Chapter 1156: Settling accounts

Han Rui mistakenly thought Ma Debang had come to "settle accounts" with her. Upon hearing it was about the procurement, she immediately smiled and said: "Okay, okay, Deputy Director Ma, I'll compile it for you right away."

Ma Debang nodded, took a puff of his cigarette, and urged: "Compile the hard drives based on the number of people in the unit, one for each person. As for the laptops, one for each leader at the department level and above. Add a bit more to this count so there won't be a shortage later, and in case any break, they can be replaced in time."

Han Rui nodded repeatedly and said: "Okay, okay, I'll compile it right away."

Speaking of procurement, since the office building was put into use at the beginning of last year, except for the cabinet air conditioners installed in the offices of a few Party committee leaders, other department leaders and department offices were only temporarily equipped with small 2HP air conditioners. Their temperature regulation function was very limited; they didn't cool in summer and didn't warm in winter. After some leaders reported this to Zheng Tulu, he kept saying he would change them. One of the responsibilities of Ma Debang, the deputy director, was to manage the daily life of the Construction Committee and be responsible for things like office supply procurement. Suddenly mentioning the procurement of hard drives and laptops, Han Rui mentioned the air conditioners: "By the way, Deputy Director Ma, the air conditioners in our office building also need to be replaced. The power of the ones currently in use is too small to meet daily office needs. Do you think we could include the air conditioners in the procurement plan and purchase them together?" Han Rui brought this up because she wanted to take this opportunity to get this done, so the unit's staff wouldn't think the General Office was dragging its feet and ignoring the daily lives of the vast number of employees.

The reason Zheng Tulu suddenly came down to mention procurement was because he had been played by Zheng Tulu regarding the invitation to participate in the Baoji City Urban Development Planning Forum. Realizing that the old fox would continue to play tricks, he wanted to take advantage of his position as deputy director to make a profit, so he wouldn't lose out if he were removed by the old fox.

Han Rui's reminder was exactly what Ma Debang wanted. "Oh my, Xiao Han, if you hadn't mentioned this, I really would have forgotten. No wonder I felt it was so cold sitting in your office. This air conditioner matter really needs to be resolved quickly. Fine, you compile the quantity, list it together with other office supplies to be purchased, and send me a detailed list. If I review it and there's no problem, we'll implement it as soon as possible. We can't let the vast number of staff comrades not have a good working environment."

Han Rui smiled and said: "Okay, okay, Deputy Director Ma, I'll compile it right away, and I'll send it to you once it's compiled."

Ma Debang stubbed out his cigarette, got up, and said: "Alright, hurry up and compile it. I'm going up first, send it up to me once it's compiled."

"Okay." Han Rui nodded repeatedly, watched Ma Debang walk out of the office, and began to work at her desk, counting the quantities of various office supplies on her fingers. Once this work was implemented early, at least the staff in other departments of the unit wouldn't have so many opinions about the General Office. This could also be considered an achievement in her work, so Han Rui put aside other work on hand and began to focus on this matter.

The reason Ma Debang dared to think about making a profit from this aspect was that he wasn't worried that Zheng Tulu wouldn't approve after these procurements were reported. Because the amount of procurement was directly related to the unit's fiscal budget, and these budgets were directly linked to the financial allocations from above. The more spent each year, the more the allocation from above. Therefore, government agencies at all levels basically had an unspoken rule in procurement: buy more, not less; buy expensive, not right; and absolutely never allow the fiscal budget approved by the higher-ups each year to have a surplus.

While Han Rui was busy compiling, Ma Debang returned to his office, sat down, lit a cigarette, took a puff, placed it in the ashtray, and also took a pen to calculate at his desk. Because the unit's office building was put into operation last year, the entire fiscal budget for last year was used for the decoration of the office building and the procurement of supporting facilities. It was just the beginning of the year, and based on last year's budget, the provincial finance department's fiscal budget for the Provincial Construction Committee this year would definitely not be lower than last year's level. Based on these facts and conditions, Ma Debang set the procurement price of each hard drive at a sky-high price of 5,000 yuan, calculated each laptop at 30,000 yuan, plus the budget of no less than 10,000 for cabinet air conditioners. Calculated this way, the total amount of the entire procurement would be no less than 7 million. Adding the budget space and the kickbacks from suppliers, Ma Debang felt that he could get no less than 1 million from this procurement item.

Although Ma Debang was a dignified deputy director of the Provincial Construction Committee, because he had no real power and was in charge of internal rather than external affairs, all the benefits were earned by Zheng Tulu. In the years he had been at the Construction Committee, he only took a fixed salary. Although someone occasionally gave gifts, because he wasn't the number one person, and because he had been at odds with Zheng Tulu, he didn't dare to accept money, at most taking two packs of cigarettes, a few bottles of wine, and a few packs of tea from people. Thinking of these, and looking at his current situation, Ma Debang regretted it to death. If he had known about this situation, it would have been better to let go and do it from the beginning. Even if he were removed by Zheng Tulu, he would have been able to make a fortune.

Before getting off work in the afternoon, Han Rui brought the compiled procurement list up and reported it to Ma Debang. Ma Debang looked at it; the quantities of various office supplies listed by Han Rui were only more, not less, which was exactly what he wanted. Then, according to the procurement unit price he had initially drafted, he calculated the total procurement quota, which was more than 2 million more than the 7 million he had initially estimated, nearly 10 million. Calculated this way, he was afraid he would get more than 1 million. It was just right to take advantage of Zheng Tulu's absence to vaguely mention this matter to him and get it done quickly. Real money in hand was better than anything.

Although Zheng Tulu was not there, this matter still had to be reported to him so he could greet the finance department, and then he could take action. So, Ma Debang called Zheng Tulu for the second time in one day.

At this time, Zheng Tulu was attending the opening ceremony of the Baoji City Urban Development Planning Forum. He was sitting in the first row of the rostrum. In the middle was the vice governor in charge of urban development and construction in Hexi Province, followed by the secretary of the Xijing Municipal Party Committee and the secretary of the Baoji Municipal Party Committee. Zheng Tulu was located on the right side of the first row. Just as the leader of the Baoji Planning Bureau finished his speech on the rostrum, Zheng Tulu's phone rang. He took it out and saw it was Ma Debang calling, so he quietly got up, walked out of the venue, and came to the restroom to connect the call.

"Hello, Old Ma, what's the matter?" Although he had already played tricks on Ma Debang in private, on the surface, Zheng Tulu still appeared amiable and asked in a very calm tone.

Ma Debang also acted as if he didn't know anything, and said with a very gentle chuckle: "Director Zheng, there's a matter I need to report to you."

Zheng Tulu was stunned for a moment, guessing in his heart what kind of trick this guy was playing again, and chuckled: "What matter, Old Ma, tell me, I'm still in a meeting."

Ma Debang said: "Then I'll just say it directly. It's about the procurement. Wasn't last year's budget spent on the decoration of the office building and supporting facilities? I want to take advantage of the beginning of the year to get the matter of distributing hard drives to employees and purchasing laptops for leaders done, so as not to affect the normal work of the unit. There's also the matter of air conditioners; the employees of the unit have a lot of complaints. I want to take this opportunity to resolve the air conditioner matter together. Otherwise, if the employees don't have a good working environment, it will also affect normal work. There's also the matter of this year's budget indicators. If they aren't used as soon as possible, I'm afraid it will affect the audit work from above at the end of the year. What do you think, Director Zheng?"

Zheng Tulu was an old hand. Hearing Ma Debang suddenly care so much about his own duties, and his awareness seemed to have improved a lot, putting the work and life of the employees in the primary position, he knew there was something fishy. The fishiness in procurement was nothing more than a matter of money.

Wasn't Ma Debang just wanting to make a profit through procurement? Good! This matter suddenly gave Zheng Tulu a reminder. A sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, thinking, good, I was just worrying about not having a legitimate reason to remove you old guy. "Oh, this matter. Isn't this matter always your responsibility, Old Ma? You just handle it." Zheng Tulu deliberately handed the initiative to Ma Debang, letting him walk into the net, and he could only close the net himself.

"It's like this, Director Zheng. I have already listed the list of items to be purchased, and the unit price has been set. Now I'm just telling you, Director Zheng, you still need to greet the finance side." Ma Debang then stated the reason for calling Zheng Tulu.

"Fine, then I'll just greet the finance side. You just handle the specific matters of procurement, Old Ma." Zheng Tulu completely released the procurement power, waiting for Ma Debang to make a mistake.

"Alright, then I'll hurry up and get this done in the next two days." Ma Debang said, calculating his own wishful thinking, waiting to make a profit from the procurement, not knowing that the old fox Zheng Tulu could better deal with him through this matter. In the end, Ma Debang would not only not get a penny, but would lift a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

After finishing Ma Debang's call, Zheng Tulu hurried to call the finance department, telling them not to ask too many questions about the procurement and just keep the procurement receipts.

Taking advantage of this business trip, Zheng Tulu used clever means to suppress Ma Debang in the unit, making him unable to move an inch. He originally wanted to find some more reasons to further torture him, but he never expected that Ma Debang would jump into the fire pit with his eyes open, which made Zheng Tulu feel very pleasantly surprised. Now the net had been cast, just waiting to catch the fish. At this moment, everything was developing according to Zheng Tulu's ideas, making him feel great. In the evening, when accompanying the leaders of various units attending the forum to eat, he let go of his stomach and drank, drinking until he was almost drunk, and borrowed the excuse to let Lan Mei, who came with him, help him up to rest.

Because of the dinner party in the evening, except for some high-level leaders sitting together to drink, others were sitting together by unit. Lan Mei didn't know anyone, and Zheng Tulu was a leader of the Provincial Construction Committee. As a person of the Provincial Construction Committee, in front of many people from other units, she really had no reason not to help him. So, under the gaze of everyone, Lan Mei helped the big-bellied, fat-headed Zheng Tulu out of the banquet hall.

As soon as they entered the elevator, Zheng Tulu stared at Lan Mei with thief-like eyes, smiling lecherously. Looking at her beautiful and moving face, he chuckled and asked: "Xiao Lan, you don't seem to have drunk much tonight?"

Lan Mei dodged his ill-intentioned gaze, turned her head to the side and said: "No, I don't know anyone." ===== CHAPTER 1157 =====