“For the Baosheng Chemical Plant explosion and the Gong family fire, I wrote down everything in my incident reports back then. My memory now can’t possibly be more detailed than those reports were at the time.” Ren Xiangrong gave Ren Yi a warning first. “I don’t know how much I can actually help you.”
“I understand. I’ve read all the incident reports. I’ll ask about things that aren’t in them. For example, could the explosion have been caused deliberately?” Ren Yi asked.
Ren Xiangrong shook his head. “The cause of the accident was a vinyl acetate explosion. The burning materials from the explosion then ignited other chemicals, causing a chain reaction of explosions. As for why the vinyl acetate exploded, the investigation concluded that when the workers were transferring the chemical into the reactor, friction against the plastic pipe generated static electricity, and the resulting spark ignited the volatile chemical vapors. But all of that was determined based on the physical evidence left behind afterward. In reality, the entire workshop was destroyed by the blast, and twelve workers and technicians died on the spot. What exactly happened before the explosion…” He pointed toward the ceiling. “Only God knows.”
“That conclusion is fairly reasonable,” Ren Yi said. “Safety measures and awareness were still relatively underdeveloped in those days, and they also lacked many of the modern prevention and monitoring technologies we have now.”
Ren Xiangrong sighed. “Every word in those safety regulations was written in blood and tears, lessons learned through tragedy.” He thought for a moment. “Could it be that the investigation into the cause of the explosion was also flawed?”
“No. At present, there is no evidence suggesting that it was deliberately caused by someone.”
Ren Xiangrong breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t think that was very likely either. But even if it wasn’t deliberate, someone still had to bear responsibility for a production accident.”
A heavy expression appeared on Ren Yi’s face.
In a workplace accident, from before a chemical is even created until after an accident occurs, every material handled by every person and every event that takes place along the way could be the butterfly wing that gently flaps, eventually bringing about a earth-shattering storm.
Take the Baosheng Chemical Plant case, for example. The production environment and purity of the chemical raw materials, whether storage and transportation conditions met the required standards, whether the methods of packaging and use complied with regulations, whether the operators had been properly trained and managed, whether emergency plans and organized rescue capabilities were adequate—every single detail was crucial to production safety. Therefore, in a case where even determining and investigating the cause of the accident was difficult, the management and production sides naturally bore the greatest responsibility.
In this accident, the investigation team determined that the plastic piping used to transfer chemicals into the reactor did not meet the required standards, while the grounding wire on the storage drums had deteriorated. Together, these caused excessive electrical resistance and a buildup of static electricity, which was considered the primary cause of the explosion. Secondly, the spacing, quantity, temperature control, and ventilation of the other chemicals stored in the warehouse were all inadequate. After the initial explosion, the chemical plant failed to control the fire in time, and these factors together caused a secondary explosion that expanded the damage. In the end, the nationwide industrial disaster caused 137 deaths, 269 injuries, and economic losses totaling 720 million yuan. On top of that, the secondary damage caused by the chemical leak was impossible to accurately estimate.
At the time, Baosheng Chemical Plant’s purchasing staff, engineers, workshop director, head of security, plant manager, and others were all criminally detained, while the management of Baosheng Group was also subjected to compulsory investigation.
In the end, all the major responsibilities—including purchasing substandard materials, using deteriorated equipment, and failures in management—were placed on the group’s chairman, Gong Mingyu, who had supposedly “committed suicide out of guilt.”
After undergoing asset restructuring, Baosheng Group changed its name and ownership structure. Following several years of recovery, it once again established a foothold in the chemical industry.
Recalling what had happened back then, Ren Xiangrong was still deeply saddened. When he spoke of the dangers during the rescue and the comrades he had lost, he couldn’t help but redden around the eyes.
Ren Yi felt a pang of guilt. He felt that asking his father to relive such cruel memories was terribly unfilial. He said, “Dad, I have a general understanding of the chemical plant case. I’ll look for the records myself later. Tell me about the Gong family’s fire.”
Ren Xiangrong wiped at the corners of his eyes. “That one… It was horrible. Absolutely horrible.”
Thinking of everything Gong Yingxian had been through, Ren Yi couldn’t suppress the waves of pain in his heart. No words or images could describe the hell Gong Yingxian had experienced. No one, no matter how much empathy or capacity for compassion they possessed, could truly understand his suffering. It filled Ren Yi with a helpless kind of anger.
Ren Xiangrong spoke slowly. “It happened so many years ago. I can’t remember many of the details anymore. What I remember most clearly was that after we entered the fire scene, the four members of the family were huddled together beneath the bathroom window.”
Ren Yi’s hands began to tremble slightly.
“The parents… used their bodies to shield their children from the flames, while the girl also shielded her youngest brother behind her. Three members of the family were burned beyond recognition. Only that little boy was almost completely unharmed.” Ren Xiangrong’s voice was already choked with emotion. “The girl was still alive at the time. I heard she suffered needlessly in the hospital for several days…”
Ren Yi lowered his head, his breathing becoming unusually labored.
“When I carried that child out, he was completely terrified. He couldn’t call out. He couldn’t cry…” Ren Xiangrong turned his face away.
Ren Yi took a deep breath and asked as calmly as he could, “Dad, with your experience and instincts from a lifetime of firefighting, do you think the man of the house started the fire?”
Ren Xiangrong was silent for a moment. “Until the investigation results came out, it never occurred to me that it could have been suicide. They showed an intense will to survive. Every route leading to an exit had been blocked by the fire. The family hid in the bathroom, but there was a security grille over the bathroom window, and they couldn’t break it open.”
“It didn’t look like suicide at all,” Ren Yi repeated.
“It didn’t,” Ren Xiangrong said. “But I’ve encountered cases where people regretted it after attempting suicide. Besides, fire investigations were entirely the police’s responsibility in those days. Our job ended after we put out the fire, rescued people, and submitted our incident report. Later, I learned the results of the investigation. Although I found them difficult to believe, I didn’t think too much about it. After all, Gong Mingyu had just suffered such a tremendous blow, so he did have a motive to commit suicide.”
“Can you remember any more details?”
“Anything I considered important at the time would definitely have been written in the incident report.” Ren Xiangrong thought for a moment. “I even went through the draft of my incident report again yesterday to help jog my memory. The cause of the fire was definitely arson. There was an accelerant, and the escape routes had been deliberately blocked. But the doors and windows were intact, and there were no signs of forced entry from outside.”
“What about the masked man Gong Yingxian mentioned? Were there any signs that someone else had been inside the house?”
Ren Xiangrong frowned. “At least not when we entered. A living person couldn’t stay inside a house that had burned that badly, so whoever it was must have already left.”
“Not a single trace?” Ren Yi asked. “Dad, think carefully again. Was there anything unusual or particularly noteworthy?”
Ren Xiangrong thought for a long time before saying, “People who intend to commit suicide, especially someone planning to take their entire family with them, usually choose methods that are relatively gentle and painless, like carbon monoxide poisoning or taking medication. Gong Mingyu had been a rich young master since childhood. He’d never suffered hardship in his entire life. No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t seem like someone who would choose such a horrific way to die, let alone take his wife and children with him. When the incident happened, all four of them were wearing pajamas. It looked as though they’d been startled awake from sleep. That also doesn’t fit the characteristics of someone committing suicide. Especially someone like Gong Mingyu, who had studied abroad and had always been very particular about his appearance even in those days. He had dignity in life—why would he choose to lose all dignity in death?”
“You’re right. Even an ordinary person would want to leave this world with dignity when committing suicide.”
“Not one of us who responded to the call that day thought it was suicide. The scene clearly showed signs of arson. But after the investigation results came out, they said Gong Mingyu had suffered such a severe psychological blow after the chemical plant accident that his mental state had become abnormal, so in a way, everything seemed to make sense.” Ren Xiangrong suddenly seemed to remember something. “Wait… the point of origin.”
“What?”
“When I entered the fire scene, the fire in the living room was very intense, but my instinct told me the living room wasn’t the point of origin. It seemed like the burning wasn’t complete, or there was some other detail at the time that made me judge from experience that this wasn’t where the fire had started. The fire had spread there along the accelerant. But that was only my initial instinct. As a firefighter, I made that judgment primarily to ensure the safety of myself and the men with me. Later, however, the investigation report stated that the point of origin was the living room. I didn’t question it either, because fire investigation wasn’t my job. It would be like a police officer coming over and questioning me about how I put out a fire.”
Ren Yi was startled. “If the point of origin was determined incorrectly, then the victims’ escape route would also be wrong.”
Based on the structure of the house, the evidence preserved at the scene, the victims’ physical capabilities, and the locations where their bodies were ultimately found, investigators could reconstruct the victims’ escape routes. The point of origin played a crucial role in determining those routes. Not only that, it was vital to the investigation into the cause of the entire incident. That was why the first thing investigators had to determine in any fire investigation was the point of origin.
If the point of origin had been incorrectly determined from the very beginning, then the reconstructed escape route could also be wrong. Suppose, for example, that the point of origin had actually been on Gong Mingyu’s route back to the bedroom. Then after setting the fire, he wouldn’t have been able to pass through that area. So how could he have ended up in the bathroom with his entire family?
A logical contradiction like that could completely prove that Gong Mingyu wasn’t the arsonist. Although this was only a hypothesis, as the person who had conducted the initial rescue at the scene, Ren Xiangrong’s judgment based on his professional experience and instincts was often extremely valuable as a reference.
Ren Yi said, “Dad, this is extremely valuable. Gong Yingxian is using modern technology to restore the photographs from the scene. I’ve decided to conduct the fire investigation again.”
Ren Xiangrong let out a soft sigh. “Son, if this case really was murder, there could be a lot of people involved. Do you know what you’re going to be facing? Eighteen years have passed. Reopening the case is going to come at a tremendous cost.”
Ren Yi nodded firmly. “Dad, don’t stop me.”
“I won’t stop you.” Ren Xiangrong said calmly. “Your temper is just like mine. I know there’s no point in trying to stop you.”
Ren Yi gave a carefree, faint smile. “Dad, a firefighter’s mission is to save people. Not letting a single arsonist get away is the same as refusing to give up on a single victim.”
“When the photographs have been restored, show them to me too. Maybe they’ll help me remember something else.”
“Okay, I—”
Ren Yi’s phone suddenly rang. It was Gong Yingxian calling.
“Hello?”
“Ren Yi, are you at the station?” Gong Yingxian’s voice sounded somewhat downcast.
“I am. What happened?”
“I’m at the station.” Gong Yingxian paused, then said softly, “I want to see you.”
Ren Yi immediately stood up. “Wait for me. I’ll be there right away.”