Sail across the sea

Chapter 365 The Uninformed Masses

"Old Luo, congratulations! You guys are about to upgrade your equipment, right?"

When the call connected, Tan Rongjiang immediately offered his congratulations. The underlying malice in that congratulation was self-evident.

On the other end of the phone, Luo Jiazhen, the director of Jingqiao Fertilizer Plant, glanced at the newspaper in front of him and replied in a disdainful tone:
"Old Tan, aren't you just saying the opposite of what you mean? It's all over the newspapers, you and Gao Yiping are getting together. From now on, when there are meetings in the hall, you guys will be sitting on the stage, so don't pretend you don't know us sitting below."

"I never got involved with Gao Yiping. After Gao Yiping was promoted to Ruizhang, I only spoke to him on the phone once, and we didn't get a single word out," Tan Rongjiang said.

Luo Jiazhen was taken aback for a moment, then asked in a serious tone, "Old Tan, are you telling the truth?"

"of course it's true."

"Didn't your Cangzhou Nitrogen Plant sign a contract with the fertilizer industry company?"

"Of course not. I was also wondering if Jinghua has signed a contract with them."

"We don't have any either. The county feels that the fertilizer industry company's conditions are not suitable and wants to delay."

"What the newspaper said..."

"Could it be Lao Ma and Lao Wang?"

"Damn, I get it! Gao Yiping is bluffing! That guy loves to pull stunts!"

Tan Rongjiang slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing what was going on. There was no company that had signed a contract with the fertilizer industry company; Gao Yiping was clearly just bluffing.

In those days, there was no internet or anything like that. Even if it was just across a county, many things couldn't get through. The four ammonium phosphate conversion companies selected by the Chemical Industry Department were located in four different cities within the province. Who knew if they had actually signed contracts with fertilizer companies? Gao Yiping spoke with great conviction in the interview, even claiming that preliminary work had already begun, which made it hard not to believe him.

Then, Gao Yiping casually remarked, "Only a few companies haven't signed the contract," and everyone put themselves in that situation, imagining that everyone else had already surrendered and they were the last ones resisting.

Who knew that it was all just a scam?

"You know what, it's really true!" Luo Jiazhen also realized.

In a large factory that manages thousands of people, no factory manager is an easy person to deal with; they can see through the shady dealings involved.

Think about it, given the Chemical Industry Bureau's anxious attitude, if any company had actually signed an agreement with a fertilizer company, wouldn't they have held a grand on-site meeting with fanfare? Why would they so discreetly claim "several companies"? At the very least, they could have mentioned the companies' names, right?

Previously, no one had considered this possibility; they simply assumed that newspapers wouldn't lie. While Gao Yiping had a history of lying, that was usually done in private—making up a story to get colleagues to drink—it wasn't a serious offense. Who would have thought he'd dare to spout nonsense in front of reporters?

"Old Luo, do you think Gao Yiping is out of options and can only brag in the newspapers to fool the provincial department?"

Having understood the truth of the matter and knowing that he was not alone, Tan Rongjiang felt relieved and discussed Gao Yiping's motives with Luo Jiazhen.

He would never admit that he was merely jealous of Gao Yiping's promotion and secretly hoped that Gao's plans would fail. Luo Jiazhen said, "Isn't that unlikely? Director Xu isn't someone who's easily fooled. If Gao Yiping wanted to deceive the provincial department using this method, Director Xu could simply make a phone call to any of us, and the deception would be exposed."

“That’s because he was trying to scam us,” Tan Rongjiang said again.

"It doesn't seem like it either," Luo Jiazhen continued to deny it. "We might be easily intimidated by him and fall for his tricks. But we can still call each other to verify. If you hadn't called me earlier, I was going to call Lao Ma to ask. If we all go over each other's stories, wouldn't it be clear? Lao Gao is a veteran in the chemical industry; surely he knows that we usually keep each other informed?"

"Then what do you think he's after?" Tan Rongjiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Was it just a lie told casually to appease reporters?

This might fool the uninformed masses, but it won't fool the fertilizer factory directors or the county heads. What's the point? Ultimately, the decision-makers are those who know the truth.

Wait, the uninformed masses...

Tan Rongjiang suddenly felt a chill rise up his back, and his jaw was chattering.

"Old Luo, do you think it's possible that Gao Yiping was saying these things to ordinary people?" Tan Rongjiang asked.

"Why would he tell ordinary people? This concerns..." Luo Jiazhen wanted to say, "What does this have to do with ordinary people?" but then he remembered something and couldn't finish the sentence. He lowered his voice and asked:

"Old Tan, have you been hearing any rumors or discussions about Cangyuan lately?"

He didn't specify the content of the discussion, but Tan Rongjiang seemed to understand immediately and asked, "What, do you people in Jingqiao also have such discussions?"

“That’s right. My wife came back yesterday and said that people at her workplace are saying that I, the director of the fertilizer plant, am unwilling to convert ammonium to urine. Maybe they’re trying to do something about it,” Luo Jiazhen said.

Tan Rongjiang was almost in tears: "I just heard about this from a friend this morning. People around here are also talking about this, and it's exactly the same as what you said."

"Good heavens! How could a mere factory manager like me make such a decision? Besides, what kind of tricks could I possibly pull? When Canghai Fertilizer Plant finally produced urea, I spent ages trying to curry favor with Gao Yiping, practically begging him to arrange a marriage between our children, before he finally approved a quota of five tons for me. After I got the quota, I had the factory's trucks haul it all back, and it all ended up being divided up among the county's bigwigs. I only got the cost price; I didn't make a single penny off them, and I almost lost my daughter in the process!"

The Luo family poured out their grievances.

As the saying goes, a man doesn't easily shed tears, unless he's met someone who shares his fate. Luo Jiazhen could only confide his frustrations to his wife; none of the other officials in the county at his level would believe him. Now that Tan Rongjiang had brought it up, Luo Jiazhen had finally found a kindred spirit.

"Gao Yiping doesn't care about your daughter," Tan Rongjiang commented, then returned to the main topic, saying, "Old Luo, think about it, weren't Gao Yiping's words aimed at these rumors outside? Think about it, there were already such rumors circulating among the people. When they heard Gao Yiping say that only our factories in the whole province weren't cooperating, what would they think?"

"What else could they be thinking? They'd definitely smash my windows!" Luo Jiazhen grumbled.

Tan Rongjiang laughed and said, "It's not like they'd smash your house windows. If anyone's going to smash anything, it'd be your office windows... Holy crap, what's going on? Someone's actually smashing our factory windows!"

(End of this chapter)