My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 658 Leading troops and generals, the will of the people

The funniest thing was that when these three guys were still boarding the plane, they ran out of money because they were overweight and had to pay extra. A foreigner on the same flight to Shanghai lent them US dollars.

Upon arrival, the customs suspected that the books were brought back for resale because they were too numerous and too new.

This year, some people have started to travel domestically as middlemen, carrying goods on their shoulders and backs.

This is considered part of the strict investigations that will take place in the second half of the year.

So no matter how these three explain it, they were detained at customs, and they called their employers to send someone to pick them up.

Wei Dong was so happy to hear that they were coming back that he immediately drove over.

Seeing the three aggrieved fools, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The former infrastructure technicians' initial emotions vanished instantly.

Even though they were older, like clumsy younger brothers, they immediately relaxed completely when they saw their older brothers.

Liu Xiaoyong immediately stood up straight and puffed out his chest: "Liu Xiaoyong, a technician from the technical platoon of the second battalion of a certain infrastructure regiment, has completed his training mission and returned to China. I request to rejoin the unit!"

"Xie Chengbin, requesting to return to the team!"

"Yang Honglin, requesting to return to the team!"

Wei Dong, unfamiliar with the military procedures, simply stepped forward and gave him a deep hug: "You're back as an even better soldier, reaching new heights!"

Judging from the aura of these three uniformed officers, they knew they had arrested the wrong person and couldn't help but applaud.

Wei Dong didn't take it to heart and apologized on behalf of his colleague: "It's my first time studying abroad, I have no experience. I'm only focused on bringing back some knowledge and documents. I'll handle all the fees and fines. Here's my letter of introduction and work permit. Oh, I need to check which one it is..."

Too much!
He could pull out several copies at random, like someone making fake documents, so much so that the uniformed officers, who had already relaxed, had to tense up again.

This is only what you can use in Shanghai; Mao has a whole bunch more in his bag.

He's probably an advisor to the Shanghai Electronics Industrial Park Construction Committee; that's the part most closely related to architecture books.

Without arguing about the doubts about their professionalism, they simply handed it over: "If needed, call the electronics industrial park to inquire about my situation. I've been going there every day lately, and it's not far from here."

When people saw the credentials of the advisor to the Shanghai Municipal Economic Reform Commission, they were already somewhat dumbfounded.

This is too young.

The already diminished attitude can only be met with further skepticism.

But they politely said they needed to report to their superiors.

Tell Wei Dong not to rush him and to just follow the rules. Turn to Liu Xiaoyong and the others and ask if they have thought about the next steps on the way.

Should we form a design agency together, or should we each set up our own agencies in Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangzhou?

You don't need to return your passports. Keep them to maintain your business visas. If you need to travel abroad, contact us to apply for the relevant visas. All expenses will be borne by the company. Now that you've overcome this trust hurdle, traveling abroad is no longer a restriction for you.

The three of them, who had been relaxed, reflexively stood at attention and said yes, while chuckling.

Wei Dong instructed them to focus on training people: "Once you've paved this way, lead by example and encourage more people to go out and learn, and do your best to ensure they can come back and join the construction."

The uniformed men who were listening nearby were stunned. Damn, they all want to go abroad like crazy now, and once they go abroad, they don't want to come back.

Are these people really that arrogant?
As it turns out, these three actually thought about it.

However, their thinking did not broaden much just because of their short-term study abroad.

The division of labor is entirely centered around the project at hand.

One of the solutions focused on perfecting the Pudong New Building was to concentrate all efforts on super high-rise buildings, learning everything related to this from the exterior to the interior. They even took advantage of the fact that the building's main structure was not yet half completed to create several solutions that closely followed global trends.

Even if it can't be changed this time, it can be used next time.

Yang Honglin focused on the international community plan, constantly revising and adjusting it. Even while abroad, he would pester his teachers for feedback and make revisions. The related articles and manuscripts were so thick that they could be used to write a thesis.

Finally, Lao Xie focused on residential buildings with more than 20 floors, coming up with various similar plans, specifically for future residential buildings across the country.

This made Wei Dong both laugh and cry: "I sent you out hoping you'd learn a little bit of everything, become jacks-of-all-trades. You guys are supposed to come back as leaders, guiding more people to specialize in their respective fields, especially since we urgently need commercial center-type businesses right now. Have you forgotten about the commercial center in Jiangzhou North District before you left..."

The three stunned people stammered, "That... wasn't that the project that Xiao Fan was in charge of? We even had a front-line meeting." Wei Dong then remembered that the last time he chased Xiao Fan away was at the commercial center construction site before the incident.

I'm not too concerned about that now: "Okay, fine, you guys should pay attention to this aspect of the work, whether it's someone else focusing on it or training someone else... Let's not mention Xiao Fan. After he was fired, he got some explosives to retaliate. He probably won't be able to live a normal life anymore."

The three were shocked, but not entirely surprised. In fact, when they asked Wei Dong to remove Xiao Fan's spot when they went abroad, they left without hesitation, which showed that they knew Wei Dong's character.

While they were chatting, even the uniformed person watching quietly moved closer and listened with great interest.

The relevant leader who made the notification finally came over, picked up the ID and looked at it repeatedly, and finally became a little suspicious: "Are you that entrepreneur in Building 5 on the Bund? I heard you are that young. This surname is very rare."

Wei Dong was a little annoyed. "Am I that famous? I should have kept quiet, how did word still get around?" He said, "Pretty much. Here, this work ID is from Dongsheng Foreign Trade in Building 5. Yes, they also deal with your customs."

That's right, the customs building is in that row of buildings, and it's a well-established one. This customs leader in charge of the airport often goes in and out of the building and has long heard the gossip about the Bund's new elites.

The atmosphere immediately became lively: "Did you know? Oh, our customs office also wants to build a new building in Pudong. Your advertisement across the street is too eye-catching!"

Wei Dong had no choice but to cooperate: "We're all serving the people, right? Do I need to verify my identity? It's just that I might feel a little embarrassed to contact the city, since we made a mistake."

The person quickly became more cooperative: "No, no, books can be brought through customs normally. It's just that they're too new and there are too many, so we have to check them. Come on, everyone, help us load them onto the luggage cart. Do you have a business card? I saw your name in an internal document last month."

Wei Dong was completely baffled, unsure which link in the chain had slipped up again. He truly didn't want to be the one to expose the pig of yesteryear.

"Oh, here's my business card. I hope I didn't criticize it?"

"No, not at all. It's not that you didn't strongly promote the development of Pengzhen Port, support the work of the port and customs, or even drive the historic development of Shanghai Port Machinery..."

Wei Dong couldn't help but gasp: "We're just doing our jobs well, we don't use such grand words. Why don't you come to Building 5 sometime to sit down and chat? Our foreign trade company and shipping company have a lot of dealings with customs, and this container... You know what, we're going to vigorously develop container business in Shenzhen and Shanghai, including Shanghai. Is there anything we need to discuss?"

Despite holding the title of the largest shareholder of the state-owned enterprise group, Wei Dong never once considered sitting in the office of a state-owned company and issuing orders.

But this matter still needs to be done, even if it's just starting out, we have to take care of everything from the very beginning.

Sure enough, the customs, especially the largest customs office in China, Shanghai Customs, knows this all too well: "Yes, yes, yes, I'll report to my superiors and organize a working meeting as soon as possible?"

Wei Dong had to remind him: "We are an international container company that is a joint venture with foreign capital. It is a commercial relationship, not an internal department relationship of a state-owned enterprise."

In fact, customs is responsible for import and export taxation; we're old colleagues.

Hu Hai was truly an expert in this area, repeatedly saying he knew: "Container shipping is for international business, so it's definitely easier to do things under the name of a joint venture. You're a big entrepreneur, I'll make sure to contact you as soon as possible. Have you been in Hu Hai these past few days?"

Wei Dong bowed even more politely, pointing to the rim of his cup, and said goodbye: "Yes, yes, yes, you can contact me anytime."

To any discerning person, the more polite he was, the more he turned around and clicked his tongue at his subordinate: "No wonder he's achieved so much at such a young age. I'd better go make a call..."

So the people from Shanghai Port Machinery came to Building No. 5 that afternoon.

Liu Xiaoyong and his friends were incredibly proud. Their leader was respected and yet so humble and low-key, which made them want to follow suit.

Wei Dong only drove a Flying Tiger minivan, originally intending for the four grown men to have some room, but now it was just the right size to carry their boxes of professional books.

After a quick tour of the international community and the electronics industrial park, the three of them couldn't wait to get to work on the construction site.

Wei Dong finally managed to pull him towards the city center: "In just six months, there have been many changes and progresses. You should first establish this design unit in Shanghai and comprehensively train various talents. We also recruit some top students in architecture from university students in Shanghai and Beijing. You need to take on the responsibilities of political commissar and commander."

The reason is simple: college students, especially those from Shanghai, are unlikely to return once they are sent out to work elsewhere.

This is a different matter from technicians with lower levels of education.

They felt they were able to leave because of their own abilities, and that one should strive to realize their potential in life. The turning point in their lives was that the boss's sense of gratitude would never be as heavy as these three.

It wasn't that Wei Dong looked down on people who wanted to leave, but rather that he urgently needed manpower.

Liu Xiaoyong and his colleagues readily agreed, not caring whether they would be suppressed by their academic qualifications if they were to lead college students.

Three projects involve converting existing old high-rise buildings into hotels, a top-tier hotel project combining existing Bund architecture with newly built modern buildings, and the ever-changing progress of the X Tower across the strait.

This made the three technicians who had just returned from abroad feel their blood boil.

They're clamoring to lead troops into battle!
Old Geng could tell that these three guys were very capable, so without saying a word, he grabbed one of them and said, "You two can open a company in Shanghai. Xiao Xie, come with me first. Wei Dong won't treat any of you unfairly. Seize the opportunity to lead troops."

Wei Dong never expected that his way of leading his troops would have such an impact on the construction industry at that time.

(End of this chapter)