Chapter 923
Human relationships are thicker than bulletproof vests
"Hehehe, you acted so well just now!"
"Aren't you one too, rich woman! They're definitely investigating us in secret right now."
"Let them investigate, everything has already been arranged."
Back at the hotel, the two women lay on the bed, clutching their stomachs and laughing nonstop.
"Ding dong."
The doorbell rang suddenly.
Saori made a shushing gesture, then jumped off the bed and walked towards the door.
She stood on tiptoe and looked through the peephole, then turned the doorknob.
Jin Nana glanced curiously and saw a burly man with a ponytail walk in after the door opened.
"Long time no see, Saori, Nana!" The somewhat rugged-looking but meticulously dressed "King Barbie" waved to the two of them.
"Diviya, what brings you here? You're still as strong as ever!" Jin Nana smiled and walked up to pat the other woman's arm.
“How can you call me strong? I’m a girl!” Divia pouted, but this expression probably wouldn’t look cute at all to 99% of men.
Devia is Malaysian and was Saori's high school classmate. She and another equally burly girl were known as the two pillars of Asian female international students. Kim Nana had met her before when they went out to parties.
"Divia, what are you doing now?" Jin Nana asked.
“Be a coach at a boxing gym!” Divia gestured in the air.
"Huh? How did you end up in this line of work? I used to help out at my uncle's martial arts school, but my family scolded me to death." Jin Nana tilted her head, puzzled.
She remembered that the other person studied finance and had previously said that he would take over the family business.
"Because I've fallen for the owner there, but he doesn't seem to reciprocate my feelings. I was originally a student, but I ended up becoming an instructor. I don't understand why everyone in the gym knows I like the owner. But he just doesn't react at all, like a block of wood..." Divia looked troubled.
"Uh...hehe." Upon hearing this, Jin Nana could only manage a couple of dry laughs.
Sister, with your size, most men would probably just have to pretend to be stupid.
“Deviya has been pretending to be our bodyguard for the past few days!” Saori said, hands on her hips.
Acting naturally requires a certain level of realism, and she called Divia over so that President Zhu could see it.
“No problem. My new mother-in-law’s place is also my territory. If anyone dares to bully you, I’ll punch them to pieces!” Divia showed off her muscles.
“Okay, let’s go out and have some fun now. It’s been a while since we all got together.” Saori snapped her fingers.
Huajing.
Jiang Yu, who was being tasked by Chen Xi to find problems, looked quite displeased.
The Sunshine Project has been quietly implemented, but the results have been less than satisfactory.
Many people feel that this job is likely to offend people, and some have even been beaten.
Think about it, it makes sense. Some companies and military units have inspectors, and the salary for inspectors is not low, but almost no one can stay in this position for long.
For thousands of years, the social customs and interpersonal relationships of society have led most people to believe that this job has no future.
In life, we often see people praised for their high emotional intelligence, saying that they are tactful in their dealings with others, making others feel comfortable and themselves feel comfortable as well. But rarely are people praised for being impartial and incorruptible; in fact, being impartial and incorruptible is sometimes seen as being rigid and inflexible.
Jiwei is known as a clean and honest government department; most people who are willing to join this department are not there for the money.
However, talking about faith is useless for a company that wants to establish an audit department. Because the company's performance is completely irrelevant to the new employees.
Jiang Yu initially thought of solving this problem by spending a lot of money, but it proved to be very difficult to implement.
The Sunshine Project involves not only people from Huahetong, but also people from Chinese enterprises, supply and marketing cooperatives, village management, and other private enterprises.
If you send a bunch of new employees to find 'management' problems, no matter how much money you offer, no one will dare to take the job.
The reason is that the power of the 'managers' here is simply too great, whether it is small management or big management.
"Ahem, as you all know, the reason why those people we recruited didn't work despite taking the money was because they were scared! The reason we recruited from the international student community is because they're not afraid of trouble. In other words, none of you here have ordinary parents. We'll try our best to keep the trouble within manageable limits..." Jiang Yu glanced somewhat uncertainly at the young faces present.
"What's there to be afraid of? My dad says I spend all my time playing video games at home and don't do anything productive. Now I'm going to do something big, and even if I cause a huge disaster, he'll still have to clean up my mess!" A young man patted his chest confidently.
"Yeah, Lao Jiang. Who have I ever been afraid of? I beat up the principal when I was in school, and my dad just made a phone call and it was all settled. A few villages managing things, what's that?" Another person waved his hand dismissively.
“Hehe, I didn’t want you to cause too much trouble for the family either. You said you were bored every day and didn’t want to stay at the family business. That’s why I came to you…” Jiang Yu’s expression softened slightly.
He found these people from the association.
Most of the members of the association weren't exactly well-behaved kids; in other people's eyes, they were the kind of spoiled brats who sponged off their parents. But in Jiang Yu's eyes, these people were like Bao Zheng—rich, fearless, and incorruptible.
"How did you do with the things I asked you to investigate before?" Jiang Yu asked.
"They're all here." The two young men who had just spoken pulled out a USB drive and tossed it onto the table.
"Old Jiang, forgive my bluntness, but this won't solve the problem!" The young man leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Yu plugged in the USB drive.
"Look at this! Even if you clean out all the parasites in the company, what good will it do? It's clean now, but what about later? Who will clean up those managers? The roles in Huahetong's cooperation are diverse and numerous, just like people in the company taking kickbacks. If you don't give kickbacks, who will cooperate with you?"
"We can't solve the problems with the managers, but there are relevant departments that can."
Jiang Yu thought for a moment and then answered.
"The cost of crime is too low these days. If you get caught, all you get is a fine and being deported. What else is there? If you don't address the root cause, it's useless. Don't let my carefree attitude fool you; I know a few things!" The young man exhaled a puff of smoke.
"What we need to do now is to get Huahetong sorted out." Jiang Yu understood this as well, and could only sigh.
"Okay, whatever you say." The young man nodded.
Jiang Yu stared at the evidence gathered on the computer screen, his jaw practically splitting in astonishment. He hadn't expected these people to be so efficient.
Meanwhile, the Xu family was listening to their assistant's report in the hotel.
"Chairman Xu, construction on the Xinlu building has resumed. But according to calculations, there's still a shortfall of nearly three billion..." The assistant said with difficulty, looking at the document.
Before the newly secured funding could even be warmed up, bad news arrived from below.
Wu Wanrong is pushing hard now; if the building isn't finished soon, he can forget about doing any more projects in Jianghuai Province. "Let's put in 500 million first, and we'll talk about the rest later! Then we can continue to take on new projects in other regions." The Xu family made a decision after thinking for a while.
Anyone in the construction industry knows that as long as you have new projects, you can keep getting loans from banks.
If the Xu family cannot secure new projects and raise funds, everything they own will vanish into thin air.
“But… leaders from many other provinces are also pressing us for payment. And our suppliers are constantly demanding payment!” The assistant frowned.
"Let's delay paying the suppliers. How could a company as big as Hengxiao owe them a few coins?"
"How about we start with the engineering materials? I mean, we need to save some money..." the assistant stammered.
"That won't do, quality must be the key!" The Xu family immediately rejected the suggestion.
He wasn't doing this out of concern for Hengxiao's image, nor was it out of any sense of conscience.
The difference between quality issues and the legal penalties imposed on him personally by Hengxiao's bankruptcy is that the quality issues and Hengxiao's bankruptcy are different.
"Delay it a little longer!" Xu Jia added.
He's now hoping that the project in America can give him a quick cash flow.
If the blockchain investment plan proposed by Jia Riting is successful, it will solve part of the funding problem.
Of course, it's impossible to fill in all the holes.
A village in the north.
A simple platform was set up in the open space at the entrance of the village. A red silk banner fluttered in the dry northern wind, with the words written crookedly on it: "Technology leads green agriculture, environmental protection benefits future generations."
Village Party Secretary Lao Wang patted the loudspeaker that was filled with static, which made a flock of sparrows in the audience flutter away.
Standing beside him were several young men in suits, wearing name tags from an environmental technology company, their ties so tight they were red on their necks, looking like roosters waiting to be slaughtered under the blazing sun.
"Folks, quiet down! Today, the company's top manager has personally come to the countryside to bring us technology and health! Everyone, shout with me: Technology is the primary productive force!" Old Wang shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Science and technology are the primary productive forces!" The dark mass of villagers below the stage responded listlessly.
"Environmentally friendly agriculture, good health!" The company's manager waved his fist, as if conducting a symphony that didn't exist.
"Environmentally friendly agriculture, good health!" The villagers' eyes were fixed on the small mountain of plastic products piled up behind the platform.
After the slogans were shouted, the session began with spontaneous remarks from representatives of the public.
The village accountant's second uncle was the first to rush onto the stage, clutching a dusty set-top box in his hand, his expression as excited as if he had just smoked two ounces of fake liquor: "Folks, this company's set-top box is amazing! Before, my head was always buzzing, and the doctor said it was some kind of radiation. Ever since we installed this tech box, hey, my head isn't dizzy anymore, my eyes aren't blurry, and my back feels strong again!"
"Let me say a few words too! Ever since we started using environmental protection technology, my dog, who hadn't had puppies for three years, suddenly gave birth to eight puppies the other night! Each one is as strong as a calf. And my son, who used to have trouble counting, is now incredibly bright and got into a university in a big city this year!" Aunt Wang, not to be outdone, squeezed past her second uncle and shouted into the microphone.
A very perfunctory round of applause erupted from the audience.
The company manager, beaming, nodded repeatedly: "This is the power of environmental protection, this is the intellectual leap brought about by radiation shielding! As long as every household has a technological awareness, our village will be the next Silicon Valley!"
With the formalities over, the main event is finally here.
"Now, start distributing the relief supplies!" Old Wang waved his hand.
The villagers, who were originally drowsy, suddenly surged forward as if they had been electrocuted.
Several uniformed officers unloaded boxes from a truck.
Those were old goods that had been stockpiled in city warehouses for who knows how many years.
The so-called pots and pans were thin stainless steel soup pots, as thin as tin foil, so thin that you could dent them with a little pressure. The plastic stools were that blindingly bright fluorescent green, emitting a pungent industrial plastic smell, and would probably crumble into dust under the sun. In short, they were things that city dwellers would look down on.
"Hey, this stool is missing a leg!"
"Stop being picky! Having any leaders is already pretty good. Hurry up and shout the slogans, then go home and cook!"
The villagers, carrying washbasins in their arms and plastic stools tucked under their arms, mechanically repeated the slogans taught by the manager: "Technology changes lives, long live technology..."
Dust billowed in the open space.
The manager watched this scene with satisfaction, then took out his phone and started snapping photos of the villagers receiving their awards.
These photos will appear in the company's PPT tomorrow, and he's already thought of a title: "Technology Goes to the Countryside, Environmental Protection is Deepened: A Green Model for Targeted Poverty Alleviation."
As for the set-top box that could cure dizziness, make dogs give birth, and help people pass college entrance exams, it was being casually tossed into a leaky plastic bucket that a villager had received, making a clinking sound.
The visit was quick and also quick; not long after, the manager and the village secretary had disappeared.
Aunt Wang was hurrying home with pots and pans when a young man stopped her halfway.
"Auntie, you..."
"I've received mine. Come earlier next time."
The young man had barely opened his mouth when he was interrupted by Grandma Wang's wave of her hand before he could finish speaking.
"No... what I meant was..."
"I'm not giving you this basin. If you want it, go get it yourself." Aunt Wang glared at her and hugged the things to her arms.
Unexpectedly, the next second, a bright red 100-yuan bill appeared in front of her.
"Boss, what do you want to ask?" Aunt Wang put down her things with a smile, took the banknote, and checked its authenticity.
"That environmental technology you just mentioned... what dog were you talking about? Your son... are you lying?"
"The dog story wasn't a lie. That damn dog used to run wild all over the village, never home. Then this damn set-top box was plugged in, and the internal fan started making a loud, screeching noise, like fingernails scraping glass. The dog was so scared it cowered in its kennel, too afraid to move an inch. Just then, the neighbor's spotted male dog came in for some peace and quiet, and that's how it got pregnant. That's how technology brought them together, saving me the trouble of chasing it all over the mountains every day. As for my grandson… well, because some programs on the set-top box are pay-per-view, my son can't watch TV, so naturally he's studying hard." Grandma Wang smiled, her face crinkling with wrinkles, as she held up the banknotes.
The young man's lips twitched as he listened: "Auntie, those people on stage just now said that using the box would stop their dizziness and backaches, and they even said it was the power of technology. This is clearly a deceitful act of helping them deceive people. If word gets out, other villages will follow suit and buy it. How many people will be scammed?"
Aunt Wang quickly stuffed the hundred-yuan bill into her pocket, patted her chest, and replied confidently, "Who wouldn't go if there were something to take? Whether it's technology or magic, giving us bowls and basins makes us a good host. Besides, what difference does it make what we say? The big manager came all this way just to hear a few nice words to report back to. If I go along with him, he'll be happy, and I'll get a few bowls for free. It's a win-win situation."
As for whether she felt dizzy or not, Aunt Wang said that as long as she received the money today and felt happy, her dizziness definitely disappeared and her legs felt lighter. Isn't that also a benefit that technology brings her?
The woman, carrying the pile of plastic products, walked away humming a little tune, muttering to herself that if there were any more rural technology outreach programs like this, she'd have to come early to reserve a spot.
The young man who remained shook his head, took out a voice recorder from his hoodie pocket, and pressed the stop button.
He glanced at a black sedan parked not far away; it was the village management's vehicle.
"Old Jiang is right, the social niceties here are thicker than bulletproof vests," the young man muttered to himself, putting the recorder back in his pocket. (End of Chapter)