Twenty years of cold chain

Chapter 51 Great Disappointment

Qi Zhendong wasn't in good shape; his eyes were bloodshot, and he kept rubbing his scalp with his fingers, as if trying to perk himself up. Their eyes met briefly, and Qi Zhendong naturally remembered Hu Shutong. Seeing them face-to-face again brought back many memories.

Four people from the equipment team came, with Luan Pingxin as the main speaker, and they also brought two proposals.

When the four proposals appeared before Qi Zhendong, he was immediately filled with doubt.

"The technical team brought two proposals. One is a material proposal that we think is suitable based on the group's procurement database, and the other is a civil engineering material proposal that Professor Pang personally prepared."

Qi Zhendong remained silent, flipping through the two proposals simultaneously, one on each side. Time passed slowly as he examined them meticulously. When he finally closed the two documents, he began to ramble on about things unrelated to the proposals.

"The park is a great location. I remember when the group first started talking about logistics giants and industry flagships, it still makes me excited. It was so hard to acquire this land. We talked about growing bigger and stronger, expanding beyond the province and into the world. The slogans were like an oath of allegiance to new employees."

As he spoke, Qi Zhendong stood up and paced back and forth at the very front of the conference table. "Everyone has wishes, everyone wants perfection. You've presented this comparison, a clear distinction between the best and the worst, isn't it?"

"President Qi, you misunderstand. These two documents are not for comparison, but rather two options proposed from the perspective of the technical team. Besides, we have already integrated the procurement database."

"I only ask you, what is the price difference between these two options?"

"1.4 times".

Qi Zhendong smiled and shrugged, "Then what should we talk about?"

Luan Pingxin stared coldly at this unreasonable person. He was so disrespectful, with that arrogant attitude that made it seem as if the other two were just causing trouble. There was no point in saying anything more to such a person.

"The price difference for the equipment is 1.5 times, so I don't need to elaborate further."

Hu Shutong couldn't understand why the southern suburbs had become like this. He thought back to the beginning, when he and his teacher were full of expectations, and the initial seminar last autumn was also full of high spirits. How did it gradually collapse into this state today?

This gave Hu Shutong an unprecedented and intense feeling: no matter how good your academic work is, if it cannot be adopted, the vision you lay out can only be an aid to others. Some people may take a look, but even if they are too lazy to look at it, you have nothing to say.

"If that's the case, why bother calling in the technical and equipment teams? Just stick to the cost-based approach, isn't that enough?" Hu Shutong's words were icy. He felt resentful and indignant for his hospitalized teacher.

"Hu Shutong, I am not denying your work. You have done what you were supposed to do. I just want to tell you that we ourselves know the good things are good."

Suddenly, Li Zhou spoke up, "Did you never go to school, so you have an innate resistance to learning?"

With just a few words, the entire conference room fell silent. Not only those within Minghe, but also members of both teams stared in surprise. This was no longer a discussion; the atmosphere instantly became tense.

This seemingly quiet and reserved person can be incredibly insightful and hurtful when they get going.

"What did you say?" Qi Zhendong seemed not to have heard him clearly.

"If all you care about is cost, you should have asked about it right away. Why are you looking at both proposals? If your vision can't be realized, that's your problem. You have your considerations, and we have our principles. With that bossy attitude, do you think we're here to do business with you, Boss?"

Li Zhou wasn't afraid of anything; he was an outsider. He just felt that Hu Shutong was being too aggrieved, and because of Mingda's status, many people were involved, so he couldn't vent his anger. But if you can boss people around at Mingda, how can you control people from the University of Technology? Besides, even if your group is incredibly powerful, can you really control someone who only manages RFID?

"The matter is actually very simple. Just look at what you want to see. You said you've done everything you were supposed to. The other document was accidentally slipped in before we left; it was our lack of thoroughness. How about we collectively apologize to you? Do you want to continue pursuing this? Are you planning to send a formal letter or simply hire a lawyer?"

Hu Shutong had never heard Li Zhou say so much all at once, and his words and expression were so harsh that they were practically shoving him into the mud. Hu Shutong felt only one thing: relief!

"Who are you?"

Are you addressing the issue or the person?

A rhetorical question left Qi Zhendong speechless. This man, rumored to have a fiery temper, had even more bloodshot eyes. The atmosphere was tense and awkward, until he finally managed to squeeze out two words through clenched teeth—

The meeting is over!

The meeting ended unhappily.

Hu Shutong felt a deep sense of disappointment; his teacher's painstakingly prepared plan hadn't even had a chance to be discussed. Indeed, businesses have no obligation to set an example, but without their leadership, academia's influence on the industry remains merely theoretical. Of course, not all companies are as responsible and committed as Minghe, but Hu Shutong hadn't encountered one, so how could he possibly implement his ideas?

As I walked out of the conference room, I suddenly heard a familiar greeting. I looked up and saw that it was Kang Xingkai. Standing next to him was Liu Yu, the technical vice president of Bingneng, and a team of four.

After communicating about materials and equipment, the next step was to hold a bidding meeting for refrigerated trucks. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Hu Shutong ran into another team when he went downstairs. The team members were all wearing blue suits with dark brown ties, and their name tags had the character "纯" on them, which read "众乐斯".

Hu Shutong was very familiar with this company. Last year, he saw this company the most in Bingneng's reading room. Bingneng also regarded it as the biggest competitor in this bidding. Zhonglesi has been rooted in the used container assembly industry for more than ten years and can be called the industry leader in Mingjiang Province.

His upright posture and the confidence that radiated from his spine spoke volumes from the moment he appeared. Hu Shutong couldn't help but feel a little worried for Bing Neng. Judging from the situation at the materials and equipment meeting, the probability of Ming He choosing Bing Neng's complete vehicle was even lower than following the teacher's plan.

But this time, Hu Shutong guessed wrong.

……