Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 133 Rapid Expansion (Part 1)
Chen Xuebing did not return to school; instead, he went to the construction sites in Pengshui and Taohuaxi.

The 7th G20 Finance Ministers and Bank Governors Forum was held in Beijing just two days ago.

These 20 countries account for 90% of the world's GDP and two-thirds of the world's population.

This meeting was upgraded to the G20 Summit in 08, becoming a major event worldwide that could influence global trends for almost the entire following year.

Reports on this conference were mostly wordy with little substance, offering nothing new and suggesting it was simply a forum.

Key takeaways from the meeting: promoting trade liberalization and highly praising the contributions to the Bretton Woods system.

Trade liberalization is certainly beneficial to our country.

The Bretton Woods system, on the other hand, provided the theoretical basis for the dollar's hegemony.

When Chen Xuebing read all of this, he felt a mix of emotions and wonder.

It is unimaginable in later generations that these two news items could appear on the same page with positive language.

How intense was the competition back then?
Entity List, high tariffs, military, finance, trade, agents, a full-scale competition.

Numerous major moves.

Those major moves were interspersed with countless smaller actions, which had a profound impact on the economy.

Chen Xuebing experienced the hardships of stock trading and business in that era, and he cursed every day.

His most long-term strategy was to seize every opportunity in those small actions.

This news served as a reminder to him.

Hurry up and ride away!

The construction site in Furong Village has been completed, and the stone paint around the pool has been sprayed. However, the design team now requires the addition of a secondary sedimentation tank and a new water tightness test.

This step is actually necessary, but it wasn't in the original design. The fact that it's only being brought up now is simply an attempt to delay the overall settlement process.

This delay will likely last for at least another two or three months.

The pipeline team on the road construction site was a bit panicked. They had already advanced all the funds for the road construction, and the pipeline team couldn't get the settlement payment either. When they heard that Chen Xuebing had arrived, they all went to him to ask if the payment for the highway project could be settled on time.

Chen Xuebing simply took them to the project office and berated Ren Kaiping, asking if there was no money at the higher-ups. He told them to just say so and not to make a big fuss about it.

Ren Kaiping is a straightforward person. He said that the final payment for the project from the municipal water conservancy department had not yet been received, and their water investment and construction company could only delay it. He was trying to use his personal connections to urge them to pay.

Chen Xuebing was overwhelmed. The project manager was supposed to use his personal connections to urge the client to pay the final settlement of less than five million.

Ren Kaiping has very powerful personal connections; he's a bureau chief in the city.

He immediately told Lao Ren not to waste his connections, and if necessary, he would find some migrant workers to cause a scene at the headquarters of the water investment company, so that the water investment company would feel the pressure and urge the water resources bureau.

If all else fails, have Uncle Yu Chunyin contact an old leader in the bureau.

Old Ren was quite touched and pulled Chen Xuebing aside to say that they would drink together that night.

Chen Xuebing somewhat missed Lu Yiwen from his previous life. That bastard was a master at causing trouble and demanding payment for construction projects. He would block the construction site, pretend to be crazy with the police, engage in verbal battles with the engineering department, and give gifts to key leaders. He was proficient in every process and had an excellent grasp of the appropriate level of discretion. In this life, he was assigned to Shenzhen, so this skill of his has been wasted.

However… Zhao Fuhua has some talent, so he should be able to take over his position.

Tan Maoshui left the Furong Village construction site and went to the Gonghe Village road. He organized everything in an orderly manner. Zhao Fuhua was obviously more experienced than when he first came after the New Year. He could use a total station. The other site managers were also doing well. Chen Xuebing encouraged them for a while and told them to go to the Taohuaxi construction site as soon as the project was over.

The highway will be completed and ready for inspection in just a few days.

Project manager Zhang Manhua was much more arrogant. Knowing that Chen Xuebing hadn't made any money, he claimed that the project payment would be fully arranged for him before October 10th. He then mentioned the advance payment for the highway project.

Chen Xuebing did not express his opinion, saying he would talk about it later.

Returning to Chongqing is where the main event begins.

Mr. Luo, the project manager of the project that benefits the people, has been waiting for him for a very long time.

Despite Mr. Chen's promise to "return to Chongqing tomorrow," Mr. Luo has yet to meet with Chen Xuebing, even after late August and late September.

Since Chen Xuebing hung up on him, he hasn't contacted Chen Xuebing again.

But Tan Hailiang was harassed by him for more than half a month.

Tan Hailiang called him every few days to complain that this project was too difficult and that there was nothing to be gained except money.

At first, Chen Xuebing patiently explained to him the plan to recruit talent at Chongqing Jiaotong University, but after coaxing him twice, he couldn't help but start cursing: "Isn't having money enough? What else do you need? Liang Hui works with you every day, why doesn't he say anything?"
Old Tan finally quieted down.

Just two days ago, Liang Hui called to say that the project construction had encountered a major problem.

It's been raining heavily for two days. Due to river construction, the upstream cofferdam has been flooded.

When Chen Xuebing first arrived in Pengshui, he inquired about the situation and learned that the project team was directing operations on-site. So he asked Chen Xuebing to cooperate with the command and arrange for the water pumps to be added.

By the time they arrived on Wednesday, the weather had cleared up.

As the car drove into the construction site fenced off next to the zoo, Liang Hui hurriedly came to greet us.

"Boss, you're finally here! We've burned out more than a dozen water pumps in the last two days!"

Chen Xuebing got out of the car and waved: "Has President Yu arrived?"

The uncle listened to him and didn't fight for custody of the child. Right after the divorce, he went on a trip to Yunnan and even went to Lijiang. He was living a carefree life and didn't come back until a month later.

I wonder if I found a romantic encounter in Lijiang.

This project was under his uncle's name, and Chen Xuebing didn't want to face the project manager Luo's cold face alone, so he quickly called him over.

"We're here! General Manager Yu and General Manager Luo are inside!" Liang Hui pointed to the prefabricated house a dozen meters away.

Chen Xuebing glanced in that direction, nodded, and walked straight ahead without going in.

"Take me to see the cofferdam."

"it is good!"

Liang Hui jogged ahead.

The construction site is located beside the river. A sloping access road has been dug into the river. The river has been drained and is bustling with activity. At a glance, there are six excavators and at least a hundred workers. A group of people are directing the construction of a section of cast-in-place box culvert at a high point in the foundation pit.

A box culvert is a square culvert, similar to a small tunnel. It can increase the water capacity and flow velocity of a river, prevent floods and waterlogging, and increase the carrying capacity of the river channel. It can be considered a type of water conservancy and transportation engineering.

The project's diversification lies in this: now they are taking advantage of the dry season to completely drain the river for deep dredging and cleaning, and they also need to build some engineering facilities, sewage treatment plants and drainage pipelines, as well as repair and renovation of some wells.

The riverbed was over ten meters wide, filled with silt. The construction access road was created by excavators piling up soil in the middle of the river. After walking more than two hundred meters upstream from the entrance, a dam made of burlap sacks finally appeared at a bend in the river. The water was about to overflow.

Both sides were filled with machines and water hoses.

"The project team told us to block the entire river, saying that October to April next year is the dry season. As a result, it rained heavily for two days in a row, and the whole city was flooded. The water rose up very quickly, and we couldn't pump it out in time. Fortunately, it has stopped now. If it rained again, we wouldn't dare to pour concrete down here!"

Chen Xuebing frowned upon hearing this: "You didn't build a cofferdam? Why is it completely sealed off? What about the diversion channel?"

"We're racing against time! The project team is urging us day and night! They say this is the fastest way! We don't have enough people here, and you don't allow subcontracting, so we can only do it section by section. The project team told us to finish this part first, and the timeframe is extremely tight. They even sent people to keep an eye on the box culvert foundation pit. The excavators already have a heavy workload. Look, the silt hasn't even been completely removed yet, and the box culvert construction has already started."

Chen Xuebing shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and turned to walk back.

As soon as you enter the prefabricated office, you are greeted by Lao Yu's smiling face.

"Mr. Luo, Xiao Chen is here! He's my nephew! Please speak to him!"

The project manager talked to Yu Chunyin for a long time, but didn't say anything nice. Yu Chunyin didn't care at all.

While he was away, his beloved nephew earned him another 500,000 yuan in the stock market!
With this golden touch helping him make money, and land prices in Shenzhen rising again, what does it matter about construction projects?
I can’t spend it all, I can’t spend it all!
Chen Xuebing and the short-haired man sitting down sized each other up.

Chen Xuebing spoke first, smiling broadly:
"Mr. Luo, I'm so sorry, something came up and I'm late."

It would have been better if he hadn't said that, because as soon as he did, Luo Jianghui got furious.

"Tell me about your team. One young guy just left, and another one comes along. They're all unreliable. At least Luo An brought a team. You guys, on such a big project, a construction worker and a little kid showed up. I even had to help you find the workers and excavators! Is this how you do things? There are four contracts in total, and I've spent all my time on your third contract!"

What is Chen Xuebing's current status?
Seeing the other party's attitude, he had no intention of giving him a chance to continue belittling himself, so he waved his hand and frowned, saying:
"Alright, alright, Mr. Luo, if you're busy, you should go back. I'll take care of things here."

Luo Jianghui was a little stunned when he saw that his nephew, who was doing the work, had a more imposing presence than his uncle, who was the boss.

"The water hasn't receded, how am I supposed to get back? If the water overflows again, it'll delay me for another week or so! We need to arrange for pumps to be added quickly!"

Chen Xuebing chuckled.

"When the water overflowed, wasn't it all because of your bad directions? Why didn't you spend some time building a diversion channel instead of worrying about this?"

Luo Jianghui was rendered speechless by the rebuttal, and the atmosphere fell into a brief silence.

Chen Xuebing softened his tone slightly: "Alright, General Manager Luo, I will have someone come to dig the trench and drain the water as soon as possible. I will arrange for the construction of this project in sections immediately. Of the four sections, I will definitely be the first to complete it!"

"Segmented construction? No way! You have to finish this section on time first before the other sections can continue!"

Luo Jianghui's excited shout startled Chen Xuebing.

"And another thing, don't mess around. I've already asked around, and your construction worker doesn't have much experience in river channel construction. If he digs ditches haphazardly to drain water, it will cause a lot of delays if water gets into the foundation pit! It's also very easy to cause safety accidents, and no one can afford to take responsibility! Just follow our instructions properly. Since the project management team has taken your management fee, they will guide you to finish the project! Stop thinking about digging that little bit of sand all day! Do your current section well, and the profits that are rightfully yours will be yours sooner or later!"

Chen Xuebing understood now.

So they're afraid he'll dig up sand and gravel from the downstream riverbed and sell it first?
No wonder Luo An and his team didn't get to work on the profitable sections. This project manager is cunning enough; he won't let them touch the profitable ones until the difficult and unprofitable projects are completed.

"President Luo, are you afraid I lack the ability?" Chen Xuebing laughed and called out to the outside, "Liang Hui!"

"Boss, what's wrong?"

"Didn't I transfer four million to you? What, you don't have enough money?"

Liang Hui was taken aback: "It's enough."

"Why won't even let us touch the downstream section of the river, Mr. Luo? He told you to send people and materials, but you didn't."

"Got it! Bro, do you need to get an excavator too? I just got two."

Luo Jianghui was a little embarrassed.

He had firmly believed that this was a makeshift operation with nothing to show for it.

I never expected this young man to be so extravagant, spending 400 million right from the start!
Chen Xuebing waved his hand again: "Call Lao Tan over here."

After a moment of silence, Tan Hailiang arrived.

"Mr. Chen! You've finally arrived!"

Chen Xuebing's expression darkened: "I heard you can't even build a diversion channel? I'll personally lead a team to do it?"

"Are you kidding me? Luo... the project team won't let us dig!"

Chen Xuebing turned his head, a grin spreading across his face.

"President Luo, Lao Tan has been in engineering for over ten years. You think his skills aren't good enough? Then I'll get you two experts, how about that? The chief engineer of the Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway and the deputy director of the Northwest Water Conservancy Survey and Design Institute, both receiving government subsidies. Is that enough?"

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Luo Jianghui was also full of questions.

What kind of company is this? A labor service company... hiring an expert of this caliber?

At this moment, Luo Jianghui spoke up for Yu Chunyin.

"Why are you hiring these experts if you don't have any projects?"

Chen Xuebing was actually hesitant at first.

The headhunter helped him connect with two technical experts. The chief engineer of the Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway was young and could work on projects, while the director of the survey and design institute had retired but had a much bigger reputation.

The three chief engineers are typically found in state-owned construction enterprises; they are rarely seen in private construction companies, let alone labor service companies.

One chief engineer is in charge of technology, one chief accountant is in charge of finance, and one chief economist is in charge of cost accounting and control.

He originally only planned to hire one person in charge of technology, since both of them had an annual salary of over 20 yuan and he also had to manage their compensation.

Moreover, when it comes to technology, it's not about having more experts; there needs to be someone who has the final say.

But now he has made a decision.

I'm rich.

One chief engineer, one consultant!
If we want to expand in the future, I'll hire you again. We'll turn one company into two, and hire two chief engineers and two consultants!

Chen Xuebing glanced at Luo Jianghui and raised his hand to check the time.

"Mr. Luo, I will arrange the personnel before leaving. I will review the construction plan again. You don't need to worry about this construction site. Please withdraw the project team. I have plenty of people here. Just don't delay the progress payment."

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(Sorry, I've been working on the outline lately and spent a lot of time researching. Updates will become more frequent and stable.)
(End of this chapter)