Twenty years of cold chain

Several days have passed since the letter of clarification was sent to Minghe, and the quieter things are, the more uneasy Bing Neng becomes.

In terms of the whole matter, Zhonglesi is the "plaintiff". After receiving the letter, it will definitely reply to Minghe, the bidding party. If things are settled, they will be settled. If not, there will be reasons for the dispute.

As fellow bidders, Zhongles couldn't confront Bingneng directly; everything depended on Minghe's explanation. They waited and waited, unable to find a solution, but it was clear that Minghe had stalled the matter. He had accepted the letter but hadn't done anything, which was why it had remained unresolved.

The tricky part is that, apart from a small group of people, Bingneng itself is still immersed in the atmosphere of winning the bid, which makes the planners of this matter feel more than just uneasy.

If Minghe protects him, then we will be surrounded by enemies!

This path was unfavorable, and after discussion, the planners decided to change course. If they could remove the problems of the Ice Energy Company itself from Zhongles's hands, the outcome would still be acceptable. The evidence in this matter was sufficient; what more could Zhongles do? Although it had embarrassed Minghe, there was no better option.

Zhongles is a family-run business that has almost taken its family business to the extreme.

At Monday's morning meeting, Chambers was flanked by his eldest brother, Qian Guowei, and his second brother, Qian Guole, on either side. These two were not full brothers, but rather came from Chambers' two previous marriages. Chambers is currently living with his third wife.

Looking back from the two sons, on one side are Qian Guowei's maternal relatives, and on the other side are Qian Guole's maternal relatives. Many important positions in the company are held by these two families.

Every time Chambers held a meeting, this table gave him the feeling of the Chu-Han Contention, with two armies lined up in a row, supporting and flattering each other vertically, and confronting each other horizontally. Chambers had long suffered from this.

He hesitated to make a decision on the most important matter. The eldest son was steady but not good at socializing, and his upright character made him easy to scheme against. Such a person would hardly be a qualified leader. The second son was lively, smooth in his dealings, had a wide network of connections and liked to venture out, but Chambers felt uneasy about him.

"Dad... Mr. Qian, Bingneng has finally confessed! The bidding in the southern suburbs was academic fraud, and they couldn't protect their people anymore! Now they've handed over all the evidence to us!" Qian Guole was full of excitement as he spoke, pushing Bingneng's clarification forward.

Chambers was momentarily stunned upon seeing the photograph. Clutching the photo, he saw a stark contrast to the scene in the park the day before, and suddenly, he understood everything. But he wanted to hear his two sons' opinions; this was no small matter.

"If Bingneng can hold on, I'll respect him as a real man! Mr. Qian, in this situation, life and death are in our hands! Bingneng has been trying to mess with us for years. Handing over one person isn't enough; that person belongs to the company, and that alone is enough to turn things upside down! Not only will we destroy its competitiveness in the southern suburbs, but it will also be unable to maintain a respectable image in the industry!"

What does Guowei think?

Qian Guowei has a standard square face and speaks in a deep voice. "Ice Energy has no obligation to explain these things to us. As a fellow bidder, they are being too humble. Unless there is something fishy going on and they are desperate and have no other choice."

"Oh?"

"BingNeng simply wants to tell the outside world that it wasn't the company that modified the data, but rather that internal personnel manipulated it secretly, at most it's the responsibility of a certain leader for dereliction of duty. Why should we get ourselves involved in something that Minghe didn't expose?"

Immediately, Qian Guole looked at Qian Guowei in disbelief. "This is bribery within the company! As long as we don't cause trouble, Bingneng will agree to any conditions we propose. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What do you mean by 'getting into trouble'?"

"But have you ever thought about why Minghe didn't expose this? Minghe must have someone protecting him, and it's definitely not Bingneng's reputation that's being protected, because if this were to happen, he would never choose Bingneng as the southern suburb. You only thought about the matter and not the people involved."

"Are you trying to teach me how to be a person and how to do things?!"

"Guoyue, if you look closely at that proposal, the data and principles don't match. Needless to say, this person is just a scapegoat. If we don't make any moves, we're just playing into Minghe's hands. Wouldn't securing the big contract in the southern suburbs be an extra layer of insurance?"

"Does it matter? We want more than just to take over the southern suburbs; we want to suppress these gleaming refrigerated truck manufacturers! What could be more important than this? Understand this: Ice Energy broke the rules first, and now we have leverage over them!"

"Our direct opponent has never been refrigerated trucks."

"You're just a coward!"

"I'm just stating the facts."

Chambers pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's enough."

He then slowly stood up, picked up a marker, and went to a small whiteboard behind him. Following his vague impressions, he began to scribble and draw. Chambers's drawing wasn't very clear; one could barely make out the main beam and suspension, but two key words stood out—

Reduce weight and increase space.

These two words also deeply caught the attention of everyone present, hitting the nail on the head.

"One container shipping company and three welding factories. Having been in this industry for so many years, we know best the irregularities. We can patch up whatever width or length is available and get on the road. Guowei is right. Our competitors have never been fully refrigerated trucks. Today's market is far different from ten years ago. Reducing weight and increasing space is the only way for us to remain invincible in the industry."

"Mr. Qian, do you have a plan?"

Qian Guowei said, "If the cost is controllable and it's feasible, we should keep it in our own hands no matter how much it costs!"

Chambers nodded, then displayed the photo in front of everyone. "So how much did this person who altered the data get paid?"

"I'm afraid it must be around ten thousand."

People looked at each other, completely baffled by Chambers's meaning.

Chambers smiled and said that tomorrow would be a fine day for fishing.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.