Chapter 79

After picking up Xia Kaiqun and Zhao Panpan at the Liangxi District Branch, Lian Yijian drove the three of them towards Sucheng without staying for too long.

On the way back to Sucheng, Xia Kaiqun and Zhao Panpan, who were sitting in the back seat, kept talking.

When they were having lunch together at the Peach Restaurant yesterday at noon, Xia Zhongqin also noticed the unusually close relationship between Xia Kaiqun and Zhao Panpan. She was quite surprised at the time, but now she has accepted it calmly.

On the way back to Sucheng from Liangxi, Lian Yijian kept receiving calls.

The five calls Lian Yicheng received in a row were all about projects in Sucheng District.

Yesterday, apart from Dong Dawei, Wang Dayu, Zhou Yucheng and Xia Cheng, no one else in the company called him. This is a very rare situation.

The Sucheng District Delivery Department now has a new delivery manager. When project managers in Sucheng District encounter problems on their projects that they cannot handle, the first person they should look for is Xia Cheng, not him, the original Sucheng delivery manager.

After receiving calls from five project managers, Lian Yijian learned from them that

The project managers of these five projects first went to find Xia Cheng, the new delivery manager in Sucheng, but Xia Cheng’s response to them was to let the project managers find a solution themselves.

Two of the five project managers had problems with the domestically produced trusted computing environment server used in the project and the service could not be started. The other three project managers were short of resources and too busy to handle the project, so they needed to arrange personnel to support the project. In these two situations, if the project managers could really solve the problem themselves, why would they still look for their supervisors? As for Xia Cheng, Lian Yijian saw through him but did not say anything. People with different ideas cannot work together.

These five project managers were once brothers who followed him wholeheartedly and shared the joys and sorrows. After hearing them talk about the difficulties they were currently facing and their complaints about Xia Cheng, Lian Yijian did not show a trace of complaint or impatience, and gave the project managers advice with all his heart.

Lian Yijian informed the two project managers with problems with the trusted computing environment over the phone of the solution he knew so far for the problem of not being able to start up. They followed the troubleshooting ideas provided by Lian Yijian, and eventually the trusted computing environment returned to normal.

The other three projects that are short of resources are all large state-owned projects. This is because Wang Dayu has always strictly controlled the costs in the Southern Jiangsu District, and has even stricter control over the resources invested in the delivery department projects, especially in the outsourcing area. A project manager has to take on at least three or four ongoing projects at the same time. Lian Yijian is very clear about the resource allocation of the ongoing projects in the four areas of the Southern Jiangsu District. The resource allocation of these large state-owned projects is only half of the normal level.

Regarding the resource allocation of large state-owned projects, Lian Yijian had contacted Wang Dayu many times. They wanted to use more resources from outsourcing partners in large state-owned projects to shorten the project delivery cycle. However, Wang Dayu always brought up regional costs and would rather extend the project cycle than agree with Lian Yijian's proposal.

For these three large state-owned projects that are short of resources, Lian Yijian recommended three outsourcing partners with different business cooperation types based on the characteristics of the three different state-owned projects. He asked the three project managers to send out the project outsourcing application process today. He also discussed the outsourcing type, outsourcing days and outsourcing contract amount with the project managers over the phone.

After communicating with the three project managers who were short of resources on the project, Lian Yijian immediately called the business managers of the three outsourcing partners and asked them if they had the resources to provide support on the project in advance tomorrow.

Without even seeing the outsourcing contract, the business leaders of the three outsourcing partners all replied without hesitation, "No problem, we'll do whatever Mr. Lian arranges."

Trust is built day by day. Among the outsourcing partners in Southern Jiangsu District, Lian Yijian's words are more effective than those of the district general manager Wang Dayu, and the outsourcing partners only recognize Lian Yijian. In the past few years since he came to Southern Jiangsu District, although Wang Dayu strictly controlled the use of outsourcing resources in regional projects, large projects such as the Sucheng Metro Project, the Zhongtian Internet Project and the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank Project still had to be outsourced. Relying on the region's own delivery capabilities, it would be impossible to complete the delivery at all.

Outsourcing partners in Southern Jiangsu District can also benefit from participating in the projects. Lian Yijian has always been a man of his word, so the delivery capabilities of the entire Southern Jiangsu District are very strong both inside and out.

After answering calls from five project managers and communicating with the business managers of three outsourcing partners, an hour and a half had passed. There were still more than ten minutes to go before reaching the Sucheng Metro Building. From the moment Lian Yijian answered the call, Xia Zhongqin put her mobile phone on the car phone holder for navigation.

In the middle of the conversation, Xia Zhongqin received a call and two WeChat voice and video messages on her phone. The call was from Song Xiaojuan, and the two consecutive voice and video calls were from Xia Cheng, but she did not answer either of them.

After sending the Centennial Project Phase II PPT to Shangguan Jinliang last night, she asked him on WeChat if there were any issues that needed to be adjusted. He said no, as he had been using the navigation on his phone. Xia Zhongqin had not had time to ask Shangguan Jinliang about the report on the Centennial Project Phase II launch meeting this morning.

Seeing Lian Yijian place his phone on the center console, Xia Zhongqin said, "Brother Yijian, do you still need navigation for the rest of the way? I'd like to ask Teacher Shangguan about the launch meeting for the second phase of the Centennial Project this morning."

Lian Yijian took Xia Zhongqin's phone off the car holder and placed it in her hand. He smiled and said, "We're almost at the Sucheng Subway Building. I can handle the rest of the journey without navigation, Zhongqin."

Xia Zhongqin replied "OK" and directly called Shangguan Jinliang.

Soon, a prompt came from the other end of the phone: "The number you dialed is busy, please call again later."

Xia Zhongqin sent a message to Shangguan Jinliang on WeChat.

Xia Zhongqin: Teacher Shangguan, did the launch meeting of the second phase of the Centennial Project go smoothly this morning? Is there anything you need me to do?

After sending the WeChat message, Xia Zhongqin had not yet put away her phone when a new call came in. It was from Wang Xuesheng, the general manager of the century-old company.

After the acceptance and handover of the first phase of the Centennial Project to Shangguan Jinliang, Wang Xuesheng never contacted her again. Without having time to think about it, Xia Zhongqin answered the phone.

As soon as the call was connected, Wang Xuesheng's deep voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Xiao Chen, why didn't you come to the Centennial Project Phase II kick-off meeting this morning? If you don't continue to serve as the project manager for the Centennial Project Phase II, then our Centennial Project Phase II will be suspended."

Wang Xuesheng's tone didn't sound very good, and was obviously full of dissatisfaction.

Having dealt with Wang Xuesheng many times, Xia Zhongqin knew a little about his temper and personality, and understood that the "pause" he mentioned was a real pause.

Regarding the actions of Xia Cheng, the new delivery manager of Sucheng District, Xia Zhongqin really wanted to suspend it. After all, she was concerned that Lian Yijian was the delivery director of Southern Jiangsu District, and the authority and responsibility of the second phase of the Centennial Project was also one percent of the Southern Jiangsu District. She explained on the phone the reason for not going and the arrangements for the next phase of the Centennial Project.

"Mr. Wang received a call from Director Song while on a business trip yesterday. He couldn't make it back. In order not to affect the smooth progress of the Centennial Project Phase II launch meeting, Teacher Shangguan went there. Please understand, Mr. Wang. The project implementation plan was included in the Centennial Project Phase II launch meeting PPT. The subsequent project arrangements will be based on that. Please rest assured, Mr. Wang."

Xia Zhongqin's wording was very rigorous, her ideas were very clear, and her tone was very sincere, which was enough to dispel Wang Xuesheng's concerns and worries. Wang Xuesheng didn't say anything more and hung up the phone.

As soon as he arrived at the B1 parking lot of Suzhou Metro Building, Xia Zhongqin received a call from Shangguan Jinliang.

Xia Zhongqin and Shangguan Jinliang spent five minutes on the phone to review the on-site situation of the Centennial Project Phase II launch meeting and the requirements raised by Wang Xuesheng.

It was exactly eleven o'clock in the morning when the four of them returned to the Suzhou Metro Project Team.

As soon as I entered the Sucheng Metro Project Team Office, I saw someone working at Lian Yijian's workstation. This person was none other than Zhou Yucheng, the project manager of Sucheng Metro.

The project team members were still there. When they heard the footsteps of the four people, they all stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the four people. Zhou Yucheng even stood up from his work chair suddenly.

"Yi Jian, you're finally back. If you hadn't come back, this project would have failed."

By the time Lian Yijian walked to his workstation, Zhou Yucheng had already put away the computer on the workstation.

"Yi Jian, the project has been out of control for the past two days since you were away. It even alarmed our Director Jin. He said that the first thing you should do when you return is to visit his office. He happens to be at the group today, so let's go together."

Lian Yijian put his computer bag on his workstation, and then he and Zhou Yucheng left the project office together.

As soon as the two of them left, the Sucheng Metro Project Team office became lively. Everyone was talking excitedly because Lian Yijian had returned, which was in stark contrast to the gloomy atmosphere when Xia Cheng was there the previous two days.

Xia Kaiqun arranged Zhao Panpan to sit next to him at the workstation that originally belonged to Zhang Xiaoshan, and the two continued to talk.

Xia Zhongqin noticed that Xia Kaiqun and Zhao Panpan had been talking non-stop since Lian Yijian picked them up in Liangxi District. Even now that they were in the project team, they showed no intention of stopping, just like a couple in love.

Xia Zhongqin took out the telegram from her computer bag. As soon as she turned on the computer, Li Tiantian came to her workstation.

"Sister Qin, you and Mr. Lian are finally back." As she spoke, Li Tiantian magically took out a lotus pod and placed it on Xia Zhongqin's workstation. "I bought this at the subway entrance on my way to work this morning."

Before Xia Zhongqin could reply to Li Tiantian, Ji Xu spoke up, "Tiantian, you're too partial. Why only give it to Sister Qin? Shouldn't the young lady across the street also get one?"

"I only bought two, and I've already finished the other one." Li Tiantian replied, spreading her hands.

Zhao Panpan, who was sitting across from Xia Zhongqin and chatting animatedly with Xia Kaiqun, heard Ji Xu mention her. She glanced at the fresh, green lotus pod on Xia Zhongqin's workstation and said, "Sister Qinqin, I really like this lotus pod. Can you give it to me as a gift?"

Zhao Panpan, knowing that Xia Kaiqun was married, still desperately tried to get close to him. Xia Zhongqin didn't have a very good impression of Zhao Panpan, a girl two years younger than her, and felt that she was a bit of a green tea girl. She replied, "Sorry, I can't. Tiantian gave it to me and I like it very much. If you want it, you can ask Teacher Xia to buy it for you."

Zhao Panpan rolled her eyes at Xia Zhongqin, then said coquettishly to Xia Kaiqun, "Brother Kaiqun, I really want it."

"Sweet girl, which subway station did you buy it from?"

Li Tiantian, whose eyes had been automatically switching between Zhao Panpan and Xia Kaiqun since Zhao Panpan started talking, was a little absent-minded and did not respond to Xia Kaiqun's questions until Xia Zhongqin reminded her and called out "Tiantian". Only then did Li Tiantian react.

"Teacher Xia at Oriental Gate Subway Station."

"Panpan, I'll bring it to you tomorrow morning. Take a look at what to eat for lunch. I'll take you there after get off work."

“Thank you for being the best brother in the group.”

Those who were close to Xia Kaiqun's workstation saw all the intimate interactions between the two, and they all had an expression on their faces that showed that they saw through everything but could not say it.

"Sister Qin, shall we go eat Chongqing Chicken Pot together at noon?" Li Tiantian suggested.

Xia Zhongqin saw that the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen was already 11:15, and a new message came in on her WeChat at this time, which was sent by Lian Yijian.

Lian Yijian: Mr. Jin from Suzhou Metro invited us to dinner at noon, but I can’t leave (sad). Zhong Qin, please make your own arrangements, and we’ll have dinner together in the evening (lips).

Xia Zhongqin replied "OK" to Lian Yijian and Li Tiantian respectively.