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The matter of demanding back wages has finally subsided. After finishing her work, Su Xiao took advantage of her free time to go to a wedding dress shop to try on gowns.

With the wedding day drawing ever closer, after so many years of dating, she and Zhou Jun were finally about to tie the knot.

Su Xiao stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself from left to right in her white wedding dress.

Wu Hongmei sat on the sofa next to her, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at her, clicking her tongue twice, "Xiaoxiao, your figure is just amazing. This wedding dress looks like it was tailor-made for you."

Su Xiao turned her head: "Don't just say nice things, help me check the back. I feel like my waist is a little loose?"

Wu Hongmei stood up and walked around behind her to look at her: "It's alright, it's only a little bit loose, the shop can fix it. But seriously, Xiaoxiao, you've got your career, and you're about to get your husband. Zhou Jun is so outstanding, I heard he's going to get promoted soon. Don't you think your life is going too smoothly?"

Su Xiao smiled and said, "It's not as good as you make it out to be."

"Why not?" Wu Hongmei counted on her fingers for her. "You're the cost manager, your income must be pretty good, right? Zhou Jun is handsome, capable, and treats you well. Isn't that a winner in life?"

Su Xiao looked at herself in the mirror from a different angle and casually said, "I just don't have my own house yet."

Upon hearing this, Wu Hongmei also sighed: "That's true. You two need your own place after you get married, right? The housing prices in Shanghai are really killing us."

"Take your time!" Su Xiao took off her wedding dress and handed it to the shop assistant. "Zhou Jun said that once the promotion is finalized, my income will increase significantly. We'll figure out a way then."

Wu Hongmei nodded: "That's true. Anyway, you two are both capable, so the house will be just a matter of time."

……

After trying on her wedding dress and returning home, Su Xiao took a shower and lay in bed video chatting with Zhou Jun.

On the phone screen, Zhou Jun's face looked somewhat tired, but he was still smiling.

Su Xiao propped her phone up on the bedside table and chatted with him while drying her hair. "I went to try on wedding dresses today, and Wu Hongmei came with me."

Zhou Jun asked, "How is it? Does it look good?"

Su Xiao laughed and said, "Of course I look good, I look good in anything. But you, have you ordered your suit yet? Don't let me show up in a wedding dress and you in a T-shirt."

Zhou Jun was amused by her: "Don't worry! It's all booked. We'll pick it up in a couple of days. I've also finalized the menu with the hotel manager for the wedding: eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, and two soups. It'll be 3,200 yuan per table. Is that okay?"

Su Xiao thought for a moment: "Isn't 3,200 a bit expensive? Our two families together need more than 20 tables, which adds up to tens of thousands."

Zhou Jun said, "It's okay if it's a little more expensive. You only get married once in a lifetime, so we can't be too stingy. Besides, I have a lot of relatives on my side, and my dad said he'll cover part of the cost."

“Your dad’s health isn’t good, don’t let him worry too much,” Su Xiao said. “The money we’ve saved is enough for us. By the way, how many people did you hire?”

"I have about twelve tables here, and with yours, it'll probably be around twenty-three tables. I've already found the best men, just Zhang and a few others from our department."

Su Xiao nodded: "My bridesmaids are Wu Hongmei and my colleague Sister Li, that's enough."

The two chatted for a while longer about the details of the wedding, from the wedding car to the wedding candy, from the seating arrangement to the order of toasting, discussing everything in great detail.

Finally, Zhou Jun paused for a moment, looked at Su Xiao on the screen, and said, "Xiao Xiao, after all these years, we're finally getting married."

Su Xiao leaned against the headboard and looked at him: "Yes! From university until now, how many years has it been? Eight years, right?"

“Eight years and three months,” Zhou Jun said.

Su Xiao smiled and said, "You still remember."

"Of course I remember," Zhou Jun smiled, then his tone became serious, "Xiaoxiao, don't worry, I'll work even harder after we get married. Once we get the deputy section chief position, our lives will definitely get better and better."

Su Xiao looked at him, feeling a warmth in her heart: "Alright, stop talking about this. Let's get the wedding done first. Go to sleep early, don't you have to accompany your superiors to inspect the affordable housing project tomorrow?"

Zhou Jun nodded: "You should get some rest too, don't stay up late."

The two said goodnight to each other and ended the video call.

Su Xiao rolled over in bed, thinking about the wedding and the future, and slowly fell asleep.

……

The next day, things happened as expected.

He Shengli led his team to inspect the affordable housing project, but Su Xiao did not go with them. Instead, she stayed at the company to handle other projects.

Around 10 a.m., Su Xiao suddenly received a phone call. The voice on the other end was very urgent: "Supervisor Su, something has happened at the Anju project. A wall has collapsed on the construction site, and Team Leader He has been injured!"

Su Xiaoteng stood up abruptly: "How badly are you injured?"

"Fortunately, it's not serious, just abrasions and minor impact. He's already been taken to the hospital for treatment. But this is a very serious matter. Mr. Pan was furious in his office."

Su Xiao hung up the phone and ran to Pan Jianhua's office.

Upon reaching the door, before even pushing it open, they heard Pan Jianhua slamming his fist on the table and cursing inside, "Shoddy construction! How could a wall like this collapse? We usually turn a blind eye, but now look what's happened—they've smashed up the leaders of the Construction Bureau! Do you even know what He Shengli does? He holds the approval power over so many of our projects!"

Su Xiao knocked on the door and went in. Pan Jianhua was yelling at several department heads, his face ashen.

Upon seeing Su Xiao enter, Pan Jianhua didn't mince words and said directly, "Who handled the cement procurement for this affordable housing project? Who selected the cement supplier for Tianke? You must get to the bottom of this!"

Su Xiao said, "President Pan, I did the cost budget for this project, but the supplier qualification review is not on my end."

Pan Jianhua waved his hand: "Regardless of who is in charge, starting today, all materials related to the affordable housing project will be sealed up until the quality inspection results are available. Tianke can't escape either; they are the construction company, and they will be the first to take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"clear."

……

Su Xiao returned to her workstation, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

The cement for the affordable housing project was procured through bidding. Although she was not in charge of the acceptance at the time, she had seen the material list when she was making the budget. The cement type was P.O42.5, which is a standard cement for construction projects. In principle, it should not have collapsed when building a wall.

Soon, Su Xiao couldn't sit still any longer. She grabbed her bag and ran straight to the affordable housing construction site.

The construction site had been cordoned off, and there were security guards on site. However, Su Xiao had an employee badge, and the security guards recognized her as an employee of Zhongjian and let her in.

Su Xiao walked to the collapsed wall, squatted down and picked up a few pieces of debris, then looked at the scattered cement bags and checked the labels on them.

The model number printed on the label was completely different from what was written in her budget.

The budget required P.O42.5 ordinary Portland cement, but the bag was printed with P.O32.5, a grade lower in strength. Not only was the type wrong, but Su Xiao also squeezed the cement block and could clearly feel its crumbly texture, indicating that it contained too much fly ash; this cement was clearly substandard.

Su Xiao took out her phone, took a few photos, put a few samples in a plastic bag, and went straight back to the company.

Then, Su Xiao went to Yu Chao and put the sample on the table: "Manager Yu, I went to the Anju project site and found that the cement type was wrong. The budget specified 42.5, but they used 32.5 on site, and the quality was obviously problematic. I suspect that the supplier used inferior materials."

Yu Chao glanced at the cement block in the plastic bag, then at Su Xiao: "This matter can't be judged by appearances alone; we have to follow the proper procedures. Compile the information, submit an application, and I'll help you coordinate with the quality inspection department."

Su Xiao said, "Manager Yu, this is urgent! Team Leader He is injured, and the higher-ups will definitely investigate. We can't wait."

Yu Chao smiled and said, "I know you're anxious, but procedures are procedures. Just write your application first, and I'll approve it as soon as possible."

Su Xiao felt that there was something fishy about Yu Chao's words, but since he was her superior, she couldn't argue with him directly. She could only nod and say, "Okay, I'll go write it right away."

After Su Xiao turned and left, Yu Chao picked up his phone and glanced at it. There was a message from Huang Lilin on the screen. He looked at it, turned the phone face down on the table, and his expression remained unchanged.

……

That afternoon, people from Tianke also arrived.

Xia Ming, Huang Lilin, and Wang Mingyu, the vice president of Yinghai Group, came to Zhongjian Group to hold an accountability meeting.

Su Xiao hadn't planned to speak at the meeting, but as she sat in the corner of the conference room, the more she listened, the more something felt off.

At the meeting, Huang Lilin kept shirking responsibility, saying, "That wall was just a temporary shed fence, which was supposed to be demolished in a few months anyway. There's no need to make a big deal out of it. Besides, it's normal for minor problems to occur during construction. The key is that the main structure of the building is fine."

Although Pan Jianhua was previously dissatisfied with Su Xiao's mention of "joint liability," his attitude was clear today: "President Huang, whether that wall is temporary or permanent, damaging someone is damaging someone. Director He is still in the hospital. How do you expect this to end?"

Huang Lilin chuckled: "President Pan, we've been cooperating for so many years, can't we just talk things over?"

At this moment, Su Xiao couldn't hold back any longer and stood up from the corner. "President Huang, I would like to ask you a question."

"..."

Everyone in the conference room looked at her.

Huang Lilin narrowed his eyes and recognized Su Xiao as the female manager who had called to urge payment earlier.

"Go on," Huang Lilin said, leaning back in his chair.

Su Xiao said, "The budget for the affordable housing project specifies P.O42.5 ordinary Portland cement, which is standard construction cement. However, the cement bags I saw on site were printed with 32.5, and the cement blocks were obviously crumbly, with strength far below standard. Mr. Huang, why is Tianke using 32.5 cement? The purchase order approved 42.5, and the prices of these two types of cement differ significantly. Where did the money saved go?"

"..." Huang Lilin's smile froze.

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds. Wang Mingyu frowned, while Xia Ming looked at Su Xiao with a scrutinizing gaze.

Huang Lilin quickly realized what was going on and said with a stern face, "Supervisor Su, what do you mean by that? We at Tianke have been doing engineering for so many years, and we've always followed the rules. You're just saying there's a problem with the cement without any evidence. Do you have any proof?"

Su Xiao said, "I have retrieved the samples and can send them for testing at any time. When I was studying cost engineering, the first lesson my teacher taught me was... The responsibility of a cost engineer is to ensure the cleanliness of every cost estimate. Every estimate I have made can withstand scrutiny. I also hope that every project handled by General Manager Huang can withstand scrutiny."

These words were spoken in a tone that was neither too harsh nor too soft, but every word hit the nail on the head.

Huang Lilin's expression changed several times. Just as he was about to open his mouth to refute, Xia Ming spoke up from the side.

Xia Ming looked at Su Xiao and said dismissively, "Supervisor Su, you're right. The worst thing in engineering is someone who's not clean on the surface and not clean on the inside. Whether Tianke has problems with this project or not will be clear once the quality inspection results come out. If there really are problems, Tianke will bear every responsibility it should."

"..." Su Xiao glanced at Xia Ming, nodded, and sat back down.

Xia Ming was still thinking about the way Su Xiao had said those words.

He glanced at Su Xiao, whose complexion wasn't good, and his lips twitched, as if he were thinking about something.

As the accountability meeting has progressed, the atmosphere in the meeting room has become increasingly tense.

All the senior executives who participated in the meeting were trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility, and each of them was implying that the blame should be placed on Tianke.

As the primary responsible party for the affordable housing project, Zhongjian Group is facing a huge uproar in the public opinion, and there's no way to avoid it.

Xia Ming sat in Tianke's seat, looked around at everyone present, and already had a plan in mind.

He didn't rush to argue, but waited until everyone had spoken before calmly beginning to say, "Gentlemen, does Tianke bear any responsibility in this accident? Yes. There was indeed negligence in the management of the temporary buildings, and we will not evade that point."

Xia Ming's gaze swept over everyone present. "But can simply focusing on holding Tianke accountable solve the problem? Today it's just a temporary wall that collapsed; what if the main structure collapses tomorrow? Who will be responsible? Holding someone accountable is one thing, but ensuring the quality of the project afterward is the fundamental solution. Instead of arguing about who bears more or less of the blame, we should first correct our attitude and resolve the issue."

After these words were spoken, none of the people present knew how to respond.

Xia Ming's meaning was clear: you can try to shirk responsibility, but the problem will still exist, and no one can escape it.

During the break in the meeting, Su Xiao ordered food from outside and brought it back.

She was carrying plastic bags in both hands, and it was a little difficult for her to push open the conference room door.

Xia Ming saw this and went over to help her catch it.

"Thank you," Su Xiao said.

"You're welcome." Xia Ming put the bag on the table and casually asked, "Manager Su, you said before that cost estimators should ensure that every cost sheet is clean. Did you come up with that conclusion yourself?"

Su Xiao nodded: "It's a rule I set for myself when I entered the industry."

Xia Ming looked at her, his tone carrying a hint of appreciation, but more of a reminder: "It's true that a cost engineer's responsibility is to ensure the forms are clean. But do you know what my advisor said to me when I was in graduate school?"

Su Xiao looked up at him: "What did you say?"

Xia Ming said, "My supervisor told me that every cost estimate sheet is not just a cost estimate sheet. It contains a table of relationships, personal connections, interests, and power struggles. It is already very difficult to ensure that the numbers are clean, but clean numbers alone cannot solve all the problems."

After listening, Su Xiao remained silent for a few seconds, then politely replied, "Director Xia, I understand your reasoning. But I still believe that being realistic is fundamental. If the surface isn't clean, everything else is meaningless."

Xia Ming smiled and said nothing more.

There was something different in his eyes when he looked at Su Xiao. It was hard to tell whether it was admiration or a feeling that she was too naive, or perhaps both.

...(End of this chapter)