Having achieved financial freedom, I reorganized my workplace.

Chapter 110 touched a raw nerve

Because of the previous incident, Lao Zhang finally came to his senses and decisively handed over all project approval authority to Lin Chen. Since then, he has been absent from work and slacking off for years, coming and going as he pleases, completely giving up.

In fact, Lao Zhang also went to the municipal company to complain to Zeng Huihuang, but Zeng Huihuang is currently at a critical stage. The destination of General Manager Fan of the municipal company is almost decided, and the call for him to take over as the head of the municipal company is getting louder and louder. He does not want to cause any trouble.

When you don't have power, nothing feels right. But once you have power, Lin Chen finds it incredibly annoying, with constant phone calls that drive him crazy. You could say that humans are truly perverse creatures.

After taking over the approval authority, Lin Chen finally saw the absurd chaos of Xinhai Company from top to bottom. One outrageous thing after another happened, each revealing perfunctory attitude and greed, constantly refreshing his worldview.

Today, Tang Xin came to Lin Chen's office and, seeing that Old Zhang wasn't there, said with a smile, "You're quite something, kid. You got this real power in no time. I really underestimated you."

Lin Chen didn't need to hide anything from Tang Xin, after all, she was a close confidante who knew him well. He jokingly said, "It's all thanks to Director Tang's excellent guidance. Without your instruction, I wouldn't have this ability."

Tang Xin's cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly dropped her joking expression to get down to business: "I'm not going to joke with you anymore. The city company has issued a proposal to build environmentally friendly and green ecological enterprises. Director Song held a meeting and set the tone, aiming for the title of 'Green Construction Demonstration Unit.' I want to discuss with you the specifics of how to proceed."

"Are you crazy? Why are you doing this again?" Lin Chen had a headache as soon as he heard it. Song Jiehui had really gone mad. He was making a fuss every day, eager to achieve quick results and political achievements, and had long since disregarded the actual situation.

Tang Xin looked helpless: "I can't help it. My boss pressured me to do this, so I can only pass it on to you. You can't just not help me, can you?"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of compromise: "Fine, then what exactly does Director Tang want to do?" Considering that the two were already very close, and that she was soft and compliant in every way, and that she was extremely compatible in her actions, Lin Chen really couldn't refuse.

Don't let Tang Xin's voluptuous figure fool you; she's incredibly flexible. You can practically bend the back of her head with her legs, making her incredibly addictive to manipulate.

Tang Xin quickly explained in detail: "It's actually simple. The city company has provided ready-made templates. All construction sites just need to stop work and rectify the situation, move some potted plants to the construction sites, cover all the fences with artificial green plant skins, and hang up some banners saying 'Low-carbon construction' and 'Green water supply.' We just need to go over and take a few photos to promote the project and get through the inspection."

"What's the point of this? My project schedule is already tight, stopping work for rectification is just a waste of time." Lin Chen complained helplessly.

"You know our company; formalism always trumps everything. Director Song has already spoken, so I have no choice but to cooperate unconditionally. You definitely won't refuse me," Tang Xin said with a hint of coquettishness.

Seeing her like this, Lin Chen couldn't resist any longer and raised an eyebrow, asking, "What's in it for me if I cooperate with you?"

Tang Xin immediately agreed: "If you need anything in the future, I will cooperate unconditionally and will never make excuses."

Lin Chen suddenly leaned closer and whispered teasingly in her ear, "You said it yourself, don't complain about it being dirty next time."

Tang Xin instantly understood, her face flushed red, and she glared at him shyly before quickly changing the subject.

To facilitate the setup of this office, Lin Chen summoned Xiao Liu, Xiao Zhang, Lao Qiao, and Lao Peng, instructing them to notify the construction sites under their jurisdiction to make immediate rectifications overnight. Regardless of how tight the actual construction progress was, they were required to cover each construction site fence with artificial greenery within three days, place potted plants at the entrance of the construction site, and hang banners that read "Low-carbon construction, green water supply."

After the inspection was passed, Tang Xin was quite sensible. She came to Lin Chen's villa that evening, and even went to the trouble of wearing underwear and bringing a bag of chicken feet. Lin Chen didn't expect that Tang Xin liked to eat chicken feet.

The key technologies are incredibly advanced; we've studied them very, very deeply, to the point of exhaustion.

Just as they finished dealing with the formalities of green construction, the Biotechnology Department threw out another outrageous demand. They claimed it was in response to the provincial company's "smart water management" initiative and that they needed to install smart monitoring systems on more than a dozen old water towers throughout the county. They also stipulated that the work must be completed within half a month, regardless of whether the water towers were in use or whether there were conditions for construction on site. They demanded full coverage.

Lin Chen initially thought the idea was feasible. The company was not short of money, and if full coverage could be achieved, he could supervise the work from his office, which would save him a lot of trouble.

But when the equipment arrived on site, he was furious. It was all overpriced, low-quality junk. Many cameras were malfunctioning even before they were unpacked and were completely unusable. The construction team still wanted to install it anyway, so Lin Chen immediately ordered a work stoppage and kicked them out. "Damn it, these idiots! They can't believe they're using defective products. Are they out of their minds?"

The next day, Director Wang from the Biotechnology Department came to the door and asked Lin with a self-righteous tone, "Director Lin, what's going on?"

"Everything was agreed upon, so why did I hear you chased the construction team away?"

Lin Chen's face was icy, and he spoke bluntly: "Director Wang, there's no problem with installing smart surveillance, and we'll cooperate unconditionally. But you've brought over a batch of junk cameras, half of which are unusable, and you still want to install them to fool people? What do you mean by that?"

Director Wang, on the contrary, argued earnestly: "Director Lin, this is a task assigned by higher-ups. The cameras were all purchased in a unified batch. Whether they can be used or not can be discussed later. As long as the equipment is in place, you just need to complete the work according to the requirements. You won't be held responsible if there are any problems."

Hahaha, this is utterly ridiculous! Lin Chen was too lazy to waste words with him and directly gave him the order to leave: "Whoever wants to do this garbage project can do it. Don't come to my project department. Anyway, if anything goes wrong, you'll have to take responsibility yourself. We won't get involved."

Director Wang stormed off, cursing and swearing, saying he was going to complain to Old Zhang. Lin Chen scoffed, "Even if you go to your dad, it won't do you any good!"

These strange requests came one after another. When Lao Zhang was around, he usually wouldn't refuse these kinds of things, and the people under him would work themselves to the bone. But after Lin Chen came, he turned down a lot of things, and they all admired him from the bottom of their hearts.

This morning, Director Qi from Heshan Water Plant rushed over and handed over an application for the B-level repair of the Heshan Water Plant #1 water pump, urging Lin Chen to sign and approve it. Lin Chen looked at the thick stack of materials and casually flipped through them, trying to figure out what the so-called B-level repair actually entailed. In his memory, this term was only associated with women, and he had never heard of a water pump being able to undergo B-level repair.

Factory Director Qi, however, looked impatient and urged, "Director Lin, to put it bluntly, the B repair is just painting the water pump. There's no risk at all. You don't need to look at it so carefully. Just approve it without worry."

Lin Chen's approach to things is either to do nothing at all, or to do something meticulously; this is a trait ingrained in his very being.

Factory Director Qi had been hanging out with Lao Zhang for a long time, often drinking and socializing together. Lao Zhang always gave the green light to the projects Qi submitted, and he was used to the comfortable rhythm of getting approval as soon as he submitted them, so he didn't take Lin Chen's seriousness seriously at all.

But Lin Chen wasn't Lao Zhang. He immediately put down the materials and questioned, "Director Qi, if it's just a matter of applying some paint, why do we need to apply for a seven-day shutdown? Applying paint takes less than half an hour. Tell me how we got a seven-day deadline?"

Although Lin Chen had never worked at the water plant, he knew that applying paint only took about half an hour.

Upon hearing this, Director Qi seemed to find it amusing, explaining dismissively, "Director Lin, you really don't understand the ins and outs of our project. The B repair nominally includes a bunch of things like parts inspection and replacement, motor circuit testing, and air pressure charging and discharging. We don't actually need to do these things, but the procedures have to be followed. We've already spent the money; a short deadline wouldn't be acceptable. Applying for seven days is just to deal with the subsequent review, so your project team won't be held responsible. Isn't that great?"

Holy crap! Lin Chen's head was buzzing again after hearing this. It was truly an eye-opener. To get by, they shut down the machine for seven days just to paint a coat, completely disregarding the risks of work stoppage, and even called it "considering the project department's interests."

This action was absolutely disgusting and made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Lin Chen finally understood why many projects are shut down after only a few days of construction, and then the closure lasts for months. It's like digging a water pipe on the road; the work can be finished in a day, but the road can be closed for a month, causing inconvenience to the public. When the time comes, they announce that the project is completed and the closure is lifted. It's all about wasting time to artificially increase the workload and duration.

"I'll take another look at this project." Lin Chen didn't know why he just didn't want to approve this project; it was too disgusting, and he felt very awkward.

Seeing Lin Chen's attitude, Director Qi was also annoyed: "Fine, then Director Lin, you can take your time looking at it. I'll go next door for some tea first. Come and call me when you're done and have made up your mind, okay?"

After saying that, the guy left. Damn it, you still have a temper?

Are you trying to teach me how to do things?

There's a reason why this project has taken so long: Lin Chen seems to remember that the #1 water pump at the Heshan Water Plant stopped last month.

Although the Heshan Water Plant is not a large water plant, if the #1 water pump stops, more than a thousand households will not have water to drink.

Lin Chen quickly checked the system and found that the #1 water pump at the Heshan Water Plant had indeed stopped once last month, and the reason for the stoppage was cleaning.

Holy crap.

Lin Chen was furious when he saw this. In less than ten days, the #1 water pump had to stop twice? And it wasn't due to any natural disaster, malfunction, or force majeure; it was entirely man-made.

Last time it was cleaning, this time it's painting. Damn it, can't these two jobs be done together? Why do they have to cut off the water twice? More than a thousand households will have their water cut off for fifteen days a month. Are they not going to have any drinking water?

Who can withstand this?

Lin Chen immediately called Factory Director Qi back and questioned him directly: "Factory Director Qi, can you explain to me why we just finished cleaning the #1 water pump last month, and now we need to apply for a B-level repair? Couldn't these two projects have been done together?"

Factory Director Qi frowned and replied matter-of-factly, "No, Director Lin, why would I want to combine them? These are two separate projects, two different construction teams."

Lin Chen couldn't understand his reasoning: "I know it's two projects, but you could have submitted the water outage maintenance plan beforehand. This work can be done together, which would reduce the number and duration of water outages, lower our risk, and you wouldn't have to go through so many approval forms. Isn't that better?"

Director Qi: "Each project has its own funding and profit. If we merge them, a lot of things will be lost. Director Lin, you're so high and mighty, you don't know how hard we people work. We also need to eat. Without projects, our water plant staff will just be waiting to go fishing every day. Besides, if your project team gets more projects, you can get extra points at the end of the year, and you can get some extra money, right?"

That's very clear. Every department has its own chain of interests and gray areas, and it seems that these water plants and stations are no exception. They rely on these things to make a living.

You've taken the benefits, but what about these thousand-plus households? They deserve to be tormented like this by you. Although they might fetch well water to survive and avoid dying of thirst, is it right to unnecessarily increase their burden?

Is Xinhai Company a company that serves the people or one that serves its own interests?

The more Lin Chen learned about these things, the angrier he felt. However, he remained calm and said, "Since you all want to get some projects to increase your revenue, then stop ruining the thousand or so customers of this #1 water pump. Your water plant doesn't only have this #1 water pump; can't you use #2 or #3?"

Director Qi chuckled, "Director Lin, you're new here and don't understand the situation at Heshan Water Plant at all. This #2 pump supplies water exclusively to Heshan Winery. Their monthly water bill accounts for more than half of our plant's revenue, making them our biggest customer. If we let them have our water, we'd be cutting off our own legs. And this #3 pump is exclusively for other units. Do you dare to stop their water supply? Their phones will be ringing off the hook with calls to the company's hotline in no time. Director Song might come after you then. So the only one that's easy to manage is this #1 pump. It's all used by a bunch of villagers from the mountains. Stopping their water supply for ten or eight days won't matter. They'll just fetch their own water when they're thirsty. They're used to it."

That's fucking outrageous! Lin Chen felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this, and anger surged to his head; he wanted to curse on the spot. So there were so many twists and turns involved.

Lin Chen's eyes were truly opened.

He glared at Director Qi, his eyes wide, and shouted, "So in your eyes, the #1 water pump is just a bunch of country bumpkins, and they can trample on it at will, without any dignity?"

Lin Chen felt that he had touched a raw nerve.

Director Qi didn't understand why Lin Chen was reacting so strongly, and continued, "It's not a matter of dignity or not. This is a very simple issue, and an easy choice to make. Just cut off their water supply, and there won't be many problems. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they wouldn't be able to."

Lin Chen really didn't want to see this bastard anymore, and said coldly, "I won't approve this project."

Factory Director Qi protested: "No, what gives you the right to refuse?"

"Because I still have a conscience." Lin Chen threw his project proposal directly into the trash can.