Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 70 Mr. Chen, don't go!
"Wow! As expected of our project's chief manager, Mr. Chen even has a driver!"

"Hey, it really is the main tap! All the taps for our pipeline network are with Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen, you'd better hurry! We need to wait for your tank to be completed and inspected before we can get the final payment for all the water tightness tests!"

"What kind of car did Mr. Chen order? A Mercedes-Benz or a Crown?"

There are almost no introverts in engineering. The final settlement of sewage treatment is also closely related to Chen Xuebing's factory construction. The lines of the seven work groups must be summarized in the factory before the settlement can be completed. Everyone came in one after another in the past few months, but they had not seen any progress in the factory. They were also anxious. Now that they have finally seen the factory work groups come in, they are all very enthusiastic towards Chen Xuebing.

As for whether or not someone has a car, nobody really cares. This project, with a total pipeline of ten million, can be divided into seven sections. Although the complexity of the routes is a factor, it also means that those present don't have much capability, and the cars they have aren't particularly good ones.

Chen Xuebing's factory area, valued at around two million, is already the largest of the eight projects.

While waiting for the leaders to arrive in the conference room, everyone sat in a circle around the long table, joking and talking, and quickly became familiar with each other.

"By the way, how's that guy blocking the construction site for General Manager Chen?" a burly, fat man suddenly asked.

A dark-skinned middle-aged man also slammed his hand on the table.

"Yeah! A while ago, I was working on the pipeline near his restaurant, and that bastard said the vibrations damaged his house. He even went to the project office to cause trouble, trying to take over my section! It was Boss Ren who suddenly added that 500 meters for me! I worked on that section in the middle of the night, secretly finishing it!"

"That bastard's a local bully, Mr. Chen. If he doesn't let you do the construction, we'll just have to get together and give that bastard a piece of our minds!"

"That won't work! Do you think these thugs are afraid of a fight? Doing it this way will only make things more complicated. Just like Old Ma, you should do it behind closed doors! Transport all the excavated soil out when he's not around. How can he break in then? If he does, call the police and have him arrested!"

The group seemed to harbor deep resentment towards Jiang Ping. Chen Xuebing listened with interest for a while, then realized he had indeed chosen a shortcut to solve the problem, and couldn't help but laugh:
"Don't worry about that. I've already dealt with that person. We're paving the road now, and the excavator will be able to go in and level the site before the new year. We'll excavate some earth for internal transport. I will finish the factory project on schedule."

The air fell silent.

Ren Kaiping was the first to ask: "President Chen, you dealt with him? How did you deal with him?"

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "It means exactly what it says. I fought him the day before yesterday and he was chased away. He's probably still getting an IV drip at some clinic. He probably won't dare to come back again."

Looking at each other.

"You and him... he didn't bring any men?" The dark-skinned middle-aged man swallowed hard. "Let me tell you, he has plenty of men under his command!"

"Eighteen, plus him, nineteen, all went to the hospital. Oh, and two of them beat up my truck driver, they're still at the police station. If they don't apologize when they get out, I'll deal with them." Chen Xuebing laid the groundwork and casually showed off.

Everyone's expressions were a bit exaggerated. Looking closely at Chen Xuebing, they didn't seem to have any injuries, and it didn't seem like a joke. For a moment, they didn't know what to say.

Ren Kaiping's expression turned serious: "Are you serious? Don't joke around, I'm going to report this to the county!"

"Really." Chen Xuebing saw a shadow pass by outside and waved his hand: "The person is here, sit down."

A young woman arrived and smiled at them in a friendly manner: "Comrades, could you please move over there? This is Secretary Lan's seat; please sit opposite him."

"Secretary Lan? Secretary Lan is here too?!" Ren Kaiping was shocked.

The woman smiled and nodded: "Please wait a moment, we'll be down shortly."

After saying that, he put down a nameplate and then went out.

Everyone realized they were sitting at opposite tables, so they all moved to sit across from each other.

Chen Xuebing sat down, then turned to Ren Kaiping and asked, "Is it genuine?"

Ren Kaiping stared at the nameplate and nodded.

"Holy crap!" the fat man exclaimed. "There aren't many people, just a few of us. The Party Secretary came to hold a meeting for us personally?"

Chen Xuebing clicked his tongue inwardly.

Everyone else in this place is no higher than the division chief level, but the secretary is half a level higher!

Chen Xuebing was slightly disappointed; it seemed that this meeting really wasn't for his own business.

Unexpectedly, two minutes later, Mayor Xu walked in.

Mayor Xu entered the meeting room and started running.

He quickly surveyed the area and then brought out the stool directly opposite Ren Kaiping, holding it with both hands.

Then two people quickly came in.

The man at the head of the group wore glasses and looked young and refined. Just before entering, he cursed at the person behind him, "You're good for nothing but causing trouble! How can you manage a household like this?"

The man who followed in was clearly much older, but he didn't dare utter a sound.

Secretary Lan has a lot of authority.

He walked to his seat, sat down, and didn't say a word.

The other two stood behind, not daring to sit. A young man who followed them in didn't enter the meeting room either; he just stood guard at the door.

He was the only one opposite everyone else.

"The county magistrate is not here today, and I'm also short on time. We need to resolve two matters in ten minutes... Which one of you is General Manager Chen from the factory?"

Secretary Lan looked up and scanned the area.

Everyone stared at Chen Xuebing in astonishment.

The Party Secretary was actually after him?
Chen Xuebing was also a bit stunned by this set of straightforward and fast punches. He hesitated for a moment, but did not stand up. He just raised his hand.

"Secretary Lan, this is me."

Secretary Lan turned his head, saw Chen Xuebing, and slowly nodded.

"Mr. Chen is very young, no wonder..." He didn't say what was so surprising, but continued, "Mr. Chen, at this critical juncture, reporting is absolutely unacceptable. It's detrimental to the economic development of our county. What are your conditions for withdrawing that report?"

The air was rather quiet.

Everyone else was wondering what the report was about, and they all looked at Chen Xuebing.

Chen Xuebing knew the other party's intentions from the moment the secretary called him. He felt that the other party's offensive was very strong and wanted to slow down. He shook his head and said, "Secretary Lan, it's not good to withdraw."

Secretary Lan acted as if he hadn't heard him: "If you don't bring it up, I'll bring it up for you, how about that?"

As he spoke, he waved to the young man at the door.

The young man ran in and quickly handed out a document to everyone.

The document is thin, but the title is eye-catching.

Chongqing-Changsha Expressway, an inter-provincial highway under the Western Development Strategy

Gonghe Wujiang Grand Bridge, Contract Section C15, Wulong to Pengshui Section
——Three connections and one level"

Upon opening it, one finds a construction plan for a secondary highway.

Secretary Lan also opened the document in front of him and said:
"This project is located in Gonghe Village within our county. The main structure is a bridge that spans the river for more than 700 meters. The land acquisition work will begin soon."

However, due to the inconvenient local transportation, a series of stable transportation routes are needed to transport large quantities of materials. Therefore, the command center approached us, hoping that we could help organize a local construction team to complete a 7.1-kilometer-long, sturdy and durable transportation road before construction begins in October next year.

"Let me get straight to the point, Mr. Chen. Once you've completed the first task—that is, taken down that report—I'll move on to the second matter. I can recommend one of the construction teams here for this project."

The room fell even quieter, and you could even hear a faint bird call coming from afar outside the window.

The secretary hit Chen Xuebing's weak spot with one move, so Chen Xuebing didn't even think about any countermeasures and directly opened the project proposal to quickly read it.

It's a fixed-price project, unlike the fixed-rate pricing for wastewater treatment plants. It's also called a closed-end contract, a lump-sum price. No matter what happens, once the project is completed and accepted, this is the price you'll receive.

Construction cost: 3711508.65.

The total length of the highway is 7.09 kilometers.

So, that adds up to... 52 per kilometer?

The road has a 3-meter dual-lane design, with 0.75-meter exposed earthen walls on both sides, a drainage ditch on one side, and a 16-centimeter-thick C25 cement pavement.

The maximum longitudinal slope does not exceed 4%, and the longitudinal slope length is relatively short.

According to the information, the construction difficulty is not as high as that of the road in Furong Village, but it is wider, with a 6-meter road surface, plus a 1.5-meter shoulder wall and a 0.5-meter drainage ditch, and at least one meter of safety land on both sides, which is 10 meters wide. Given the length of the road, there must be a lot of coordination issues.

But the price... is not bad.

There's great potential.

"How long will the land acquisition take to complete, and in what month can construction begin?" Chen Xuebing asked quickly.

Secretary Lan glanced at his secretary beside him.

“The Luqiao side said that they can start construction while acquiring land in April or May, but if you have the ability, it’s best to wait a little longer, because once you start construction, land acquisition may become difficult.”

Chen Xuebing nodded.

Land acquisition is like fighting a war; you can't let the villagers know too much about your intentions in advance.

"The main construction period is in the middle of the year, and the roadbed construction happens to be in June, July and August, which is the rainy season."

The roadbed may need to be drained at any time, which is a considerable expense.

Chen Xuebing sighed and then asked, "What about the advance payment situation?"

This time, Secretary Lan spoke up: "You'll have to pay for the entire project upfront. We'll only give you the money after construction officially starts in October. Otherwise, you won't get the chance to do this project. I recommended you based on the content, scale, and completion time of your sewage pipe network project. And didn't you want to repair the road in Furong Village? We'll repair it for you. Only after it's completed and passes inspection can you sign the contract."

Constructing a secondary highway in ordinary terrain is not difficult and is similar to laying highway pipelines. The road and bridge company is responsible for the drawings, and the difficulties have been eliminated.

However, it's all upfront funding.

"Secretary Lan, this money... won't go through your county, will it?" Chen Xuebing wasn't as reserved as the others, his face showing a half-smile.

Secretary Lan had anticipated this question, and he smiled and leaned back as well.

The secretary immediately said, "This project is of a very high standard. It is a key and difficult project of the Ministry of Railways Yuhuai Headquarters. The money is a special fund and is managed by the contractor, the First Highway Bureau of the Road and Bridge Group. You will sign a contract with them and ask them for the money. However, they said that the funds will be in place by October. We cannot guarantee this and are not responsible for it. You need to confirm this with them."

Chen Xuebing immediately flipped the project proposal back to its original position.

Western Development Strategy.

He stared intently at those five words, a surge of the times rising and falling within his chest.

“I’ll take this project, all-inclusive.”

Upon hearing this, the expressions of those around him changed.

52 per kilometer! And it's a big project. What if we do it well and there's more work to come?
The world is bustling with people, all for the sake of profit; the world is noisy, all for the sake of profit.

"President Chen, Secretary Lan said he'll give us the project..."

Secretary Lan was even more decisive: "No way."

Chen Xuebing looked up and smiled, "If you can't do it, how can I?"

Secretary Lan shook his head and smiled, "It's true that the project is for you, but it's being overseen by a high-ranking leader. If you can't complete the task, I can't take responsibility. The reason I called all the construction companies for your project is to cover for you. You can do the work, and they'll do what you can't finish. The project will be completed in October. That's the basic guarantee. No other construction teams are involved. How can I guarantee that? If you can't keep up with the advance payments, I can't possibly have to lend you money to finish the project, can I?"

These words were very direct, and Secretary Lan seemed unconcerned about the feelings of others.

However, the reason was so compelling that Chen Xuebing couldn't refuse. He could only smile awkwardly, look at his colleague next to him, and begin to salvage their revolutionary friendship.

"That's exactly what I mean! I'll sign a contract and provide the work for you! Do you think I'm that selfish?"

Seeing that Secretary Lan had made it clear that the project belonged to General Manager Chen, the others also became more attentive in their tone.

"Yes! Mr. Chen, so quietly..."

"Mr. Chen, let's chat in a bit!"

Secretary Lan interrupted at the right moment: "I said there are two more conditions. First, the road in Furong Village must be repaired and can withstand scrutiny before I dare to let you proceed. Second, the report must be taken down."

Chen Xuebing then stopped saying that they couldn't leave.

After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Could you give me the money to repair that road first? Secretary Lan, I trust the county government, but what about the town..."

Secretary Lan waved his hand and said, "You can have it first."

At this point, the older man beside him became a little anxious: "Secretary, we..."

"boom!"

Secretary Lan slammed his hand on the table, his expression finally losing its previous calm.

"You dug your own mess, so figure it out yourself! If you can't handle it, I'll deal with you!"

Mayor Xu, who was standing nearby, quickly coughed to smooth things over for Secretary Wang: "Secretary, that's not what Old Wang meant. It's just that the road hasn't been built yet, and it hasn't been inspected before..."

Secretary Lan chuckled: "The road belongs to the county, the project belongs to the county, and I recommended the highway contract. President Chen will build the road."

Having said that, he glanced at his watch and stood up.

"You two go back immediately and submit a written self-criticism of the town's decision by tomorrow. No one is allowed to write it for you; you must write it yourselves! This is a warning. If you tarnish the county's reputation again, the Organization Department will not be allowed to conduct any investigations in your town for the next two years!"

The two men were sullen, their heads half-lowered, not daring to speak.

Secretary Lan left without saying a closing remark or giving Chen Xuebing any further instructions.

The silence in the conference room was deafening.

Although no one knew the specifics, four words echoed in everyone's minds: swift and decisive action!

Chen Xuebing looked at the expressions of the others and thought to himself.

This is just a one-man show.

Give me the power, and I can do it too!
However, power is just a man's outer garment.

When will I be able to put on a show like this with a top on?

As Chen Xuebing was thinking, he suddenly realized everyone was looking at him, so he cleared his throat and said, "Don't worry, once we win the project, you'll get a share!"

After saying that, he immediately got up and left, not even planning to take a ride from the project team.

The group looked at each other in bewilderment, and then stood up one after another.

"Mr. Chen! Don't go! I'll see you off!"

(I'll continue writing in a bit and catch up on the missing chapters as soon as possible to speed up updates.)
(End of this chapter)