Chapter 393: Blaming

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Wang Feng drove straight to the research institute in his car.

“Wang Feng, call Xu Yu and ask him to come to the research institute. I’ll be waiting for him in Zhou Jilong’s office,” Zhou Chao said as he opened the car door and got out.

Lin Wu and Wang Feng exchanged glances, both feeling helpless about Xu Yu.

Hurry up!” Lin Wu said, then followed Zhou Chao’s steps quickly.

After walking for a while, Lin Wu realized that they weren’t heading to the research institute but towards the direction of the laboratory.

“Boss, weren’t we supposed to go to the research institute’s office? Why are we going to the lab?”

“First, let’s see how Professor Lanling’s research progress is going,” Zhou Chao said casually.

“You asked Wang Feng to have Xu Yu come to the office, didn’t you?” Lin Wu looked somewhat puzzled.

“Well, I’ll just let him wait in the office for a while and I’ll go over to see him after I’m done with my tasks!”

“Oh.”

The two of them soon arrived at Building 3, which was also a temporary laboratory for Lan Ling. As they entered, they saw Lan Ling explaining something to the technicians.

Someone must have alerted Lan Ling because he turned around and quickly came out.

“Boss, you finally came! I’ve missed you so much!” Lan Ling said with a smile as he walked over.

“Hahaha, Professor Lan, I’m afraid you’ve been missing not me, but those remaining USB drives!”

Lan Ling, feeling a bit embarrassed, laughed as well.

Zhou Chao didn’t waste any time and took out the remaining USB drives from his pocket, handing them to Lan Ling. He said, “Professor Lan, I’ve entrusted the entire set of technology to you. I only hope to see the finished lithography machine this year. Additionally, I’ll arrange for someone to be responsible for your security personally. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Lan Ling replied, not even lifting his head as he took the USB drives.

Zhou Chao smiled and shook his head at Lan Ling’s response.

After coming back to his senses, Lan Ling began to report the progress of the lithography machine research and some difficulties he had encountered to Zhou Chao.

The three of them stood in front of the glass wall outside the lab and talked for more than half an hour before Lan Ling finished his report.

“Alright, I understand. Keep up the good work, Professor.”

“Don’t worry, boss. I won’t hold back on something related to the honor of our country’s technology field!”

“Alright, I’ll take my leave now. I won’t disturb your research.”

“Boss, take care!” Lan Ling waved goodbye and then eagerly went back inside, eager to study the technical details stored inside the USB drives.

“Did you hear what 1 just said? You need to select a reliable team member with suitable skills to specifically handle Professor Lanling’s security. Also, make sure to provide a car for him. 1 don’t need to specify the standards, do 1?”

“I got it, boss. You can rest assured; I’ll arrange everything as soon as possible!” Lin Wu quickly assured him.

“Good.” Zhou Chao nodded and continued walking towards the research institute’s office.

Just as he reached the door of Zhou Jilong’s office, he heard the voices of Xu Yu and Zhou Jilong from inside.

Lin Wu was about to open the door, but Zhou Chao stopped him.

“Lao Zhou, where did the boss go? Why hasn’t he arrived yet? It’s been over 40 minutes!” Xu Yu’s voice came from inside.

“All, don’t walk around in front of me. Why don’t you call the boss? Don’t torture me!”

“I dare not make that call. I might get a good scolding if I do!”

“Then you should sit quietly, and have a cup of tea. If the boss sees you all anxious like this, he’ll scold you for sure!”

“Hey, Lao Zhou, I have this uneasy feeling in my chest, like something bad is looming.”

“Don’t worry, you’re overthinking it!”

“I hope so.”

Just as Xu Yu finished speaking, Zhou Chao pushed open the door and walked in. Xu Yu and Zhou Jilong both turned their gaze towards the entrance.

Zhou Chao entered with a calm expression, showing no signs of emotion.

“Boss!” Xu Yu and Zhou Jilong hurried over to greet him.

“Hmm,” Zhou Chao didn’t even glance at Xu Yu and just walked over to the sofa, where he sat down.

Zhou Jilong quickly poured a cup of tea for Zhou Chao and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

Zhou Chao picked up the tea and took a sip, then looked at Xu Yu and said casually, “How’s the progress on Phase Two of the project? Have you been keeping an eye on it?”

“Boss, the project is currently in the above-ground construction phase, and the main structure is almost complete. It’s being handled by a construction company under Sany Group. I think the project is progressing smoothly, so I haven’t visited it much recently.”

With a loud “thud,” Zhou Chao placed the teacup heavily on the coffee table, startling all three of them.

“Do you feel like there’s too much work and you can’t handle it? Do you want me to assign you a lighter workload?”

Although Zhou Chao’s words didn’t carry anger, they felt like deep-sea mines exploding in Xu Yu’s ears, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Zhou Jilong, sitting beside Xu Yu, gave him a reassuring pat on the back, helping him regain his composure.

“Boss, I…”

“What T? I’m asking you, do you even know the main person in charge of the project construction?”

“I… I don’t really know him,” Xu Yu replied nervously, keeping his head down.

“You don’t know? You actually tell me you don’t know! I told you before to closely monitor the progress of Phase Two. What did you do? Did you just take a stroll and show off your prowess as the General Manager of Canghai Technology?”

“Boss, it’s their company, and I didn’t want to interfere.”

“You didn’t want to interfere? Then why did I ask you to go in the first place? I might as well have randomly assigned someone to watch over it. Tell me, if there are any issues with the project or accidents happen later, are you willing to take the blame?” Zhou Chao’s anger was evident as he continued to scold Xu Yu.

“Boss, it’s not entirely Xu Yu’s fault. The person in charge on the other side is an old employee of Sany Group, and he’s basically the one who developed this construction company. Xu Yu wanted to visit, but he couldn’t make sense of anything,” Zhou Jilong cautiously explained.

“So what if he’s an old employee? Can he cover up everything? Does his reputation outweigh Qin Qingchun’s?”

Zhou Chao’s words left both Xu Yu and Zhou Jilong struggling to explain themselves. Xu Yu could only listen silently to Zhou Chao’s reprimands with his head down.

“Xu Yu!”

“Yes, boss!” Xu Yu quickly raised his head.

“I don’t care how you do it, but I want to see a report on Phase Two, including related documents, materials, and the allocation of expenses for labor and other costs, by the end of the workday today. If you can’t do it, then go back to Modu!”

“Yes, boss, I guarantee I’ll complete the task!” Xu Yu said excitedly.

“Go then!” Zhou Chao waved his hand, allowing him to leave the office.

Xu Yu nodded slightly and exited the office.

“Boss, to be honest, Xu Yu has been really busy lately. You know about the machine tool incident a while back, and he hasn’t finished dealing with it. He often works late into the night.”

“Lao Zhou, that’s not an excuse or justification. If there’s a problem, he should call me. I told him before I left, and he knows it. If he can’t handle it, he should call me right away. Look at Xu Yu, does he not realize that there might be issues with the Phase Two construction team? He’s just worried about offending someone and taking the ‘less trouble is better’ approach. Can you understand why I’m frustrated?”

Zhou Jilong wisely remained silent.

After all, everyone involved in construction projects knew that it was a complex field with deep-rooted issues. Each small project could yield significant profits, and for a large project like this, even a small deviation could lead to substantial gains for many people.

All he could do was silently pray for Xu Yu and mourn for the project leader.

“Boss, do you want to give Qin Qingchun from Sany Group a call and discuss it with him?” Lin Wu whispered.

“I know, I’ll wait for Xu Yu’s report first and see what he can come up with. Lao Zhou, you go back to your work; don’t worry about me. I’ll be in the rest area with Lin Wu. If you need me, come find me!” Zhou Chao said as he got up from the sofa and headed towards the door.

“Alright, boss!” Zhou Jilong watched him leave and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tissue.

Sighing deeply, he returned to his own work.

In the blink of an eye, it was already three o’clock in the afternoon. At this time, Zhou Chao and Lin Wu were playing games on the sofa in the rest area.

Occasionally, Zhou Chao would complain about Lin Wu’s poor performance in the game.

“Boss, Xu Yu is here!” Zhou Jilong rushed over in a hurry.

“Oh, it looks like he’s figured things out. Let’s go and see what’s going on. Zhou Chao put away his phone and followed Zhou Jilong towards his office.

As soon as they entered the office, they saw Xu Yu holding a folder standing to the side.

“Boss!

“Hmm, is everything sorted out?”

“I’ve basically got a clear understanding of the situation.” Xu Yu handed the folder to Zhou Chao.

Zhou Chao took it and opened it, while Xu Yu began to report.

“Based on what I’ve found out, the project leader, Liu Zhiwei, has arranged many of his relatives to work in various departments, and these people are completely inexperienced in their assigned roles.

At the same time, we’ve discovered that the construction materials used are different from the ones we initially specified. They are basically one grade lower, but the accounts still follow the original specifications. These materials are not bad, but they are not as good as what we originally intended.

There’s also the issue of kickbacks. Everything is being orchestrated by his son,

Liu Jie. Liu Zhiwei himself hasn’t directly participated.”

“How much money have they embezzled so far?” Zhou Chao asked with a serious tone.

Nervously, Xu Yu licked his lips and stuttered, “From what 1 know, it’s around

20 million yuan.”

With a loud thud, Zhou Chao slammed the folder onto the coffee table.

“This is the Phase Two project that you were supposed to supervise. If I hadn’t checked on it, would you have just turned a blind eye and let this slide?” Zhou Chao glared at the incompetent Xu Yu, standing up in anger.

“Boss, calm down, please calm down!” Zhou Jilong hurriedly tried to placate him.

“Take this and get out. Wait for me to finish my work, and then I’ll deal with you!” Zhou Chao picked up the folder and tossed it onto Xu Yu’s lap..