Chapter 315 Entertainment First
Erhu's efficiency was even faster than Xu Qiang expected.

In just a few days, he had found a new source of chemical raw materials and, through communication with the manufacturers, signed a long-term supply contract.

In fact, there are thousands of chemical plants of all sizes in southern Jiangsu, and now state-owned chemical plants have also begun to sell chemical raw materials to the outside world. Although the prices are higher than those of small plants, the quality is still guaranteed, which is crucial for Xu Qiang to produce some high-end industrial dyes.

In addition, some chemical production equipment ordered by Xu Qiang from Shanghai have also arrived one after another. Kang Jian has been busy training workers these days. It is estimated that it will only take about a week for these new workers to officially take up their posts.

Under Xu Qiang's arrangement, Kangjian also set up a chemical knowledge training class, mainly to enable employees to master some basic chemical knowledge and to cultivate their good habits of safe production. After all, the chemical industry has relatively dangerous occupations, and any negligence at work may cause irreparable tragedy.

Since Xu Qiang rented a house from Changzhou State Cotton Mill No. 4, it became extremely important for him to have a good relationship with the leaders of the factory. So Xu Qiang treated leaders at all levels of the factory to drinks and meals for several days and also sent them some gifts.

After a few meals, Xu Qiang also made a deal with the cotton mill. Cotton Mill No. 4 also had some fabrics that needed to be dyed, and required more than 100,000 yuan worth of various dyes every year. Because Xu Qiang gave generous gifts, part of the dye orders were naturally taken by Xu Qiang.

After dealing with the dye factory matters, Xu Qiang immediately returned to Shanghai. At this time, all members of BJ's 8702 project team had already arrived in Shanghai.

The night before, Deputy Team Leader Guo Rui had arranged for all team members to move into the renovated dormitories. In addition, all the equipment from the BJ Laboratory had been transported to the institute.

Among this batch, except for a newly purchased spectrometer, all the others are equipment that were originally in Xu Yuanming's laboratory. These include gas chromatographs, infrared spectrophotometers, etc., which are all imported equipment. They are definitely the best and most advanced in the country today.

In addition, according to the list drawn up by Xu Qiang, more than 24 kinds of chemical raw materials have also arrived, all of which are stored in a semi-buried basement. In order to maintain ventilation, ventilators are installed on both sides of the basement to keep the air circulating hours a day to ensure the safety of the items.

In the evening, in a state-owned restaurant in Luwan District, Shanghai, Xu Qiang held a banquet to welcome the project team members who had arrived to report.

"Welcome everyone to Shanghai. Starting tomorrow, our project team will officially begin its work. Before that, I would like to say a few words to everyone..." At the table, Xu Qiang looked at everyone present and said, "First of all, I took over this project midway, but I also inherited Professor Xu's wishes and will and strive to complete the project successfully!"

"Pa, pa, pa!" Guo Rui was the first to clap his hands, and applause immediately broke out at the scene.

"Secondly, I have only one request for everyone here, and that is safety!" Xu Qiang paused, then continued: "No matter what the final result of this project is, I need everyone to be safe and sound, without any mistakes, and absolutely cannot let Professor Xu's tragedy happen again..."

Xu Qiang has always attached great importance to the safety of experiments. In his opinion, even if the project fails, it will only make his superiors a little disappointed in him. But if an accident occurs, even if the project is successful, it will leave a lifetime of regret, or even a nightmare. Especially since this project is about developing high-energy explosives, which is much more dangerous than other chemical research projects.

"…So I decided that in the future, there will be no overtime in our research institute. There will only be eight hours of work leave every day. After get off work, anyone who stays in the laboratory will have their salary and bonus deducted, and may even be expelled from the project team!" When Xu Qiang said this, his tone began to become stern.

When everyone present heard this, they were all surprised.

No one expected that Xu Qiang would make such an arrangement.

You know, when these people followed Xu Yuanming before, working overtime was commonplace. There was even a tacit rule in their team that they would never leave the studio before Professor Xu finished his work for the day. And Xu Yuanming was an overtime maniac, so everyone in the team rarely got off work on time.

Moreover, Guo Rui and his colleagues have long been proud of working overtime. In their view, engaging in national research projects requires this spirit of not being afraid of hardship or fatigue. Only in this way can they live up to the honors they have received.

But Xu Qiang obviously didn't think so. Since he was confident that he could win the project, there was no need to make these team members panic.

Moreover, when people are tired, it is easy for them to lose concentration and make mistakes, which is very dangerous for those who are engaged in the research and development of high-energy explosives.

Although Xu Qiang didn't know why Xu Yuanming had the accident, in Xu Qiang's opinion, for an old expert of his level to have such a serious accident, it was most likely due to excessive fatigue and a moment of negligence.

"In addition, we should hold more cultural and sports activities in the future, such as table tennis, badminton, chess, and poker competitions... In short, even if the project is not successful, we can still win awards!" Xu Qiang said after thinking for a while.

"Haha!" Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this.

This was the first time they had seen such a leader.

Generally speaking, when a new leader makes his first speech, he will paint a rosy picture to encourage everyone, and then he will make three immediate moves after taking office to create a "new atmosphere".

But the first thing Xu Qiang talked about was cultural and entertainment activities, which obviously surprised everyone.

"Let's eat!" Xu Qiang said, and then he was the first to pick up the chopsticks. At this time, the waiters of the restaurant began to bring the prepared dishes to the table one by one.

Then as the waiters continued to serve the dishes, everyone was surprised again.

Xu Qiang had said before that he would treat them to a good meal, but he didn't expect it to be this good.

There are seven large plates and eight large bowls, all of which are delicious and tasty dishes. There is also a full range of wine and drinks. This table must cost a lot of money.

When I think back to the celebration banquet for winning national awards, it was definitely not as sumptuous as this one. It could even be described as extravagant.

After a round of toasts, the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

Everyone began to toast Xu Qiang, and Xu Qiang accepted all the toasts.

After the meal, Xu Qiang, feeling a little tipsy, went for a walk along the Huangpu River with everyone else, enjoying a relaxing time.

"Make a list later, including the cultural and sports facilities that our institute needs, such as parallel bars, ping-pong tables, various chess games... the more the better. I'll take this list to ask the ministry for money later."

On the way, Xu Qiang said to Guo Rui.

"Director, we have just started our work, and we have to buy a bunch of cultural and sports products right away. Isn't this inappropriate?" Guo Rui frowned when he heard this.

Guo Rui was obviously thinking about Xu Qiang. After all, he had just become the director of the institute and had not made any contributions yet. It was obviously a bit "excessive" for him to directly ask for money from the higher-ups.

"Just do as I say. It's just a few dollars. We have plenty of money in our department. We should set aside some of it to provide benefits to our scientific researchers." Xu Qiang said with some disapproval.

"But this is really a bit..."

"The more you ask for money from the higher-ups, the more they will value us. The crying child gets the milk. Don't you understand this truth?" Xu Qiang glanced at Guo Rui and said.

"Okay." Seeing that Xu Qiang had made up his mind, Guo Rui had no choice but to nod in response.

"I know what you mean. In fact, I am doing this to reassure the leaders above..."

"Let the leader rest assured? What does that mean?" Guo Rui was confused when he heard that.

"Forget it if you don't understand." Xu Qiang paused, then continued, "Also, tomorrow's job is to clean. You have to clean the lab and dormitory. Only with a good environment can you be in a good mood to work. I may not come over, so you just need to take care of them."

"Okay." Guo Rui responded and asked randomly, "Then shall we officially start work from the day after tomorrow?"

"No rush. Our main job this week is cleaning. Let's put work aside. I have other things to deal with these days. If there is really nothing to do, you can take everyone to the city for a walk, buy some snacks, etc. In short, it's not easy for everyone to come to Shanghai, so we must eat well and have fun..."

"..."

Guo Rui always felt that Xu Qiang was too young and might be unreliable to take on such an important project, but he didn't expect him to be so unreliable.

You know, the ministry has invested a huge amount in this project. Not only did it make an exception and spend a lot of money to set up a research institute laboratory in Shanghai, it also sent a team of top domestic experts to assist him.

However, Xu Qiang seemed to have no pressure or sense of responsibility at all. He actually arranged for everyone to travel and enjoy the scenery right from the beginning. He himself wanted to be a hands-off boss and take care of other things. In his opinion, this was simply outrageous!
But Xu Qiang is his superior after all, so Guo Rui can only obey his arrangements.

As for what will happen in the future, he doesn't know, and he doesn't have the confidence to think about it...

(End of this chapter)