current situation. Therefore, she took out her mobile phone from her bag and dialed the number of Tina, wanting to ask her out for lunch with her.
After a long beep, the phone was picked up.
"Hello? Rose." Tina's voice from the phone sounded calm. Although it was not as bright as before, it should not be a big deal with her. Rose was relieved.
"Hey, Tina, are you okay? Do you have time for lunch?" Rose asked.
"Yes, I'll go to the hospital this afternoon. Can you accompany me?" Tina agreed straightforwardly.
"How about Japanese food? I heard that there's a newly opened Japanese restaurant at Yunshang Road. The boss is a Japanese. Shall we have a try?" Rose couldn't hold her excitement and proposed to Tina. At the thought that her father's case finally came to light, she was in a good mood and her appetite also improved.
"Okay. Yunshang Road, right? I'll be there soon. See you later." Tina then hung up the phone quickly.
Rose put her cell phone back to her bag, walked to the side of the road and called a taxi.
"Sir, let's go to the new Japanese restaurant at Yunshang Road." Rose said to the driver as she closed the door.
"Yunshang Road? Here we go!" As soon as the driver received the destination, he stepped on the accelerator and drove off.
The car went on the road.
"You seem to be in a good mood, Miss." The taxi driver was a middle-aged man in his early fifties. He seemed to be a good talker. Seeing the excited expression on Rose's face, he decided to chat with her.
"Yes." Rose squinted her eyes and smiled.
When the car turned a corner and came to a busy street, a variety of small stores and restaurants filled the two sides of the street. On the non mobile lane, the groups of people who enjoyed travelling in groups were very lively.
The street was very crowded with so many cars and pedestrians that they could only slowly move forward in the middle of the street. Looking at the bustling street view outside the car window, Rose suddenly saw a construction spot in the middle of which she had finished and now stood in the middle of all the fancy stores on both sides, attracting much attention.
The construction site was obviously abandoned for a long time. On top of a tall high-rise cement building, a red 'welcome' sign was blew out, losing its light red color and flowing with the wind lonely.
Rose felt relieved and the smile on her face faded gradually and was replaced by layers of haze. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
There was a traffic jam and the car just could not move.
When the driver saw that Rose didn't say a word, he caught a glimpse of her from the rearview mirror in the car. He noticed that Rose was looking at the deserted construction site in front of him. He thought it was a coincidence that such a construction site appeared on the bustling commercial street for many years, so he explained to Rose, "This construction site was planned to build the biggest shopping mall in the city, but it was half finished. The boss was arrested by the government, but the project was delayed. It is said that it has been solved yet. What a pity that this is such a good place!" The driver said regretfully. Seeing that the car in front of him did not move at all, he rolled down the window. Then he took a cigarette out of his pocket in his chest and lit it.
"Miss, do you mind me to smoke?" After saying that, the driver raised the cigarette and have a deep smoke. Then he stretched out his hand with the cigarette and slowly spit out a stream of smoke. Obviously, he didn't notice the gloomy expression of Rose. He continued, "It's said that a dozen people died in the construction project. Look, it fell from the highest building. It's really a disaster."
Blankly, Rose listened to the driver in silence all the way.
*
Her mind went back to three years ago.
At that time, the Ninth Block was in the developing phase. The government of the city planned to develop it into the most prosperous commercial street in the downtown. The center area was going to be built as the biggest commercial plaza in this city. And this project was put for bidding in the whole country.
Lin Real Estate, which had been one of the strongest in the industry, had been placed great hopes on the public.
As the CEO of Lin Real Estate and Rose's father, Ray also had the indent to participate in the bid.
Rose could only remember that her father was busy with the bidding data and he went back home from work early in the morning and came back late at night.
Ray thought he had been well prepared and confident, but he still lost on the day.
At the night of the bid, her father returned home with strong smell of alcohol, which was quite abnormal. Under the influence of alcohol, his consciousness was not clear. Besides, Rose and her mother threw themselves down on the sofa worriedly. When her father took off his shoes and socks and took off his tie, she heard his father keep on saying the words, "The collusion between government officials and
merchants" Neither she nor her mother knew what did it mean at that time. They only thought that it was due to the error in work and the effect of alcohol on anesthesia.
Later, his father didn't mention anything about the bidding, so no one asked him what had happened on the day.
Unexpectedly, there was an accident during the construction of the Ninth Block which had been carried out over four months later. A dozen workers were working in the air. Because of their ignorance of the safety measures, the tall shelves suddenly collapsed when they were doing homework. No one was able to escape from this accident.
The news had caused a huge sensation in the society after it was reported. The victims and their families all went to the government office building to make a request to investigate the project supervisor thoroughly. And the victim was also asked to seek justice.
The Internet, TV and newspapers were all about the latest progress of the accident of the nine mountain project.
To Rose's surprise, a dozen policemen came to his home that night and took him away a month after the accident. Since then, his father hadn't come back home.
A few months later, the judge declared that his father, Ray, as the person in charge of the accident of the nine mountain project, was sent to prison.
Ray didn't want Rose to get involved in his business. He wanted his daughter d to grow up happily.
So Rose, who was an art major, didn't know much about her father's business. She had some doubts, puzzle, sadness, and anger when her father was put in jail. She didn't believe that her respected father would go to dock the project funds and buy safe equipment for the workers on the construction site. In the end, the worker was killed.
Besides, since the bidding, her father's strange performance had made her particularly puzzled.