The Shadow of the Underworld

The case report on Gong Jiafu's case was discussed several times within the special task force. On the day the final draft was completed, Jiang Ruolan stayed in the office until after 2 a.m.

The report's core recommendations spanned three full pages: Chengdong Logistics Park, a large freight hub with a daily cargo throughput exceeding 20,000 tons, has long relied on several independent security companies for internal security. Its monitoring system is outdated and has numerous blind spots. The dispatched workers operating at night have not undergone any background checks, and a gray transaction chain between forklift operators and freight forwarders has existed for quite some time.

These problems cannot be summarized by the tragedy of Gong Jiafu alone, but are the inevitable consequences of an industry ecosystem that has long lacked effective supervision.

She wrote in the last paragraph of the report:

"Gong Jiafu's murder was a premeditated violent crime, but the root cause lies in the systemic loopholes in the internal management of the logistics industry. It is recommended that the Municipal Public Security Bureau take the lead, in conjunction with the transportation, market supervision and other departments, to carry out a comprehensive special operation to rectify public security in logistics parks throughout the city, with a focus on investigating the backgrounds of nighttime workers, the coverage of surveillance facilities, and the compliance of freight forwarding businesses."

After the report was submitted, the city approved it very quickly.

On the morning the special operation was launched, Jiang Ruolan held an on-site mobilization meeting in the conference room of the Chengdong Logistics Park.

Sitting in the audience were more than a hundred heads of logistics companies and safety managers. Some were looking down at their phones, while others were whispering to each other. The air was filled with a perfunctory, routine atmosphere. They had attended too many of these mobilization meetings, and each time it was just about listening to the leaders speak, signing responsibility agreements, and then hanging them on the wall to collect dust.

But when Jiang Ruolan went on stage, she didn't bring a speech; instead, she projected a photo onto the big screen.

In the photo, Gong Jiafu is wearing a faded blue overall and standing next to a forklift, smiling憨厚ly at the camera. It was taken during his first year working in Yi'an after leaving his hometown, when he was not yet thirty years old.

After the audience quieted down, she spoke into the microphone:

"This man is Gong Jiafu. Many of you here may or may not know him. He has been driving a forklift at the Chengdong Logistics Park for nearly ten years without ever having a safety accident. His wife is a supermarket cashier, and his son is in his final year of junior high school. He is doing well academically, and his homeroom teacher says he has a good chance of getting into a top high school. He promised to take his son to buy a new pair of sneakers for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, but he hasn't done so yet."

The sounds of people scrolling through their phones and whispering in the meeting room stopped. Everyone looked up at the photo on the screen.

"How many Gong Jiafus are there in your logistics park? How many forklift operators drive forklifts and move goods in the warehouse every day, earning less than 4,000 yuan a month, without social security, without labor contracts, with the weather forecast of their hometown saved on their phones, and pointing the camera at the ceiling when they video chat with their families every night, because they are afraid that their families will see that they live in a shed and worry? If you can't even guarantee their most basic life safety, no matter how big the logistics park is, it's just a place to pile up goods."

Jiang Ruolan placed the microphone back on the table and began to read out the inspection standards and rectification deadlines for the special operation item by item—all blind spots in surveillance must be re-installed within fifteen days, night-duty security guards must be in pairs on duty and equipped with law enforcement recorders, all forklift operators and dispatched workers must complete background checks and real-name registration by the end of the month, and freight forwarders that do not meet the requirements will be suspended from operation for rectification. Each standard was followed by a specific person in charge and a supervising unit, leaving no room for ambiguity.

There was a few seconds of silence in the audience, followed by a short but powerful round of applause.

A middle-aged man sitting in the first row stood up. He was the general manager of Chengdong Logistics Park, surnamed Luo. He had been working in the Yi'an logistics industry for more than 20 years. He usually never spoke up in meetings, but today he took the microphone for the first time.

He said he'd spent most of his life in logistics, and what he feared most was police inspections of fire safety and traffic violations. But what Director Jiang said today resonated with him—many of the forklift operators in the logistics park were names he couldn't even recall; he only knew they were sent by labor companies, working twelve-hour days, living in makeshift sheds, and eating boxed lunches. He never imagined someone would be transporting contraband at night for two thousand yuan, let alone that someone would be silenced for quitting. He said he knew there were criminal elements behind these things. Back when Shen Wangshan was in charge, the logistics park was monopolized by Fengmao Logistics for years; every time they inspected it, they were blocked. Now, finally, someone dared to touch this mess.

As soon as Manager Luo finished speaking, a thin, middle-aged man wearing a forklift operator's uniform suddenly stood up in the corner of the conference room.

His work clothes were stained with oil, and he looked like he had just come out of the warehouse. He was also holding a safety helmet in his hand.

He stood in the corner, hesitated for several seconds, and then said in a voice with a heavy Ishibashi accent:

"My name is Meng Qinghai, from Mengjia Village, Xiaohe Town, Shiqiao County. Gong Jiafu is from the same village. The night he had the accident, I was supposed to be on duty, but he switched shifts with me. He told me that someone was coming that night and asked me to cover for him. I said okay, I wasn't busy that night anyway. He didn't come back the next day, and I looked for him everywhere. Later I found out he died in the maintenance workshop. If I had known he died in my place..."

His voice choked as he spoke, he rubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand, and looked down at his helmet.

He originally just wanted to say a few words on behalf of Gong Jiafu's fellow workers, but he couldn't get the words out properly.

Manager Luo walked over, patted him on the shoulder, pressed him back into his chair, and picked up the microphone himself to speak for him:

"What Lao Meng means is that it's a good thing you're coming to investigate. He's willing to cooperate, and many people in the logistics park are also willing to cooperate. They don't usually have a chance to say these things, but now that someone is standing up for them, they'll dare to speak up in the future."

The special operation lasted for more than a month and achieved remarkable results. The rate of blind spot coverage in the city's logistics parks increased from less than 50% before the operation to more than 90%. More than 1,000 forklift operators and dispatched workers completed background checks and real-name registration.

The Chengdong Logistics Park took the lead in piloting a double-person, double-post system for nighttime security guards and an electronic sign-in system for duty patrols. All patrol records are uploaded to the municipal bureau's command center in real time, effectively solving the long-standing problem of blind spots in nighttime security.

Meanwhile, in response to the common occurrence of security risks in logistics parks being intertwined with the infiltration of organized crime, the task force, in conjunction with transportation, market supervision and other departments, carried out multiple rounds of joint law enforcement inspections. Enterprises that refused to rectify or failed to rectify problems such as substandard monitoring facilities, insufficient security personnel, and inadequate background checks were dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.

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