1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 45 Why? (2)

Although Yang Mo knew in his previous life that state-owned enterprises are actually a place full of experts, anyone who is half a level higher than you must be better than you in some way.

But he had to admit that after following Zhang Wenshun to "visit" several departments, the methods displayed by this fat director who looked like Maitreya Buddha still made him look at him with new eyes.

………………

14:20, Planning and Operations Department.

"What!? You want us to only report 25 meters in next year's production plan, the same as this year!? No! Absolutely not!" An old man who looked to be in his early fifties blew his nose and glared at Zhang Wenshun.

Zhang Wenshun was very respectful: "We were able to complete the 25-meter drilling mission this year, which is beyond everyone's expectations. Even if we continue to maintain the 25-meter drilling mission next year, it will be enough to shut everyone up."

The old man: "How can that be! The leaders of the headquarters said at the meeting that they hope we can continue to carry forward the iron man spirit and achieve better results next year... Manager Wang has expressed his opinion. If we don't report the production plan to 30 meters next year, how can we be embarrassed?"

Iron man spirit?

Zhang Wenshun smiled self-deprecatingly: "I heard that according to statistics, the number of workers who died or became disabled on duty this year has reached 14, which is far higher than the level in previous years?"

The old man looked at him unhappily: "In the construction of the Four Modernizations, some people will have to sacrifice... Besides, whether it is death or disability, the company has pensions. The leadership team even personally attended the memorial service and visited the hospitalized employees many times... We have done everything we can!"

Zhang Wenshun shook his head. "No, what I mean is... I heard that after discussing with the Discipline Inspection Department, the Personnel Department plans to recommend that a few typical cases be identified in the Engineering Brigade and the Propaganda Department. Those in serious condition may even be transferred to other units... The number of casualties has increased sharply this year. In the final analysis, it is because these two departments did not do a good job in safety training and publicity... What a pity, so many lives have been lost!"

Seeing Zhang Wenshun's compassionate expression, the old man looked at him suspiciously: "Human Resources Department...did you really say that?"

Zhang Wenshun nodded: "That's right, it's the company's custom to hold them accountable after the Chinese New Year. If the HR department stirs up trouble, they will most likely not be able to escape!"

Zhang Wenshun hesitated as he spoke: "It's a pity. Talents are hard to come by. It's easy to hold people accountable, but who will fill these personnel gaps is a difficult problem. After all, these two departments are not accessible to ordinary people. The requirements are high... Chief Zhao of the Personnel Department asked me to look for suitable talents... But I don't know much about these... So do you have any suitable talents to recommend?"

The old man pondered for a long time before clearing his throat. "Well, I heard that Yang Guangcai from the transport team is actually quite talented. He is young and energetic. Although he is still only a contract worker due to company regulations and academic qualifications, he draws good chalk paintings. If we are really short of people, it would be a good choice to let him fill the vacancy in the publicity department."

Zhang Wenshun was amazed. "Oh my, it's true that an old man in the family is like a treasure! Section Chief Zhao was looking for a replacement and was about to be left behind, but you just casually introduced him and he turned out to be a talent... Tsk tsk, he's good at chalk drawing? That's a first-class talent. I guess the Propaganda Department would be grinning from ear to ear!"

The old man blushed: "Well, Director Zhang, you are too kind... But Yang Guangcai only has a junior high school education. Will the Propaganda Department agree to it?"

Zhang Wenshun looked at him strangely. "As the responsible department, the Propaganda Department will definitely be criticized. Besides, the promotion and selection of grassroots talents is the responsibility of the Personnel Department... Will they agree or not?"

The old man nodded. "That's right. With such serious casualties, the Propaganda Department, which is responsible for safety training and publicity, cannot escape blame... Simply criticizing them by name is already a lenient punishment!"

Zhang Wenshun saw this and his expression returned to that of Maitreya Buddha. He looked at him with a smile, "Director Chen is indeed very insightful... Then what about the production plan for next year..."

The old man said righteously, "I have worked in the drilling company for most of my life and I regard this place as my own home. In my eyes, every younger generation in the company is no different from my sons and nephews... Ignore the safety of employees in order to meet production targets? I absolutely cannot do such a thing... I have decided. I will hold a meeting to study it and report the production plan for next year to 25 meters... If Manager Wang is unhappy, I will talk to him even if I have to give up this position... Anyway, I will soon retire to the second line, so he can take this position if he wants!"

Zhang Wenshun was amazed: "Director Chen is so righteous!"

………………

By the time we left the Planning and Operations Department, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Looking at Yang Mo who had been silent for a whole day, Zhang Wenshun smiled and said, "Yang Mo, how are you doing? Are you able to adapt?"

Yang Mo nodded: "Not bad."

Looking at the expression on this guy's face, which showed no signs of fluctuation, Zhang Wenshun nodded with satisfaction.

Generally speaking, after experiencing this, most rookies, no matter how well they hide it, will show a confused expression because their worldviews have been impacted, but this guy didn't even react at all... I don't know if he is gifted or heartless.

Director Zhang seemed to be particularly addicted to cigarettes today. He took out the half-empty cigarette box from his pocket, gave Yang Mo a Dafu, and then lit a match: "Boy, do you have any questions?"

Yang Mo shrugged: "No."

Zhang Wenshun glanced at him and said, "Don't you want to know why I took you on this journey today?"

Yang Mo glanced at him, then shrugged: "The director is very thoughtful. There must be a reason for this arrangement... I am just a newcomer who knows nothing. I will just obey the director's arrangements."

Seeing that this fellow was still playing tricks, Zhang Wenshun glared at him, then put the still burning match to his lips: "Stop playing official articles in front of me... You are still a naive boy in front of me!"

Yang Mo lit up the cigarette in his hand very kindly, looked at the expression on the fat face, and realized that he probably couldn't avoid it today, so he asked cautiously: "Is it because Director Mu wants to exchange houses with me?"

Whether it was allocating houses or changing tenants, it all needed to go through the service team. Given the attention that Miss Mu was getting and the familiarity between Zhang Wenshun and Director He, there was a high chance that this matter could not be hidden from him - in fact, Yang Mo didn't actually intend to hide it.

Zhang Wenshun looked at him with a half-smile: "I guess so, but not completely."

Yang Mo was a little confused. What did he mean by not completely?

Zhang Wenshun glanced at him and said, "In fact, I knew about this the day when Director Mu submitted the dormitory change application to the service brigade. Any state-owned enterprise is a small circle. In this circle, as long as we are willing, 99% of the things are no secrets to us."

After pointing meaningfully, Zhang Wenshun shook off the cigarette ash and said, "The reason I brought you out for a walk today is just to tell you three things."

Yang Mo put away his previous carelessness and looked at the fat man in front of him seriously: "Director, please tell me."

Seemingly satisfied with this guy's attitude, Zhang Wenshun nodded and said, "First, I want to tell you that the things I told you before were not just to encourage you... The General Office has its own mission, but whether I can fulfill those words depends on whether you are qualified... Obviously, you are qualified, and you are the only one in the department who is qualified for me to give you this opportunity to fulfill my promise."

As he spoke, Zhang Wenshun looked at Yang Mo calmly, as if he was talking about something very normal: "As the head of the department, I am a very principled person. Since you have reached the standard, no matter what you think, I have the responsibility to let you know the current situation of the company." Yang Mo's eyes twitched: "Why me? There are many people in the department who perform better than me... Whether it is Bao Shuxian, Su Yu, or even Cai Zhaofeng, the abilities they show in their daily work are much better than mine."

Zhang Wenshun glanced at him calmly and said, "I emphasize again that state-owned enterprises are a small circle. The state-owned enterprises and supervisory units within a radius of 500 miles here are countless small circles that seem unrelated but are actually closely related... We may know better than you whether you are qualified or not."

After understanding the other party's implication, Yang Mo was horrified and immediately shut his mouth tightly, no longer pretending to be crazy.

Zhang Wenshun snorted when he saw this, "Second, I want to tell you that perhaps in the minds of you young people, we department heads are all old-timers who only know how to eat and wait for death, talk nonsense, and engage in conspiracy and intrigue in private..."

He was only halfway through his words when Yang Mo looked at him with a strange look, as if to say, "Isn't it?"

Zhang Wenshun felt a little embarrassed when Yang Mo stared at him. He coughed heavily and said, "Okay, I admit that this phenomenon is not uncommon, but if you really think that this is all... then I can only say, boy, you are still too naive!"

After a slight pause, Zhang Wenshun sighed, "In fact, if you have the opportunity to sit in a core mid-level position or above and become a flag bearer, you will know that for us, any little thoughts and any little actions are just ridiculous tricks... When you reach this position, you will know that there is only one method in the world that can work... and that is an upright conspiracy!"

Conspiracy?

Yang Mo frowned with a sense of understanding.

Zhang Wenshun smiled and said, "In fact, since the first day that Manager Mu came to the company, I knew why she came... She also knew that we already knew the purpose of her coming... I knew why she exchanged dormitories with you... She also knew that I would definitely know why she exchanged dormitories with you;"

"The same goes for the heads of departments we visited today... Everyone knows why I visited them... Manager Wang and his colleagues also know why I visited them... Those department heads also know that Manager Wang already knows why I visited them."

Listening to the fat guy's series of words that sounded like a jingle, Yang Mo felt a chill running down his spine.

He knew that the director had something unspoken. He must have known that the house was the reward for the informal agreement between him and Mu Liya, and he could even figure out what kind of informal agreement he had reached with the beauty - but it didn't matter. As Zhang Wenshun said, everyone was playing with open cards, and he, as a chess piece in the dark, just had to not go too far in some things.

Of course, if you are really stupid enough to forget yourself and end up crossing the line... haha, then you can only pray that your new employer has the ability to protect you.

………………

"Why me?" After a moment's silence, Yang Mo asked, his face looking somewhat grim.

Zhang Wenshun understood what this guy was asking and sighed heavily: "This is the third thing I want to tell you today... To be honest, if I had a choice, I would rather not bring you out today!"

Yang Mo looked at him quietly, neither responding nor asking any further questions.

Zhang Wenshun took his reaction into consideration and said with a wry smile, "Yang Mo, you heard the whole conversation between me and the department heads today... How do you feel?"

Yang Mo thought about it and said seriously: "It hits the vital point directly...very powerful and effective!"

This praise was sincere. Although from the final result, what really worked for this fat man was actually the few confusing sentences at the end of each conversation. But in fact, if you don't say such a long and almost nonsense talk at the beginning, no matter how much you come up with, people will not dare to accept it. Students in the system all know that [the content] is important, but [the appearance] is often more important.

It was rare to hear such sincere praise from this guy, but Zhang Wenshun's smile was somewhat bitter: "As you can see, these methods are indeed very effective... In fact, this is also the unspoken rule of the game within state-owned enterprises... People who don't understand this set of rules may not be able to achieve their goals even if they run their legs off, but for us veterans, it often only takes a meal to get things done neatly... And if a meal can't solve the problem, then it's useless to invest more time in this matter at this stage!"

Somewhat confused by Zhang Wenshun's smile, Yang Mo tilted his head and looked at him: "Although I can't comment on the good or bad of this kind of thing, but each unit has its own objective situation... No matter what, being able to efficiently solve the problem in the shortest time, isn't that a good thing?"

Zhang Wenshun shook his head: "That's not the point!"

"Isn't that the point?" Yang Mo frowned.

Zhang Wenshun sighed softly: "The point is... For a long time, we have been accustomed to solving problems in this way. Once someone appears who doesn't follow this way, we will be very passive... But this is not the most fatal thing. The most fatal thing is... This method can only solve problems within a specific range. Once a new external uncontrollable situation appears, we will become helpless!"

After emphasizing the topic, Zhang Wenshun concluded: "So... we really need, we urgently need people like you!... You know, whether it's Xialiu Tongxiao Commune or Dongying, I have friends watching over there."

Yang Mo understood it instantly. To put it bluntly, this gameplay is only suitable for dealing with the "stock" in a stable environment. Once the overall environment changes drastically, this gameplay cannot solve the "incremental" problem.

"why me?"

After a moment of silence, Yang Mo asked another seemingly identical question.

Seeing that this fellow understood what he said in such a short time, Zhang Wenshun looked at him with a slightly complicated mood: "Someone once said: Those who pursue fame are drunk in the court, so they should be trapped with power and position... Those who pursue profit are drunk in the wild, so they should be lured with silk and silk... The rich are drunk in music, beauty, carriages and horses, so they should be seduced with women's beauty and tricks... The ignorant are drunk in the fantasy of life and death, so they should be driven away with a thorn whip... The old people worry about their descendants, so they should be frightened by their children and nephews... And the gentleman knows how to deceive people, so he should show them sincerity."

"Although you don't look like a gentleman, you look like a sly guy even when you're working, so you don't look like a power-hungry person. As for women... you don't even feel attracted to Manager Mu, so you don't look like a lustful person."

As he spoke, Zhang Wenshun sighed helplessly: "Since they are not quite similar, there is no other way. To be on the safe side, I can only deal with you as I would a gentleman... No matter what, it is never wrong to be sincere to others, right?"

Looking at Zhang Wenshun's extremely frank appearance, Yang Mo's mouth twitched.

Hey, hey, hey, who said I'm a gentleman?
I like money!
I don't like to show sincerity, I like money!

Hurry up and throw money at me! Hey, hey, hey, throw it quickly!
But it was obvious that compared to solving the "misunderstanding", Yang Mo was more concerned about another question: "No, that's not what I'm asking... Why me?... Or, why us?"

That's not what you're asking?

Zhang Wenshun was stunned for a moment, then he understood and looked at him with amusement: "Oh, you are asking this after all this time."

"Hey, this is so simple... because you are the third party!... The third party who belongs neither to Southwest nor to Dongying!"

third party?
Yang Mo suddenly realized...

(End of this chapter)