Chapter 834: Hanging a Sheep

“Tap tap tap~”

In the morning at 8:30, Lai Jiayi smiled as she knocked on Li Ye’s office door, only to see him bent over, comparing a stack of employee housing registration forms.

Lai Jiayi’s heart tightened, because Li Ye was cross-referencing the data she had submitted days earlier with the newly printed summary of housing conditions.

She knew what tricks were hidden in her own “screened” list—though three or four hundred names all seemed to have valid reasons to apply for housing, such tricks crumbled under close scrutiny.

For example, if you broke a leg and claimed you were pitiful, what about those in wheelchairs who got filtered out?

If you claimed you sold yourself to bury your father, what about those who sold themselves to bury their entire families?

Now, with Li Ye comparing all factory employees’ records, he’d almost certainly identify her “connections.”

Lai Jiayi stared at the housing forms on Li Ye’s desk—some names marked in red ink—and couldn’t suppress her irritation. We see each other every day; why not leave a little room? You block my people, and won’t I block yours later?

“Deputy Factory Director Li, busy? The main factory just notified us to attend the quarterly summary meeting. Are you ready?”

“What’s there to prepare?”

Li Ye glanced at his watch, stood up, and walked out: “As the saying goes, one white covers a hundred flaws. Our first factory’s performance speaks for itself—just sit back and accept the praise.”

Lai Jiayi smiled: “That’s not so certain. The main factory leadership has high expectations for us—we must hold ourselves to strict standards and not grow complacent.”

“Get real.”

Li Ye locked the door as he spoke: “They gave us two hundred thousand to begin with—how high could their expectations possibly be?”

“.”

Lai Jiayi froze, unable to respond.

Li Ye’s words didn’t need deep interpretation—they clearly conveyed strong resentment toward the main factory leadership.

If Li Ye were just an ordinary worker, it wouldn’t matter; plenty of workers curse their managers daily. But Li Ye is a young, promising management cadre.

For a management cadre to voice such complaints in front of others is a major taboo.

Especially since Lai Jiayi is clearly aligned with the main factory’s faction—was Li Ye deliberately setting her up to report him?

【Report to the boss: Li Ye resents you—don’t you dare promote him!】

Lai Jiayi frowned, wondering if Li Ye was setting another trap for her.

The housing allocation had already made her feel she’d fallen into a pit—should she really risk this kind of snitching?

But Lai Jiayi didn’t know: Li Ye had no hidden agenda this time—he was simply done pretending.

Yesterday, Ma Zhao had informed Li Ye that the main factory would conduct a rigorous review of the first factory’s “Five-Year Development Plan.”

Especially since the Japan project had added an extra initiative beyond the original plan, giving the opposition a perfect excuse to accuse them of acting unilaterally—clashes were inevitable.

It was like the eldest and second sons finally showing their hands—no point hiding anymore.

Ma Zhao was challenging the top position; as Ma Zhao’s “loyal follower,” why should Li Ye keep up the act?

At the main factory meeting room, Li Ye saw few people present.

“Oh, today’s situation is special—last week’s quarterly meeting was missed by both first-factory directors, so we’re holding a separate small meeting today to discuss matters concerning the first factory.”

So this was a private banquet set for the first factory—no wonder Lai Jiayi had smiled so brightly when she called him earlier!

“First, the first factory’s third-quarter performance is commendable—profits increased by 31% over the second quarter.”

“But some problems have surfaced: excessive internal spending, unnecessary expenses, failure to increase revenue and cut costs, and rampant waste.”

“I’ll interrupt.”

Ma Zhao rudely cut off the chief factory director’s speech and asked bluntly: “What exactly do you mean by ‘excessive internal spending’ and ‘rampant waste’? What evidence do you have?”

The chief factory director glanced at Ma Zhao coldly: “Deputy Manager Ma, don’t interrupt me. I’ll provide evidence for these issues later.”

“Fine.”

Ma Zhao answered calmly, but everyone in the room sensed the tension between them.

The first factory had always been under Ma Zhao’s jurisdiction; every major development, including the Japan project, had been led by him.

Now, the chief factory director accusing the first factory of waste was a veiled attack on Ma Zhao.

Normally, as a deputy, Ma Zhao should have humbly accepted criticism, then either explained patiently or sacrificed a subordinate to take the blame.

Rank crushes all—no matter how angry you are, you must maintain decorum and maneuver within the rules.

But Ma Zhao had immediately pushed back—drawing all the fire onto himself.

After all, Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye were still junior, especially Li Ye, who couldn’t directly defy the chief factory director’s authority.

That’s the rule: young, inexperienced staff are naturally suppressed—without backing, they’re utterly suffocated.

After outlining the broad issues, the chief factory director handed the details to Xiao Jingang, the unit’s disciplinary supervisor.

“Based on public reports, we’ve identified three serious cases of waste in the first factory. First: why buy imported buses at two or three times the price when affordable domestic models are available?”

“Second: the first factory has only three thousand employees—why is its canteen monthly expenditure higher than the main factory’s, and by a significant margin?”

“Third: why didn’t you use Beijing’s state-owned construction company to build employee housing? Why hire a private team from outside? Ten buildings in three months—are you stacking tofu Zha ?”

Xiao Jingang listed the three charges, then stared at Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye.

But both felt his gaze was weak, far less cold and menacing than before.

This Japan trip had opened Xiao Jingang’s eyes—Guo’s secretary had been involved in the 2.8 million investment; he was clearly Gu Jianqi’s loyalist—and what happened to him?

Xiao Jingang’s career prospects were already bleak due to Gu Liang’s case—was it worth making a mortal enemy of Ma Zhao’s faction?

Hearing Xiao Jingang’s accusations, Lu Zhizhang replied calmly: “Our bus purchase was approved by a full vote of the first factory’s staff.”

“Besides, a unit’s shuttle bus reflects its image. At the time, our profits far exceeded targets, so we raised procurement standards.”

“The first factory’s canteen costs are higher because our workers operate on a performance-based system—they’re highly motivated.”

“Many voluntarily work overtime, exceeding ten hours daily. Extra food subsidies are justified.”

“As for the third point—”

Lu Zhizhang frowned: “The construction team hired to build employee housing is a collective company from Pengcheng. At Pengcheng speed, three months per building is normal—why call it tofu Zha ?”

Xiao Jingang narrowed his eyes at Kan Kechang, head of the main factory’s housing division: “Kan, explain this to Xiao Lu.”

【You’re ordering a lazy man to boss around a lazier one?】

Kan Kechang cursed inwardly but kept a straight face: “I know Pengcheng speed, but we’re in the north—temperatures are much lower than Pengcheng, and it’s already autumn. How can cement dry properly if buildings go up so fast? And—”

Kan Kechang glanced at Li Ye: “And the construction workers are mostly from Dongshan, not Pengcheng. Employees reported this is ‘hanging a sheep’s head to sell dog meat.’”

Li Ye lifted his head and stared coldly at Kan Kechang.

The workers were indeed mostly from Dongshan, and the foreman was Li Ye’s hometown friend from Qingshui—but were you implying Li Ye was abusing power for personal gain?

Before Li Ye could speak, someone else interjected: “Ah, the first factory has grown too fast—the management team is under-equipped. Minor oversights are understandable. The operation is expanding rapidly—expanding the management team is urgent.”

“I propose adding a Housing Division and a Discipline Inspection Division. With such heavy production demands, we should also appoint an additional deputy factory director solely responsible for production, to ease the burden on Xiao Lu and Xiao Li.”

“Good proposal. I support it.”

“I support it too. A factory of three thousand people is too heavy a load for just Xiao Lu and Xiao Li to handle—it’s inhumane.”

Li Ye: “.”

Lu Zhizhang: “.”

【Fucking hell—you’re trying to ‘help’ us? You’re so nice!】

Li Ye turned to Lai Jiayi, thinking: No wonder you smiled so brightly this morning.