During his stay in Bingcheng.
Some things online were slowly gaining momentum.
Huang Xiuyuan had noticed them too. He hadn't just noticed—he had also gathered a great deal of evidence.
Let's go back to June 26.
He discussed some issues concerning Nitrogen-20 with a senior official who had come to inspect the area. Taking the opportunity, he provided the man with a "Milk Powder and Milk Testing Report," along with the findings from Shiguang Blog's investigation over the past few days.
How the man chose to handle it was none of Huang Xiuyuan's concern. At the very least, the outcome would be much better than if action were delayed until September.
July 8.
After taking care of many important matters in Bingcheng, he began preparing to head south.
Before they parted.
Liu Zhenting patted him on the shoulder, his tone earnest. "Xiuyuan, here's Kenan's number. Since you run a company, you'll have to deal with people in government now and then. He's with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over there. As long as it doesn't involve anything that violates principles, you can talk to him."
"Thanks, Uncle Liu."
"Remember to tell Fuqiang to come by and get together when he has time."
Huang Xiuyuan smiled as he explained, "I spoke to my dad on the phone a few days ago. He said he's going to Beiping in August to watch the Olympics, so he'll stop by Bingcheng then."
"Go on! The plane won't wait."
"Goodbye, Uncle Liu."
Huang Xiuyuan took his leave, then led the group to Taiping International Airport, where they boarded a flight to Rongcheng in Shu Province.
A few hours later, the plane arrived in Rongcheng.
He first went to Huaxi Hospital to visit his grandmother, who was receiving rehabilitation treatment, and his mother, whom he hadn't seen in over a year.
As the major hospital closest to the 5/12 disaster site, Huaxi Hospital had taken in a large number of injured people. Huang Xiuyuan could feel the grief hanging over the place.
There was nothing he could do about it. He had already done everything in his power to keep the casualties down to their current level.
Composing himself, he left Huaxi Hospital. The Rongcheng branch of Suiren Company had arranged a car to take him to Ande Town in the northwest of the city.
As the convoy drew closer to Ande Town, he occasionally spotted large numbers of construction vehicles traveling back and forth along the roads.
The remaining 200 million yuan from his earlier donation was also being gradually put toward the work-relief program.
This time, though, the money wasn't going toward road repairs. It was being used to help build thirty Hope Primary Schools and five special relief stations.
Shiguang Blog had also launched a half-month architectural design competition on its newly released Boku platform. The theme was "Safe, Earthquake-Resistant, and Easy to Replicate."
A large number of people in the architectural design industry had already entered the competition.
The competition was divided into several categories, including designs for Hope Primary Schools, relief stations, rural homes in mountainous areas, and buildings suited to special terrain.
Some of the winning designs would be used for the Hope Primary Schools and relief stations soon to be built, while others would be shared with local residents as references.
After disaster relief ended, construction at the Suiren Company branch in Ande Town had only resumed a little over a week ago. They were currently laying the foundations again.
The old furniture factory had left behind a three-story office building. His father, Huang Weichang, Li Feiyang, and the others were working there for now.
The moment he stepped through the entrance, a familiar voice rang in his ears.
"You brat, you went to Bingcheng without even telling me!"
Huang Xiuyuan looked at his father, who had grown thinner and darker, and at Huang Weichang and Li Feiyang, who were in much the same state. He understood how hard they had worked these past few days.
"Dad, there's nothing major going on here now. I just visited Grandma, and she's recovering well. We can hire two caregivers to look after her, then you and Mom can go watch the Olympics and get some rest."
Huang Fuqiang didn't bother being polite. "That's settled, then. And don't go finding more work for me, you brat."
After talking over a few things with his father, he asked Huang Weichang and Li Feiyang about the Rongcheng branch.
Thanks to Suiren Company's donation, the company's applications for permits and other paperwork, including its gas-operation license, had gone through almost without a hitch.
As for contracting the city's waste-collection work, Rongcheng's large size and the local authorities' concerns meant that only the northwestern part of the city had been approved as a trial area. It accounted for roughly one-fifth of Rongcheng.
Huang Xiuyuan wasn't surprised. Once Rongcheng experienced the benefits of Suiren Company's recycling operations, the city would probably come knocking to cooperate.
The biggest expense for the company's investment in Rongcheng was actually buying land, followed by construction and equipment.
"Mr. Huang, here's the investment plan I put together. Please take a look."
Li Feiyang handed him the documents. Huang Xiuyuan skimmed through them, focusing on the projected investment: around 300 million yuan for the first phase.
"Take it to the finance team for review."
Li Feiyang hurriedly took the plan back. "Understood."
In Suiren Company's management structure, its branches and subsidiaries all fell under the Industrial Department of the parent company.
The Industrial Department was something of a giant patchwork operation. To keep it in check, a little over a week ago Huang Xiuyuan had transferred its finance team to the Security Department.
The team was specifically responsible for managing the company's finances and reviewing investment proposals. It also monitored the flow of funds during project implementation and business operations, checking for kickbacks, shoddy work, fraudulent expenses, and embezzlement.
Working alongside the Security Department, which already controlled the company's security, internal affairs, and cybersecurity teams, it could effectively supervise the Industrial Department.
Li Feiyang knew about this too.
Specifically, major projects proposed by branches and subsidiaries usually had to be reviewed by the parent company's finance team first. This initial review checked whether their funding plans had been padded.
Only after the finance team approved a project would it go to the parent company's Industrial Department for a feasibility assessment, the second review.
Finally, Lin Baijie would look it over and send it to Huang Xiuyuan for his signature and final approval.
A healthy large company needed a sound management system. Otherwise, as chairman, he would sooner or later work himself to death—and the company would descend into chaos.
The Rongcheng branch followed the same model as the Shanmei parent company.
Branches established corresponding subsidiaries in their local areas. This model could easily lead to the formation of fiefdoms, with branch managers turning into local warlords.
But during the early stages of a business, using branches was unavoidable, as it reduced the parent company's workload. As the company expanded, the structure would have to change.
Management would shift from being indirect and hierarchical to parallel and vertical: the parent company would bypass the branches and manage the subsidiaries directly, preventing branches from building fiefdoms and becoming insular.
Huang Xiuyuan had already taken precautions. All of the Security Department's operations were directly under the parent company's Security Department and were not managed by the branches.
There was no point waiting for problems to arise before trying to fix them. He didn't like reacting after the fact. Instead, he preferred to prepare in advance and nip threats in the bud.
He spent a week in Rongcheng, meeting twice with local officials for friendly discussions.
He also made a trip to Dujiangyan. On the morning of July 15,
After saying goodbye to his parents and the others, Huang Xiuyuan prepared to fly back to Lingnan. His assistant, Zhang Lei, came hurrying over with a newspaper in hand.
"Mr. Huang, today's People's Daily broke the story."
Huang Xiuyuan snatched the newspaper from him. It was indeed about the toxic milk scandal, and several people had already been arrested.
All of the problematic dairy products were to be forcibly removed from sale.
He folded the newspaper and put it in his briefcase. "Let's go!"
The driver started the car and slowly headed for the airport. Huang Xiuyuan kept his eyes closed along the way, thinking about a few things.
Thanks for all your support, dear readers. Special thanks to readers "Yuming Daoren" and "Qingtianyi" for their tips (**).
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