Courtyard House: Inheriting the Restaurant, the Jia Family Wants to Get It for Free

The first to come knocking were several old state-owned factories that were already on the list, but ranked lower. Their factory managers practically wore out the doorstep of Cheng Shuhai's office.

"Consultant Cheng, although our factory's equipment is a bit old, our workers are highly skilled and have a solid foundation! If you put your textile project in our factory for renovation, we guarantee that we can start producing products in three months, no, two months!"

"Consultant Cheng, we have the most experience in the daily necessities sector! We used to manufacture thermos flasks! As soon as the equipment arrives, we can start production immediately!"

They all wanted to secure the new project for themselves. Everyone knew that this not only meant getting a batch of brand-new Soviet equipment for free, but also securing valuable export orders. In an era of centralized procurement and distribution, when factories were struggling to make ends meet, this was like a windfall.

Even one of the people in charge of allocating materials in the early stages of the project approached Cheng Shuhai privately, subtly hinting, "Consultant Cheng, I know you're short on time and have a heavy workload. The most troublesome thing about building a new factory is the materials. If you could hand over the food branch factory project to the engineering teams under our system, I guarantee that you'll have plenty of steel and cement, and the construction speed will be at least twice as fast as it is now."

This is almost a blatant exchange of interests.

Faced with these overt and covert attempts to curry favor and win him over, Cheng Shuhai remained calm and politely declined.

He refused all offers of "kindness" and instead established a set of "strict" material management systems.

All steel, cement, bricks, tiles, and even every screw used in the construction of the new factory must be subject to a system of "public registration, double signature, and daily inventory." Before leaving get off work each day, the warehouse keeper and the project supervisor must jointly count the day's material consumption and inventory, and both parties must sign to confirm before they can leave.

This decision immediately offended a large number of people.

Those who originally wanted to take advantage of the project to make some extra money or seek personal gain for their own units found that Cheng Shuhai was completely impenetrable.

Soon, retaliation came.

That morning, a batch of special steel, transported from other places, used to build the main beams of the factory building, arrived at the construction site of the textile factory.

Cheng Shujun, who was in charge of receiving the goods on site, noticed something was wrong after counting the quantity with the workers.

"Why are there more than a dozen missing?" Cheng Shujun asked, holding the transfer order, as he approached the head of the transport team.

"Short?" The truck driver didn't even lift his eyelids. He pulled another slip of paper from his pocket and threw it in front of Cheng Shujun. "Look carefully, this is a temporary transfer order from the higher-ups. There are ten steel bars that have been temporarily transferred to another construction site. All the paperwork is in order. You just need to inspect the goods and sign it."

Cheng Shujun picked up the transfer order and looked at it. It was stamped with a bright red official seal and the signature looked quite professional, so there seemed to be no problem.

But he had a feeling that something was wrong. However, as someone in charge of on-site construction, he didn't dare to question the "superior's" documents, so he could only report the situation to Cheng Shuhai.

After receiving the call, Cheng Shuhai rushed to the scene immediately.

Instead of questioning the truck driver, he first obtained all the documents, including the transport order, the delivery order, and the so-called "temporary transfer order".

"When was this batch of goods shipped out of the warehouse?" Cheng Shuhai asked.

"Six o'clock this morning."

"When did we get here?"

"8:30."

"What is the vehicle's load capacity? What is the total weight of this batch of steel?"

Cheng Shuhai asked one question after another, becoming increasingly detailed. The team leader initially answered fluently, but gradually, sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Finally, Cheng Shuhai's gaze fell on the "temporary transfer order".

"The seal on this is genuine," Cheng Shuhai said calmly.

The team leader breathed a sigh of relief.

"However," Cheng Shuhai changed the subject, tapping a number in the lower right corner of the document, "if I remember correctly, this number belongs to an old batch of documents that were invalidated half a month ago. New transfer orders should all use new numbers."

The convoy leader's face turned pale instantly.

"I don't care whose negligence this was, or whether someone did it intentionally." Cheng Shuhai's eyes turned cold. "From now on, all subsequent supplies are suspended. Notify the audit team to immediately re-verify all materials already delivered to the construction site! Until the verification results are available, all construction work on the site is suspended!"

This decision was like a bomb that exploded on the construction site.

The work stoppage meant a delay in progress. Hundreds of workers stood idly on the construction site, chatting amongst themselves.

"What's going on? They've only been working for a few days, and they've already stopped?"

"I heard it's because the number of materials doesn't match."

"Is this such a small matter warranting a work stoppage? Let's get the work started first!"

Complaints rose and fell.

Those who were already dissatisfied with Cheng Shuhai immediately seized the opportunity and began to fan the flames.

"I knew it! Letting an outsider manage a project is no good! What does he know about production? All he knows is holding a ledger and doing endless calculations! How much of the construction schedule will this delay? Can he bear the responsibility for affecting exports to the Soviet Union?"

The rumors quickly reached Old Zhao's ears.

Mr. Zhao immediately took a car and rushed to the scene.

Everyone assumed that Old Zhao had come to interrogate Cheng Shuhai and demand that he return to work as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, after getting out of the car, Old Zhao didn't even glance at the complaining officials, but went straight to Cheng Shuhai and asked only one question: "What do you need me to do?"

"Mr. Zhao, I need you to give me a day," Cheng Shuhai said. "I promise I will get to the bottom of this within a day."

"Good!" Old Zhao nodded, then turned to everyone and announced, "I agree with Consultant Cheng's decision! Investigate thoroughly! Before the results are in, anyone who dares to speak ill of us behind our backs or incite the workers will be treated as someone who sabotages a key national project!"

Old Zhao's strong support instantly silenced all dissenting voices.

The investigation results came out that very evening.

The dozen or so missing steel bars were found in a small private workshop on the outskirts of the city. They hadn't been transferred to any "other construction site" at all; instead, they had been secretly resold.

Following this lead, two low-level staff members responsible for resource allocation were quickly apprehended. Faced with irrefutable evidence, they confessed to abusing their power, misappropriating obsolete official documents, and embezzling public funds.

The matter seems to have come to an end.