The next day.
Monday.
After breakfast, Tang Qing asked Sun Chao to drive him to the under-construction headquarters of Sky Eye. His uncle’s Mercedes-Benz was parked under the apartment building in the neighborhood. During the term, he didn’t dare to drive it around, he was glad that he was well-off in this life. Otherwise, he would be worried all the time about whether some spoiled brat would scratch his car.
Tang Qing suddenly realized that this indeed was a concern. There were not many vehicles in the neighborhood, but a number of them bore ’scars’. However, most of them were old cars, so it didn’t matter much if they got scratched. But his uncle’s car was a brand-new Mercedes-Benz. If it got scratched, he himself wouldn’t care much, but it would undoubtedly upset his mother and uncle for a while.
He decided that he needed to communicate with his uncle about parking the car somewhere else.
After about ten minutes. . .
Tang Qing arrived at Sky Eye’s new headquarters.
At that moment, the new Sky Eye headquarters was a gigantic, bustling construction site filled with the noise of construction workers and roaring engines. Various trucks were constantly shuttling back and forth, transporting soil. From the activity, Tang Qing could tell that this was the soil from the artificial lake they were constructing. Chu Jun had been working around the clock in three shifts to get the excavation done as quickly as possible, which was why the basement was getting closed so quickly.
Fortunately, the building wasn’t very tall. Otherwise, the waiting time for the foundation settlement would’ve been quite long. After all, constructing a skyscraper was entirely different from building a two-story house in the village, which merely needed a pit to be dug and a strip foundation to start building on.
Knowing that Tang Qing would be coming, Vice-President He Zixin, responsible for the project from Sky Eye’s side, and Chu Jun, the owner of the construction company, arrived at the construction site early. Not only was Tang Qing visiting, but it was also the day for the phase-by-phase acceptance. However, it wasn’t necessary for both Tang Qing and He Zixin to be present. Representatives from their construction side sufficed. It was just a coincidence that they were both present.
From a distance, Tang Qing saw a group of people standing at the entrance to the construction site. He Zixin was at the front, and Chu Jun was standing to the side, chatting with He Zixin. Judging by the smile on He Zixin’s face, Chu Jun must be giving him compliments. Apart from them, there were several other people waiting there. Apart from one chief engineer from the design institute, Tang Qing didn’t recognize anyone else.
As soon as they saw Tang Qing’s car, the group stopped talking. He Zixin quickly adjusted his clothes and stood up straight, clutching a folder.
Tang Qing got out of the car. He Zixin promptly came over with a smile to greet him: "Hello Boss Tang."
"Manager He, I’m just checking in, it’s not a big deal. You didn’t have to come over," Tang Qing joked.
Although he was putting it lightly, he knew that He wouldn’t take it in the same way. The workplace culture in China, actually everywhere else in the world as well, was always this way. Underlings always tried to get close to their bosses. It wouldn’t do to flatly prohibit this, cutting oneself off from the ’care of the masses’.
What bullshit workplace culture.
"I was supposed to come. Besides, I also wanted to check the progress of this project. It’s been more than a week since I visited last. A lot has changed," He Zixin said with a light laugh.
"Yep, I hope it turns out as beautiful as the design," Tang Qing nodded and then turned to Chu Jun and joked, "President Chu, you seem to have lost some weight recently."
"Boss Tang, you have a sharp eye. I’ve been so busy with the engineering work that I’ve lost more than a kilogram," Chu Jun chuckled. He had been working non-stop to meet the construction deadline. He was naturally eager to do well as he had finally received such a fantastic project. The other project which had landed him in hot water was also gradually improving. As construction had been suspended for many days, the client was getting anxious, especially those who had bought houses. They demanded refunds if no progress was made. Therefore, he was getting busy on both ends.
"That’s good then. President Chu, would you show me around the site?" Tang Qing asked. He decided to check the construction progress before visiting the water storage tank. All of this had been planned and designed to his specifications, and he considered it half his work. It brought him joy watching his work taking shape. Otherwise, he had no reason to be here.
"Sure thing, Boss Tang. Brother Sun, here are your safety helmets," Chu Jun handed both of them a white safety helmet.
The others also picked up safety helmets from the table at the entrance and put them on. Although the main building’s mold had just surfaced, Tang Qing had no intention of ignoring the rules which dictated that safety helmets must be worn in the construction area.
Then Chu Jun led Tang Qing and his group around the headquarters’ premises.
"Boss Tang, as you can see, the basement of the ground floor is already closed. We’re ensuring that we raise one floor every six days for the building above. In a month’s time, you will be able to see your office building completely. The construction of the cafeteria and dormitory has also begun, and they should be almost ready for decoration in a month’s time. Currently, we are transporting the dirt for the artificial lake. Since we don’t need to erect any buildings there, we decided to dig the lake last..." Chu Jun explained attentively as they walked around. To leave a good impression on Tang Qing – the second-generation heir – and to showcase his company’s model project, Chu Jun had made sure to be familiar with the entire design and plan. He came daily to keep an eye on both progress and quality.
Once they had seen almost everything, Tang Qing was thoroughly impressed. He asked, "Good job, President Chu. Now, let’s go to the basement."
"Of course," Chu Jun readily agreed, leading the way.
At the time, the workers were setting up the formwork for the first basement floor. Some places were already binding rebar for the floors. The work was being done in sections.