Once, when I hadn't seen him pay back the money for a long time, I inquired about which construction site he was at and went directly to find him. When I arrived, I found him and saw my classmate arguing with several people wearing white hats, and they even made a bill.

Xing Baohua then went over to ask what was going on. His classmate said, "The supervisor told us to finish as soon as possible. I said we've already installed four 6-inch pumps and have been pumping water for 24 hours a day, but there's still not enough oil. Are two of them going to break down? The supervisor wouldn't listen and just gave me a supervisor's notice."

Seeing his classmate's predicament, Xing Baohua was too embarrassed to bring up the money issue. The fact that the pump was broken showed how difficult it was for these contractors.

To everyone's surprise, the classmate called over the on-site construction foreman, handing him a list from the supervisor: "Go to the project office right away and get some oil, and also get them to rent four pumps. And make sure those cables and the distribution box are damaged."

Xing Baohua was shocked. What was going on here?!

The classmate didn't explain, just told him to wait and that they would have lunch together. Half an hour later, a gas truck arrived, and the classmate had someone get some oil drums. They filled six drums with diesel and five 30-liter oil drums.

The generator using oil is normal! Xing Baohua didn't think much of it.

After the oil truck left, a pickup truck drove up. My classmate introduced it as the excavator owner's, saying he was there to buy oil.

It's one dollar cheaper than the market price for oil.

Six barrels of diesel can be sold for around four or five thousand yuan; the remaining small oil barrels are used to refuel the generator.

As my classmate put it, you have to drag things out to make money from pumping water. If you pump it too fast, everyone's starving. You just wait for them to come and urge you on, then complain. Once you get an order, you start working harder. That's about it. Making tens of thousands is easy.

Xing Baohua realized it; no wonder he paid back the money so readily—this extra income came too easily.

There are many ways to make extra money on construction sites; it's just a matter of how you manage your income. It's not just the construction teams who make money; project managers do it too—the sand, stones, and cement—each item can generate profit.

If you're a little frugal, the money will come out. Don't underestimate the small amounts; they add up!

So when Xing Baohua complained to the wafer fab project manager about the difficulty of pumping water, he just chuckled. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have believed it was really difficult.

Oil is so cheap these days! Well, a boss as big as him won't fuss over such a small amount of money. As long as the work is done well, that's all that matters. He instructed me to get the main body out as soon as possible, as he was waiting to use it.

Then we went to see other workshops and projects under construction.

One section of the road was in an open area, and Xing Baohua hesitated whether to go through it. He was surrounded by people, nearly twenty in total. It would be impolite not to go.

Xing Baohua looked at the guard, who shook his head slightly, clearly not wanting him to leave for his safety.

Everyone was waiting for Xing Baohua to move on, but who knew he seemed to be admiring the scenery or perhaps reflecting on something! He lingered for a while, and the Shanghai municipal official in charge of the area asked Xing Baohua, "Mr. Xing, do you feel something is amiss here?"

"Nothing much? I just feel this area is too big, and I'm wondering what it's going to be used for in the future according to the blueprints?"

"Oh! This place! It was originally intended to be a parking lot. After all the main buildings were completed and the interior decoration phase began, they started to renovate this area into a parking lot and landscaping."

Xing Baohua nodded in agreement, and while nodding, she gave the guard a look, indicating that they should continue walking, as further hesitation would be embarrassing.

It took about two hours to finish looking at the construction site. Afterwards, we arrived at the temporary office area, which was built with prefabricated houses. There was nothing fancy about it; as long as it could be used for working, that was fine.

The main leader's office and meeting room were simply furnished, with desks, chairs, and sofas provided. Everyone chatted in the meeting room for a while, and when it was almost noon, this guy treated the staff present to lunch.

The journey was uneventful, with no major dangers, but I was always on edge.

During a meal, Xing Baohua told the main supervisor that he would be staying at the wafer fab for a while and asked them to temporarily set up a prefabricated house as his office, saying he didn't care about the details.

He'll be back tomorrow.

The project manager looked somewhat troubled, glancing at the Shanghai-based leaders stationed there, wanting to know what was going on. Did Xing Baohua's presence indicate a problem with the project?

The project manager got in through connections, which Xing Baohua knew. He had already made arrangements and was expected to give him face. However, there was a significant difference in status between the project manager and Xing Baohua.

Xing Baohua asked the project manager to set up his office as soon as possible, as he needed it for tomorrow.

The prefabricated house can be set up in less than a day; it's super simple, and besides, Xing Baohua's office doesn't take up much space. The work can be finished in an afternoon, with a little decoration, and it'll be ready to use the next day.

Xing Baohua didn't go to the construction site in the afternoon; he went there by himself, followed by many people, which disrupted the normal work of the workers.

This guy started driving around near the wafer fab, looking here and there, ostensibly to inspect the land, but actually to lure away those hidden dangerous remnants.

"Boss, I see two kinds of prefabricated houses on the construction site. The prefabricated houses for the leadership offices are made of sheet metal and used to store instant noodles. The other kind is made of some kind of clay and fiberglass, which is where the workers sleep."

"Oh, no matter which one it is, it's suffocating in the summer and freezing in the winter. Whether it's for working or living, it's terrible," Xing Baohua said with a sigh. He had spent more than two hours in this place, and that was at his classmate's place.

It was summer then, and there was no air conditioning, just a fan. No matter how it blew, it was still hot and stuffy, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Boss, what I mean is to add steel plates. Or we can send someone to keep an eye on things. I saw steel plates laid on the ground at the construction site when vehicles passed by. If we don't add steel plates, the people inside will be riddled with holes if a burst of bullets goes through."

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