Chapter Ninety-Five: The Advisor

  Lin Yonggui was concerned about this issue, so he told the truth: "Today I heard them say that they need to lower the oil pressure in the pipeline to detect leaks in the storage pipeline. I thought of a solution that might use temperature sensors to solve this problem. The benefits are reduced leakage, timely detection, and estimated leakage within three to five minutes, the leak point can be detected. The trouble is the extra cost, temperature sensors are not expensive, they can be imported from abroad or customized domestically, but they must be connected to a computer, and software needs to be designed."

  "What is the total cost approximately?"

  "A few million, I suppose." Su Cheng shrugged and said, "If it's not available domestically, buying from abroad would be expensive."

  At that time, the electronics industry was still high-end and basically had no cheap goods. Domestic electronic factories were even more arrogant, with production tasks packed to the brim. However, they also had the shortest period of arrogance. By the 21st century, many old-fashioned mechanical factories survived, while some national-level electronic factories died instead.

  Lin Yonggui didn't care about the millions, and continued to ask: "Will the temperature sensor be damaged by the oil thief? If it's connected with a wire, won't cutting it off make it useless?"

  "It can be placed inside the oil pipeline, and it's okay to install it in sections. From a management perspective, as long as temperature sensors appear, they should be checked. Compared to the current protection method, using temperature sensors will greatly reduce the workload."

  Lin Yonggui nodded and said, "Not bad, it sounds very practical, how did you think of it?"

  "A sudden flash of insight." Su Cheng said with his mouth, but thought in his heart: This is the method you will adopt after a few years.

  "Director Su must have thought about it for a long time." Qu Guoda suddenly spoke up, saying: "I asked Director Su earlier. What exactly is this method, but he refused to say. It's just that Secretary Lin has a lot of face, and the beans will spill out of the bamboo tube."

  Su Cheng knew he was covering for himself and thought to himself: Although Lao Qi is a dizzy egg, his head is clear.

  He smiled kindly and said, "I'm really just an idea. This job is not simple, first of all, we need to contact several research institutions to make temperature sensors that meet the standards. For example, adapt to the environment inside oil fields or storage tanks, then ask domestic or foreign electronics factories to work on it, and finally install and maintain them. In addition, the supporting software system is also very important, which needs to accurately and conveniently display the position of the temperature sensor...

  "This is still not thought out!" Lin Yonggui burst out laughing, and suddenly said tentatively: "In that case, let's leave this task to Dahua Enterprise. As for the price, you can discuss it with the budget department again."

  Su Cheng waved his hand repeatedly and said, "Secretary Lin, I just acquired the Jinan Power Machinery Factory and really can't spare any time now."

  Lin Yonggui hesitated for a moment and said: "If Dahua Industry doesn't do it, this temperature sensor won't be easy to make."

  Guo Guoda also found it difficult. He said, "If we outsource to other companies and do turnkey projects, contact research institutions, ask for OEM factories, installation and maintenance are convenient. If we do it ourselves, just contacting domestic manufacturers to compare prices is a headache."

  The system of state-owned enterprises determines that. Any place where human judgment is needed will increase costs. On the one hand, it is the play of interests. On the other hand, it is not good enough. Many leaders are not professionals, and their judgments about success or failure depend on personal standards. Many people are known for "judging people", but "judging people" is absolutely uneconomical.

  Su refused again. In the 1980s, the production capacity of electronic products was extremely low, and finding an electronics factory would inevitably involve asking for help, which Su neither wanted to do nor was willing to waste foreign exchange on.

  Guo Guoda wanted Su Cheng to take over, hoping to see the finished product as soon as possible. He also chimed in: "Director Su, what are your requirements? Our oil field loses too much every year due to the opening of oil pipelines..."

  "This is an electronics-related thing, I have no experience at all. My suggestion is to find a comrade with sales and procurement experience, and then partner with another comrade who understands the profession." Su Cheng was not very interested in temperature sensors, as an applied product, it lacked extensibility. Maybe one-time performance could earn millions of yuan, but it would only be able to earn millions of yuan, and there would also be continuous maintenance tasks, for which the input of effort and return were really not proportional. If a company was established specifically to save trouble, labor costs would slowly eat away at profits.

  A state-owned enterprise can survive for 20 years with just one product, but a private enterprise absolutely cannot.

  Lin Yonggui saw Su Cheng and said, "If Dahua doesn't take the order, you can come to me as a consultant. You are still the factory director of Dahua Industry, so you still have half of the corporate executive's identity."

  Su Cheng didn't dare to directly refuse, so he said: "I'll try my best, but I'm afraid that when it gets busy, you won't be able to find me."

  "Here's a prescription for a blood pressure monitor." Lin Yonggui waved his hand and wrote out a note, handing it to Su Cheng.

  A note on it reads: For convenience at work, a pager is provided for Comrade Su.

  Su Cheng hesitated for a moment, then put away the note. Although he had money, this was a kind intention of the secretary. Moreover, whether or not he became an advisor, he couldn't avoid being asked questions.

  "Good fellow, Director Su, this is a treatment at the ministerial level!"

  Su Cheng sneered: "You're the one with a hall-level treatment, driving a Fiat."

  Lin Yonggui heard and said without hesitation: "I'll give you another small car to solve, and then I'll leave with the treatment of a hall-level official. I'll call the motor vehicle department."

  Having a car is naturally good. Su Cheng knew it was a sugar-coated bomb, but he swallowed it anyway.

  Out of the secretary's office, Qu Guoda resolutely drove himself and first accompanied Su Cheng to pick up a blood pressure monitor.

  The digital watch of No. 126, although novel, really can't arouse Su Cheng's interest, he is just not used to this thing, so he never bought it. On the contrary, Director Yang wore one on his body and never had a peaceful moment.

  After completing the formalities, Qu Guoda firmly grasped the steering wheel and took Su Cheng to see the car.

  Cars in the 1980s were absolutely allocated products. Whether it was Beijing 212, Xiali, Fiat, or Japan's Crown, they were all in the hands of the Planning Commission. Business owners with money couldn't buy them, and had to hang their cars under a certain unit's name; once something went wrong, that car would never be returned.

  The oil field is a deputy provincial-level unit with foreign exchange, and the number of vehicles allocated each year is not small. They are mostly domestic cars like Xiali, which is not difficult to get. At the motor vehicle department, you can see rows of Fiat 126s parked inside and outside the garage. This is a popular model in Eastern Europe, simple and compact, so it can be used with less foreign exchange to supplement the domestic car production shortage, and it's also quite fashionable. The price after tax is just over 10,000 yuan, suitable for people who got rich first after reform and opening up.

  Although it is smaller than the later Ottocar, many cadres at or above the hall level still like to choose this car.

  Guo Da gave Su two packs of Hongtashan cigarettes and said, "You still have some cigarettes on you, give one pack each to the director and the clerk, then when you see people, hand out cigarettes, try to get a new car."

  "What's the big difference?"

  "What's the big difference? It depends on how Secretary Lin makes the call. In our oil field environment, a 3-year-old car is old enough, but it's still much better than a 6-year-old car."

  Su Cheng smiled and pulled out two packs of Chinese cigarettes from his pocket, saying: "I always carry explosives with me."

  Peonies are like hand grenades, but they only work when tied together. Red Tower Mountain is a powerful explosive, but it depends on the thickness of the fortress. The best is still Chinese cigarettes, supplied with tickets, invincible.

  Guo Guoda gave a thumbs up and said, "Two packs of explosives are best tied together for use. Just knock out the director and it's done. The deputy director below will be given to Hongtashan."

  Su Cheng nodded and entered the office.

  The head of the motorized department stood up to greet him, with a slightly fake smile on his face. He was in charge not only of vehicle allocation but also of vehicle scheduling and all drivers. Before 1993 and 1994, drivers had a high status, vehicles were valuable, and as a result, the head of the motorized department seemed to be able to sit on an equal footing with the Organization Department and the Personnel Bureau.

  However, when Su Cheng placed two explosive packets in his hands, the director's smile was immediately blown away: "Welcome, welcome, Director Su's name is like thunder in my ears, and I'm seeing the real person today."

  Both hands clasped together, the director's attitude was very enthusiastic.

  He pinched the package of Chinese cigarettes, and after exploring its softness and hardness, he smiled more warmly: "I'll accompany you to pick a car. Secretary Lin's meaning is that the car can be picked at will."

  Su City's hidden passage: The car is easy to choose, but the life is different. This human relationship is really not small. It seems that Oil Consumption has really made Oil Strip uncomfortable, otherwise, Secretary Lin would not have managed such a thing.

  Guo Guoda whispered behind his ear: "The garage has good cars inside."

  Su Cheng nodded his head.

  The director personally led the way and introduced it while walking. This is the aftermath of two packs of Chinese cigarettes.

  Su Cheng had guidance and naturally wouldn't stay at Fiat, all the way to Santana, still without stopping.

  The director smiled and said: "Director Su, our main cars are all here."

  Su Cheng directly handed the two packages of Hongtashan cigarettes given by Qu Guoda to him, saying: "Today's visit is urgent, let's meet again another day. I have 30-year-old original Maotai liquor at my place, absolutely provincial-level treatment..."

  He didn't dare to really accept the bribe, and with a smile, he stuffed the Red Tower Mountain into his suit, saying: "Director Su is being very polite. Our oil field actually has few good cars, and the secretary's ride is just a Crown, mainly imported cars."

  He pushed open the garage door and saw a row of seven or eight cars parked inside.

  The streamlined shape, even if placed 20 years later, seems to be able to be called fashionable. For the Chinese people now, it appears somewhat avant-garde and advanced, a bit like the foreign cars in Hong Kong-style action movies.

  "The French car, Citroen CX, you see it's lying down now, but after starting up, the hydraulic suspension on the car will lift it up, and when parking, it can automatically lower the body."

  Su Cheng asked, "Isn't it a bit too trendy?"

  "Are you still afraid of being fashionable?" Qu Guoda said in a low voice, "This is Citroen, the Pierre Cardin of cars, hurry up and take it down."

  ……