Having achieved financial freedom, I reorganized my workplace.

Chapter 38 I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself

Lin Chen was a bit bored at the city company meeting, unable to figure out what the point of the meeting was.

"Hey, technical department, do you have any questions? This plan also fully incorporates your department's opinions. See if there's anything to add," Chen Lei said, calling on people when no one answered.

Lin Chen was secretly pleased; finally, someone was going to speak.

Liang Ronghai, an expert from the technical department, stood up. He had a square face, bright eyes, and an upright and dignified appearance, clearly a man who got things done.

Lin Chen clenched his fist secretly, placing high hopes on him.

The technical experts are definitely skilled.

"I've reviewed the plan, and there aren't any major problems." Liang Ronghai cleared his throat, paused, and continued, "It's just that many of the water plant names are misspelled. It should be Qianshan Water Plant, not Bashan Water Plant. We can just go back and correct it."

Pfft! Lin Chen almost spat out his tea. This guy was incredibly sharp-eyed. The expert was amazing; he always managed to spot these insignificant mistakes. Even Lin Chen hadn't noticed the typo, but he had.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Chen Lei's face, and he chuckled dryly, "Hehe, sorry, this plan was based on the Bashan Water Plant, so I accidentally made a typo. I'll fix it later. Are there any other questions?"

Lin Chen almost burst out laughing. What kind of reference is this? Anyone with eyes can see it's just copy and paste. They don't even know how to use the replace function. This is too perfunctory!

Liang Ronghai: "That's all. Let's look at the other departments."

With Liang Ronghai's "good start," others followed suit. Zhao Kun, the deputy director of the project department, frowned and asked, "The site is farmland. Is land acquisition difficult? How's the work with the local residents going?"

This is a profound question; it's a good question.

Chen Lei: "Director Zhao, we don't need to worry about this issue, nor do we need to consider it. Even if it's difficult, the common people disagree, but that won't change anything. What do you think?" Chen Lei said casually, yet he seemed to have a sense of looking down on everyone.

In their eyes, the masses are nothing more than ants.

Zhao Kun nodded immediately: "Then the project team is fine."

Such a simple and direct communication. Are all city-level companies this efficient? I'm so envious. How come they all speak so pleasantly?

Chen Lei then looked at the Biotechnology Department: "Biotechnology Department, do you have any problems?"

Yang Chaoxin from the Biotechnology Department rubbed his stomach and grinned, "I'm fine, I just wanted to ask if there's a big meal coming up later?"

Chen Lei smiled: "Expert Yang, please rest assured, a big meal has already been arranged for everyone. After the meal, there is a spa on the third floor where you can wash your hair before going back."

"Haha, great!" Yang Chaoxin slapped his thigh. "Then you guys can discuss it slowly, I have no objections."

Lin Chen understood why Tang Xin didn't attend the meeting. It was indeed quite boring, and the event wasn't really suitable for girls. There seemed to be only two women present, but they were both from the construction and design teams.

By now, Lin Chen had roughly figured out what this group was up to. They were just putting on an act, or rather, just going through the motions. They didn't care whether the project was feasible or not.

"Does anyone else have questions?"

Lin Chen didn't think too much about it. He figured it wasn't his problem and would keep quiet. He figured if the sky fell, someone else would hold it up. He was too lazy to get involved, so he simply shut his mouth and continued to play dumb.

Seeing that no one raised any further objections, Chen Lei gave the girl selling abalone a look.

The girl immediately understood and got up to hand out a form to everyone. The form was neatly made and asked them to rate the feasibility and operability of the plan.

"Chen Lei, what are the requirements for this scoring? Wouldn't it be too fake to give full marks to everyone?" A comrade named Yang Wei, the deputy director of the Party and Mass Work Department of the municipal company, asked directly in a loud voice.

"Wait a minute." Chen Lei quickly ran over, whispered a few words to the department head Wang Haitao, and came back with a grin, saying, "Don't give them all full marks, it does seem a bit fake. 98 or 97 would be more appropriate, 99 would be fine too."

"You still know it's fake?" Lin Chen sneered inwardly. "This guy's skin is too thick."

Doesn't it hurt to give such a high score?

Yang Wei slammed his hand on the table and said, "Understood!" He picked up his pen and filled it out in a few quick strokes. He raised his hand and said, "Okay, I've handed it in." He really did hand in the form. He was really efficient.

Chen Lei took a look and said, "Wait a minute, Director Yang, this last one requires a signature, your real name."

"Is it alright?" Yang Wei hesitated for a moment.

Chen Lei quickly explained, "Yes, it's necessary. It's just a formality. Nobody looks at this; it's just for record-keeping."

Yang Wei nodded, but still signed his name directly.

"If everyone has no questions, please hand in your scores, sign your names, and submit them. This project feasibility study report is now successfully completed. Thank you for the support of all the leaders and experts. In a bit, please move to the Fu Gui Hall for abalone."

Chen Lei surveyed the entire room with satisfaction, as noise began to rise.

A perfect ending? I still need to sign something? I'm completely dumbfounded.

"Wait a moment." A soft but firm voice rang out, and the noisy conference room instantly fell silent. All eyes turned to the corner, where the handsome Lin Chen slowly stood up.

Chen Lei was a little surprised to see Lin Chen: "Lin Chen? What are you doing here?"

Lin Chen stood up, ignoring his question, and said calmly, "I have a few questions about this project, and I'd like Engineer Chen to answer them for me, is that alright?"

He didn't want to meddle in other people's business, since his current ideal was to slack off and write a book anyway. But he couldn't stand the need to get everyone to sign his book, and he hated this kind of inexplicable "endorsement" the most.

If you want to be the rotten fish and shrimp in the sewer, go ahead and do it yourselves, no problem. But why drag others down with you? If something really goes wrong, won't everyone who signed the document have to take the blame?

Lin Chen wasn't that foolish, nor was he that magnanimous.

His magnanimity was reserved only for those helpless and kind-hearted people.

Chen Lei frowned, his expression wary: "Lin Chen, what do you want to say?" Lin Chen almost ruined the last advanced engineer exam, and he harbors a lot of resentment towards him now.

"The first question," Lin Chen's voice was low, but each word was clear, "is: what is the basis for the 18 billion price tag for this project?"

Chen Lei's eyes flickered for a moment, then he casually replied, "That was calculated by the experts, not by me."

Lin Chen asked in a flat voice, "Which expert is so good at math? Do you dare to name him?"

Chen Lei looked a little flustered: "This~!"

"Alright, let's not talk about it anymore. But as far as I know, the standard investment for a medium-sized water plant is 200 million." Lin Chen's tone remained calm, yet carried an undeniable force: "Your proposal calculates 18 billion, such a large discrepancy is unreasonable."

"You don't understand," another of Chen Lei's colleagues immediately stood up to retort. "This water plant uses the latest design and is fully automated. 18 billion is just an estimate; the actual investment later is uncertain and may even be more."

It seems that 18 billion is not enough for them to squander; this project is a money tree.

Fully automated? Fully intelligent?

At this stage, it's laughable to talk about this kind of thing.

Lin Chen didn't know about other places, but in Suicheng there was a five-star Heshan Water Plant, which was known as the first intelligent and digital water plant in the province. It was a masterpiece that Director Zeng had invested heavily in back then. The only intelligent part of it was that it was equipped with a smart robot.

In just three years, the intelligent robot has been plagued by various malfunctions, such as getting lost, running out of power, having no signal, or simply spinning in circles.

However, in order to maintain its reputation as the first smart water plant in Heshan, the company couldn't just throw it away.

The employees at the Heshan Water Plant are fed up with it now, having to take care of it all day long. You'd think it was a disabled robot if you didn't know better. Of course, this is just the beginning of an intelligent water plant, and all new things take time to come into being.

Lin Chen understood.

"I suggest," Lin Chen said, not arguing with him, "that you list all the expenses at the end of the proposal so that everyone can see them clearly and feel comfortable signing it."

"This...this, let's think about it." Chen Lei looked at the director, stammering and seemingly unable to make sense.

"Alright, next question." Lin Chen didn't want to waste any more time and immediately asked the second question: "Chen Lei, what is the designed daily water supply capacity of the new water plant?"

"I think it's 2 tons?" Chen Lei himself was a little unsure.

Lin Chen was truly speechless. He suddenly raised his voice: "What do you mean 'seems like'? You wrote the plan, don't you know?" The sudden outburst startled everyone. Chen Lei reluctantly flipped through the PPT before confirming, "It's ten thousand tons, so what?"

"Everyone, please look here." Lin Chen strode to the projection screen, snatched Chen Lei's mouse, flipped through a few pages, and then clicked on a data table, his voice still indifferent.

"As you can see from this explanation, the peak daily water consumption in this area is 30,000 tons, while the designed water plant can only supply 10,000 tons per day. A new water plant must be designed to be more than five times its normal load; this is common knowledge in the industry."

Chen Lei stared at the data on the table, his face turning pale and then red, speechless.

At this point, Zhao Jun from the project team stepped forward and tried to smooth things over: "Let me explain. Due to insufficient funds, we can only purchase water pumps of this power. However, we have also considered that we can bring a new pipeline from Water Plant A to provide support later."

"Hahaha!" Lin Chen couldn't help but laugh: "Then where is the new pipeline? Is it in this plan? No, I didn't see it just now, so let's not talk about this kind of unfounded thing. Even if it's true as you say, this design is garbage! There's no need to build this kind of water plant at all, it's shameful."

These words caused an uproar, with everyone wondering why Lin Chen was taking it so seriously.

Chen Lei's face turned deathly pale instantly. He pointed at Lin Chen and shouted angrily, "Lin Chen, don't go too far with your words. This is a municipal company, not your small county town."

"Too much?" Lin Chen was truly speechless. This was going too far, and I hadn't even started cursing yet.

Lin Chen still looked at him kindly, as if he were an idiot: "18 billion to build a water plant that will have insufficient water supply in less than a year, need to be renovated in three years, and need to be rebuilt in five years—isn't that a terrible design? Isn't that idiotic? I'm just stating the truth, how is that going too far?"

The atmosphere in the meeting room became tense.

Wang Wentao from the marketing department finally couldn't sit still any longer. He coughed twice, stood up, and said coldly, "Engineer Lin is young and impetuous. Don't speak so harshly. The water supply issue is indeed debatable, but it's a minor problem that can be adjusted during subsequent construction."

When Director Wang spoke, everyone felt it was about time.

But Lin Chen didn't buy it at all. He glanced at him and continued, "A minor problem? Maybe you, Director Wang, think these are minor problems, but I don't think so."

Wang Wentao's face immediately darkened; he hadn't expected Lin Chen to disregard even his dignity.

"Lin Chen, that's enough! Today's meeting isn't the place for you to run wild!" Chen Lei immediately shouted, jumping out to defend his leader after seeing him being criticized by Lin Chen.

Lin Chen looked around and sensed a lot of hostility. It was a waste of time to reason with a group of people who were pretending to be asleep, but there was one last question that he had to ask.

"Okay, maybe I'm being nosy, but I have one last question." Lin Chen's voice rose slightly again: "Why was the water plant located so close to a chemical plant? Aren't you worried about the water source being polluted?"

The audience was silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

Finally, Wang Wentao calmed himself down and answered in a deliberately deliberate tone: "This issue is not within the scope of this meeting. The address was determined through coordination among multiple parties, and the circumstances involved are very complicated. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."

He's starting to show off, holy crap!

Lin Chen was reluctant to talk about it, but he still had to say it: "I don't understand those intricacies, but I understand the country's laws and the company's regulations. The first principle of water plant construction is to stay away from any pollution source, especially chemical plants. Once the water source is polluted, countless innocent people will suffer, so we must think twice."

These few words sounded gentle, but every word was precious, and they lingered in the conference room for a long time.

Wang Wentao's expression finally changed. He stared at Lin Chen's nameplate and asked with a gloomy face, "Which department of the Suixian Company are you from? I've never seen you before."

If you ask which department, it probably means you want to complain to his supervisor.

How stingy!

"Director Wang," Lin Chen said calmly, yet with a firm tone, "I just want to know, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Wang Haitao's face darkened completely.

At this moment, Chen Dengfeng, the company's chief skills expert who had been silent the entire time, spoke up: "I think Engineer Lin's suggestions are very valuable. Let's put Director Wang's plan on hold for now, and reconvene the meeting to discuss it after it's been improved."

Director Wang glanced at the expert, stared at Lin Chen for several seconds, and finally nodded in agreement.

This absurd review meeting finally came to an end.

Lin Chen walked out of the conference room and took a deep breath.

There were whispers behind him, seemingly saying that he was interfering with their abalone meal, but Lin Chen didn't care at all. He just felt a surge of joy. He had said what he needed to say, and whether those people listened or not was up to them.

After returning, Tang Xin pulled Lin Chen aside for a lecture: "I heard you argued with Director Wang in the city?"

Lin Chen: "Criticize? No, I was just stating the facts."

Tang Xin added, "I forgot to remind you, these feasibility study report meetings are basically just formalities; it's already decided. You just need to go and not say anything, just sign it."

Lin Chen: "Then what's the point of having a meeting?"

Tang Xin put on a stern face: "The procedures still need to be followed, otherwise people will say it's not democratic."

Lin Chen: "Democracy? Does our company have that?"

Tang Xin pouted: "That's enough."

Lin Chen: "Director, please don't send me to these kinds of meetings anymore."

Tang Xin narrowed her eyes: "You're that principled?"

Lin Chen: "I don't have any principles, I'm just afraid I won't be able to control myself."

Tang Xin: "Then just practice a few more times."

Another week later, Lin Chen saw on the company's website that the Qianshan Water Plant had officially started construction. At the groundbreaking ceremony, the leaders took a group photo, looking very close.

Lin Chen went in specifically to take a look.

There is also an attachment above, which is the construction plan for the Qianshan Water Plant project.

It was the same plan, unchanged.

Bashan is still Bashan, and 18 billion is still 18 billion.

Lin Chen didn't know when they resumed the feasibility study meeting, or if they hadn't held one at all.

Actually, they held a meeting the next day, but they just removed him from the review list. If you don't listen, then sorry.

It's time for the sky to rain and for people to drink water; who cares who your mother marries?