Chapter Thirty-One: Losing the Bone

  Shang Jun sighed and walked over to the side, saying to Su Cheng: "We can't even hide in the construction command center, how are you calling them here?"

  Shang Jun is a man from the revolutionary era. To him, there are no tofu-dreg projects in the world, only his own projects and others'. Others' projects have nothing to do with him, while his own projects are built by himself. If something goes wrong, he deserves it; if not, he can't let others interfere even more.

  Although state-owned enterprises have low work efficiency, except for rushing to meet deadlines, they will not intentionally do a poor job. There is no such thing as shoddy work or cutting corners, because it makes no sense for state-owned enterprise engineering teams to save money. This belongs to the flies and mosquitoes that came in after opening up the country.

  When Shang Jun was young, he also did engineering work. At that time, all employees were mobilized to work on the construction site, and office staff were no exception. When doing engineering work, it was naturally like building a house for one's own family - if there was money, good materials would be used; if not, inferior materials would be used. There were also times when leftover materials were used to save money, but these were not intentional.

  In his mind, there was no concept of engineering supervision. The inspection during the trial construction of the East Isolation Pier was also due to concerns about the sinister intentions of the Construction Headquarters, so Director Shang would order inspections two or three times, but ultimately not sign off on them.

  The methods of Su City, in his view, are completely unnecessary and harmful.

  However, now Shang is persuading Su Cheng, saying: "If you're worried, just send our own people to check. The construction command center on the other side can't wait to find trouble with us."

  "They are willing to supervise, which is a good thing. We take advantage of the benefits and leave them some bones, what's the harm? Moreover, if we suppress the problem now, it may backfire on us in the future." Su Cheng insisted: "The bomb will explode eventually."

  It's unclear which sentence took effect, but Shang Jun, although still disapproving, no longer opposed it.

  Su Cheng took Shang Jun back with a pale face and then notified the Construction Command in the form of an official document.

  The people in the construction command post couldn't wait for an opportunity to take action. Upon hearing the call, they rushed out like dogs smelling bones, swift and without hesitation.

  In the planning department and headquarters, there were all sorts of discussions and rumors.

  It is said that when Secretary Bo Rong heard the news, he praised for the third time: "This little comrade Su Cheng is politically aware."

  Then, the direction of discussion suddenly changed.

  Before long, the Construction Command found more problems in hundreds of projects.

  "The cement grade is too low!"

  "Valve leaking water!"

  "The playground is not flat enough!"

  ……

  After seeing the report, all five members of the working group, including Shang Jun, were silent.

  Although I'm not afraid of being tripped up this time, so many quality problems are also unacceptable.

  Old Wang got part of the engineering payment and went back to the village with a sad face.

  Individuals and private entrepreneurs in the 1980s were guilty of original sin. They engaged in speculation and smuggling, produced and sold counterfeit goods, bribed and colluded with government officials... but not everyone was able to achieve happy success because of this, nor should everyone have been allowed to achieve happy success.

  Su Cheng saw the result of Shang Jun's handling and thought to himself: Many people think that as long as they follow the trend of reform and opening up, they can make a lot of money. But in reality, no matter how high the proportion of successful people is, there will always be failures. Those who can sustain success for 20 or even 30 years are definitely far fewer than those who fail.

  The more you follow the crowd, the higher the proportion of failures. The big waves wash away the sand, and those who float up first will drift away.

  The news of Lao Wang's engineering team being severely punished also spread throughout the oil field.

  Lin Yonggui called Su Cheng over and asked him questions.

  However, Su Cheng only explained his idea and he immediately understood, saying: "The quality of the project is related to the lives of oil workers, and strict requirements are necessary. That's right, having a broad perspective. This matter should be widely publicized."

  After finishing, he called the Minister of Propaganda Department of Party Committee over the phone and instructed: "We will not make a fuss about bidding, but point out the problems and improve them after continuing to implement. You should convey this meaning to the lower levels."

  Su Cheng listened to him say this and knew everything was fine now.

  Bao Rong's words are aimed at him personally and are not good for development. Lin Yonggui's words are aimed at the project, with a lot of room for expansion.

  The propaganda department of this month is a mess. Because all the tools for public opinion and propaganda are in their hands, let alone unclear things, even the statement that the Great Wall can be seen from space, countless people also believe it to be true.

  In the pre-Internet era, the Propaganda Department was a more powerful tool than the Development and Reform Commission and Urban Management. Not leaving home to shoot down an airplane is nothing; shooting down an airplane without letting people know is the real skill.

  The next day, various propaganda about "engineering quality" and bidding methods came out.

  Oil field newspapers, wall posters and advertisements, radio and oil field television, plus meetings of all units to unify thoughts and whatnot, just two or three days would be enough.

  Even Su Cheng himself couldn't avoid being educated, listening to a certain instructor use phrases like "in the US" and "in Japan" to describe engineering safety stories.

  It's hard for him to come up with so much material.

  The five small bases received attention, and the number of rule-breaking events naturally decreased. Su Cheng then had nothing to do, and every day he only went to the command center for a roll call, spending the rest of his time drawing pictures.

  The parts of a double-donkey-headed oil extractor are numerous. Each part requires at least one large drawing, and in just one month, the cost of paper alone is considerable.

  On the other hand, in order to set up a patent barrier to prevent others from imitating it, Su Cheng also had to draw as many diagrams as possible and include all the parts that could be modified.

  This was also one of the methods his teacher had to teach him when he was in school.

  In modern society, designing something is one thing, but mass-producing it is another. The former requires creativity, while the latter is just manual labor. However, without the manual labor in the back end, the creative work in the front end cannot be sold for a good price.

  At this time, Su Cheng couldn't help but envy the pure 80s Chinese researchers. They wouldn't get themselves into such trouble. Since others could plagiarize at will, they didn't need to worry about homogenized products anymore. All they needed to do was make things happen. There were even some lofty individuals who took national funds to design things without considering actual on-site applications, only engaging in academic discussions...

  They are naturally comfortable, but the money wasted is not small. In a lifetime, maybe they invented something useful, or maybe they didn't invent anything useful, but who cares about these things.

  Su Cheng couldn't bear to give away a good patent for nothing, so he drew pictures day and night.

  Only those who have drawn mechanical drawings can understand the kind of pain that comes with drawing until 3 am and still having one corner left.

  The details of the drawing are also a great test for people. Every circle, every line, and every angle must have a basis and a principle, and cannot be drawn casually. Only drawings that conform to the drawing rules are valuable, otherwise they are just rough sketches.

  Such a picture is very slow to paint and also exhausting. If you want to draw three views together, you have to pay attention to symmetry, which is quite troublesome.

  Su Cheng did well in school, but he was not a skilled hand. On the other hand, he remembered the principles and diagrams, but the specific dimensions and so on were unclear, so he had to keep trying while looking up materials.

  After flipping through the months, Suzhou finally completed the main part, and when I looked back at the house, a thick stack of drawings had already been piled up inside.

  Only on the basis of these drawings can the patent documents be sorted out and applied for.

  ……