Chapter 573: Opposing for the Sake of Opposing

Deputy Director Zhang was very dissatisfied with this decision and said sarcastically, "Director He is a local tyrant, and the tools he uses are all the most advanced; of course, we can't compare. I hope that future construction can also follow this standard; we cannot cut corners, nor can we exceed the budget."

He Yuzhu knew he was jealous, smiled, and said dismissively, "Deputy Director Zhang, rest assured, we can control the costs for one hundred houses; for ten thousand houses, the cost will only be lower."

Deputy Director Zhang ignored He Yuzhu and said to Secretary Liu, "Director, I hope the base establishes an inspection committee to supervise future infrastructure work and prevent corruption problems."

Secretary Liu nodded: "That is a good idea. However, this supervisory mechanism should not be composed entirely of leading Cadres; we should appropriately select some grassroots workers to join."

"That is naturally no problem!" Deputy Director Zhang agreed immediately.

Over the next period, He Yuzhu once again optimized the design of the wooden houses, and some houses could even be towed away by flatbed trucks. He also opened a woodworking workshop at the edge of the forest, logging on one side, drying the wood on another, and producing standard house components.

The workers became more and more skilled, the construction speed of the wooden houses became faster and faster, and the costs dropped accordingly.

Once the infrastructure construction was completed, He Yuzhu equipped all the subsequent houses with running water and flush toilets.

At first, Deputy Director Zhang kept a close eye on the project, wanting to find problems. But as the project progressed more and more smoothly, he finally stopped focusing on this matter.

Soon, he turned his gaze elsewhere.

At a base office meeting, Deputy Director Zhang slapped the table and said, "I know my existence makes some people uncomfortable, but I cannot tolerate any sand in my eyes; if there is a real problem, I will speak up. Deputy Director He, you diverted the cement used by the base to build factory buildings and grain depots for the Lingnan Food Factory; this is a serious violation of discipline and should be stopped immediately."

Secretary Liu glanced at He Yuzhu, and He Yuzhu shook his head helplessly.

He lit a cigarette and said, "Deputy Director Zhang, we now have thirty thousand people, and the grain we need to eat in a year is fifteen hundred tons. If we don't build grain depots, may I ask where we should put our grain?"

Deputy Director Zhang snorted coldly: "When the grain arrives, just distribute it to the various teams; there is no need for grain depots at all."

He Yuzhu said, "Deputy Director Zhang's method is not without reason, but have you thought about it? Our current grain is all transported by ship, and each time it carries a six-month supply. Our smallest team is the Drilling Team; if we let a Drilling Team store six months of grain at once, can they guarantee there will be no loss? Will there be a situation where I give them six months' rations, and they finish eating it in five months?"

Deputy Director Zhang said disdainfully, "What you are talking about is an extreme case; most of our workers are retired soldiers, and their discipline is very strong."

He Yuzhu shook his head helplessly; some people were just determined to oppose him and were completely unreasonable.

He said to Lv Hong beside him, "Cadre Lv, hurry and find an old warehouse keeper to come over and let him talk about whether we really need to build grain depots."

Not long after, a bearded, middle-aged man trotted in.

Lv Hong introduced him: "Lao Li has worked in the drilling team for eight years, has always been responsible for logistics, and was transferred from Qinghai."

He Yuzhu asked, "Lao Li, I ask you, if six months' worth of grain is distributed to you at once, can you guarantee that by the sixth month, your Drilling Team will still have grain?"

Lao Li looked at everyone and smiled honestly: "Don't underestimate a Drilling Team of fifty people; there are many tricks to it. If grain is stored for six months, the normal loss is about 3%—5%, and that's not counting the many hands involved, with one person taking a handful and another borrowing some and not returning it. If you have six months' worth of grain, it's good if you can make it last five months. The base had best issue grain once a month. I don't know what you leaders are arguing about; with so many people, not having a grain depot definitely won't work."

When Deputy Director Zhang heard this, he was furious: "Fine, I agree to build the grain depot, but this grain depot should be built by our base itself!"

Secretary Liu really couldn't listen anymore and said, "Lao Zhang, this time I must criticize you. You have entered a strange cycle of opposing for the sake of opposing. Go look at that contract; we did entrust the Lingnan Food Factory to build the grain depot because they have built countless large-scale grain depots and have both construction and management experience. Once they finish building it, the grain depot will be handed back to us; they only obtained some plots of land to build their own grain depots and open food processing plants to provide supporting facilities for us."

When Deputy Director Zhang heard this, he immediately deflated. He had found He Yuzhu's handling of everything an eyesore during this time, and he disliked even more how Director He followed He Yuzhu's lead, but he hadn't looked at the contract carefully, and now he had hit a wall.

He reacted quickly, and not wanting to offend Secretary Liu, he hurriedly said, "Director Liu, I'm sorry, I committed a subjectivist error this time; my investigation and research were insufficient, and I opposed for the sake of opposing. I will definitely strengthen my studies in the future."

He Yuzhu knew very well that his apology this time was just an expedient measure, and he was not convinced in his heart.

For this kind of person, he would not show any mercy, saying, "Deputy Director Zhang, if you could really take over the work in my hands, I wouldn't want to stay for even one more day. Also, let me tell you, the grain allocated from above is currently not sufficient, and much of the grain was borrowed by us from the Lingnan Food Factory. They are willing to lend it because they respect Director Liu; don't take advantage and then act ungrateful!"

"You!" Deputy Director Zhang was so angry his face turned red; he opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say a single word.

After this meeting, He Yuzhu gradually handed over the work he was in charge of to Lv Hong.

Compared to He Yuzhu's tough style, Lv Hong's way of working was more gentle and meticulous, making it easier for people to accept. Lv Hong also had another advantage: once she decided on something, she would not be easily swayed.

Everything at the base proceeded in an orderly manner according to He Yuzhu's plan.

He Yuzhu's wooden houses were very popular; after the workers moved in, they all discovered that this type of house had many advantages.

Some high-ranking workers simply brought their families over as well.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was early spring.

He Yuzhu temporarily handed over the matters he was responsible for to Lv Hong and left the Petroleum Base with Man Yatou to supervise the spring wheat sowing at the Farm.

Erkui was incredibly excited to see He Yuzhu return: "Zhuzi, I thought you were so happy you'd forgotten home and were ignoring us! We are about to plant spring wheat, but the wheat seeds haven't arrived yet; look, my mouth is full of blisters."

"Get lost!" He Yuzhu scolded, "Happy and forgotten home? I was almost bullied to death by someone."

Erkui worriedly said, "Fifty thousand mu of wheat requires nine hundred thousand catties of wheat seeds; where am I supposed to get them?"

"Liushi Trading Company has already transported them over; you can go to the county seat to pick them up in three days," He Yuzhu said.

He Yuzhu had two types of wheat seeds in his possession: one was wheat produced in his space, and he didn't know what would happen if he planted it here; the other was spring wheat obtained from M Country, which should be more suitable for planting. He planned to test-plant both at the same time to see which wheat seed was better.

The next day, He Yuzhu was running at the Farm and discovered that those people who had been taken in before were nowhere to be seen, and the Earth Pits were all empty.

After finishing his run, he found Erkui: "Where are those refugees we took in? Didn't we agree to distribute land to them?"

"They were all transferred by Lv Hong to the Petroleum Town to do construction; you actually didn't know? Those people were quite embarrassed when they left," Erkui said.

He Yuzhu shook his head: "In the future, if there are any more refugees, we must sign contracts with them; otherwise, when we need people to farm the land, we won't have anyone."

Erkui curled his lips, as if mocking He Yuzhu.

The next day, He Yuzhu stored the wheat seeds in a warehouse in Jixian County.

When Erkui transported the wheat seeds back, he said, "Zhuzi, I also farmed with my family when I was a child; the quality of these wheat seeds is too good; each mu of land will definitely be able to yield two hundred catties of grain."