Sail across the sea

Chapter 558 The upper lip touched the lower lip
The Ministry of Chemical Industry quickly received a large number of reports and complaints, some with real names and some anonymous, all pointing the finger at the Chemical Engineering Design Institute. They claimed that the institute's leaders colluded with outside companies to give high subsidies to their trusted subordinates, which seriously corrupted the institute's atmosphere.

According to the whistleblower, the institute's leadership practiced nepotism, and the engineers sent to Haike Company to participate in research projects were all people favored by the leadership. The leadership arranged for them to participate in the projects, which was actually a disguised way of seeking benefits for them, sacrificing the interests of other employees in the institute.

Because of the large number of complainants, including several highly respected senior experts, the ministry leadership attached great importance to the matter and dispatched an investigation team to the design institute to understand the whole story.

After a week of investigations, the investigation team submitted its findings to the ministry leadership:

First, the high subsidies are true, but they have nothing to do with the design institute's leadership; they are entirely the actions of Haike Company. The personnel sent to Haike Company to participate in the research work were not the institute's confidants; on the contrary, they were among the least valued groups in the design institute, and previously everyone believed they had been relegated to Haike Company.

In other words, there was no issue of misconduct by the hospital leaders in this matter.

Secondly, Haike claimed that the subsidies it paid were entirely worthwhile because the engineers who participated in the research worked very hard. According to Haike's assessment, each of these engineers completed more than three times the amount of work done by other people in the design institute during the same period.

Third, although some employees in the design institute expressed strong dissatisfaction with this matter, the majority of employees were supportive and expressed their hope to have the opportunity to participate in Haike Company's projects.

"Damn it, these people still have the nerve to cause trouble!"

After listening to the report, a department leader slammed his fist on the table:
"The last task I gave them took them two whole years to complete. If they could put in the same effort that these dozen or so engineers put into their research at Haike Company, they could finish it in six months at most. The Haike model is not corrupting the atmosphere; on the contrary, it has established a positive atmosphere of striving for excellence, which is worth promoting."

Once the leadership sets the tone, all the clamor and noise will eventually fizzle out.

Human nature is a scale. Even if a small number of people can go against their conscience and say that this is unfair, most employees are reasonable and know that the company's approach is correct. On the contrary, the design institute has been corrupting the atmosphere by sticking to the "iron rice bowl" system for years.

At this time, Haike Company brought in a new business for the design institute: the design of equipment for a large-scale chemical project in a certain region. This time, before the institute's leaders could even speak, a group of engineers gathered around and volunteered to participate, which moved veteran leaders like Di Sucheng to tears, recalling a similar scene when they designed a certain project 30 years ago.

After several projects were launched in succession, Haike Company and the design institute carried out a profit distribution. The design institute received 60 yuan in revenue in one go, and its financial situation immediately improved.

The institute gave everyone a bonus to appease the employees who hadn't yet had the opportunity to participate in the Haike Company project, and the various criticisms subsided.

Everyone knows that making fuss about Haike Company at this time is tantamount to taking away the interests of all the staff in the institute, and it is easy to provoke public anger.

While the chemical engineering design institute was in chaos because of the introduction of a catfish, another catfish planned by Gao Fan was lying on the shore, barely alive.

In the newly established Fourth Dimension Culture Communication Company, Yuan Xiaoyan was pouring out her grievances to Gao Fan:
"Mr. Gao, with just a few words from you, I threw away my secure job in the system and came out to start this lousy magazine, even taking on the responsibility of promoting national self-confidence that you set for me. Now the company is registered, and the publication number is obtained, are you just going to wash your hands of it?" "What do you mean by washing your hands of it?" Gao Fan sat on the sofa, holding a cup of tea, and said with a smile, "I'm fully respecting your independent thinking and not interfering with your creative freedom with the power of capital. Isn't that what you cultural figures have been striving for?"

"You call this not infringing on creative freedom? My publication hasn't even been established yet, and you've already limited our direction, forcing us to sing praises to you national industrialists. We're dancing in shackles, okay?"

"It's as if every media outlet is dancing in shackles. Go ask the editors-in-chief of BBC, CNN, and FOX if they dare to say no to their financial backers?"

Yuan Xiaoyan was speechless.

In her circle, almost everyone firmly believed that Western media were absolutely free, able to criticize whomever they wanted, even capable of overthrowing Nixon. She herself once believed this as well, and often sighed and lamented that Chinese media were not free.

Later, Gao Fan guided her to look at some foreign materials and explained them to her. She was surprised to find that those Western media outlets that claimed to be free were actually part of factions. They did often criticize people, but who they criticized and who they didn't criticize did not stem from journalistic ethics, but rather served the political or economic interests of their respective financial backers.

During her school years, Yuan Xiaoyan was introduced to the idea that a conscientious journalist should "focus on the issue, not the person," always reporting the facts without getting involved in personal disputes. In contrast, Western media tend to focus on the person, not the issue. They extol the actions of their own party while nitpicking the actions of the opposing party.

On the surface, their reporters seemed to dare to say anything. But after analyzing it from Gao Fan's perspective, she was surprised to find that, on the same issue, reporters from different media outlets had distinct viewpoints, to the point that she could guess which media outlet reported it just by looking at the text, without any error.

She hadn't noticed these things before simply because she was Chinese, hadn't lived in a Western society, and didn't understand Western political factions. In short, distance makes the heart grow fonder.

At this point, the words "freedom of the press" are nothing but blatant irony in Yuan Xiaoyan's eyes. Everyone is just playing for their own interests, so what's with the pretense?
"Alright, Mr. Gao, you're the big spender of our Siwei Weekly, and I'm here to serve you. But now that the publication is up and running, you should at least offer some guidance, right?"

What kind of guidance will be provided?

"The content. When I was writing public relations articles for you, I thought I had a direction and it wouldn't be difficult to write an article. But now that I'm running a magazine, I realize that it's really too difficult to fill so many pages every week. I can't possibly sing praises of Canghai Chemical every issue, can I? That would just turn it into your factory newspaper."

“You can still sing praises for Xinglong Coatings, your sister Minmin won’t be stingy with the writing fee.”

Gao Fan made a carefree joke.

(End of this chapter)