Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 327 A Fragmented Life

Hot pot, delicious.

Sichuan hot pot, so-so.

If you want to eat hot pot, you have to go to Chongqing.

On the third day after the group arrived in Qingyang District, Chengdu, they reached this consensus.

At the Laozhao Hotpot restaurant on Qingyang Main Street, the honeycomb briquettes crackled and popped, while the TV on the counter broadcast Chengdu News: "Today, the groundbreaking ceremony for Terminal 2 of Shuangliu Airport was held, with a total investment of 26.7 billion yuan."

Chen Xuebing took out his Kirin phone, snapped a picture of the table, and sent it to two people on the Starlink app at the same time.

To "Flora_Y": We're having hot pot again today. I'll call you when I get back to the hotel tonight.

To "煎bingo子": Without pea shoots, I can't even eat properly.

To "煎bingo子": I'm a bit busy today. Good morning, good afternoon, and good night.

Flora_Y replied instantly: "Okay."

Then I received photos of two more dresses.

Flora_Y: "?"

Chen Xuebing replied without even opening the loading screen to take a closer look: "Buy both, swipe my card."

Flora_Y: "You're just being perfunctory! Look at the background! This is my wardrobe! I'm asking you which outfit you're going to wear out!"

Chen Xuebing blushed slightly, but didn't say anything: "Listen to your mother, you should wear cotton-padded pants in winter."

Flora_Y: "(smiley face)(smiley face)"

A smiling warning.

Mr. Chen calmly held up his work badge: "A leader is sitting next to me, I'll be back in a bit."

The other person immediately became obedient: "Okay, then you eat well, mua~"

The nine-compartment copper pot was served just in time, and the glasses of Liu Zehui, the deputy chief engineer from Shaanxi sitting next to him, immediately fogged up, but he remained seated and waited for the chairman to speak.

Chen Xuebing poured the entire plate of potato chips into the center compartment, and the chili oil immediately foamed up.

“We Chongqing locals usually only eat spicy hot pot. If you order a half-and-half hot pot, you’ll get scolded, unless you have pea peas.”

When the leader spoke, everyone responded with laughter.

“There are more and more people.” Chen Xuebing turned his head and looked at the two tables next to him and sighed. The table next to him was occupied by the eight project managers that Bi Yaxiong had just recruited. Next to them were two retired land bureau cadres who served as policy advisors, a senior engineer from the Hubei Earthquake Bureau who had just left the company and served as a technical supervisor, as well as several managers who were setting up the office and two young surveyors.

The twenty new recruits were all poached from various units by Bi Yaxiong, Chief Engineer Tang Qiankun, and Zhang Qingzhong, the retired consultant from the Northwest Surveying and Mapping Institute.

Some people arrived a couple of days ago, while others arrived this morning. The group of people were still a bit reserved in front of the wealthy and powerful new boss.

Seeing that everyone was quiet and waiting for him to start eating, Chen Xuebing laughed loudly and said, "Make yourselves at home! It's hard to please everyone, we have people from both the north and the south. Let's make do with hot pot for a few days. If you like clear broth, have clear broth; if you like spicy broth, have spicy broth. The address for the headquarters has been finalized. They're cleaning up the place these days. Once we move there, we'll set up a canteen right away."

They've just arrived and need to wander around for a few days, but now they're all being accommodated in a hotel.

If a typical construction team is to carry out construction work in a city outside the capital, especially a provincial capital, the resettlement alone requires sending an advance team to contact available land and prefabricated houses in advance, as well as renting houses and warehouses nearby for management personnel to live in and for storing valuables.

Fortunately, the leaders of the Transportation Department arranged a highway command center for them in Qingyang. The staff had already left. The place was quite large, a courtyard with ready-made buildings, offices, meeting rooms, and seven or eight acres of open space for parking. They only had to pay 350,000 yuan in rent per year.

Now all that's needed is to equip the vehicles, and the command center can get up and running.

"President Chen, I heard from President Bi that you sent us here to fight a tough battle! I've brought the team and all the pots and pans! We can cook our own meals! We're just waiting to start work! How long will it take before we can get to work?"

The speaker was a project manager with a deep voice and short hair. He was quite different from the people next to him, sitting upright with his back to the chair, giving him a somewhat military air.

Chen Xuebing glanced at him and asked with interest, "What's your name?"

"Huang Chao!"

Bi Yaxiong leaned closer and whispered, “He’s from Hunan. He specializes in building construction. He was one of the apprentices that Deputy Director Luo of Gezhouba Group took on after he was transferred to Hunan Construction Engineering. He’s been doing this for ten years. Two years ago, he passed the Level 2 Construction Engineer exam and was promoted to manager. He has led two school and hospital projects, and he has also worked on large projects. He does a great job.”

A building construction project manager must have two things: a certificate and project experience.

As for certifications, a Level 2 Construction Engineer is the starting point, capable of managing small to medium-sized projects. Only a Level 1 Construction Engineer can lead large-scale projects and serve as the project manager for large-scale projects.

Some professional engineering titles can serve as a supplement.

In terms of experience, schools and hospitals are generally considered small projects, while those who have worked on commercial complexes and urban landmarks are of a higher caliber, and those who have worked on super high-rise buildings and large public facilities are of an even higher caliber.

Most of the project managers present are first-class certified construction engineers with professional training and experience in managing medium to large-scale projects.

There is a big difference between construction engineers and architects. Construction engineers are stationed on construction sites to coordinate construction, quality, and cost control. They are registered with construction, supervision, or bidding companies. Architects, on the other hand, lead the entire architectural design process, covering the early planning and design of projects to the completion of construction drawings. They mainly work in architectural design institutes and drawing review units, focusing on design and technical review.

For example, Liu Zehui, the deputy chief engineer next to him, has a first-class registered architect certificate and a second-class registered structural engineer certificate, and was among the first batch of registered architects in 94.

There are only a little over 10,000 Class A Registered Architects nationwide.

Huang Chao, who spoke up, is relatively weak in terms of qualifications.

However, Chen Xuebing didn't care about that. The technical team had a general command center, and the quality control was handled by a supervision company.

He really liked the young man's energy and spirit.

“I think it’s a good idea. Let’s keep him in Chengdu and put him in charge of the Dujiangyan project. It’s closer to you, so you can give him more guidance,” Chen Xuebing said.

The commission and bonuses for projects in Chengdu are definitely higher. He publicly expressed his appreciation for Huang Chao, who has the temperament of a soldier, and decided to keep him in Chengdu, which can be considered as spending a lot of money to acquire talent.

A leader doesn't need to explicitly state what kind of person they want their subordinates to become. They can simply choose a role model, consistently reward them, and the others will naturally understand.

If this person's qualities are not obvious enough, then wait until the project is fully underway before choosing a decisive and efficient role model.

Huang Chao's qualities were actually quite obvious. Bi Yaxiong immediately understood the chairman's meaning and patted his chest, saying, "The people I've brought in are not pushovers! Although Huang Chao's cultural background is a bit lacking, he has worked on large projects and is a first-rate expert in managing construction sites! Each of these people can handle tough challenges!"

Upon hearing this, the other project managers also sat up straighter.

Chen Xuebing then smiled and said, "The project is progressing quickly. This is a large-scale investment for us, and we have leaders who are concerned about it. The Construction Department is also very optimistic about our plan and has agreed to help us with the land acquisition. However, our requirements for individual land use are quite high, and we still need to negotiate with the local authorities."

After revising the "Urban Cluster Satellite New City" plan, in order to revolve around the theme of the "Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle," a new plan was established with Chengdu as the core, forming micro-new cities around Chengdu's Deyang, Mianyang, and Ziyang. Ya'an was also conveniently included, and the area from Wenchuan to Ma'erkang became a transportation hub, with development focused on transportation projects, further aligning with the development direction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. This truly became a "Belt" (Chengdu Economic Belt) + "Road" (northwest direction via Wenchuan to Jiuzhaigou, exiting the province).

Aba ranks fourth in terms of the number of people affected by the disaster, with the main disaster area being Wenchuan County, which is very close to Chengdu. Therefore, there is no need to invest in the entire Aba region. Just find a reason to put two real estate projects in Wenchuan, and the transportation cost of building materials in the Qinghai-Tibet grassland will also decrease accordingly.

The original community model has been transformed into a collaborative cluster model.

A typical residential cluster has a population of 1000-3000 people, corresponding to about 300-700 households. Three clusters together would have about 1500 households.

However, the land area has increased.

For residents, there are more farmers' markets, clinics, and shops, and basic services have improved.

With improved coverage and efficiency from emergency response and public security departments, public safety has increased.

With more people willing to do business here, the commercial sector has expanded, and the community's vitality has increased.

The road grade will also be improved.

By combining residential, commercial, industrial, and public service facilities, a "15-minute living circle" is formed.

For developers, taking on part of the role of city operator can enhance their operational experience.

In terms of land acquisition logic, bundling land sales can result in land price discounts, and actively co-constructing regional infrastructure can also bring more policy benefits.

You can also create your own IP brand.

Moreover, according to the current cost logic, land prices are far lower than construction costs. Acquiring more land means getting commercial rights for free, and the long-term profit return is no less than that of real estate itself.

When he decided to enter the real estate market in Sichuan, he was thinking of acting expediently in a hurry and did not consider the interests of the project at all. He was even willing to lose money. However, after discussion, the board members managed to raise the profit margin in this way.

However, if such residential areas are to be entirely street-facing and facilitate compact planning, then it is necessary to choose plots of land opposite the street or at intersections, preferably square plots. This would greatly reduce the number of options, and there is also the risk of local authorities cramming in some substandard plots.

The Construction Department needs to help with this.

Sichuan acted swiftly.

The Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development helped him set up the command center, and the Department of Transportation took the initiative to convene a "Special Coordination Meeting on the Construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Logistics Channel" and invited him and the Chongqing Transportation Commission to participate.

But Director Xian called him and asked if he could support the 400 million yuan financing for the construction of the Qingbaijiang railway siding.

He naturally expressed his inability to help, citing a series of reasons related to financial difficulties.

Actually, raising 400 million yuan in financing or providing advance funding is not a big problem.

However, the Qingbaijiang Railway was approved as an international railway port in April this year and positioned as a western international logistics hub. Moreover, it was indeed the starting point for the first China-Europe freight train from Chengdu. This is why he mentioned cooperating with Qingbaijiang.

Qingbaijiang is qualified to become a railway port and has the necessary infrastructure for operation. However, due to the temporary lack of national-level open platform qualifications, it cannot directly connect with foreign countries for the time being.

To put it bluntly, there are policies in place but lack the necessary procedures. There are no approval procedures for international railway ports, and the system is not included in the national freight train coordination system, making it impossible to allocate overseas channel resources.

Chongqing was able to establish a bonded logistics park because it had already received tacit approval from higher authorities.

Chongqing invited Chengdu to participate, and Sichuan also wanted to follow suit and build the Qingbaijiang Railway, but it was hampered by the lack of approval. It also wanted to learn from Chongqing and use a private platform approach.

This is a good thing; everyone grows through competition.

But he can't be a double agent.

At least it can't be done openly.

Thinking of this, Chen Xuebing picked up a slice of hot potato, his gaze sweeping over everyone before settling on the faces of the two retired consultants from the Land and Resources Bureau.

"Tomorrow morning, there will be a special coordination meeting on the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing logistics channel. The meeting will be led by the Department of Transportation, and leaders from relevant departments in Sichuan and Chongqing will be present. Our investment plan will be discussed at the meeting. I would like to discuss a few issues with you two later."

In the past two days, Chen Xuebing learned a lot from them. These two had worked in the Sichuan land and resources department for decades and were very familiar with the situation in various cities and prefectures. They were like walking intelligence networks.

One of the consultants, surnamed Li, pushed up his glasses and said, "The Department of Construction can only help us make connections by giving priority to promotion and coordinating communication. The final decision still depends on the willingness and conditions of the local government. This meeting is mainly to establish consensus and obtain policy approval at the provincial level. We still have to tackle the tough issues at the local level one by one."

“I know.” Chen Xuebing nodded, “But I can only help the command center to this level. I’m very busy after this, so you’ll have to figure out the rest yourselves.”

Bi Yaxiong picked up the thread: "Tomorrow's meeting will be attended by President Cai, President Kan, and me, along with Chairman Chen. President Liu, I'll leave the logistical support here, such as team integration, the temporary command post's setup, and the procurement of vehicles and equipment, to you. Feng Daiqiang, you should also come with me to listen to the meeting and get a feel for the atmosphere; once the project is implemented, there will be a lot of dealings with the local authorities."

He also named a project manager he liked and planned to assign him to a project in downtown Chengdu.

Chen Xuebing glanced around the hall, where most of the people were brought by Bi Yaxiong. He stroked his chin and said slowly:
"Old Cai, the reason I asked you to come here this time is because you can't lose your understanding of the group's main business. Secondly, the group's human resources department is about to be established, and we need to support the personnel arrangements of the subsidiaries. Not only Gu'an Construction, but also Qidian. Qidian needs to complete its shareholding reform and establish a group before the end of the year, and it also needs to conduct its first round of financing. The asset appraisal work for this shareholding reform needs to be done by an authoritative institution, and the personnel also need to be adjusted. Both tasks are very important, so you need to keep an eye on them."

Cai Zhijian understood.

To gain control.

Especially finance.

The chairman has realized that his old colleagues are no longer up to the task, and he has completely taken over the management of finances. He will transfer personnel from the holding group to keep a firm grip on the finances of the three subsidiaries.

“Okay, Singularity needs to face international capital financing, so let’s hire PricewaterhouseCoopers as the accounting firm? I’m more familiar with them.”

Chen Xuebing nodded in satisfaction: "That's exactly what I meant."

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of the world's Big Four accounting firms, headquartered in London.

After his trip to Sichuan, his next destination is London.

The real estate industry, steeped in rustic charm yet overflowing with money, and the tech companies, brimming with elitism yet needing financial support to survive, are so polarized.

To make up for each other, he had to shuttle between them; that was reality.

The phone on the table rang. I picked it up and saw a reply from "煎bingo子".

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for taking the time to chat with me amidst your busy schedule. Good morning, good afternoon, and good night."

Chen Xuebing chuckled.

This is another very fragmented part.

(End of this chapter)