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The Ideal City

This is a work of fiction

Ep17

Sometimes it's just like this.

You need to face it head on,

in order to get closure and move on.

Thank you,

for getting back my cost engineer certificate.

I told you, didn't I?

You should thank me well.

Just drop me off by the road.

Your girlfriend needs you.

Go back now.

She isn't my girlfriend.

She and Li Xue were in the same middle school.

We just came to the wedding together.

Drop me off anyway.

I can get a taxi over here easily.

I heard that the group is investigating you.

Learn to protect yourself.

Xia Ming went to the toilet.

He will be back soon.

Do you want a piece?

No, thank you.

Keep it.

You're too skinny. You need to eat more.

Let me tell you.

When your dad and I were young,

we didn't have many chances to eat cakes.

Whenever we ate one piece,

we'd talk about it for a week.

You can have a mouthful of it nowadays.

Back then,

we ate cakes

bit by bit.

How many times have I told you

that you can't eat cakes?

Just one piece.

No.

I'm going to the toilet.

The toilet.

He can't digest

high-calorie food.

But he always eats it behind my back.

I think your uncle is adorable.

I apologize for keeping

you waiting.

I was driving my friend back.

Your friend?

Why didn't you introduce your friend to me?

She's just a colleague.

The bouquet toss.

The bouquet toss.

It's the bouquet toss. I'll try to catch it.

The bouquet toss.

The bouquet toss.

Su Xiao doesn't admit it at all.

Also, she isn't cooperating.

General Manager,

what should we do?

How confident are you?

It's basically the fact.

But we still need

to investigate to identify

which subcontractor bribed her.

I'll call Chen Siming

later on

and tell him to suspend

Su Xiao.

She will resume work after

a thorough investigation.

OK, General Manager.

Manager Su.

Check the rate.

Does it work?

Last night, I had some new ideas

about

the material wastage rate.

There're previous and current

material wastage rates.

We can lower the previous rate

and increase the current rate

in an appropriate amount.

Take Mr. Tian as an example.

His previous material wastage rate

was relatively high indeed.

But it has been decreasing

since last November.

Now, it has reached

a normal standard.

Adjust it and send it

to me later on.

Alright. I'll adjust it a bit.

Director Chen.

Su Xiao.

I've told you to

put aside your work at the moment

and cooperate with the investigation of the audit team.

Why didn't you listen to me?

I just received an instruction

from the group to suspend you

and make further arrangements when the investigation is done.

Hand over your

name tag,

office keys and USB drive.

Director Chen,

can we wait until Mr. Wang is back?

It's the group's decision.

Even Mr. Wang has to comply with it.

Alright. Stop dawdling.

Mr. Wang.

What are you doing during office hours?

Mr. Wang.

It's like this.

I was away on a business trip for just a few days

and such a big thing happened.

Follow me, the two of you.

Wu, did the accusation letter

say that Su Xiao

accepted a 100,000 RMB bribe?

Yes.

That's it, then.

That evening,

she gave me the money.

But...

Manager Su,

why didn't you

tell us in advance?

Yeah, Su Xiao.

What do you mean?

Why didn't you say it?

I told her to say nothing.

Why, Mr. Wang?

No reason.

I just thought that

it sounded odd.

Su Xiao has joined us for a while.

Why did someone

bribe her the moment we started

the subcontractor evaluation system?

I felt

that this guy was up to no good.

That's why I told her

to not say anything

and wait until I come back.

Chen,

you know the subcontractors

very well.

Contact them

and warn them

not to play any tricks.

Alright.

Don't do it again.

OK.

It's settled, then.

Wu,

report it to Mr. Xu.

Director Chen.

My name tag, office keys and USB drive.

Mr. Wang.

I was at the construction site this afternoon.

Someone put

100,000 RMB in my bag.

To be honest,

it was the first time

that I received so much money.

I was quite tempted

and struggled for a long time.

It's really embarrassing.

It's normal. Don't feel embarrassed.

I planned to hand it to the financial department

tomorrow morning.

But I also worried

that I'd change my mind.

It's the same if I give it to them.

Mr. Wang.

I keep feeling that there's something

weird about what happened today.

Who on earth bribes

without stating the purpose

or leaving a name?

Let's do it like this.

Wait until I come back from the business trip

and we'll deal with it.

In this period,

no matter what happens,

just ignore it.

Director Chen,

the subcontractor of the Global Lead Project

is selected through the subcontractor

evaluation system.

Have a look.

Is there anything else

that you want to say?

Director Chen.

Director Chen.

Alright. Let's do it like that.

That's harsh.

Very harsh.

They got rid of over half of Director Chen's

closely-related units.

Tell me, Director Chen

can't just live with that, can he?

Donglin,

I kinda want to quit.

Don't quit.

Why are you thinking about that?

Dude,

I understand what you feel, okay?

You've been waiting for the one

necessary tile to win

when someone else shouts "Mahjong".

Right? If it was me,

I'd also want to flip the table

and smash it, right?

But do you know that if you

quit now,

you will lose for real? Understood?

It means that all these years of effort

will be wasted. Understood?

Come on. Listen to me.

Hang in there.

Just hang in there, okay?

In my opinion,

Director Chen must still

have a card up his sleeve.

Trust me.

Alright.

Come on. Do you trust me or not?

Trust me.

Don't act on impulse.

Understood?

Chen, you know the subcontractors

very well.

Contact them

and warn them

not to play tricks.

Don't do it again.

What?

Director Chen, Mr. Dong is looking for you.

He wants you to call him back.

OK.

Bro, you worry me so much.

You didn't answer my call at all.

It's not me.

Tian wants to see you.

He said that they are removed from

the list of TC Construction's subcontractors.

No one could find you.

They all asked me what happened.

What happened? Don't you know?

I really don't.

How many times have I told you

to recommend Lu Zhengming?

Did you?

I've told you about this.

Mr. Wang made up his mind.

Alright.

It's meaningless

to talk about it now.

Tell Tian not to worry.

I'm still the director.

Alright.

Manager Su.

Mr. Dong.

Please

tell Tian about it.

We can work on the final account this weekend.

The audit is done?

They've returned to the group.

We're waiting for the result.

It should be alright.

I'm relieved.

They were so serious

a few days ago.

I was so scared.

Here.

I asked my wife to buy it for you.

It's the most trendy set.

Thank you, Mr. Dong.

But I won't take your gift.

I have these.

Come on.

Su Xiao.

We aren't strangers.

I really mean

to thank you.

If it wasn't

for your cost plan, we wouldn't

have made money

on the art museum project.

My bonus

is directly connected with the profit.

I should thank you indeed, right?

But it's my job.

To be honest,

Mr. Wang asked me if he

should promote you

or Lu Zhengming before choosing you.

I said, "you have to choose Xu Xiao".

Lu Zhengming is just

a mini Director Chen.

If we picked him,

we would never make progress.

But you're different.

You're passionate and you will have big achievements.

I never

make wrong judgements.

I support the subcontractor

evaluation system

that you're implementing with all my heart.

Thank you for your support, Mr. Dong.

Take my gift.

It's not expensive.

It's just a gift.

You're younger than me.

If it's alright with you,

call me bro in the future.

I can't do much

but I've been in Shanghai for a long time.

I have some connections.

If there's anything

you can't solve in the future,

just call me.

I'll solve it for you.

Thank you, Mr. Dong.

President, it's Mr. Wang.

President.

Is there anything troubling you?

Did you read the auditor's report

on TC Construction?

I did.

What do you think?

It's their existing problem.

Their management falls behind.

The workflow is in chaos and the management cost is high.

Other problems aren't serious.

What do you think?

It's a waste of paper.

Why don't you just show me

the auditor's report from last year?

TC Construction's problems

have been there for a long time.

Mingyu, who are you defending?

No, president.

I wasn't defending

Xu at all.

Wang Yang is different

from Fat Huang.

Right now,

I feel one thing more

and more.

The team is bigger but the morale is low.

Everyone focuses

on his own interests,

They fear making mistakes, causing problems

and crossing others.

If this goes on,

no one will work hard.

Those talented will become mediocre.

The whole group will rot.

Perhaps,

we really need

to completely restructure

to prevent us

from rotting day by day.

Apart from us, 15 companies

meet the bidding

requirements at the moment.

8 of them have higher qualifications.

One of these companies

just had an accident.

It will be affected.

We can almost rule it out.

Three others

don't have enough money

for such a big project.

We can rule them out, too.

Of the four other companies,

one is the EPC company.

Our qualifications and scope

aren't as good as those of the four companies.

So I offered a lower quota.

You can't solve the problem

through quota.

We can't throw money.

We also can't offer a low quota.

It means we're out of the game, right?

Let's dismiss.

There's another way.

But unless there's no other choice,

I don't want to choose that.

What? Tell me about it.

We don't have time now.

We need to hurry up and make a plan.

If we can't finish the project in time,

The compensation will be astronomical.

That's why I say

unless we don't have other plans.

But according to our intermediary,

Liu Tiesheng has a good impression of us.

We still have a big chance.

But if we

really decide to do it,

we have to carefully consider

labor and capital.

First,

we have to make a big deposit.

It's July.

Recruiting will be another problem.

Let's cooperate with TC Construction.

TC Construction?

Right.

Wang Yang

is reliable, at least.

Him. That's it.

Do it with him. In the future,

if the group makes any decision,

we will still

have an alley.

I think it'll work.

When Su Xiao was in ZJ Construction,

she had experience

in big projects such as this.

Also, she was trained

in the Public Housing Project.

We will probably

work seamlessly and successfully.

I'm talking about work.

Stop going on and on

about Su Xiao.

Aren't we having lunch together?

Why are we playing golf?

The director said

that Mr. Liu likes playing golf.

He said that playing golf

is a better way to approach him.

The director also said

that when Mr. Liu

first learnt golf,

he always faded the ball.

He corrected himself after practicing for a long time.

He's very proud of it.

Mr. Wang, why don't you

make use of this?

Zhao Peng, you do well in public relations.

You'll be rewarded if we get it done.

Thanks, Mr. Wang.

Nice.

Nice, Mr. Liu.

Mr. Wang.

I think that

you're holding the golf club

too tight.

Mr. Liu. Nothing escapes your eyes.

My coach said the same thing to me.

But I never

managed to correct it.

If you work on it,

all problems will be solved.

Do you have any knacks?

I was just like you in the beginning.

Then,

I pressed my head against the wall

and swung the club 100 times every day.

I kept doing that for one whole year.

After that,

I never did it wrong again.

You're so persistent.

I really have to learn from you.

Mr. Wang

is so sincere.

Of course.

Mr. Wang used to be a constructer.

He is a sincere guy.

Ask him.

Mr. Liu.

Can you show me the method

that you mentioned just now?

- Come here. - What do you mean?

Press your forehead against my palm.

Don't move your head.

Keep it as the center while hitting the ball.

Come on. Try it.

Swing it more.

What do you feel?

Really.

I didn't feel it when we were talking.

Now I feel

it's so tiring to repeat it

100 times every day.

How did you manage it?

Look.

- It's just about that. - Right.

Your method is so good.

Listen, you have to use the head.

Right.

It's brilliant.

Right?

OK.

Alright.

I'll be off.

Let's continue next time, okay?

OK.

Right, when I came here,

the president wanted me

to ask if you can

meet him when you're free.

Well... Talk to him.

He's in charge of all my schedules.

- Alright. - Bye.

Travel safe.

OK.

OK. Bye, Mr. Wang.

Thanks.

Bye.

- Director. - Thanks.

Let's go.

Mr. Wang, on our way here, the president

didn't say that he wants to meet Mr. Liu.

I was just trying.

Every time we meet,

he only sends greetings to the president

but never said that

he wants to meet the president.

He can pretend

to be polite with us,

but he can't do that to the president.

Between bosses,

there's another

set of rules.

I see.

Let's go.

Mr. Wang.

So many companies

want to get this project.

But the director chose to meet us.

It means that Liu Tiesheng

values us a lot.

Anyways, Yinghai Group

is able to proudly present

its reputation, scale

and previous projects.

Although we're not on the market,

there're

benefits in not going public.

Don't be too optimistic.

Did I make myself clear?

What do you mean?

Give me an attitude.

You're in such a hurry, Fat Huang.

Such a hurry.

You have to let me think.

For real,

how confident are you?

We're 50 percent sure.

50 percent?

Judging from your tone,

I thought you're 100 percent sure.

If it's 50 percent,

it's a gamble, right?

I'm offering you a chance to gamble.

Otherwise, you won't even have

a chance to gamble.

Why are you pissed?

I was just saying.

Don't haggle over it.

I know it in my mind.

No matter we cooperate

or not,

I will be grateful to you.

In crucial times,

you think about me.

Don't say the useless stuff.

Are you in or not?

It's big.

I need to properly think about it.

Tomorrow morning,

I will answer you for sure.

I'm waiting for you.

Hello?

OK, Mr. Wang, I'll go there now.

Mr. Huang.

That's what happened.

Fat Huang wants us to be a joint contractor

with him in the All Stars Plaza Project.

What do you think?

How confident are they?

Xia Ming says they're 50 percent sure.

50 percent sure

also works.

You can't be 100 percent sure in bidding.

What I worry about

is their

true purpose.

I don't want to be dragged down by them.

All Stars Project is big.

With TK Construction's scale,

it's difficult for them to do it alone.

When they want a partner,

they surely want

a company they know well.

It's understandable that they came to us.

If we join in

a good project like

the All Stars Project,

we can largely improve TC Construction's

corporate image.

In the future, we will have the power

of discourse in biddings.

It's not that simple.

This is such a big project.

So many companies have eyes on it.

The quota won't be too high.

The profit will be limited.

We have to make

a big cash deposit.

No to mention the cost of machinery.

TK Construction is bigger than us.

They have available machinery.

But we need to spend much

on renting machinery.

In the end, we will probably

earn nothing and end up losing money.

What Chen said

also makes me worried.

After all,

our project management

isn't good enough.

We can improve

our project management.

Can you manage it just by saying it?

Since I joined this company last year,

the project management

of our company

has improved a lot.

I believe we will have

a breakthrough with the subcontractor

evaluation system.

Don't be too sure so early.

We only used the subcontractor

evaluation system not long ago.

We still have to wait for the result.

What do you mean, Director Chen?

Should we keep doing

second or third rate projects

and not think about development?

Su Xiao, you're ambitious indeed.

But we have to be practical.

The development comes after stability.

We're worse off than some,

but better off than many.

I think if we keep this

and develop steadily,

it's better than making a great leap forward.

Director Chen,

project means everything

in our business.

We have a chance to get a bigger project now.

Why don't we fight for it?

As for risks,

every project is risky.

The risk of a big project

doesn't have to be big as well.

Where should we get the money?

Several of our projects are going on

at the same time.

What if the capital chain goes wrong?

Don't just think about

rushing forward.

You need to look back and see if there's a way out.

The payment times of

our current projects are different.

We can totally separate them

and improve capital utilization.

As for a way out,

you can't do anything if you

only focus on a way out.

OK.

I understand your opinions.

I'll think about it.

Alright, Mr. Wang.

I'll return to work.

OK.

Alright. I'll return to work, too.

Chen.

Let's have dinner together.

Let's drink.

Hello, here's the alcohol your ordered.

OK.

We didn't have money when we started.

We could only afford

rice wine which was 3 RMB per bottle.

Yeah.

We drank two bottles every night

directly from the bottle and ate edamame.

No wonder those artists

feel bitter

and say that the beginning is the best.

Think about that time.

Our lives were bitter but fun.

We drank some wine and bullshitted around.

Days went by.

Nothing worried us.

Right now,

we have so much pressure.

Right.

Yeah.

We've made

some achievements.

We're also drinking more expensive alcohol.

But life also

wears you out, Chen.

Thank you for your work.

Here's to you.

Thanks.

Why are you saying this?

Both of us need to stay healthy.

Here. Eat.

Don't mind what Su Xiao said.

She doesn't know the situation.

She doesn't know how much

you've done for the company.

I won't make a fuss.

She's just a girl.

She's ambitious,

but a bit too much.

She's young.

When we were young,

we were very ambitious, too.

We're no longer like that now.

We've seen more and we know more.

only

She only sees one side of the problems.

That's the worst.

Yes.

Allow her some time to develop.

When you have time,

put more effort into tutoring her.

If only she listens.

Of course, she does.

You're the second-in-command of the company.

Who should she listen to if not you?

Alright.

As long as she's willing to listen,

I'm willing to teach.

Cheers.

Cheers.

But what this girl

said is interesting.

Look. We didn't get

the PL Mountain Project

just because the client thought

that we're not qualified enough.

If we already had

the All Stars Project,

the result would be completely different.

We can't just

be satisfied with small achievements.

We also need bigger success.

Right?

I support all the decisions

made by you.

Of course.

You have to support me.

I know your sacrifices. Thank you.

Cheers.

I know that

we just finished

the Global Lead Project.

You are very tired

and you worked very hard.

But right now, the competition is too fierce.

A new project is coming.

We still need to hold on

just a bit more.

After we finish this project,

I will give you a long holiday.

Back to business.

Although we haven't got

detailed materials of

the All Stars Plaza Project

I'm sure

that it will be profitable.

Over ten companies are competing for it.

The EPC company from the group

is among them.

Do you feel the pressure?

Take it easy.

It will be perfect if we get the project.

But we will also get some experience if we fail.

Think of that as

reflecting upon ourselves.

Right?

Chen.

Work harder

and direct the project.

OK, Mr. Wang. I'll arrange it now.

Su Xiao.

I will trust you with

working with TK Construction.

OK.

Good.

Work hard, everyone.

Come on.

It doesn't look right.

Yeah. Director Chen

is supposed

to arrange detailed work.

But this project

is focused on TK Construction.

Working with them

is the most important task, right?

Just now, Mr. Wang named Su Xiao.

He took away Director Chen's power, right?

Do you know that Director Chen's bonus

is higher than that of Xu Zhiping?

Really? I don't believe it.

Why would I lie to you?

I've been here for five years.

Director Chen and Mr. Wang are childhood friends.

They were very close.

Mr. Wang was forced to leave the group

because he didn't

become the leader of the EPC company.

That's why he was kicked out.

At that time,

Director Chen was still

the manager of the budget department in the group.

Mr. Wang invited him.

He said nothing and immediately

joined TC Construction.

So, Mr. Wang

is grateful to Director Chen.

What happened today then?

That's why I said

it doesn't

feel right.

Honestly, Su Xiao did a good job.

Her subcontractor evaluation system

is good indeed.

So what?

No matter what, she's new here.

Should we allow a newcomer

to boss us around?

No. 15.

We're No. 15.

Manager Su, let me help you.

Do you need help?

Thank you.

That's enough.

I'll take these.

Let's go to my office.

Alright.

Thanks.

It's okay.

Yu Can is a traitor.

What are you looking at?

The subcontractors of the Global Lead Project

are all picked

through the subcontractor

evaluation system.

Take a look.

No. It has nothing to do with us.

Come on. Take a look.

With these subcontractors,

we can really improve the cost control

of the Global Lead Project.

If you say it like that,

does Su Xiao really mean

to do something

for us by implementing

this system?

Come in.

Mr. Wang.

What's wrong?

I heard that Huang Lilin went to Wang Yang.

The two of them

plan to do the project together.

It's good news.

It seems that He

was bluffing.

Yeah.

If he really had connections,

he wouldn't have gone to Wang Yang.

It means that they don't have enough money.

They can't digest the project alone.

What do you think?

Have you read the materials?

Yes.

But I can't see

our strength at all.

How did you calculate

that 50 percent?

We used some methods

to talk to Liu Tiesheng.

He has good impressions of us.

He also brought it up

that we should participate in this project.

That's 50 percent.

But to make it 100 percent sure,

it counts on

our performance tomorrow.

I heard that Liu Tiesheng

is quite authoritative.

He used to be a soldier.

After that, he joined All Starts Group.

At that time, the asset of All Starts Group

was just over one billion RMB.

Also, they were losing money.

His superior asked him

to break even in three years and make a profit in five years.

He did that in just one year.

Their profit in the third year

was over one billion RMB.

Basically,

All Starts Group prospered because of him.

Yeah.

He is not only a workaholic

focusing on efficiency

but also a leader with a big ego.

Liu Tiesheng is 58 years old this year.

He will retire

at the end of next year.

The date of completion of this project

is in January two years later.

Then he won't see it completed.

What should I

prepare for tomorrow's meeting?

Get changed.

Don't you have a photographic memory?

I haven't worked on

this project for long enough.

I haven't got all the details.

Don't worry. I'm here.

This way, please.

Have a seat.

Mr. Liu is in a meeting.

Please wait a moment.

Thank you.