Master, That's My Wife and My House! - Chapter 25

Many things have good ideas from above, but they are impractical. When they are distributed down, the burden is added at each level, and by the time they are finally applied to the workers, the burden is already immense.

This has resulted in a situation where leaders prioritize output while verbally advocating for safety, and workers prioritize safety while physically violating regulations.

Otherwise, given the scenario designed by the leaders, let alone completing the task on time and in the required quantity, we probably wouldn’t even be able to get the work done.

“Section Chief Wu, you’re new here and don’t know much about our production process yet. How about I take you over there to show you what our production process is like?” the coal mining team leader said with a smile.

Wu Wenhua glanced at the captain of the second coal mining team, then said slowly, “Old Chen, although I’m new to the coal mine, I’m not new to the job. Don’t try that on me!”

Old Chen, the captain of the second coal mining team, gave an awkward smile. Qiao Yu, standing beside him, chuckled and said, “Old Chen, our Section Chief Wu isn’t one of those hotheads. What hasn’t he seen in the army? If you really think that because our Section Chief Wu is young, he’s easy to manipulate, you’re going to suffer the consequences.”

Old Chen quickly explained, “Section Chief Wu, Section Chief Qiao, what do you take me for? Our Second Coal Mining Team is a model team in the mine, everyone knows that.”

“Model team?” Wu Wenhua glanced at the scene and said, “Is this how your model team works? Look at those wire connections, can they be connected like that? Typical chicken claws, exposed joints. I just saw someone opening the cover to do power supply work, without even cutting off the power, are they crazy?!”

Old Chen looked increasingly embarrassed and could only say, “They are a bit clumsy in their work, but Section Chief Wu, I can assure you that they are all good young men, efficient in their work, and not afraid of hardship or fatigue.”

Wu Wenhua frowned and waved his hand, then said, “Old Chen, don’t talk to me so much. With the way you guys work, it would be a coincidence if nothing happened today, and it would be normal if something did. Stop work!”

“What? Stop production?” Old Chen was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, “Section Chief Wu, we can’t stop production! Our mine has a heavy task this year. The entire bureau requires that the annual production should not be less than 800,000 tons. It’s already the second half of the year. We only produced a little over 300,000 tons in the first half of the year. We’re relying on the second half to make up for it. Stopping production would be a disaster!”

Wu Wenhua said in a deep voice, “We can’t joke about safety. Work must stop. You have to clean this up properly. I’ll give you three days. I’ll come back to inspect it then. If there’s even one thing that doesn’t meet the standards, then the work will continue to stop.”

Old Chen’s face turned pale. He immediately pulled Qiao Yu next to him and whispered, “Section Chief Qiao, please say something! Stop for three days? We can’t afford to stop for even one day! There are still about 500,000 tons of production left, and we need at least 100,000 tons per month to make up for it. We have to work at least 3,000 tons a day, and we can’t stop even once a day.”

Qiao Yu looked embarrassed and whispered, “Old Chen, don’t worry, I’ll go up and talk to Section Chief Wu about this later. For now… let’s stop here?”

Old Chen was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, screw it! You’re making people work with their hands and feet tied, and you just stop when I tell you to? If we don’t reach the production capacity by the end of the year, you leaders will be eating shit!”

After saying that, Old Chen waved his hand and said, “Stop working, all of you. Leave your work there and listen to our leader’s rectification plan. If you don’t do it well, you’ll all go home and eat shit!”

Wu Wenhua was so angry at Lao Chen’s words that he glared at him, but Qiao Yu stopped him from speaking.

“Alright, Section Chief Wu, let’s go out first. I’ll talk to you when we get to the main street.” Qiao Yu felt helpless; being caught in the middle as a mediator wasn’t easy for him!

Wu Wenhua glanced at Old Chen, and said as he left, “Old Chen, I’m not targeting you, nor am I targeting your No. 2 coal mining team, but safety is paramount, and that’s always right, isn’t it?!”

Old Che scoffed, ignored Wu Wenhua, and turned to leave. The mine’s production team was like a father and a mother; they could raise and spoil their children, but when they were unhappy and decided to quit, they could leave everyone else dumbfounded.

Qiao Yu pulled Wu Wenhua out of the production area and said helplessly, “Section Chief Wu, I know you’re anxious and it’s for their safety, but working in the mine… isn’t done this way.”

“Then what should we do?” Wu Wenhua frowned and said, “We have rules and regulations. If we don’t follow them, aren’t we just playing with everyone’s lives?”

Qiao Yu smiled wryly and said, “How should I put it? It’s true that we have rules and regulations in our coal mine, but we can’t just follow them blindly. Section Chief Wu, let me say something you might not like to hear: if we followed the rules and regulations in everything, the main shaft would have been dug out before the main tunnel was even finished!”

“If every task in this mine were done strictly according to the standards, even five times the number of people wouldn’t be enough!”

Wu Wenhua was speechless, and sighed, “But their methods are too dangerous. They’re production managers, and they dare to give me direct contact? What if something happens? Wouldn’t they just blow up the whole country?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. So we should make them rectify the issues, but we can’t make them stop production for rectification. We can rectify while continuing production, so it won’t cause any delays!” Qiao Yu said with a smile, trying to satisfy both parties.

Shortly after Old Chen stopped working, a worker approached him and said, “Team Leader Chen, you really stopped?! Then I’ll have someone do odd jobs?”

Team Leader Chen glared at the worker and said irritably, “So you’re stopping planting crops just because you hear crickets chirping? They’re probably long gone by now. Keep working, why bother with them?”

The worker smiled, nodded, and said, “Okay, then I’ll get everyone to work.”

In the alley, Wu Wenhua and Qiao Yu sat on the tracks. Qiao Yu said earnestly, “Section Chief Wu, actually, if we’re talking about violations, we’ve both violated the rules.”

“Me? Where did I break the rules?” Wu Wenhua was stunned. He was just sitting there, doing nothing. How could he have broken the rules?

Qiao Yu pointed to the track under his buttocks and said with a smile, “Our rules and regulations clearly state that sitting on the track is not allowed, you see…!”

Wu Wenhua was speechless and said awkwardly, “There were no cars in front or behind us!”

“Yes! Some rules can’t be followed exactly as they’re stated. People have to be flexible. If you don’t know how to be flexible, you’ll just become a brick!” Qiao Yu said with a smile.

Wu Wenhua remained silent, knowing that he couldn’t win an argument with his deputy section chief.

boom!

Just then, a tremendous earthquake shook the ground, accompanied by a deafening roar that nearly knocked the two of them off balance.

After the roaring sound subsided, Wu Wenhua looked at Qiao Yu in astonishment and asked, “Old Qiao… what happened?”