wavenovel Chapter 89 A First Try: Publicly Confronting Zeng Huihuang
Chapter 89 A First Try: Publicly Confronting Zeng Huihuang
Chapter 88 A First Try: Publicly Confronting Zeng Huihuang
Back in that damned Suicheng again.
The week-long experience as an examiner still lingered in his mind, especially Bai Xiuzhu's enchanting aftertaste and her vigorous sucking, which he could not forget for a long time.
Bai Xiuzhu is petite, and her movements are incredibly satisfying. She has a fresh and understated appearance, unlike her sister's hot figure, but her performance in intimate situations is even more passionate than Bai Xiuyi's.
It seemed they wanted to devour Lin Chen whole.
Just thinking about it makes my fingertips tingle.
If the two sisters could get together—Lin Chen clicked his tongue twice, suppressing the whimsical thoughts in his heart. Unfortunately, they were separated by two cities, one in the south and one in the north, so it seemed unlikely that they would have that chance in the future.
Today, the website gave Lin Chen's novel a huge splash screen recommendation, the kind that pops up right in front of you as soon as you open the app. This must be the most awesome recommendation on the entire internet.
Lin Chen was overjoyed as he watched the number of subscriptions in the backend soar. The average daily subscription had already reached 88,000, and 100,000 average daily subscriptions was no longer a dream. The website had already started negotiating a contract with Lin Chen to become a top author.
The story of Lin Chen becoming a god through a single book is an unexpected occurrence.
That's incredible.
Today, the city company held its annual safety production meeting, and Director Song specifically asked him and Chen Ya to go with him.
Bringing Chen Ya along was perfectly reasonable, as she had stayed up two nights writing the meeting report. But bringing Lin Chen along surprised the entire office. Actually, it wasn't surprising, but some people were simply unwilling to accept that Lin Chen was now a favorite of Director Song.
Zhang Junmin, in particular, was seething with jealousy, his eyes burning with envy.
Lin Chen was actually quite uncomfortable in the car. After all, he hadn't taken care of Director Song on the 5th during his business trip as an examiner, and he was afraid that Director Song would have a problem with him.
However, Director Song seemed quite magnanimous and didn't ask Lin Chen about it at all.
Instead, she pulled him aside and started checking his household registration, asking how many people were in his family, how many siblings he had, and what his parents did for a living. Finally, she abruptly changed the subject and asked, "Lin Chen, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Not yet," Lin Chen answered cautiously, keeping his tone low. He wasn't in a committed relationship with anyone and wasn't sure what his boss meant by asking this question, so he just took it as routine concern.
"How can you not have a girlfriend?" Director Song reacted strongly, his brows furrowed. "You're thirty already, aren't you? Work is important, but you can't neglect your personal life. You need to hurry!"
"I'm not in a hurry," Lin Chen said dismissively, forcing a smile.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Director Song turned to look at Chen Ya in the passenger seat and joked with a smile, "I remember Chen Ya isn't married either, right? You two seem like a good match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman. Lin Chen, why don't you settle down with her internally, so you don't have to look for someone outside?"
As soon as she heard those words, Chen Ya felt as if she had been thrown into a honey pot, overflowing with sweetness. The secret joy hidden in her eyes was impossible to suppress. She secretly glanced at Lin Chen, her eyes full of expectation, and even her fingertips clenched tightly, waiting for his response.
Unexpectedly, Lin Chen only said indifferently, with a hint of aloofness in his tone: "How could I be worthy of Comrade Chen Ya?"
Chen Ya's sweet feeling instantly cooled, and she replied sourly, her words laced with sarcasm: "I wouldn't dare to presume to be worthy of Comrade Lin Chen."
Song Jiehui had no idea about their past entanglement. He just thought it was young people being shy and polite, so he smiled and let it go without saying anything more.
Upon arriving at the city company's conference room, the atmosphere instantly sombered. The meeting was chaired by Zeng Huihuang from the city company. The procedure was the same old routine: first, studying the latest speech on production safety by Chairman Tang of the provincial company—in short, Chairman Tang had just taken a tour of the XX city water plant and casually remarked a few words: "The company's production safety situation is extremely serious right now. We can't just talk about safety or leave it on paper; it must be put into practice in production. Safety is a small matter, but the responsibility is not small, and we must never tolerate it."
These few repetitive phrases were studied over and over again for an hour and a half. The discussions were nothing more than repeating the same words with different phrasing. The chairman had said these words thousands of times; anyone could memorize them. Yet, they still had to grit their teeth and extract the "spirit." Lin Chen's eyelids grew heavy as he listened, and he secretly grumbled to himself that it was a complete waste of time.
Yet Zeng Huihuang managed to find something extraordinary in it all. Without any preparation, he spoke fluently and with an air of authority: "I have deeply understood from the chairman's words that safety is a small matter, but a small matter can interfere with a big matter. It is not the focus, but it affects the focus. Safety is ultimately a matter of attitude, a matter of mindset, and a matter of work style. We must talk about it often and tirelessly. We cannot treat it like cutting leeks, where one wave grows back after another. We must treat it like pulling up radishes, uprooting them completely and leaving no room for hidden dangers."
Zeng Huihuang is indeed highly capable; he's a natural-born leader. He can make anything sound amazing.
After Zeng Huihuang finished his speech, it was the turn of the heads of each county company to report on the safety situation. They all gave the same template-like speeches: first, they boasted about the work that had been completed, then showed off some false achievements, then raised a few trivial issues to make it look like a big deal, and finally painted a few big pictures and talked about the "major plans" for the future.
This kind of rhetoric could be used in any department or meeting within Xinhai Group; it had nothing new. Lin Chen was getting sleepy listening to it, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Comrade Chen Ya was also secretly flipping through her phone, clearly not having absorbed much of what she was saying either.
After Song Jiehui finished his report, Zeng Huihuang seemed to be deliberately picking a fight: "Director Song, I heard that several people died of thirst at your Suicheng company last month. Why didn't you mention it in your report? I didn't know anything about it. Are you trying to cover it up?"
The moment these words were spoken, the conference room fell silent, and all eyes turned to Director Song.
Lin Chen found it hilarious. You had no idea about this, so how come you know now? Isn't this just slapping yourself in the face?
Director Song's face paled slightly, and he quickly explained, "I remember Tan Huasheng should have reported this to you, I..."
Zeng Huihuang interrupted him again, his tone even more aggressive: "Tan Huasheng reported to me after the fact. If something happens under you, you, as the top leader, should report to me immediately. If you don't report these hidden dangers, how can you take responsibility when something goes wrong? I think your Suicheng is just lax in its thinking and lacks a solid work style."
Director Song blushed deeply after being rebuked. His lips moved, but he didn't know how to refute her.
There was no way to refute it; the leader just wanted to give him a hard time, so Song Jiehui had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear it, his face extremely ugly.
The others knew that Zeng Huihuang was making an example of someone, so they remained silent and dared not speak. Chen Ya sat below, her palms sweating with anxiety. She wanted to speak up for Director Song, but she didn't have the status or the confidence to do so. Her eyes were full of anxiety.
Looking at Director Song's embarrassed appearance and Zeng Huihuang's arrogant face, Lin Chen felt very uncomfortable for some reason. He thought to himself that he was about to become a god with one book, and thought, "Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
He slowly stood up, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable force that broke the deathly silence of the conference room.
"General Manager Zeng, drought relief is a key task of the provincial company. Accident situations should be reported directly to the provincial company's safety supervision department. This is clearly stipulated in the documents, which is why Director Song did not report to you personally."
The municipal company is a superior, so it was reasonable for Song Jiehui to report to it. However, not reporting it was not necessarily wrong, because this was indeed a key task assigned by the provincial company, and the document stated that accidents should be reported directly to the province.
Zeng Huihuang's face darkened. He hadn't expected anyone to dare contradict him in public, and even make such a reasonable argument. He couldn't afford to lose his temper, so he could only coldly say, "You seem to know a lot about the documents? Didn't your Director Song teach you to say that?"
"President Zeng, you're underestimating Director Song by saying that." Lin Chen's eyes were sharp. "Our Director Song always acts according to regulations and the instructions in the documents. He would never report to a higher level, nor would he dare to make false or conceal information."
The conference room was completely silent. No one dared to utter a sound, only secretly observing the scene with shock in their eyes. No one could believe that a mere employee of Suicheng Company would dare to publicly contradict Zeng Huihuang.
Song Jiehui knew that was enough: "President Zeng, this matter is indeed my fault. In any case, I should have reported it to you. It was my negligence. Please punish me."
After listening, Zeng Huihuang's expression finally softened. He just wanted to save face: "Alright, I won't say I'm targeting any particular person, company, or company. I'm just saying that all the counties under your jurisdiction are actually part of our city. If anything happens to you, you must report it to me immediately so I can try my best to help you."
Hearing this, Director Song breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lin Chen with more admiration. He didn't expect this kid to be so useful at the crucial moment and help him out of the predicament.
Chen Ya sat below, looking at Lin Chen's tall figure, a hint of sadness in her eyes. He was still him, yet he was no longer him.
As the meeting drew to a close, Zeng Huihuang rambled on with some more nonsense: "Those of you sitting here are all the heads of safety and production in your respective county companies. You should all know that although it's only been a few months this year, the company has already had several safety incidents. Some of them have been reported and we've studied them, and some haven't been reported, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen."
The provincial company's safety manager also issued important instructions a few days ago: starting yesterday, the company's Level A safety risk prevention and control plan should be activated; absolutely no accidents should occur at this juncture.
Indeed, Xinhai Company experiences safety incidents of varying degrees almost every day. However, most of these incidents are covered up by the managers of the subordinate companies, and the reports submitted are embellished.
Of course, some safety incidents were not reported, but the bureau chief or the general manager in charge all have a management group where information is shared.
The company's activation of the Level A safety risk prevention and control plan actually has a very strict standard, which is that Xinhai Company has used up its annual death toll target.
Yes, the death toll is a number that shouldn't surprise you too much.
Large companies in the hydropower and coal industries all have this target. Of course, this target doesn't necessarily have to be met, but the people below are very enthusiastic about it. Generally speaking, the target can be met in six months, and the annual target is consistently exceeded. It's simply uncontrollable.
"Listen up, all of you in charge below. When you get back, you must make sure this is done properly. Don't take any chances. At this point, we absolutely cannot have any more safety incidents. I might get punished, but you might lose your jobs."
At this moment, Lin Chen made a point of observing the expressions of several county company managers.
They noticed that their expressions were exactly the same as Director Song's; they were all sitting upright, looking straight ahead, seemingly absorbed and listening attentively, but what they were really thinking was hard to say.
On the way back after the meeting, Director Song couldn't help but complain in the car about Zeng Huihuang's rigid style, his love of putting on airs, and his inflexibility. The more he talked, the angrier he got. Lin Chen sat in the back seat, listening to Director Song's complaints, and secretly found it amusing.
In fact, when Director Song held a meeting in Suicheng, he was just like Zeng Huihuang, repeating the same nonsense over and over again, putting on airs as a leader. They were essentially no different; it was just a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Back in Suicheng, it was already quite late, past the company's dinner time. Director Yu Song was in a good mood, so he took Lin Chen and Chen Ya out to dinner and even ordered ice-cold beer.
Song Jiehui picked up his wine glass, looked at Lin Chen, and said with a smile, "Lin Chen, let me toast you. Thank you for helping me out of that awkward situation at the meeting today. I'm happy today."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ya picked up her wine glass and said, "Me too." Lin Chen also picked up his wine glass, and they gently clinked their glasses together, the rims of the glasses making a crisp sound. Through the wine glass, Lin Chen seemed to see Chen Ya's burning gaze.
Halfway through the meal, Director Song received a phone call saying that something had come up at home and he needed to leave early. Before leaving, he patted Lin Chen on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Lin Chen, I'm leaving Chen Ya in your care. Take her home for me, and be careful on the road."
This leader is probably just randomly pairing people up.
As Chen Ya watched Director Song's departing figure, her cheeks flushed slightly, feeling both nervous and expectant.
There were only two people left at the table, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Lin Chen didn't want to relive their past romance with Chen Ya, so he quickly finished eating and left.
The two walked out of the restaurant side by side and found that it was drizzling and the wind was cool.
To look presentable for her commute, Chen Ya wore a light-colored business skirt suit. The skirt hem barely reached her knees, leaving her calves bare. A gust of cold wind made her shiver, and she instinctively hugged her arms to her chest, her nose turning slightly red.
Seeing that her nose was red from the cold, Lin Chen felt a surge of kindness and took off his coat, handing it to her: "Put this on."
Chen Ya blushed as she took the coat and softly said, "Thank you."
Chen Ya lived next door to the company and arrived quickly.
"Then I won't see you upstairs. You can give me your coat tomorrow." Lin Chen said, then turned and left.
When Chen Ya got home, she took off her coat and couldn't help but hug it to her chest. Her cheeks were flushed, and she couldn't help but smell it again, the familiar, dry and refreshing scent.
Suicheng's weather has always been extreme. During droughts, it can go for months without a drop of rain, causing riverbeds to crack, the land to turn white, and even the roadside weeds to wilt. But once it starts to rain, it's as if the sky has a hole in it, and it can rain for days on end.
It's truly a case of the drought killing the drought-stricken and the flood killing the flood-stricken.
It rained all day again today, and the floodwaters in the city are getting deeper and deeper. The main road in front of the company has long been flooded. The muddy water is ankle-deep and gradually rises to more than half a meter deep. Passing vehicles cannot pass at all and can only take a long detour.
Residents in the vicinity have to roll up their trousers and wade through the deep water when they go out to buy groceries. The mud underfoot is covered with gravel, and it is easy to slip if you are not careful. Some people carry their shopping baskets and move carefully, their faces full of helplessness.
A few days ago, everyone thought it was just a normal rainstorm and didn't pay much attention to it. But as the rain continued, the water levels around the company's several aquatic product stations and water plants began to rise rapidly.
The river downstream of the Lanhe River in Suicheng has long since overflowed the stone steps on the bank. The turbid water, carrying branches and garbage, surges towards the bank in a mighty torrent. The warning signs on the bank are whitened by the rain and sway precariously in the wind and rain.
.
Of course, this rain came with great force. Not only Suicheng, but the entire province was in a state of torrential rain. The provincial company also set up a flood control command center, requiring all subsidiaries to be on high alert and closely monitor the flood situation.
Having experienced the pain of drought, Song Jiehui learned a lesson.
The response was very timely; the company was immediately ordered to enter a Level I flood control emergency state, and a yellow light was turned on at the company premises, suspending all outdoor operations.
At the same time, a meeting was immediately organized with various departments to formulate detailed flood prevention measures. All subordinate water supply stations, water plants and water plants were required to closely monitor the water level in their respective areas, prepare early warnings at any time, and make a series of preparations such as opening the gates to release water and floodwater.
In addition to these, Song Jiehui once again established a flood prevention and control team.
For some reason, Song Jiehui said directly at the meeting: "This time, Lin Chen is the leader of the flood control and disaster relief team. He must organize the team members well, supervise and inspect the water situation in a timely manner, and ensure that no accidents occur at any water plants or stations."
Am I the team leader? I'm not going to be the team leader. If I do a good job, I get no credit, and if I do a bad job, I get blamed. This isn't just a way for me to take the fall.
Moreover, as a specialist and team leader, does Tan Huasheng not care about his reputation? Is he deliberately making me the target of everyone's criticism?
Lin Chen quickly retorted, "Director Song, it's not appropriate for me to be the team leader. I have neither the ability nor the authority."
Song Jiehui insisted, "Lin Chen, I believe in you. You did a great job with the drought relief last time, so just go ahead and do it. If any person or department doesn't cooperate with you, just tell me directly, and I will absolutely not tolerate it."
Tan Huasheng surprisingly chimed in, "I agree. Comrade Lin Chen is indeed capable and has the courage to do a good job in this drought relief effort. I am also willing to cooperate with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, all eyes in the room focused on Lin Chen. There was surprise, admiration, and a hint of resentment. Chen Ya, standing to the side, looked up at him with admiration in her eyes.
What the heck?
Lin Chen was numb.
When Song Jiehui brought her to his office, she should have expected this day to come.
One really can't afford to take any chances.
We should have firmly refused back then.
Lin Chen glanced at Tan Huasheng and noticed that he was squinting and had an unfathomable expression.
The other people in the company were cursing and complaining, feeling unlucky. "Damn it, we just finished fighting a drought, and now we have a flood?"
Day after day, when will it end?
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