Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 119 Freshmen of Jiaotong University, President Chen

Mr. Chen?
Gu Anbang and another middle-aged man wearing glasses carefully examined Chen Xuebing.

A beige shirt and black trousers—a fairly business-like outfit.

But nothing could hide the youthfulness on her face.

He's at most in his twenties.

How could someone his age possibly be able to become the "general manager" of such a large project?

"Who is this...?" the bespectacled middle-aged man couldn't help but ask.

"Oh! Principal Liang, this is the construction team for our transportation highway! They're the ones working on that road at the entrance that's still unfinished! General Manager Chen is very decisive; he personally spent 500,000 yuan to buy geogrids and high-grade concrete to upgrade the road surface. The leaders at the command headquarters were very moved when they heard about it! The reason we brought him here this time is to give him more responsibility and invite him to participate in our project construction!"

Yang Feng had a vague feeling that Chen Xuebing was there to pull strings, so he introduced him to Chen Xuebing for a couple of minutes.

He's a straightforward person. When Chen Xuebing genuinely paid them money to solve their transportation problems, he didn't hold back his praise.

However, what he meant by "participating in project construction" was actually just some miscellaneous work such as site preparation, infrastructure development, and land leveling.

Chen Xuebing didn't have Yan Jiehe's luck. Although he had to pay out of pocket, the Chongqing-Changsha Expressway project behind the bridge was a large project where every section was contracted out. He didn't receive any "benefits" for the 500,000 yuan. So, the bridge project team considered the situation and prepared to introduce him to a roadside greening project worth more than 2 million yuan so that he could make some money.

A profit of a few hundred thousand is all Chen Xuebing is after; that's not his goal.

He waved his hand and laughed, "Mr. Yang, you flatter me. I just want to build a good road that can withstand wind and rain so that the local people can continue to use it. I don't want anything else. I recently took on a water conservancy project worth more than 20 million yuan in Chongqing, and I really don't have time to spare."

"Well…"

Those present sighed softly.

This young man is capable and has a broad vision.

"The Eight Major Projects for Winning People's Hearts? These are the city's key projects this year, Chen... student, which year are you in our college?"

The middle-aged man's eyes, visible behind his glasses, were bright and piercing.

This year, the city has invested 70 billion yuan to promote municipal construction and employment from eight perspectives, including social security, drinking water, public service facilities, and urban beautification. This is not only a construction issue, but also a key decision to boost the economy.

This young man has an extraordinary demeanor and has managed to secure such a key project.

Outstanding alumni are an important asset to the school, yet he had no recollection of them at all.

Chen Xuebing turned to the middle-aged man with glasses and chuckled, looking as honest as ever.

From Yang Feng's mention of "Principal Liang" just now, he already knew who this person was.

Vice President Liang Naixing was originally the deputy director of the Highway Department of Xi'an Highway Transportation University, the assistant to the president, and a visiting scholar in Germany. He was transferred here in 97 to serve as vice president.

He also has a bunch of titles such as "Vice Chairman of Chongqing Highway Society", "Expert Reviewer of National Natural Science Foundation of China", and "Member of XX Committee of Ministry of Transport", and he is an expert who receives special allowances from the government.

This special allowance represents not only benefits but also national recognition.

Chen Xuebing went through all the trouble to get into this university, not just for the degree. In his eyes, the entire school was his resource. He studied the information and work experience of the president, vice president, secretary and academic leaders. This person was no exception, and he made a fairly deep impression on him.

“Principal Liang, I am Chen Xuebing, a freshman majoring in Tourism Management this year. I haven’t enrolled yet.”

"Hiss..."

Everyone present gasped in shock.

A university freshman, Mr. Chen?
Chen Xuebing never revealed his student identity in public, fearing such an awkward silence, so he immediately chuckled and said:
“My father passed away early, and I have a younger brother. The family was relatively poor, so I started my business quite early. I studied while doing business very early on. I started school relatively late and repeated a grade. I finally got into Jiaotong University, but unfortunately I didn’t get into Professor Gu’s major. It’s a real pity.”

He was making it clear that he wasn't a second-generation rich kid; although young, he was a seasoned entrepreneur.

Everyone exclaimed in amazement.

But these words made Liang Naixing think for a while, and then he was slightly disappointed.

He couldn't believe a word Chen Xuebing said.

He can readily name projects that benefit the people, indicating he has a fairly good understanding of their situations.

Many construction projects involve selective bidding.

Also known as an invitation to tender, it is a non-public process.

So young, how could someone without connections get a core project in the city? And such a large contract no less?
Totally impossible.

It's more likely that it was the help of a relative, or more likely, a "godson" of a leader, or a front man.

Young people, especially those whose fathers died young, are relatively easy to control.

He wasn't just making things up out of thin air; he had seen young people with similar backgrounds before, and none of them ended up in a bad way.

Even so, the academy has a formidable figure this year.

With this thought in mind, he looked Chen Xuebing over again, his enthusiasm waning slightly, and he didn't respond.

Gu Anbang hadn't thought that far ahead. Seeing how much Chen Xuebing admired him, he smiled and encouraged him:
"To be able to run a business and still get into our college shows you have real talent! Don't be discouraged. Once you're in school, if you master the basic courses, you can change your major! As long as you have a solid foundation in mechanics and geometry, you can even audit my classes!"

Chen Xuebing's words were quite to his liking, and he was a practical talent. If he was really willing to learn from him, he would be generous with his guidance.

But Chen Xuebing was a little overwhelmed by what he heard.

Mechanics and geometry fundamentals.

How much does it encompass in just six characters?

Not to mention geometry, which he couldn't even understand in high school.

And there's physics, which he never even studied.

Theoretical mechanics, mechanics of materials, structural mechanics, soil mechanics, fluid mechanics…

There are at least five or six types of mechanics related to architecture in universities!

He was just using this as an excuse to strike up a conversation. He was actually studying hard and applying to switch to a purely science-based major, bridge engineering.

What kind of hellish joke is this?
Even if you just transfer me directly, I won't go!

"Hehe, Professor, I will definitely try my best."

Chen Xuebing thought to himself, but his smile remained sincere.

Seeing that the other Dean Liang remained silent, he could only speak to Yang Feng beside him:

"Mr. Yang, I just heard you're going to the riverbank? Can I come along and take a look, and learn something?"

Since he was already here, he couldn't possibly leave after just a few words. He had to make a good impression on those two bigwigs from the academy today.

Yang Feng readily agreed: "Great! I never expected that President Chen, so young, would be such a man of his word! You've been making great progress lately, and I've seen the materials and the quality of the roadbed—they're excellent! President Zhang was praising you just the other day! Perfect timing, President Zhang is over there too, let's go together!"

"Hehe, then I have to thank General Manager Yang for managing my work team."

"how?"

"Since you've praised them so much, I have to give them a bonus!"

"Ha ha ha ha…"

Everyone laughed.

...

As the group chatted and laughed as they came downstairs, Jiao Gui, Ren Ying, Tan Hailiang, and Zhao Fuhua were waiting by the roadside.

The brand-new Audi A6 was particularly eye-catching.

Jiao Gui, the conspicuous one, saw Chen Xuebing get out of the car and ran to open the back door. Everyone glanced at him; the car was brand new, without even license plates, definitely not rented to show off.

"Mr. Chen, you bought a new car? It's beautiful!"

Yang Feng had never been able to gauge Chen Xuebing's capabilities. He hadn't seen Chen Xuebing ride in a car during the first few days of work, but now he finally had a better idea of ​​what was going on.

The project was entirely financed upfront, and the other party even contributed 500,000 yuan to improve the quality, and now they're even buying a new Audi A6.

It must cost several hundred thousand, right?

Liang Naixing was also taken aback.

Looks like he's not just a simple front man; there's a big boss behind him?

Chen Xuebing drove downstairs today to show off his strength, but Jiao Gui's action of running over to open the car door still made him twitch at the corner of his mouth.

It's been done.

He slammed the car door shut, glanced at Jiao Gui, and then smiled:
"Old Tan, Zhao Fuhua, General Manager Yang just praised you for doing a good job. Now go back to the construction site and arrange a 20,000 yuan bonus. You two will each receive 2,000 yuan. You will be in charge of the other management and workers. Make sure the distribution is fair and transparent. Encourage everyone to speed up the progress and finish the project ahead of schedule!"

There aren't many workers on the highway construction site, but a lot of machinery is used. If they keep paying each person like this, they can earn several hundred yuan.

Tan and Zhao, who had received two thousand yuan, were overjoyed to receive this unexpected windfall today.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen!"

"Thank you, Mr. Yang!"

Chen Xuebing made the loss of money public, even though he was paying out money to his subordinates, which made Yang Feng feel embarrassed.

"Mr. Chen, you're so generous!" Yang Feng laughed.

Chen Xuebing looked back at the two deans, his smile somewhat awkward: "I don't want to be a nouveau riche boss who throws money around, but our team arrived late. To complete the project on time, we need to motivate everyone. School starts soon, and everyone is short of money."

The two initially thought Chen Xuebing was a bit flamboyant, but after hearing his explanation, they immediately understood.

Gu Anbang waved his hand with a smile: "Hey! What do you mean by a nouveau riche boss? A good boss is one who pays wages on time and gives bonuses to workers. Wouldn't everyone work their butts off? It's a blessing that our school has a student like you who understands workers so well!"

Liang Naixing nodded and continued, "I used to be a teacher in the highway department, and I also studied building materials. Geogrids were first used in highway construction in China in 95 on the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. After that, they were mostly used in civil engineering, and I rarely heard of them being used in transportation engineering. However, the high performance of polymers will definitely be an important development trend in the future, and they will be widely used sooner or later. As an engineer, Mr. Chen was able to know this early and apply it early. This shows his foresight, which is far beyond that of his peers."

"You two are too kind. My vision is not particularly advanced. It's just a matter of paying more attention and spending more money. If this can make me far surpass my peers, then my investment is well worth it."

Chen Xuebing's words made everyone laugh, and they silently labeled him as a "generous and capable boss".

……

I stayed by the river for a while.

The main issue is to solve the problem of a series of karst caves under the pile foundation of the No. 2 pier on the left side of a bridge.

The project team and the design institute also consulted Gu Anbang on the shrinkage and creep effect of the long-span steel-concrete composite arch bridge. His explanations were too esoteric, including things like the degenerate beam element theory and CSBNLA finite element analysis software. He also mentioned things like "randomness cannot be ignored" and "if deterministic analysis results are used, analysis results with probabilistic guarantees cannot be given." Each word was understandable, but when put together, they made people dizzy.

After listening for 10 minutes, Chen Xuebing's only takeaway was that he was indeed not cut out for science.

In fact, he knew the procedures for building a bridge. It was simply a matter of determining the method to cut off the water supply, then pouring and installing the pile foundation, abutment, piers, abutments, precast components, bridge deck, and ancillary facilities step by step, and finally maintaining them.

He had heard of and seen many of these cases.

However, his understanding was limited to the outline.

There's a lot to learn about making a bridge more stable.

The materials and related equipment for each type of structure, the bridging between them, the erosion of bridge foundations by hydrogeology, etc., can almost all be the subject of a specialized course.

A large bridge project requires a group of highly specialized people to manage it.

The same applies to highways and high-rise buildings; there's so much to learn.

Chen Xuebing originally wanted to curry favor with the big shot, but now he's a little envious of him.

Damn, if I had a group of experts like that under my command, I'd be rich no matter what...

No.

Why worry that your ideals won't come true!
About half an hour later, Gu Anbang remembered that there was a new student present and turned to look at Chen Xuebing.

"Xiao Chen, what did you find?"

Chen Xuebing smiled very honestly and said, "To build a bridge, you have to do a thorough survey and prepare a sufficient budget. Otherwise, as you can see, with your argumentation, the foundation, the structure, and everything else will cost more."

Gu Anbang laughed loudly.

"You've got the makings of a boss!"

……

The impression was quite deep, but we didn't even manage to have a meal together. The two big shots rushed back to Chongqing before dark.

Chen Xuebing was too embarrassed to ask for leave in the end.

It seems that only when the school takes some major action will it attract enough attention from the school authorities.

Yang Feng and project manager Zhang Manhua were quite interested in Chen Xuebing. In the afternoon, they took his newly bought A6 to a nearby resort for a meal, during which they asked about Chen Xuebing's ability to advance funds.

Chen Xuebing didn't answer, but only asked how big their project was.

Zhang Manhua didn't reveal much, saying that their road and bridge company was preparing to invest in a branch line project of a national highway trunk line, which was an expressway project. They were looking for a construction company with the ability to advance funds and would need to pay a 2% deposit.

If anyone else had said that, Chen Xuebing would have thought it was a scam.

However, the two project managers who spoke to him were of considerable rank, so he could only cautiously suggest that they could discuss it once the road and bridge construction project was secured.

If he has to pay for the entire highway project upfront, it's not something he can afford right now. If the project takes too long, many of his other projects will be put on hold, which would be a losing proposition.

However, he mentioned one thing in particular.

"Mr. Zhang, if there are cheaper cement suppliers for your bridge project, would you consider switching to another one?"

Zhang Manhua was startled.

"Our bridge uses a lot of cement, and the price isn't high. Do you have access to it?"

"I'll just ask."

"Well... I'm afraid I can't decide that, but if you have a price advantage for the same quality, I can report it to the authorities."

Upon receiving the reply, Chen Xuebing's mind was no longer on the dinner party.

……

The following day, the Audi A6 arrived at the county agricultural bureau building.

The Agricultural Bureau was in poor condition; its office was a row of houses on the side of the road, connected to residential buildings. As soon as we got out of the car, Director Xu called out from the third-floor window, holding a teacup.

"Mr. Chen!"

Chen Xuebing, wearing sunglasses, looked up and smiled jokingly.

"Director Xu, the conditions in your building are much worse than those in town!"

Xu Haiqiao looked at the Audi next to him and smiled.

"Mr. Chen's terms have improved considerably."

(End of this chapter)