That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1480 Are they all idiots?
"Minister Yang, do you really not know why the contractor isn't coming to the site? We haven't paid them the entry fee as stipulated in the contract!"

"How come I didn't pay according to the contract? Does the contract clearly stipulate when I should be paid? You said before I entered the site?"
"Don't be ridiculous. From the team leader onwards, not a single vehicle has arrived. These days, there are plenty of scammers, and Li Ye isn't here. He won't sign off, and the Zhongxin Company won't agree either. Our funds are earmarked for this purpose; we can't bend the law for personal gain."

Who the hell are you accusing of bending the law for personal gain?

Although Lao Yang, the finance officer, was half a level below Cong Jinhong and was essentially "the one being led" in terms of position, Cong Jinhong couldn't openly lash out at Lao Yang after being subjected to his barbed remarks. She could only curse him silently in her heart and swallow her resentment.

Because if he dared to spit at Lao Yang, Lao Yang would have a million ways to disgust him to death.

Therefore, Jin Hong had to find someone to "help her" in order to get back at him.

The only people in the entire group who were qualified to deal with Lao Yang were Ma Zhaoxian and Shang Bin.

Jin Hong found Shang Bin and immediately complained to Lao Yang: "Secretary Shang, that Lao Yang is outrageous! You just made it clear at the meeting that the entire group should support the office building project, but he's just going against your word."

The day before yesterday, I paid Mr. Wang the entry fee, and he took it upon himself to give me a discount. Yesterday, I went to follow up on the payment for the steel and cement, but he refused to pay a single penny. I told him that this was a project personally overseen by Secretary Shang, but he still ignored me.

Shang Bin narrowed his eyes and looked at Cong Jin Hong.

Cong Jinhong is Shang Bin's protégé, so after the contract was signed, Shang Bin held a meeting with the heads of the main departments to tell them that they must support Cong Jinhong's work. But now Cong Jinhong is being harassed. Will Shang Bin be furious?
When two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. If Shang Bin is truly enraged, Ma Zhaoxian will have to back down.

But today, Shang Bin stared at Cong Jin Hong for a long time before finally speaking, "Sister Cong, you've been involved in this office building project from beginning to end, so you should know the inside story."
We made a mistake when buying the land. Later, when Wang Bingxian wanted to undertake our project, it was agreed that he would provide both labor and materials.
Because I felt that we shouldn't always make things convenient for others, we also needed to make things convenient for ourselves, I went to great lengths to persuade Wang Bingxian to grant us the rights to the materials procurement.
Now that your relative has taken on the material supply, how come they don't even want to pay a single penny of upfront investment?

"."

Jin Hong was stunned.

This is not what she expected!

Judging from Shang Bin's words, not only will he have to advance the money for purchasing steel bars and cement, but he will also have to give a portion of it to Shang Bin!

Didn't you hear Shang Bin say that he went to great lengths to get this big piece of meat for you from Jin Hong? Did he get it for nothing?
Jin Hong felt a wave of disgust. She knew the principle of "not eating alone," but now it seemed the lion's share wasn't even hers.
Moreover, Shang Bin's next words infuriated Cong Jin Hong even more.

"Also, you need to pay more attention to the entrance fee issue, Sister. We've already signed the contract, but Wang Bingxian hasn't received the money he's owed. I can't be the one who vouches for you and ends up being the bad guy, can I?"

[What the hell?! What do you mean? Not only do you want me to invest upfront, but you also want a big share? And then you want to pin the entry fee issue on me? If I could raise the money myself, would I need to come to you?]

However, Jin Hong didn't dare to offend Lao Yang, let alone argue with Shang Bin. She could only follow the usual practice of "actively developing her subjective initiative" and find a solution on her own.

She brought her younger brother, Jin Qi, over and asked him to try to find material suppliers who would allow her to buy on credit, even if they charged her a higher price!

But Jin Qi complained bitterly, "Big sister, you don't know! People in Beijing are so difficult. We're unfamiliar with the area, and they refuse to extend credit. Even if I brought up the Jingnan Group, it wouldn't work. They don't accept official seals; they only accept cash."

Moreover, they offered one price to the locals and another to us, with a difference of more than 10%. If these unscrupulous merchants were in the Southwest, I would have dealt with them long ago.”

Jin Hong sighed helplessly and said, "Alright, alright, you know this is the capital city, under the emperor's nose, you can't act recklessly. You're a boss now, how can you still be so impulsive?"
"You calculate how much money we have left in the account. Let's buy a batch of materials first, then I'll go settle the bill with that guy surnamed Yang. Once the materials are in, let's see what he can say then."

Although Cong Jin Hong utterly disliked Lao Yang, she had to admit he was a man of his word. Yesterday, Lao Yang said he would pay immediately after the materials arrived and passed inspection, so she figured she might as well advance the funds herself! She could always raise the invoice price a few percentage points. But after Cong Jin Hong finished speaking, Cong Jin Qi said with a bitter face, "Sister, where do we have any money in our account? These past two years, there have been too many competitors at Southwest Heavy Truck, and we haven't gotten much to begin with. We even have to go around offering sacrifices to various places during holidays."

Jin Hong was immediately furious. Although the market had indeed been bad in recent years, it shouldn't have been that they hadn't made a single penny, right? Her younger brother's appetite was getting bigger and bigger.

But so what?

If you want to get things done, you first need someone to use. Her husband is a cowardly good-for-nothing. Among the worst, only her younger brother dares to take risks and do things. If not him, who else can she use?
Are you going to hire outsiders? Aren't you afraid they'll abscond with the money?

At this moment, Jin Qi suddenly whispered, "Big sister, actually we're not without options. I heard that Old Ou from your workplace has been lending money out recently, but the interest rates are a bit high."

Jin Qi exclaimed in surprise, "Old Ou is lending money out? How come I didn't know?"

Old Ou is a finance staff member at Southwest Heavy Truck. When he lends money out, it's actually "lending" money at a high interest rate, which is essentially illegal usury!
Jin Hong had only ever heard of loan sharks from government-run banks lending money privately these days, but she had never heard of her own unit's finance department being so audacious.

Jin Qi explained in a low voice, "His lending practices are different from banks. He only lends money to your company's normal projects. I heard that before the Lunar New Year, the Fifth Factory was repairing equipment and received a sum of money from him, but actually, the equipment at the Fifth Factory wasn't broken at all."

Jin Hong immediately realized that this wasn't about lending money; it was pure extortion and bribery.

You can come up with a legitimate pretext to submit a project application, and I'll approve the funding. I don't care how you spend the money; I just want my share.

This is the new society. In the old society, this would be called betraying one's own people, and one would be dug a hole and buried alive without any injustice.

Seeing that Cong Jinhong was still hesitant, Cong Jinqi added, "Big sister, we've taken on this material procurement job, but a lot of people are watching us! What if we don't do a good job?"

Jin Hong closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Alright, I'll call Lao Ou later."

“How can you call him? You’re a leader in the group. If you call him directly, he’ll think that his misdeeds have been exposed and the group is going to take him down!”

Let me first speak to him and say that the group headquarters is purchasing steel bars from the southwest, and ask them to advance the funds for working capital. Once Lao Yang pays, we'll immediately repay him."

"."

Jin Hong stared coldly at her younger brother for a long time before finally saying, "Xiao Qi, you're not in cahoots with Lao Ou, are you?"

Jin Qi immediately pointed to the sky and cried out in protest, "Sister, I swear to God, I'm your brother! If I've been hiding anything from you, may I be struck by lightning!"

"Alright, alright, you've been doing this to me since we were kids, and it hasn't even struck you down yet. Contact Old Ou as soon as possible; we can only manage for about two weeks."

Jin Hong impatiently stopped her brother from making his oath and then made a decision.

Shang Bin and her brother both reminded her that there were many people eyeing the lucrative market of material procurement! Even if you couldn't handle it, others could.

But Jin Hong never considered that if Wang Bingxian, a man from the capital, was so cunning, why would he let you have this lucrative opportunity?
Are they stupid?

(End of this chapter)