Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 20 Being a Boss Requires Being Willful

One person slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

"Leave? I'm afraid it won't be that easy! I told you so, so what? You think you can just switch teams like that? You want to play tough with me? I, Zhang Laowu, have been working on construction sites for so many years, I've seen plenty of tough guys! You want to kick me out? Fine! Let's see if you can afford the price!"

Those who work on construction sites year-round often have a bit of a hooligan streak. When Zhang Laowu, the foreman of the masonry team, heard that he was to leave, he immediately lost his temper.

The managers wearing red hats nearby knew all too well that clearing people out would come at a high cost and could easily cause trouble, affecting the construction schedule. They immediately stood up to smooth things over, but Yu Chunyin coughed and shook his head.

Before the meeting, Chen Xuebing had already told him that they would be making an example of someone today.

He believed that Chen Xuebing was not acting impulsively, because he had been observing the whole scene. The person Chen Xuebing called out was not the steel reinforcement team leader who had called Chen Xuebing a "greenhorn" earlier, but Zhang Dajiang, the weakest member of the bricklaying team who only had nine workers under his command.

Chen Xuebing did indeed choose the weakest target among the squad leaders to target. Seeing that the other party was about to cause trouble without explaining, and the one who had actually spoken up was now silently observing the situation, which suited Chen Xuebing perfectly. He crossed his arms and smiled.
"Price? What price?"

Zhang Dajiang demanded an exorbitant sum: "Five hundred thousand!"

Zhang Dajiang won't even get 150,000 yuan after finishing the job.

They really dare to speak up.

Well done, though.

The team leaders chuckled as they thought about it, their minds set on watching the spectacle unfold.

Chen Xuebing laughed too. This was exactly the situation he wanted. He couldn't handle a group of people, but now that someone had taken the lead, the others would start watching the show, making things easier for him.

Everyone was waiting for Chen Xuebing's response.

Chen Xuebing's answer surprised everyone: "Okay, 50, I accept it. You can leave in a bit."

This caused quite a stir, and the steelworkers next to them started to get restless and wanted to stand up.

Zhang Dajiang was starting to doubt himself: "You...you really mean it?"

Chen Xuebing's next words silenced the atmosphere again.

“Really, I’ll collect the money from you in a bit. After I’m done, I’ll give you a receipt. You can take the receipt to court and sue me. You can make any demands you want. As long as the court rules in your favor, I’ll accept anything, not just 50, but even 100 million. Once the judgment is handed down, the money will definitely be yours within three to five years.”

The group of people were immediately sullen.

Hey, fucking shut up.

Will the court make a wrong ruling?
And who the hell goes to court?

Three to five years is a short time!
One case can take two years to file, two years to litigate, and another two years to get the judgment enforced.

Zhang Dajiang naturally chose the simplest and most effective method: "If you dare not pay me, you can forget about starting construction on this site! I'll fight you to the bitter end!"

With the migrant worker workforce under his control, what is there to be afraid of?
Calling the police won't help!
This is the real way to deal with your boss.

Chen Xuebing remained motionless, staring at Tan Hailiang opposite him:

"Tan, call his workers over in a bit, settle all their wages, and ask them if they'd like to work with us. Skilled workers will get an extra ten yuan a day, and unskilled workers will get an extra five yuan a day. I'll find someone to train them."

After saying that, he pointed at Zhang Dajiang: "If he wants to make trouble, let him make trouble, but we only need his money. Only he is allowed to enter the construction site. Other irrelevant people are not allowed to enter. If he wants to smash things, we will call the police."

Everyone's eyes were stern.

Holy crap, that's ruthless.

They've already cleared out the people, and now they want to dismantle Zhang Dajiang's team too?
Once the workers' wages have been paid, it becomes a purely civil dispute. If he comes here causing trouble, the police will definitely kick him out and take him to court.

Moreover, with such a large construction site, even if he were to cause trouble, what kind of trouble could he possibly make on his own?
Zhang Dajiang was furious, but he only had a few men under his command. If the other party wanted to mess with him, they could pay him all his wages on the spot and disband his team immediately.

"You try it! I'll go to the government building and unfurl a banner!"

Chen Xuebing calmly waved his hand: "Go ahead, the food at the petition office is definitely better than what we have here."

A veteran, this is a veteran.

In this power struggle of clearing out ineligible employees, Zhang Dajiang lost.

The team leaders all knew that Zhang Dajiang was outnumbered and outmatched. They wanted to offer him support, but they didn't want to get involved in a fight with this veteran. If they got dragged into it, he could take down one family and then another.

What if I charge in and everyone else just watches the show?

The workers with the highest labor costs on site were the two pipeline construction teams that came from outside the factory area. They were also the most qualified to confront the boss, but unfortunately, they weren't there when the accident happened.

The six work teams that were fined did not include them; they didn't usually work together and had no relationship with each other.

When everyone chooses to calmly sit down and watch the show, they lose the opportunity to form alliances and counter-alliances.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, sit down, don't rush."

"That's right, things can be discussed!"

The team leaders from the surrounding factories quickly tried to smooth things over.

If they don't smooth things over, they'll be gambling with this young man on who has the bigger temper, and they won't gain anything in return.

Tan Hailiang sighed inwardly.

Chen Xuebing was indeed a veteran. He had a ten-minute chat with Chen before the meeting and had thoroughly understood the composition of the work teams on the construction site. He had also identified the best targets to take action against. With just a few words, he began to divide and conquer the situation and take control of the situation.

No wonder people criticize him for his lack of management skills; he simply doesn't have the ability to manage effectively. He's too proud to take charge and can't command respect.

At his age, he couldn't find a suitable reason to be angry.

"Stop fooling around and get on with the meeting."

Amidst the noisy scene, Yu Chunyin suddenly spoke up, at just the right moment.

"President Yu has spoken!"

The room fell silent. Someone quickly pulled Zhang Dajiang up and he sat down on the steps.

Chen Xuebing coughed and focused his gaze on him again.

"We'll talk about the masonry team's stuff later when we go out. If you don't have anything else you don't want to do, then I'll get down to business."

No one spoke. Chen Xuebing then took the stack of forms in his hand and gave Yu Chunyin a look of inquiry.

Yu Chunyin was extremely satisfied and nodded slowly, feeling that today's meeting was very authoritative.

You need someone like that to keep things in check!

In the past, whenever something happened, as soon as Engineer Tan gave a notification, everyone would rush to him in a chaotic mess, and he had no desire to deal with it at all.

The boss is distant and authoritative; if he tries to manage things, these people will cause trouble for him.

If this becomes a habit, everyone will come to him. This is unacceptable!

"Distribute these forms, one for each person."

Chen Xuebing handed the forms to the back, and Lu Yiwen and the other two immediately took them and distributed them one by one.

“The construction site has its own rules and regulations. This is a list of rules that Jingcheng Labor Service Company must sign before entering the construction site. Take a look at these requirements and see if they are difficult or not, whether they should be followed, and whether I am making things difficult for you.”

There were only a dozen or so clauses, and only half of them concerned their workers: materials must be stored properly, safety must be ensured, and personnel must be managed well. After the tense standoff subsided, these clauses were no longer a problem for them.

Originally, no one could find fault with it.

They were just too lazy to care before.

"Of course, of course," the carpenter replied.

Others nodded.

After the beating, it's time to draw carrots.

Although it was just empty talk, Chen Xuebing remained serious:
"Of course we should! What kind of construction site is this? A national water conservancy project! We only make a living by following the rules and regulations! Do you think you can just stumble upon this project? We get paid on time, even if it's just for show! That's our guarantee!"
Go ask around and compare; we're paid on time, aren't we? Is it really that easy to get money from a private project?

I'm telling you, our company's next project is already in the works, much larger than this factory, and payments will be made on time! Anyone who wants to continue working here must strictly adhere to the rules!

These words immediately caused a complete division among the team leaders.

This project costs tens of millions! Much bigger than this?!

Wang Bing from the project team also had a slight glint in his eyes. He had already guessed what project it was: the very profitable comprehensive management project that was to follow up.

They must have connections.

He previously felt that the management of this project section was somewhat like a makeshift team with everyone doing their own thing, but now that Chen Xuebing has come to reorganize the work team, if they can improve the management level, they will definitely become a big company.

I just don't know how good Chen Xuebing is at managing the scene.

"And another thing," Chen Xuebing continued, "I just asked Engineer Tan. The workers start work at seven, and the supervisor arrives at eight. Who is in charge of that one hour in between? If there are any problems and the work needs to be redone during that hour, who is responsible?"

Several of Yu Chunyin's men were startled.

Holy crap, are they going to cause us trouble?
Chen Xuebing looked at the managers and laughed:
"Starting tomorrow, managers will arrive half an hour earlier, and team leaders will check the environmental sanitation and the status of materials and equipment before 7:30 in the morning."

At 7:30, everyone gathers for a morning meeting. Inside the factory area, Engineer Tan organizes the technical briefing, while outside the factory area, the administrator is responsible for communicating the day's work plan regarding the pipeline network.

The daily progress is reported by each manager and Engineer Tan to General Manager Yu. General Manager Yu is very busy every day. This is the city center, and he handles the coordination with external units. Managers should resolve minor issues well and not cause trouble for General Manager Yu. However, the statistics should be compiled and reported to General Manager Yu afterwards so that he is aware of the situation.

"Mr. Yu, what do you think?"

Chen Xuebing looked at Yu Chunyin.

Yu Chunyin smiled and said, "Yes, everyone has worked hard."

I felt incredibly happy.

Hi.

That's truly my fault for being so glib.

Chen Xuebing combined the two things—getting up early and reporting—into one conversation, leaving the managers with little room for rebuttal.

But the words are not finished yet.

"In addition, after the morning meeting every day, the management will organize everyone to do five minutes of morning exercises. Liang Hui, you used to be the sports committee member, so you know how to do the warm-up exercises in physical education class, right? Teach them in a bit."

Liang Hui was there to support the soldier, so regardless of whether he knew the answer or not, he simply replied, "Yes."

But the others were bewildered.

"Doing morning exercises?"

The manager was already furious when he heard that the person arrived half an hour early, but he didn't expect things to get even worse.

They're doing morning exercises on the construction site?

"No way! No way, we're all in our forties and fifties, not school kids anymore, why are we doing exercises!"

A bunch of old fogies shook their heads repeatedly.

Isn't this just making a clown?
Chen Xuebing slammed his hand on the table again, displeased, "What's wrong with doing exercises? Are you saying you're old? Then why are you doing hard labor? It's just a warm-up. It's getting colder, so everyone should warm up in the morning to avoid sprains! This is for your own good! It's also to test the workers' physical condition! If you can't even do a simple exercise, how can you come to the construction site to get paid? Do it! You have to do it! It's only five minutes! Engineer Tan and the management will supervise each other. Whoever doesn't do it will get an extra afternoon exercise! If they don't want to do it with everyone, they can watch them do it alone while everyone else is eating!"

For every action, Chen Xuebing had a plausible excuse.

But doing morning exercises... even Yu Chunyin didn't quite understand it.

She couldn't help but lean closer to Chen Xuebing, frowning as she whispered, "What does this mean?"

Chen Xuebing also moved his stool closer to his uncle.

"When you're a boss, you sometimes have to be a little willful and make some unreasonable demands. In the future, on construction sites, as long as you think it's reasonable, it will be reasonable."

Yu Chunyin was convinced.

Where did this kid learn so many crooked tricks?
After a moment, he smiled and patted Chen Xuebing on the shoulder:

"You're talented! Meet me in the office at 4:30 tomorrow morning. I have something to do for you! Don't be late!"

Chen Xuebing's smile was taken away by Yu Chunyin.

(End of this chapter)