Chen Dali had aged a lot overnight. Ever since he returned to his accommodation on Minsheng West Road, Wang Guoquan and others had taken turns following him, even going to the toilet. Although they had taken Chen Dali’s ID card, they had Holding the IOU, but not receiving the money for a day, Wang Guoquan and others could not let go. Everyone earned hard-earned money, not pie from the sky. Such people often value money more seriously than others.
Chen Dali sat on the stool, his face full of bitterness, his head drooped, not daring to raise his head to meet Wang Guoquan’s gaze. He held a cigarette in his right hand, and the cigarette butt almost burned his fingers without even realizing it. The phone in his left hand was shaking slightly. He had made dozens of calls to Liu Tao, but the other party's phone was always turned off.
Living to the age of fifty has always been about helping others. When Luo Zhixuan was alive, he was over sixty years old and many construction sites did not want him. He shamelessly protected him from entering the construction site; when Li Guozhang first arrived in Donghai He was just a hardworking handyman, but he taught him his craft step by step; and Lu Shanmin, with just one word from Lin Dahai, he brought Lu Shanmin into the construction site. Even Wang Guoquan and others found him when they were anxious about finding work, and he roped them into this project without saying a word.
Chen Dali has done this kind of thing all the time. He has never done anything unconscionable in his whole life. This honest man who still retains the simplicity of a farmer has always believed that good people will be rewarded. Never thought it would end like this. He didn't blame Wang Guoquan and others for being ruthless, he just hated himself for bringing everyone into the gutter. In his opinion, he was the one who brought the seven or eight co-workers to the construction site. Now that they can't get paid, he should be responsible. Facing the kingdom, he was more ashamed and embarrassed than angry and complained. I have lived for decades and have never owed anyone a penny. Now I am going bankrupt and cannot pay off this debt.
Lu Shanmin knew that Chen Dali would be sad, but he didn't know how sad he would be. Early in the morning, Lu Shanmin took a Tai Chi tour as usual. After practicing twenty or thirty words, Lu Shanmin started walking to the construction site.
Walking into the project department, Lu Shanmin forced out a smile and said, "Hello, Manager Zhao."
Zhao Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking, if you follow me like this, how can I be okay?
"Just find a place to sit."
Lu Shanmin nodded and found an empty seat to sit down.
Zhao Kai was indeed very busy. He spent the whole morning either making phone calls, studying drawings, or typing on the computer. He was so busy that he didn’t even have time to drink water. .
Lu Shanmin doesn’t know if guarding Zhao Kai will be effective, but if he doesn’t guard him, what can he do? The East China Sea is so big, except for the area around Minsheng West Road, he is not familiar with other places. If you rush to look for Liu Tao, you might not find him, and you may even get lost.
There was an abandoned civil construction drawing next to the table. Lu Shanmin had nothing to do, so he picked up the drawing and looked at it. As soon as the drawing came into view, he couldn't help but feel dizzy. The lines on the drawing were completely incomprehensible. But it was okay anyway. Lu Shanmin began to think about what he had done in this big building.From what I saw and heard as a handyman in the building, I slowly matched the physical form of the building with the lines on this drawing, gradually figured out the meaning of some of the lines, and gradually figured out which lines represented load-bearing walls and which lines represented beams and columns. .
While looking at it in fascination, a black figure walked into the office. Lu Shanmin looked up. He was wearing exaggeratedly large sunglasses, a black trench coat, and the scar on his forehead had not completely faded away. It was the woman who saved Xiaowei that day and said some inexplicable words to him.
The woman also spotted Lu Shanmin, but she only glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
Zhao Kai did not notice the visitor immediately. When she saw the woman clearly, she hurriedly put on a bright smile on her face, but she was already uneasy in her heart. This woman was the owner's wife. The chairman, unlike the chairman of other large group companies, visited the construction site twice in a row without notifying the leadership of the construction company, and without accompanying his entourage, he suddenly appeared in front of him silently.
Zhao Kai hurriedly bent down to greet him, "Director Hai, welcome to inspect the work. You see, you didn't even mention the notice, so I can arrange to receive you."
The woman's voice had a cold air, "I'm just passing by, taking a look, and I'll leave right away."
Zhao Kai quickly moved a chair over and said, "Hai, please sit down and I will report the work progress to you."
The woman said calmly, "No need, I just want to see the results."
Zhao Kai nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes."
“It will take four months for the commercial floor of the podium to open, and five months for the office building to be ready for occupancy.”
Zhao Kai’s smile immediately turned into a look of tears. The decoration company is still going through the bidding process. Even if the HVAC equipment is ordered now, it will take a month or two before it can leave the factory. Not to mention installation and debugging, the Spring Festival is still two to three months away, so it is difficult to hire workers. This is simply an impossible task. But Zhao Kai didn't dare to say a word "no", not to mention himself. Last time he saw the general manager of the company being scolded by the woman in front of him until he was bloody and sweaty.
The woman glanced at Lu Shanmin. Because she was wearing sunglasses, she could not see her eyes clearly.
"Why is he here?"
From Zhao Kai's attitude and the conversation between the two just now, Lu Shanmin has already seen that this woman is a big shot, big enough to make a big shot like Zhao Kai All were scared.
Without waiting for Zhao Kai’s answer, Lu Shanmin said, “We finished the work and didn’t get the money.”
The woman's expression cannot be seen clearly, but there is a slight wrinkle on her forehead, which shows that she is somewhat dissatisfied.
Zhao Kai wiped his sweat and said quickly, "Our company's money has been paid to the contractor, but the contractor did not pay them."
“I don’t care who of you owes whom, I have already paid your company the money that should be paid according to the contract, and I will take care of the rest. If something happens that affects the reputation of Haitian Group, I will It doesn’t look good to everyone at that time.”
Zhao Kai bowed his head repeatedly and said yes. When he raised his head again, the woman had turned around and walked out. Zhao Kai, who was left with a miserable look on his face, secretly complained.
Zhao Kai sat down on the sofa and called the office director, "Gather all the people in each unit and go to the conference room for a meeting immediately."
The other end of the phone came, "Mr. Zhao, it's lunch time soon. Do you want to wait until lunch before holding the meeting?"
Zhao Kai yelled into the phone, "You are still eating your shit, get the hell out of here right away".
Zhao Kai stood up, picked up a stack of documents and notebooks, and walked out. When he walked to the door, he frowned, turned back to Lu Shanmin and said, "Come with me."
Lu Shanmin was a little surprised. What did the project department ask him to do during the meeting?
Zhao Kai's anger was very effective. In less than ten minutes, all the staff arrived in the conference room, and Lu Shanmin found a corner to sit down.
Zhao Kai threw his notebook on the table, "There are two topics today. The first topic is, who of you are familiar with the contractor named Liu Tao? Let's talk about it and see if you can Find him”.
The people in the conference room looked at each other, and several of the construction workers in charge of civil engineering knew Liu Tao. They had made phone calls in the past two days under Zhao Kai's instruction, but Liu Tao's phone had long been turned off. Speaking of personal contacts, I don’t know Liu Tao very well. There are many contractors like Liu Tao on the project, and not everyone knows everyone.
One of the security officers frowned and thought for a while and said, "Mr. Zhao, during a safety inspection, I overheard Liu Tao chatting with the construction team leader who made blinds about playing mahjong. They often meet for cards."
Zhao Kai nodded, "The shutters of the fire escape have not been completed and accepted yet. If anyone has the phone number of the construction leader, please ask him to come to the conference room immediately."
"I have it," said a young construction worker in his twenties, and quickly took out his mobile phone and dialed.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in his forties wearing a safety helmet walked into the conference room with a big belly. As soon as he entered the door, he quickly smiled and smoked for Zhao Kai and others.
Zhao Kai waved his hand impatiently, "Stop smoking, I have something to ask you."
"Haha, Mr. Zhao, please give me some advice."
"Do you know Liu Tao?"
"Yes, I do. I'll be fine after work. Sometimes I play two games of mahjong with him."
“Are you still playing cards together these two days?”
The man shook his head, “Mr. Zhao, it’s not like you don’t know that the project is on a tight schedule, where can I go? I have time to play cards. My food and accommodation have been on the construction site these days. I told my subordinates that within three days, the tasks assigned by Mr. Zhao must be completed."
"Where do you usually work, and who do you work with?"
The construction team leader who made blinds didn't understand why Zhao Kai asked these questions.
"Mr. Zhao,Nothing will happen."
Zhao Kai said impatiently, "Just tell me honestly. As long as you complete this project well, I will arrange for you to come over next time if there is a new project. Make blinds."
The man's eyes lit up, and he quickly said with a smile, "We usually work at the Huatian Teahouse on Dongyu Road. Sometimes it's just a few foremans on the construction site, and sometimes Liu Tao. "Several friends of mine". Then he said, "That guy Liu Tao is a gambler, and he loves this guy very much."
Zhao Kai nodded and asked, "How does he win or lose in mahjong?"
The man chuckled and said, "That guy is just a dishonest person. Whatever he has in his pocket is other people's food."
Hearing this, Lu Shanmin finally got an idea of what that bastard Liu Tao was. He must have used the money to gamble. I heard the old magician talk about gamblers before, saying that he saw many gamblers when he was traveling in the world. Gamblers have a mentality that they always think they can get back in the next round. Ben, he will never give up until he loses everything. Since Liu Tao is a gambler, he must have been hiding somewhere gambling these past two days.
Zhao Kai looked at Lu Shanmin calmly, "I can help." You only have so much."
Lu Shanmin stood up, said thank you, and walked outside.
Chen Dali had aged a lot overnight. , since returning to the place where he stayed on Minsheng West Road, Wang Guoquan and others took turns following him, even going to the toilet. Although they took Chen Dali’s ID card and held the IOU in his hand, they did not get the money for a day. Wang Guoquan A few people still can't let go. Everyone earns hard-earned money, not pie from the sky. Such people often take money more seriously than others.
Chen Dali sat on the stool. His face was full of bitterness, his head drooped, he didn't dare to raise his head to meet Wang Guoquan's eyes. He held a cigarette in his right hand, the cigarette butt was almost burning and he didn't realize it. He was holding a cell phone in his left hand and was trembling slightly. He had already called Liu Tao dozens of times. The other party's phone has been turned off.
Living to the age of fifty has always been about helping others. When Luo Zhixuan was alive, he was over sixty years old and was rejected by many construction sites. He was his shameless protector. He entered the construction site; Li Guozhang was just a hardworking handyman when he first arrived in Donghai, and he taught him his craft step by step; and Lu Shanmin, Lin Dahai brought Lu Shanmin into the construction site with just one word, and even Wang Guoquan and others were brought into the construction site. I found him when I was anxious and couldn't find a job, and he roped them into this project without saying a word.
Chen Dali has done this kind of thing often, and he has never done it in his whole life. An unscrupulous thing happened. This honest man who still retained the simplicity of a farmer always believed that good people would be rewarded. He never thought that there would be such an ending. He did not blame Wang Guquan and others for their ruthlessness, but only hated himself for bringing everyone into this. In the gutter, in his opinion, he was the one who brought the seven or eight workers to the construction site, and now they cannot get paid, so he should be responsible for it. Facing Wang Guquan, he was more embarrassed than angry and complained for decades. I've never owed anyone a penny, and now I'm going to bankrupt everything and even pay it back.Pay off this debt.
Lu Shanmin knew that Chen Dali would be sad, but he didn't know how sad he would be. Early in the morning, Lu Shanmin took a Tai Chi tour as usual. After practicing twenty or thirty words, Lu Shanmin started walking to the construction site.
Walking into the project department, Lu Shanmin forced out a smile and said, "Hello, Manager Zhao."
Zhao Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking, if you follow me like this, how can I be okay?
"Just find a place to sit."
Lu Shanmin nodded and found an empty seat to sit down.
Zhao Kai was indeed very busy. He spent the whole morning either making phone calls, studying drawings, or typing on the computer. He was so busy that he didn’t even have time to drink water. .
Lu Shanmin doesn’t know if guarding Zhao Kai will be effective, but if he doesn’t guard him, what can he do? The East China Sea is so big, except for the area around Minsheng West Road, he is not familiar with other places. If you rush to look for Liu Tao, you might not find him, and you may even get lost.
There was an abandoned civil construction drawing next to the table. Lu Shanmin had nothing to do, so he picked up the drawing and looked at it. As soon as the drawing came into view, he couldn't help but feel dizzy. The lines on the drawing were completely incomprehensible. But it was okay anyway. Lu Shanmin began to recall what he had seen and heard while working as a handyman in this building. He slowly matched the physical form of the building with the lines on this drawing, and gradually figured out the meaning of some of the lines. Gradually, he understood Which lines represent load-bearing walls and which lines represent beams and columns.
While looking at it in fascination, a black figure walked into the office. Lu Shanmin looked up. He was wearing exaggeratedly large sunglasses, a black trench coat, and the scar on his forehead had not completely faded away. It was the woman who saved Xiaowei that day and said some inexplicable words to him.
The woman also spotted Lu Shanmin, but she only glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
Zhao Kai did not notice the visitor immediately. When she saw the woman clearly, she hurriedly put on a bright smile on her face, but she was already uneasy in her heart. This woman was the owner's wife. The chairman, unlike the chairman of other large group companies, visited the construction site twice in a row without notifying the leadership of the construction company, and without accompanying his entourage, he suddenly appeared in front of him silently.
Zhao Kai hurriedly bent down to greet him, "Director Hai, welcome to inspect the work. You see, you didn't even mention the notice, so I can arrange to receive you."
The woman's voice had a cold air, "I'm just passing by, taking a look, and I'll leave right away."
Zhao Kai quickly moved a chair over and said, "Hai, please sit down and I will report the work progress to you."
The woman said calmly, "No need, I just want to see the results."
Zhao Kai nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes."
“It will take four months for the commercial floor of the podium to open, and five months for the office building to be ready for occupancy.”
Zhao Kai’s smile immediately turned into a crying look. Up to now, the decoration company is still going through the bidding process, and the HVAC equipmentEven if an order is placed now, it will take a month or two before it can leave the factory, let alone installation and debugging. It is also the Spring Festival in two or three months, so it is difficult to hire workers. This is simply an impossible task. But Zhao Kai didn't dare to say a word "no", not to mention himself. Last time he saw the general manager of the company being scolded by the woman in front of him until he was bloody and sweaty.
The woman glanced at Lu Shanmin. Because she was wearing sunglasses, she could not see her eyes clearly.
"Why is he here?"
From Zhao Kai's attitude and the conversation between the two just now, Lu Shanmin has already seen that this woman is a big shot, big enough to make a big shot like Zhao Kai All were scared.
Without waiting for Zhao Kai’s answer, Lu Shanmin said, “We finished the work and didn’t get the money.”
The woman's expression cannot be seen clearly, but there is a slight wrinkle on her forehead, which shows that she is somewhat dissatisfied.
Zhao Kai wiped his sweat and said quickly, "Our company's money has been paid to the contractor, but the contractor did not pay them."
“I don’t care who of you owes whom, I have already paid your company the money that should be paid according to the contract, and I will take care of the rest. If something happens that affects the reputation of Haitian Group, I will It doesn’t look good to everyone at that time.”
Zhao Kai bowed his head repeatedly and said yes. When he raised his head again, the woman had turned around and walked out. Zhao Kai, who was left with a miserable look on his face, secretly complained.
Zhao Kai sat down on the sofa and called the office director, "Gather all the people in each unit and go to the conference room for a meeting immediately."
The other end of the phone came, "Mr. Zhao, it's lunch time soon. Do you want to wait until lunch before holding the meeting?"
Zhao Kai yelled into the phone, "You are still eating your shit, get the hell out of here right away".
Zhao Kai stood up, picked up a stack of documents and notebooks, and walked out. When he walked to the door, he frowned, turned back to Lu Shanmin and said, "Come with me."
Lu Shanmin was a little surprised. What did the project department ask him to do during the meeting?
Zhao Kai's anger was very effective. In less than ten minutes, all the staff arrived in the conference room, and Lu Shanmin found a corner to sit down.
Zhao Kai threw his notebook on the table, "There are two topics today. The first topic is, who of you are familiar with the contractor named Liu Tao? Let's talk about it and see if you can Find him”.
The people in the conference room looked at each other, and several of the construction workers in charge of civil engineering knew Liu Tao. They had made phone calls in the past two days under Zhao Kai's instruction, but Liu Tao's phone had long been turned off. Speaking of personal contacts, I don’t know Liu Tao very well. There are many contractors like Liu Tao on the project, and not everyone knows everyone.
One of the security officers frowned and thought for a while and said, "Mr. Zhao, during a safety inspection, I overheard Liu Tao chatting with the construction team leader who made blinds about playing mahjong. They often meet for cards."
Zhao Kai nodded, "The shutters of the fire escape have not been completed and accepted yet. If anyone has the phone number of the construction leader, please ask him to come to the conference room immediately."
"I have it," said a young construction worker in his twenties, and quickly took out his mobile phone and dialed.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in his forties wearing a safety helmet walked into the conference room with a big belly. As soon as he entered the door, he quickly smiled and smoked for Zhao Kai and others.
Zhao Kai waved his hand impatiently, "Stop smoking, I have something to ask you."
"Haha, Mr. Zhao, please give me some advice."
"Do you know Liu Tao?"
"Yes, I do. I'll be fine after work. Sometimes I play two games of mahjong with him."
“Are you still playing cards together these two days?”
The man shook his head, “Mr. Zhao, it’s not like you don’t know that the project is on a tight schedule, where can I go? I have time to play cards. My food and accommodation have been on the construction site these days. I told my subordinates that within three days, the tasks assigned by Mr. Zhao must be completed."
"Where do you usually work, and who do you work with?"
The construction team leader who made blinds didn't understand why Zhao Kai asked these questions.
"Mr. Zhao, nothing will happen, right?"
Zhao Kai said impatiently, "Just tell me honestly, as long as you complete this project well, next time If there is a new project, I will also arrange for you to come over and make blinds."
The man's eyes lit up, and he quickly said with a smile, "We usually work at the Huatian Tea House on Dongyu Road. Sometimes it's just a few foremans on the construction site, and sometimes there are also a few of Liu Tao's friends. ". Then he said, "That guy Liu Tao is a gambler, and he loves this one very much."
Zhao Kai nodded and asked, "How does he win or lose in mahjong?"
The man chuckled, "That guy is just a pickpocket, he can carry as much as he wants in his pocket." It’s someone else’s food.”
Hearing this, Lu Shanmin finally got a rough idea. That bastard Liu Tao must have used the money to gamble. I heard an old man talk about gamblers before, saying that he saw many gamblers when he traveled around the world. Gamblers have a mentality. They always think that they can get their money back in the next game, and they will never lose until they lose everything. give up. Since Liu Tao is a gambler, he must have been hiding somewhere gambling these past two days.
Zhao Kai looked at Lu Shanmin calmly and said, "There is only so much I can help you with."
Lu Shanmin stood up, said thank you, and walked outside.