Chapter 50 Little Tricks
After returning to the company, Xu Tiande called Ma Yuan directly into his office and laid out the plan for the next phase of the project.
Upon hearing the instructions, Ma Yuan reacted like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, his expression a mask of disbelief.
"What?"
"Professor Xu, you want me to take orders from Liu Shang for the entire project?"
"He's a freshman who's never even been on-site, and you're telling me to follow his instructions?"
"Aren't you afraid he'll screw everything up on-site?!"
Xu Tiande had anticipated Ma Yuan's reaction and reiterated his point with grave seriousness.
"Ma Yuan, it's not just you. Regarding the construction of this well, all of us will be taking our commands from Liu Shang."
"As for any problems that arise on-site, we'll be there to handle them. You won't have to take responsibility."
"Of course, you still need to monitor the situation closely and report any abnormal data to us immediately."
Seeing Xu Tiande's firm attitude, Ma Yuan had nothing more to say. He left the office feeling deeply aggrieved.
In his heart, he complained silently: *My life at this company hasn't been smooth for a single day since Liu Shang showed up! You're about to leave for school, and you still have to make trouble for me on your way out, don't you? Hmph, command me? In your dreams! Just wait and see how I deal with you during the construction!*
Meanwhile, at the field site, Liu Shang casually explained the work plan to the on-site team over dinner.
"Old Wang," he began, "I think Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhong already briefed you when they came today. I'll be in charge of this well's construction."
"For this well, we'll be injecting a low-to-medium concentration polymer gel throughout the entire process. We won't be using even a single grain of volume-expanding particles."
"So, compared to the previous wells, your workload on this one will be much lighter."
"Once we start, I just hope everyone can cooperate so we can finish this well smoothly."
"I assure you now that I will personally handle and take full responsibility for any problems that arise. You only need to report to me."
"If you get any pressure from the company, you don't have to deal with it yourselves. Just tell them to come to me."
With Mr. Zhong and Xu Tiande having already paved the way, everyone readily nodded in agreement with Liu Shang's words.
After all, they were more than happy to have a reduced workload.
For Liu Shang, the technical concept for this well was clear and simple. The stable, continuous injection of a medium-to-low concentration polymer gel was analogous to the mechanism of later-developed polymer flooding technology. This method made it much easier to see a dynamic response between the oil and water wells and could even directly increase oil production.
The fact that the company's previous wells had shown no effect wasn't because Xu Tiande and Mr. Zhong lacked skill. It was simply that at the current stage of petroleum technology, almost everyone in the industry shared the same flawed understanding.
The recognized mainstream technical approach was to pursue high construction pressures using high-concentration, high-strength sealing agents. This method cost a great deal of money for negligible results.
Liu Shang, on the other hand, was viewing the problem with the technical perspective of someone from ten or twenty years in the future. Naturally, his vantage point was far superior.
On the second day, the pre-construction work continued at the site.
This also meant that the various chemicals required for the operation had to be transported to the location.
Because of this, Liu Shang called Ma Yuan and politely informed him of the type and total amount of chemicals he needed.
The ever-tactful Ma Yuan naturally agreed readily, all while his mind was scheming of ways to play some dirty tricks.
However, one minute after hanging up, Liu Shang sent the list of required chemicals directly via text message.
This left a paper trail, leaving Ma Yuan no opportunity to feign a mistake.
This time, Ma Yuan was furious.
So, later in the day, he found an opportunity to call Wang Wanlin, the on-site team supervisor.
After a brief discussion about normal work matters, Ma Yuan said with a smile, "Brother Wang, the company's purpose in sending Liu Shang to the site this time is to give him more hands-on experience."
"So any work like loading and unloading chemicals or preparing the site, you can just hand it over to him for practice."
Hearing this, Wang Wanlin immediately frowned. "Hey, Engineer Ma, Liu Shang is the chief engineer and commander for this construction. How can a lowly team leader like me order him around?"
"You must be joking..."
Ma Yuan chuckled. "Hey, what commander? He's going back to school as soon as this well is done."
"He's only on-site to learn and get some practice."
"Just listen to me. Give him the work that needs doing, and don't be afraid to assign him the dirty jobs."
"If anyone asks, just say you were being kind by letting him practice and get to know the site."
"Just relax and do as I say. If anything goes wrong, Deputy Manager Chen Xu and I will cover for you."
Ma Yuan's words sounded righteous, but Wang Wanlin was already cursing him in his heart. There had been many precedents at the company where a problem occurred on-site, and before the higher-ups could even investigate, Ma Yuan had already shifted the blame and let others take the fall. Many of the junior staff secretly thought of him as a real bastard. At this point, only an idiot would believe him!
"Hey, Engineer Ma, it's not that I won't follow your orders, but Mr. Zhong and Mr. Xu personally explained the workflow to me yesterday."
"Why don't you ask Mr. Zhong or Mr. Xu to give the order? If they do, I'll carry it out immediately..."
Soon after, Ma Yuan hung up the phone in a rage.
Even a lowly on-site supervisor now dared to defy him, which made him furious.
So, when issuing the chemical manifest for the team, he secretly added 10 tons of volume-expanding granules.
These volume-expanding particles were a type of clay granule that physically expanded upon absorbing water. They had a strong sealing effect but poor overall performance. There were none on Liu Shang's list; Ma Yuan had added them entirely on his own initiative.
Furthermore, he had intentionally ordered a huge quantity, making Wang Wanlin and his team suffer by unloading an extra 10 tons of material for no reason.
This was Ma Yuan's punishment for their defiance.
...
A few hours later, with some free time, Liu Shang went to the oil production office to consult with the client's technicians about the main water injection lines and detailed conditions of the well.
But when he returned to the site, he found Wang Wanlin and the others struggling to unload bags of what looked like volume-expanding particles from a large truck stacked as high as a hill.
"Old Wang, where did all these volume-expanding granules come from? What's going on here?"
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