Chapter 51: Ma Yuan's Masterpiece
When Liu Shang returned, he found Wang Wanlin with a grim look on his face.
"Oh, I don't know what's going on. They just said they were sent by the company."
"This is a full ten tons of pellets. For the initial application, three or four tons is usually more than enough."
"The four of us will have to unload all this and stack it on the shelves. I'm afraid we'll be working until dark."
Hearing Wang Wanlin's complaint, Liu Shang didn't even have to think about it. This had to be Ma Yuan's handiwork.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Shang stopped the men who were unloading the truck.
"Stop unloading. Have the driver take all of it back."
"We are not using body-expanding pellets in this well."
His words stunned Wang Wanlin and the others. They had been with the company for years, and they always took whatever supplies were sent. There had never been a precedent for refusing a delivery.
The truck driver, however, was not having it.
First, he saw that Liu Shang was young. Second, he was on good terms with Ma Yuan and was happy to give Liu Shang a hard time on his behalf.
His tone was aggressive. "Hey, who the hell do you think you are? You can't just decide not to unload it."
"This is a ten-ton shipment. The warehouse workers on the back line spent a long time loading it. Who's going to unload it when I take it back?"
"Besides, if I head back now, it'll be dark by the time I arrive. If any of the pellets are lost, can you take responsibility for that?"
Liu Shang had no patience for people like him. He sneered, "You want to know on whose authority? Let me be perfectly clear: I'm not unloading these pellets simply because I don't want to."
"As for whether it gets dark, whether any pellets go missing, or who unloads them when you get back—I couldn't care less!"
After speaking, Liu Shang glanced at his team members, his eyes ice-cold. "No more unloading. Everyone, go back inside and rest."
"If this truck stays here and doesn't leave, then let it stay."
Seeing Liu Shang stand his ground so firmly, the team members' eyes lit up with delight. The driver, however, became furious. He started cursing and moved as if to confront Liu Shang, but Wang Wanlin, anticipating this, quickly stepped in to block him.
"Alright, you brat, you're tough enough! I'll take the medicine back now, but you just wait to be dealt with!" the driver shouted.
"And let me tell you, I'm the one who delivers all the supplies for your well, so just you wait!"
Liu Shang shot him a look of utter contempt. "I suppose that's the best you can do."
"Let me give you a piece of advice: don't play these little tricks with me."
"As for all future deliveries to this well, if there are any significant leaks or spills, I will refuse the shipment on the spot."
"You will be held solely responsible for any delays caused by your failure to deliver the supplies on time. I'd like to see if you can bear that responsibility. If you think I'm bluffing, feel free to try me."
***
After the verbal showdown, the driver angrily drove back to the company with the remaining nine tons of cargo.
Liu Shang, for his part, immediately called Xu Tiande and Mr. Zhong, who were still at the company headquarters.
When Xu Tiande learned what had happened, he was indignant. At the same time, he felt completely disappointed in the jealous and narrow-minded Ma Yuan.
However, true to his character, Xu Tiande couldn't bring himself to deal with Ma Yuan harshly and planned to resolve the matter gently.
But before he could act, he saw Mr. Zhong, looking like a furious lion, storm past his office door with the force of a thunderbolt.
Sensing that something was about to go wrong, Xu Tiande hurried after him, but he was a step too late. Mr. Zhong had already reached Ma Yuan's workstation.
"Ma Yuan!" he boomed. "Let me ask you, what is the meaning of the ten tons of body-expanding pellets that were sent to the profile adjustment site?"
Faced with Mr. Zhong's thunderous rage, it was impossible for Ma Yuan not to panic.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ma Yuan subconsciously avoided Mr. Zhong's gaze. He then forced a smile and said, trying to sound as calm as possible:
"Ah, the ten tons of body-expanding pellets... I issued the delivery order based on the text message Liu Shang sent me from the site."
"Is something wrong, Mr. Zhong? I can contact the site in a moment to check, how does that sound?"
If Ma Yuan had simply admitted to a work-related mistake at that point, it would have been fine. After all, a man of Mr. Zhong's status wouldn't make things difficult for him over a simple error.
But this completely hopeless man was still trying so desperately to shirk responsibility and pin the blame on Liu Shang. His excuses completely ignited the fury in Mr. Zhong's heart.
"A text message from the site?"
"Fine. Show me. Show everyone here the text message on your phone right now. Let's all see if it mentions ten tons of body-expanding pellets."
Hearing this, Ma Yuan was utterly dumbfounded. He could never have imagined that Liu Shang, who had only been at the company for such a short time, could have someone like Mr. Zhong stand up for him so fiercely.
Seeing Ma Yuan lower his head in silence, Mr. Zhong continued his angry reprimand: "Ma Yuan, Ma Yuan, I am so disappointed in you!"
"From the company's perspective, you are abusing your position for personal reasons, which is a gross waste of company resources. It is also a great dereliction of your duty and shows a complete lack of responsibility."
"From a personal perspective, you're a man in your thirties. Aren't you embarrassed to be making things difficult for a student who just started?"
"On the surface, you claim to be his big brother, but behind his back, you pull these insidious tricks. How can your character be so rotten?!"
As it happened, Ma Yuan's luck had run out. Just as Mr. Zhong was reprimanding him, the boss, Song Guangyuan, walked into the office for something and learned the whole story.
The next moment, Song Guangyuan, even more annoyed than Mr. Zhong, rushed over to Ma Yuan and started swearing.
"Ma Yuan, do you even want to keep working for this company?"
"What in the world were you thinking?!"
"This kind of behavior does nothing but sabotage the work of the entire company and drag everyone down!"
"Let me tell you, if you make Mr. Zhong and Mr. Xu angry, do you think you can bear that responsibility?"
Fortunately, Xu Tiande, known for being a kind-hearted man, stepped forward in time to talk Song Guangyuan out of his plan to fire Ma Yuan on the spot.
Nevertheless, Song Guangyuan dealt with the matter severely.
"That shipment of pellets has already been returned, correct?"
"Perfect. Ma Yuan, you will go with the warehouse workers and unload every last one of those pellets back into the warehouse. You can go home when you're finished."
"Furthermore, your entire year-end bonus is canceled. I hope that you, and everyone else in this company, can learn a lesson from this."
It was well known that the company's year-end bonus was no small sum.
For a technical engineer like Ma Yuan, the bonus at the end of the year was typically over twenty thousand yuan.
This was the first time in the history of Huahai Company that someone's entire year-end bonus had been revoked.
Upon hearing the punishment, Ma Yuan's face turned ashen, while Yang Xu and the others who were watching secretly rejoiced.
In any case, they all knew that Ma Yuan's future at the company was now completely dark. It seemed this Liu Shang had done them all a favor.
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