In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 307 Daily Income of the Road Roller

The next day, Yu Dawei drove to town to pick up Tang Chenwu and Sun Shunli, and then found a tow truck at the machinery rental market near the entrance. Together with the road roller, they headed to the location of the oil city highway project.

I rushed there before nine o'clock, and Manager Chang was already waiting at the project office. Of course, his main purpose in coming today was to guide and supervise the project quality and progress of the people below him. He had roughly scanned the information of each supplier.

The project manager in charge of the southern Harbin-Oil Highway is surnamed Xu. He is a newly promoted supervisor who just came to the north this year. He wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and looks very refined.

When Yu Dawei knocked on the door and came in, Supervisor Xu was standing by the desk giving Lao Chang a quiet report.

Why is it described as quiet? Because there was no one else in the room except the two of them, and Manager Xu spoke with unusual restraint, much like a wounded deer wary of everything around him.

"Sit there for a while, and get yourself some water when I'm done here." Old Chang turned his head and glanced at Yu Dawei, bypassing Supervisor Xu's gaze.

"Okay." Yu Dawei gave an "OK" sign, turned around, and casually found a wooden chair to sit down.

"The original total length of the highway was 138.2 kilometers. The first phase has been completed, and the five toll stations have been deployed according to the plan. The second phase of the project will be constructed step by step afterward." Supervisor Xu finished explaining the follow-up matters in an orderly manner.

Chang Bin stared at the report in his hand: "How long will it take to complete Phase II at the earliest?"

"The second phase is 80 kilometers long, and it will take at least a year and a half at the fastest." Supervisor Xu struggled for a moment, but finally chose the conservative approach. It wouldn't be impossible to speed up the construction, but there was no need to make things difficult for himself.

“Although the normal construction period is two years, this is, after all, the most important section of the expressway in the province, and it will be our future flagship project. We should speed up the construction as much as possible.” Chang Bin threw the report on the table. “If we don’t have enough people, we’ll hire more; if we don’t have enough equipment, we’ll find more. Don’t worry about funding. Only by completing this highway quickly can our Eighth Bureau establish its reputation in the north.”

"Furthermore, we should meet with contractors more often. We'll be working with them on many things later on. The market in China is too big; we can't take it all by ourselves." Chang Bin said with a cool expression, putting on a little show of arrogance.

These were the words the senior leader said to him privately during the last meeting at headquarters, and it's good to make the most of them.

"Understood." Manager Xu's expression became even more reserved, and deep down he was very resistant to this new model of cooperation with contractors.

“Alright, Mr. Yu from the road roller business is here. Let me introduce you.” Manager Chang looked at Yu Dawei, who understood and got up to walk over. “Yu Dawei, I think you should know him without me having to say more.”

Yu Dawei: "???"

Know me? I've never even met this person before, so how could he know me? Doesn't he know his own worth?

Just as Yu was filled with doubt, a look of surprise flashed across Manager Xu's round face. He had never looked the other person in the eye since the other person entered the room, but now he was staring at the other person with unusual seriousness and even a hint of anger in his eyes.

Others in the Eighth Bureau might not know the other party, but how could someone who was once a core member of the Eighth Bureau of Communications Construction not have heard of them?

It can be said that the reason why the "reformists" of the Eighth Inning were able to succeed was precisely because of that one uncertain "feather" in the balance.

With a complicated expression, Supervisor Xu extended his hand, trying to maintain his elegance: "Hello, Boss Yu, I've heard so much about you. I am Xu Huang, the chief engineer in charge of the Harbin-Oil Highway, and my current position is supervisor. You can call me Supervisor Xu."

"Hello, Manager Xu." Yu Dawei extended his large right hand and shook hands with the other person's small hand.

Judging from the other person's accent, he was from the south. He was also much shorter than him. Yu Dawei didn't dare to shake hands with him too hard, afraid of hurting the small man's right hand.

While it's said that men should shake hands firmly, there's a certain degree of restraint involved.

"Then you can handle the arrangements from here on out, Lao Xu." Chang Bin sat to the side without getting up, instead continuing to stare at the information of several contractors, his mind racing with various connections and intricacies.

"Okay, let's go out and inspect your road roller first, and then I'll give you a reasonable quote based on its performance." Supervisor Xu turned to Chang Bin, "Boss, is this acceptable?"

"Make the arrangements," Chang Bin replied calmly without looking up.

Supervisor Xu didn't take it to heart and turned to Yu Dawei: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Boss Yu."

"You're welcome." Yu Dawei smiled as he pushed open the office door and gestured for Manager Xu to enter.

And so the two left the project manager's office one after the other.

"Bang." After the two left, Chang Bin slammed the documents in his hand onto the table.

He leaned back in the black chair, letting out a long sigh with a headache: "My first tribulation depends on you, brother."

Chang Bin knew that the senior leader intended to cultivate him, but he was indeed far behind Luo Changqing in terms of ability. Before the senior leader took office, he had time to mentor him, but that was no longer possible.

The leader needed him to prove he was capable! Chang Bin also needed to prove himself so he could continue working alongside General Manager Huang. Otherwise, he risked being relegated to a remote corner for years, or even being unable to return to his hometown due to work. Outside, Yu Dawei and Supervisor Xu stood together, watching Tang Chenwu operate the road roller for initial testing.

Yu Dawei was thinking about the promise Lao Chang had made to him—a commission of 400 yuan a day for the road roller. Now it seemed that the supervisor Xu beside him was definitely not one of the big bosses' people.

What puzzled him most was that although the other party appeared very reserved and even submissive in front of Chang Bin, he could clearly feel that the other party became more assertive when it came to his own affairs.

Like a madman trapped in the shackles of rules and regulations, he went completely insane without a care in the world.

Yu Dawei had a vague sense of unease, and at one point he even considered leaving with the road roller.

His road roller is the kind that's absolutely capable of getting work done. Even if he doesn't make money here, he can go directly to his second uncle, where there's a real need for it.

Even in the machinery rental market of the oil city, you can definitely find construction work within a day or two.

However, if he were to renege on his promise, it would seem to damage his reputation, given his close ties with the Eighth Bureau.

After much thought, Yu Dawei figured that if the other party quoted a commission of less than 400 yuan a day, he would turn around and leave without saying a word, and then explain to Lao Chang later.

This will also save us from any uncertainties that may arise here in the future.

"Boss Yu should have been to the Eighth Bureau headquarters in Qingcheng, right?" Supervisor Xu asked Yu Dawei while keeping his eyes on the movement of the road roller.

"Yes, I went there once last winter." Yu Dawei didn't know what the other person meant, so he didn't dare to continue.

"You must be wondering why I know you." Manager Xu turned his head and looked at the other person calmly. "Because your successful repair of Atlas was all over the news among the higher-ups at the time. Of course, what people said wasn't good, and some even threatened to have you killed."

Yu Dawei's expression changed; his originally kind face turned slightly gloomy, and his fists clenched unconsciously.

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously." Seeing Yu Dawei's strong reaction, Manager Xu changed the subject and comforted him, "It's all in the past. Wasn't I a member of the conservatives back then? What can I do now?"

"Your car is fine. I'll assign you to section four of the road. The commission will be based on a comprehensive assessment, and it'll be 500 yuan a day." Manager Xu held up an A4-sized notebook and wrote something on it. "All employee food and lodging are provided, limited to two people or less. The boss has a separate dormitory area, separate from the employees."

“Every morning and evening, all employees, both hired and unhired, must be called in attendance, except for the boss.” Supervisor Xu tore off the sheet of paper detailing the comprehensive evaluation of the road roller and handed it to Yu Dawei. “Do you see any other issues?”

To be honest, Yu Dawei's determination to leave was incredibly strong at that moment.

After thinking it over, he finally reached out and took the evaluation form from the other party: "Please guide me in the future."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely guide you." Manager Xu extended his index finger, pushed up the frame of his glasses, and turned to walk into the project office.

Yu Dawei still needs to ask Lao Chang what's going on. He thinks that if Lao Chang isn't an idiot, he definitely wouldn't have sent him here, so he needs to find an opportunity to ask Lao Chang.

Yu Dawei stopped Tang Chenwu's road roller before turning around and going into the project manager's office.

Upon entering the room, Manager Xu took out the drafted employment contract from the drawer. The cooperation period was tentatively set for one year, and the commission column, which should have been four hundred, was now changed to five hundred.

After signing the contract, Yu Dawei gave Lao Chang a look and then turned and left.

Next, we arranged accommodation in prefabricated houses around the project site. With directions from passersby, we easily found the person in charge of logistics.

The other party quickly arranged for Tang Chenwu and Sun Shunli to stay in an eight-person dormitory.

Yu Dawei went inside and took a look. There used to be six people in this prefab house, and now there are two upper bunks left, which are filled with all sorts of odds and ends.

With all the workers outside busy at work, these two are the only ones left to tidy up themselves.

Following that, the logistics manager took Yu Dawei to the contractor's and the equipment owner's dormitory. Although it was also a prefabricated house, it was noticeably cleaner than the workers' prefabricated house.

Moreover, compared to the eight-person prefabricated houses, the dormitories where the bosses lived were smaller, but the advantage was that there were only two beds.

Yu Dawei saw the bed next to him, with a quilt, a mattress, and a thick book. He wondered which boss was staying there.

(End of this chapter)