Chapter 14: The Selfish Nature of Humanity

Shen Wei stuck her tongue out at Chen Xiao and quickly ran away.

Chen Xiao smiled, realizing it was the first time he had seen this playful side of Shen Wei. In class, Shen Wei was a serious and studious student, hardly ever smiling.

If Su Qiao saw Shen Wei sticking her tongue out at Chen Xiao with a smile, she would surely feel heartbroken again.

As Chen Xiao thought about Shen Wei helping him borrow a laptop and his future plans for success, he rode his bicycle home, humming a happy tune.

He had set a small goal for himself: to earn 10,000 yuan before college and own a mobile phone and laptop. These requirements weren't too extravagant.

As he parked his bicycle downstairs in the residential area, Chen Xiao noticed that the house was brightly lit.

The weather wasn't dark yet, so the frugal Chen family wouldn't have so many lights on. Could there be a guest?

Chen Xiao went upstairs and found a group of uniformed people gathered in the living room.

They weren't the police, but the security department of the factory.

Captain Zhou said to Chen Qiang, "Chen Qiang, please come to the factory with us to discuss the situation. It's been four days, and there are no results here. More than a dozen machine tools are not working, and they are furious and want someone to be held accountable."

"You are the primary responsible person, so come with us quickly."

In the 1990s, a state-run factory was like a small society, with its own schools, hospitals, and, of course, its own security offices.

Chen Qiang's face turned pale, and he wanted to argue, but when he saw Chen Xiao at the door, he nodded and explained to Lin Hui, "I'll be back soon after I go to the factory."

Both Chen Qiang and Lin Hui were honest people. Seeing such a situation, they had long lost their composure. Chen Qiang could now gather himself, as he wanted to maintain some sense of dignity in front of Chen Xiao.

People from the 60s and 70s generation were far less rebellious than those from the 90s and 00s in later generations, and many of them were submissive.

But Chen Xiao knew that if he didn't show up again this time, according to Director Su's tactics, it would be difficult to see Chen Qiang next time.

After Chen Qiang was taken away, Lin Hui reacted and ran out quickly. However, someone stopped her, and Chen Qiang was put into a black Jetta.

Realizing that he couldn't wait any longer, Chen Xiao went back to his room to find the phone number left by Li Delong and used the landline to call.

After a few beeps, the call was connected.

On the other end of the phone was the sound of people drinking and playing cards. "Hey, who is it?"

Li Delong's voice was bold and loud, giving Chen Xiao a slight headache.

People who could afford mobile phones often displayed their wealth, speaking loudly and showing off. It was similar to showing off the iPhone logo or flaunting their car keys and watches.

Chen Xiao said, "Mr. Li, I'm Chen Xiao, the one who asked you to produce the motherboard."

"Oh! Brother Chen, hello, hello!"

Li Delong's voice became enthusiastic. Chen Xiao had improved the multi-layer integrated VCD circuit board design for the factory, which made him very excited as he saw the future direction of Delong's competition.

Moreover, Wang Xiang had said that Chen Xiao was undoubtedly a talent, so Li Delong wanted to hire him for the factory. Consequently, Li Delong was quite polite to Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao said, "Director Li, I'm really sorry to bother you so late. I want to ask if my motherboards have been produced."

Li Delong replied, "Yes, they are out, they have been produced, and I'll send them to you tomorrow."

Chen Xiao asked, "Could you trouble Mr. Li to send them to me now? We'll find a way to handle the shipping. We're a bit anxious."

Li Delong could hear the seriousness in Chen Xiao's tone. People of Li Delong's age were straightforward and loyal to their buddies.

Chen Xiao had helped him improve the VCD's motherboard design, so Li Delong was willing to return the favor.

"Sure, I'll arrange for someone to bring it to you right away! Brother Chen, you've been a great help this time, and I want to thank you!"

Chen Xiao said, "It's at the Jiangcheng State Machinery Factory. I'll be waiting for you at the door."

Li Delong replied, "Okay, I'll have someone there in two hours at most."

After two hours, Chen Xiao thought that as long as he could hold on for two more hours, everything would be easy to sort out.

He didn't have time to eat, so he took two cold steamed buns from the refrigerator and hurried to the factory.

Lin Hui shouted, "Xiaozi, where are you going? This... what can I do?"

Chen Xiao said, "Mom, don't worry, leave two bowls of rice for me and Dad. We'll be back later."

Zhang Biao, the manager of the Jiangcheng State-owned Machinery Factory, was furious when he saw more than a dozen CNC machine tools imported from Germany that had been dismantled.

He asked why the output of the Jiangcheng factory had dropped significantly. The excuse given was power outages during winter. Now he realized it wasn't a power outage at all; the equipment was broken!

Zhang Biao was so angry that his chest hurt. He pointed at the CNC machine and scolded, "Su Desheng, Su Desheng, you're driving me mad! If I hadn't come to shoot this promotional video, I wouldn't have known that such a huge issue had occurred in your factory!"

Behind Zhang Biao, in addition to the factory staff, there were also reporters from Jiangcheng TV and Jiangzhou Daily.

There were still more than half a month before New Year's Day in 2000. In order to celebrate the New Year, under the arrangement of the Jiangzhou Municipal Government, Jiangzhou Machinery Factory had invited the media to shoot the factory's production in full swing. This promotional video would be broadcast on Jiangzhou News and reported in Jiangyang Province.

Zhang Biao hadn't informed Su Desheng in advance and had surprised him instead. He hadn't expected such a big mess.

Zhang Biao slapped the equipment heavily and scolded, "One piece of equipment costs millions! Su Desheng! How are you going to explain this to me?"

Su Desheng bent down, his face pale, trembling, and covered in cold sweat.

He regretted it. He should have reported the situation immediately that day and had Chen Qiang arrested.

Su Desheng quickly explained, "Mr. Zhang, I take full responsibility for this. It was indeed my negligence that led to this situation. But the culprit was an employee of our factory, and it was his reckless operation that caused the equipment to burn out."

At this time, Captain Zhou brought Chen Qiang over and said, "Director Su, the person in charge is here!"

The reporters from Jiangcheng TV and "Jiangzhou Daily" turned their cameras to Chen Qiang. This time, they had come to shoot a promotional video, but now they knew they had stumbled upon a big news story.

More than 10 million worth of equipment had been scrapped due to an employee's mistake. This was major news and would make up for their year-end performance!

Su Desheng hurriedly shifted the blame entirely onto Chen Qiang, "Mr. Zhang, I have always been very strict with employees. They undergo three to five days of on-the-job training. However, it seems that some people deliberately sabotaged the equipment due to their dissatisfaction with their treatment at the factory. I wasn't aware of it!"

"This Chen Qiang deliberately caused a mess while he was working and destroyed all the equipment!"

Su Desheng had already made up his mind. If Chen Qiang's actions were due to work errors, he could share some of the leadership and supervisory responsibilities. However, if it was deliberate retaliation, then his own responsibility would be much smaller.