But it was precisely because of convenient engineering outsourcing that all aspects of infrastructure projects could advance simultaneously and rapidly. For a time, the construction site was like whack-a-mole—chaos everywhere. Although Liu Jun now had manpower, and each person was well-trained to focus on quality, buyers were never as shrewd as sellers. The methodical Tengfei people faced construction teams with seasoned experience and countless tricks for cutting corners—it was impossible to guard against everything. If flaws weren’t caught on the spot, they had to demand rework. But negotiations about rework were basically like digging out the construction team’s heart and liver. The second party cut corners to pocket money, while the first party demanded rework, hoping the second party would bear the full cost of rework. The two sides were like needlepoint against wheat grain—neither willing to pay more. Every negotiation involved both soft and hard tactics. Arguments were inevitable, and resorting to violence was commonplace. However, sometimes being able to resolve things with violence was the easy way. What gave Liu Jun the biggest headache was that some engineering companies had connections above. As soon as a conflict arose here, someone holding the seal of a key department would immediately call to mediate with sweet words and tough talk. Did Liu Jun dare not acknowledge them? No way. So he could only forcibly swallow a mouthful of fresh blood, pay for the rework himself, and not dare to hire that company again, spending money to send away the gods.
Another consideration with many projects advancing simultaneously was securing project payments. Liu Jun quickly exhausted Tengfei’s resources and began using the loans Cui Bingbing had arranged. These loans still came from the original bank where they held accounts, but the mystery of how Liu Jun and even Cui Bingbing operated within this exchange was. That is, Cui Bingbing also took on certain risks by lending money to a company designated by the decision-maker at Liu Jun’s bank. Cui Bingbing always said it was fine, that she kept her hands clean—this was just an ordinary loan. But Liu Jun was very worried. Since it required going through backdoor channels, it surely wasn’t the most rule-compliant approach. If something went wrong, it would inevitably implicate Cui Bingbing. Moreover, because he was too busy with Tengda’s construction to take care of the household, he had already shifted most domestic duties to Cui Bingbing’s shoulders, yet still had to have Cui Bingbing solve company loan problems for him. Liu Jun felt very guilty inside. This inevitably made him more cautious when spending money, to avoid making things worse for Cui Bingbing.
Additionally, the research and development of Donghai No. 1 components entered a crucial stage. Problems from early research formed bottlenecks here, while the path ahead was temporarily shrouded in deep fog and couldn’t be seen clearly. Liu Jun, as the chief convener, had to frequently hold interdisciplinary symposiums to let ideas from various specialties clash in meetings. However, chairing meetings wasn’t easy work. Often, one moment he was brandishing iron rods and fighting construction companies with murderous intent at the Tengda construction site, and the next minute, he had to retreat into meditation to prepare for technical meetings, smoothly sorting out all aspects of interpersonal relationships and research directions. A person’s roles change more than three times a day. In Cui Bingbing’s words, it was like flags changing atop city walls. Liu Jun felt he was doing chaotic Brownian motion between the research center, Tengfei, and Tengda.
The renovation of the newly bought house in the city was delayed again and again, with move-in indefinitely postponed. Neither he nor Cui Bingbing had time to deal with that matter. Fortunately, by year’s end, the power supply gradually recovered, and blackout days began to be fewer than before. Moreover, the villa they lived in was located in a high-tech park with relatively favorable policies, so blackout days were relatively fewer than in the industrial zone. They didn’t need to move back to the city this winter.
The enormous pressure made Liu Jun unable to bear the load. Every day, his liver fire was vigorous, and his breath stank like a Tyrannosaurus rex, causing Dandan, though she liked her father, to be unwilling to let him come near. But troubles wouldn’t decrease because Liu Jun’s temper and breath increasingly resembled a Tyrannosaurus rex. Just after New Year’s Day, a group of people speaking Northeastern-accented Mandarin raided Tengfei. Without appointments or greetings, a group of people appeared directly at Tengfei’s company gate and were stopped by security. Liu Jun received notification and rushed over from Tengda’s front lines, seeing among them familiar employees from Mr. An’s company. Through that employee’s introduction, Liu Jun learned that the strangers were a specially formed temporary work group, with personnel not only from Mr. An’s company but also from government departments.
The group came specifically to Tengfei to inspect the actual research and development progress and financial expenditures of Donghai No. 1 components. Liu Jun didn’t need to falsify anything about this—he could just take out the records for inspection. He also didn’t believe those people could find any loopholes in such clear matters. He had an obsession with clean accounts. Naturally, every expenditure in the receipts was clear and well-documented. Although the work group’s raid disrupted Liu Jun’s work schedule, time could always be squeezed out somehow. Liu Jun wasn’t so flustered as to lose his composure. Moreover, progress and accounts were open and transparent with no mysteries, so Liu Jun did not need to worry about anything.
However, the arrival of such a work group made Liu Jun realize a serious problem—Mr. An’s side seemed to have lost some control over the situation. While the work group was still there, Liu Jun had already tried calling Mr. An, but the phone didn’t connect. Later, having no choice, he tried the finance department, wanting to ask for reasons but finding it inconvenient to reveal what was happening at Tengfei. He was in a difficult position, but fortunately, the finance supervisor said Mr. An was abroad on an inspection tour and would return soon. Liu Jun thought to himself that it wasn’t the loss of control then, but being sidelined.
Before the work group left, Liu Jun arranged to meet with the extremely busy Song Yunhui at year-end, obtaining one hour of meeting time. Liu Jun felt it necessary to tell Song Yunhui about Mr. An’s situation, as this also involved important aspects of Donghai No. 1. Sure enough, Song Yunhui frowned as he listened.
“If there are problems over there affecting the arrival of research funding, will your research and development be affected?”
“Yes. But funding problems can be overcome. The biggest problem might be that production on Mr. An’s side might not keep up.”
“If research and development have no problems, I’m not worried about production problems. If he can’t do it, you take over—it’s logical, and I’d be more at ease.”
“The problem might be… I need to carry my passport with me these days.”
Song Yunhui was stunned and stared at Liu Jun for a long time before saying, “Bribery? Your foreign citizenship probably won’t get you in too much trouble—no need to be so startled.”
Liu Jun hadn’t expected Song Yunhui to say such intimate words, so he also revealed his thoughts completely. “What I’m more worried about is being called in to cooperate with investigations. At this critical juncture, I’d rather fly away and avoid it. After working so many years… after working so many years, so many people are watching how I speak when I go in…”
“Stop, I understand.”
“So please prepare for the worst in advance, Mr. Song. If there are problems, please support the combination of my wife and Luo Qing. With your support, Donghai No. 1 can continue at Tengfei.”
Song Yunhui nodded, but it was a long time before he said: “Do you now recall what your original intention was when you first took on the segmented research and development of Donghai No. 1?”
Liu Jun hesitated to speak, left only with long sighs. Although when Song Yunhui saw him off, he affirmed that he was a person with a conscience, Liu Jun left Donghai Group with his mood unable to calm down for a long time. He had originally been a sunshine-bright young man, but now he had to end up carrying a passport around like a panic-stricken stray dog. Purely regarding the segmented research and development of Donghai No. 1, Song Yunhui’s pointed question was good. When he took on this matter, his original intention was more about love for technology and fervor for catching up to international standards. His selfish motives in this could be said to be minimal. But even so, he had still passively committed crimes.
Liu Jun could bear the heavy burden of work, but some invisible, intangible ideological things pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.
When the work group left, Liu Jun naturally had to personally see them off at the airport to avoid giving offense. After seeing off the guests, Liu Jun looked back at the nearby international departure gate, absentmindedly touching the passport he had been carrying in his bag these past few days, and went to the counter to buy a ticket to Hong Kong. After passing through customs, he remembered to call his wife to report his location, then grabbed the tail end of time before boarding to brief company colleagues on work. At this time, he also saw Yang Xun, who was also alone, carrying only a briefcase. What was even more similar was that Yang Xun, like him, also had a dark expression.
While talking on the phone, Liu Jun looked at Yang Xun’s face, his mind full of criminal thoughts. He wanted to pull out his well-trained fist and punch Yang Xun’s face twice, to have a good, satisfying crime. But until boarding, passing woodenly by Yang Xun’s side, Liu Jun still took no action. Only that passive feeling pressed down on him more and more, making him restless.
Macau—go gambling! Liu Jun finally transformed the vague notion in his heart into a clear goal. Right, go do bad things, go brazenly do bad things!