1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 44 Why? (1)

10:10, service team.

"Morning, Master Zhou! Oh my, it's so cold, and Master Zhou is actually practicing in the yard? Such spirit and physique... Wow, I'm impressed! If I could have your physique in the future, I'm afraid I would even cry out in my dreams!"

"Good morning, Sister Zhao!... Eh? Why do you look so rosy, Sister Zhao? You look like a 17 or 18-year-old girl. Do you have any secret recipe?... Oh, look at my face, it's all chapped from the cold. If you have any secret recipe, please share it with me. Just pity me... Eh? Tremella and red dates tea, plus native chicken, wolfberry and angelica soup?... Tsk tsk, everyone says that you live a refined life, Sister Zhao. With your level, all the girls in the company should come over and listen to your health class!"

"Hey? Brother Li, are you practicing calligraphy... Eh? It's actually Slender Gold? Wow... This is incredible, this thing is famous for being easy to learn but difficult to master... Look at this word [wind], the handwriting is thin and strong, so thin but not without flesh, and the turning point even brings out a hint of murderousness... Wow, this is incredible!"

…………

Sitting in the section chief's office, Zhang Wenshun watched through the glass as Yang Mo greeted the old employees of the service team in a very familiar manner, and then they started laughing together after a few words. A strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Haha, Old Zhang, what's the matter? You've started to train new people too... But this young man is a good candidate. He has only been to our service team a few times, but he can get to know all the people he should know at once... Not bad, not bad, a good guy... Although he's from Qilu." A middle-aged man about the same age as Zhang Wenshun was enthusiastically picking up the kettle to make tea for Zhang Wenshun, and said with a smile.

"Bringing in new people... counts as that... right?"

Zhang Wenshun held the teacup with fear and trepidation, seemingly not understanding the meaning of the middle-aged man's words. After the tea was poured, he stood up and walked to the door: "Yang Mo, come in... Come and see Section Chief He."

"Hello, Chief He!"

Yang Mo, who came jogging over, put away the playful look on his face, saluted Chief He politely, and then stood one meter behind Zhang Wenshun - no greetings or nonsense, not even a self-introduction.

After glancing at the distance where Yang Mo was standing with a strange look in his eyes, Section Chief He shifted his gaze to Zhang Wenshun.

Director Zhang seemed to have cataracts. He didn't notice the look in Section Chief He's eyes at all. He returned to the sofa with a smile and glared at Yang Mo: "What are you doing standing there like an idiot? Sit down!"

Seeing Yang Mo neither refuse nor panic and fall on the corner of the sofa, Section Chief He's eyelids twitched, as if he had forgotten that there was no tea in front of someone present. He returned to the main seat directly and put his right leg on his left leg: "Director Zhang, what can I do for you to visit me in person today?"

Hearing the other party's address change from Lao Zhang to Director Zhang, Zhang Wenshun's expression remained unchanged: "Haha, what's the expensive job? Our General Office is just a miscellaneous department... Seeing that it's already the end of the year, I came here to ask, is there anything you need us to help run errands for?"

Section Chief He glanced at Yang Mo calmly, and waved his right hand in the air in anger: "Look at what Director Zhang said, how dare I order you to run errands? If this word gets out, won't our service team be criticized every day?"

Zhang Wenshun sighed with a smile when he saw this: "Old He, you know that our department is a leisurely office. We don't have any serious work to do all year round. If I don't serve you well by the end of the year, and let you spend the New Year with a bad mood... If the company's operating plan is affected next year, I will inevitably give you a beating... Maybe the company will get angry and take off my hat as director... Old He, don't blame me for saying ugly things in advance. Don't blame me if I go to your house every day to eat for free!"

These words sounded extremely strange to Yang Mo. Not only did the preface and the postscript not make sense...but what did a logistics department like the service brigade have to do with the company's operating plan for next year!

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Section Chief He did not answer for a while. He raised his cup and took a sip of tea slowly. Suddenly he turned his head and smiled: "Xiao Yang looks good... Lao Zhang, if you don't make him a team leader after the New Year, I won't agree!"

Zhang Wenshun waved his hands and scolded with a smile: "This kid is lazy and naughty, and he is still a team leader? If I don't scold him for two years, I won't be able to lead him out at all!"

Hearing this, Section Chief He frowned and stared at Yang Mo for a while with an inexplicable expression, then turned his head and said, "Lao Zhang... I'm not saying anything bad about you, but we have been colleagues for more than ten years. Why did you have to find me first when you couldn't find anyone else first... Why don't you start with someone you know?"

Zhang Wenshun looked at him with a smile: "It's the end of the year now, everyone is looking forward to the year-end benefits... With everyone's expectations, who else should I look for if not you?"

Section Chief He twitched his lips. "So you also know that it is what everyone wants... This year the company has exceeded its production targets. President Wang also suggested at the meeting that our service team should increase the year-end benefits of employees appropriately so that everyone can have a happy new year. Even the Finance Department immediately expressed its support at the meeting... And now you come to me and tell me to report the procurement plan according to the welfare standards of previous years... You are so capable, why didn't you raise your objections at the first time at the meeting?"

Zhang Wenshun corrected him with a smile: "It's Manager Wang, not President Wang... There is only one President Wang in our drilling company. There was only one in the past, and there will only be one in the future!"

After saying something that outsiders couldn't understand, Zhang Wenshun took out a cigarette and handed it to the other party. After thinking for a while, he handed another one to Yang Mo: "The company has its own procedures. What Mr. Wang proposed at the meeting was just a proposal, not a formal order... Even if there is verbal support from the Finance Department, it is not a formal order... The service team reported the Spring Festival welfare product procurement plan according to the standards of previous years, and no one can find fault with it!"

Section Chief He frowned: "This will be very difficult for me to do!"

Zhang Wenshun smiled and said, "I don't feel bad if my father sells my land... Indeed, this year the company has exceeded its production target, and the bonuses issued by the headquarters are far higher than any previous year. It stands to reason that we should give the employees more bonuses and Spring Festival benefits."

At this point, Zhang Wenshun changed the subject: "But, Chief He, have you forgotten... As of this year, the total number of employees in the company has exceeded 1.14, of which more than 6500 are family members... According to the decision made at the New Year's Day meeting, the company will further expand recruitment after the beginning of next spring to match the new round of production peak targets issued by the headquarters. By then, the total number of employees will definitely exceed 1.3, and the number of family members will exceed 7300 in one fell swoop!" "To support so many family members... Do you think it can be solved by simply giving employees more bonuses?"

"Healthcare, education, housing, transportation, sewage, security, water and electricity... and so on and so forth. Which of these infrastructures does not require money, and which one requires less money?"

Section Chief He looked a little unnatural: "But the company has been very profitable in the past two years, and the annual production targets have reached new highs... Although these technical infrastructures do cost money, there is no need to skimp on the purchase of Spring Festival benefits... You know, the headquarters gives bonuses based on the completed production tasks, and they are quite a lot."

Zhang Wenshun sneered: "Lao He, you are playing dumb with me here, is that fun!?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Yang Mo beside him meaningfully: "Indeed, the company has exceeded its production targets in the past two years, and received a lot of bonuses, which also increased the foreign exchange usage target a lot, but... do you think that just relying on hard work to dig wells is a long-term solution?"

"You know, due to the mistakes we made more than a decade ago, our drilling company now only has drilling as its main business - let alone refining, chemicals, and special transportation. We don't even have the right to geological exploration. As an old employee of the company, you should know what this means!"

"We can still drill wells in the next two years, but what about the future? You are not unaware of the attitude of the oil companies in Linpan and Linyi towards us... As long as we fail once, the attitude of the headquarters will change immediately, and the surrounding oil companies will immediately follow suit... At that time, we don't have to do anything else. We just need to use the exploration rights to assign us the most difficult, deepest, and most complex oil and gas field drilling tasks, and we will step into the abyss step by step!"

"By then, if the production task is not completed, the bonus will be less... Once the bonus is less, the income of the employees will be reduced... Once the income of the employees is reduced, the lives of their families will be difficult... Once the lives of their families are difficult, accidents are likely to happen... Once all the negative situations are added up, the company's comprehensive score will plummet... Once the comprehensive score drops, it is possible that someone will cut down on staff and increase efficiency... Then we will enter a vicious circle!"

At this point, Zhang Wenshun stared at Section Chief He: "I emphasize again, we are born in hardship and die in comfort... We must use the tertiary industry projects to find ways to generate income for the families of employees while the company's performance is still good, to prevent all kinds of accidents... But all of this requires the support of funds that comply with procedures... Funds are accumulated bit by bit. As long as the surplus funds on the company's books have no other uses, no matter how reluctant Manager Wang and the Finance Department are, they must invest this money in the tertiary industry projects to increase and preserve value!"

Yang Mo, who had been watching closely from the side, was shocked and immediately understood why Director Zhang had to go through such a journey. He also vaguely guessed some of the thoughts of this guy, or the group of people including him.

According to normal people's thinking, since Zhang Wenshun has made it so clear in person, then whether Section Chief He agrees or refuses, he must give an explanation... Fence-sitters die quickly, which has always been a wise saying, even middle school students understand it. There is no reason why Section Chief He, an old fox, would not understand it.

Unexpectedly, this guy just stood there in silence, frowning and drinking sips of tea from the cup, as if he was going through the most difficult decision of his life - this kind of reaction would not be surprising in the past, but as the company is preparing to start a change of leadership next year, this behavior is worth pondering.

Zhang Wenshun saw this, and there was nothing unusual on his face. He slowly put out his cigarette and looked at the other person with a smile: "Lao He, I forgot to tell you... a few days ago someone reported the fishing tackle shop outside the living area, and the matter almost got reported to the Public Security Department."

Section Chief He seemed to be in high spirits: "Oh? What do you mean?"

Zhang Wenshun took out another cigarette and handed it over. "Hey, it's nothing. Someone went in and wanted to buy a fishing rod, but found that the price of the fishing rods there was wrong... Fishing rods outside are only a hundred yuan at most, but the cheapest fishing rods in that fishing tackle shop cost eight or nine hundred yuan, and there were a lot of them that cost more than a thousand yuan... The person thought there was something wrong with this fishing tackle shop, so he wrote a letter of complaint."

Section Chief He laughed: "This is interesting... It's not the past. In the past, you could just cut a stick and tie a line to it to make a fishing rod. How can you do that now? Besides, I heard that foreign fishing rods cost hundreds of dollars... If it's imported, it's normal for a fishing rod to cost more than a thousand yuan... You're not surprised by the rare things, right?"

Zhang Wenshun nodded: "That does make sense... But the person who reported it said that they are all made in China, but with some English words on them. He saw the same brand in Jinan... They only sold it for 70 yuan a stick!"

Section Chief He pondered: "Is that so... Then how was this matter handled in the end?"

Zhang Wenshun laughed: "I didn't do anything about it. I stopped it."

"Oh?" Section Chief He looked at Zhang Wenshun with curiosity.

Zhang Wenshun took a sip of tea and said lightly, "I told the police that the man was mistaken... There are so many imitations in China now, so it's not surprising that some imitations appeared in Jinan... My friend also has that brand of fishing rod, it's a foreign product, one costs one or two hundred US dollars... It's normal to sell it in China for one or two thousand!"

Section Chief He showed an expression of sudden enlightenment: "So that's how it is... Lao Zhang, you really know a lot!"

Zhang Wenshun laughed: "No, no, I just like to wander around and mess around on weekdays. I don't deserve your praise, Lao He... Speaking of which, the shopping list for the Spring Festival at the end of the year..."

Section Chief He waved his hand and said, "Hey! Do you even need to ask? Apart from anything else, I have to agree to this just for the sake of our friendship of more than ten years... Besides, President Wang always taught us to stand high and as a member of the company, we must always consider the company's long-term future... Since this is for the future of the company, what else can we say... I will submit the purchase list tomorrow according to the standards of previous years!"

Zhang Wenshun showed admiration on his face, and gave Chief He a thumbs up without hesitation: "As expected of Old He, this awareness is really high!"

(End of this chapter)