Chapter 96: Can't Keep Up! Special Measures!

Chapter 96: Can't Keep Up! Special Measures!

Not only was Zhao Neng surprised, but the other construction team bosses, including Chen Hu, were also taken aback.

Why were these guys working so hard? Wasn't it better to make money at a more relaxed pace? Working late into the night was just exhausting.

Zhao Neng naturally didn't believe they were working 24 hours a day. That was impossible. They were probably just working a bit later than usual.

But he was soon proven wrong. By 8 PM, they still showed no signs of stopping. They were genuinely working through the night.

"Damn, where did these guys come from? They're breaking all the rules!" Chen Hu couldn't help but complain. If all construction teams worked like this, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"Can we report them? Isn't it illegal to work at night?" Zhao Neng, unwilling to let them continue unchecked, immediately thought of a way to stop them.

The other construction team bosses shook their heads. One of them explained, "The reason night construction is illegal is because of the Environmental Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Law. According to Article 30, in urban areas, if the noise level at night exceeds the specified decibel limit, night construction is not allowed."

"Even for emergency repairs or continuous operations due to production requirements, they must announce it to nearby residents."

Zhao Neng understood. This area was far from the city, and there was no one around at night. Their construction wouldn't disturb anyone, and they might even have a permit for night work. Reporting them wouldn't do any good.

Zhao Neng turned to Chen Hu and the others, "Gentlemen, I hope you can also work at night. We can't fall behind them. If we do, this project and the subsequent development of tens of thousands of acres will be meaningless."

Hearing this, Chen Hu and the other construction team bosses exchanged glances, looking troubled.

One of them said, "Mr. Zhao, we have the workers we have, and our construction capacity is limited. Even if we split into two shifts, our overall capacity won't change. To speed things up, we need more workers and an additional night shift."

Another added, "Exactly, otherwise it's pointless."

Zhao Neng, hearing this, said, "Then find more workers and start immediately. We absolutely cannot fall behind them."

Chen Hu then spoke up, "Mr. Zhao, at the current price, we can only hire so many workers. If we need more workers for a night shift, the cost will definitely be higher, and we can't afford it."

The other construction team bosses nodded in agreement. The message was clear: they needed more money.

Zhao Neng understood their position, but he had no choice. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then we'll pay more. I just need the work to progress. We can renegotiate the contract."

Chen Hu immediately smiled and started organizing the workers he had brought. This time, he was going to make a fortune. He had only brought half his team, and the other half would finish their current project and join them, each adding to his profits. Of course, he would need to find some temporary workers to fill in during the transition.

Zhao Neng, unaware of these details, breathed a sigh of relief as the special night-time lighting went up on his construction site, and the entire area came to life with activity.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a twinge of regret about this project. He had already secured the construction teams from Youcheng and the neighboring counties, and the material suppliers were all signed up. Who knew they would face such intense competition? Where were they getting all the materials from?

A project that started with trouble was clearly not a good omen. But with things as they were, he had no choice but to push forward.

No matter what, as long as the camping ground wasn't behind, and he could complete it on time, he still had an advantage, even if it meant incurring higher costs.

Time passed quickly.

The next day arrived soon enough.

Zhang Lin arrived at Liyuan Farm early to check on the progress of the camping ground construction.

The entire 2000-acre area had been cordoned off, keeping out any non-essential personnel. As the boss, he naturally had free access.

Inside the construction site, a large area had already been covered with lush green grass.

Camping grounds came in many styles—forest, beach, water—but the most popular was the grassland style. Camping on a vast, verdant field was a truly refreshing experience.

The 2000-acre camping ground designed by Fu Yao followed this grassland style.

The game construction team was working at an incredible pace. At this rate, the entire camping ground would be completed in about half a month.

He couldn't wait to see Zhao Neng's reaction when the camping ground was finally ready.

Zhao Neng, too, got up early and hurried to his construction site to check on the latest progress.

After all, the construction team he hired had worked through the night.

However, when he arrived at the construction site, his brows furrowed.

His own construction site was eerily quiet, while the Linyuan Farm's site was still bustling with activity, as if they had never stopped.

He glanced around and noticed that all of his workers were sleeping. More importantly, it seemed that they hadn't made much progress the entire night, as if their initial burst of activity was just for show.

"Damn it!" Zhao Neng cursed, hurriedly leaving the site and driving towards Linyuan Farm.

He couldn't believe that the other team was working non-stop, 24 hours a day.

When he arrived at Linyuan Farm's construction site, he was utterly stunned.

They had already laid down part of the grass and the surrounding area showed significant progress.

This was way too fast.

At this rate, the project would likely be completed within half a month. By the time Linyuan Farm's campsite opened, his own site might still show no signs of progress.

He now completely suspected that Chen Hu and the others were playing him for a fool.

Zhao Neng rushed back to his own construction site and called Chen Hu and the other construction team leaders.

Soon, Chen Hu and the others arrived, all with smiles on their faces.

"Mr. Zhao, I've already found the workers, they'll be here early this morning!" Chen Hu smiled, indicating that he had taken the matter seriously.

"Same here, my men will be here early this morning!"

"Mine too!"

"..."

The others also chimed in.

However, Zhao Neng's face darkened as he asked, "Gentlemen, are you treating me like a fool, like a cash cow?"

This question left Chen Hu and the others momentarily stunned, and a bit guilty, because it was true.

After all, they had been paid extra money!

Chen Hu sensed the tension and quickly laughed, "Mr. Zhao, you're the client, how could we possibly treat you like a cash cow? We've always been putting in our best effort on your project."

"Best effort?" Zhao Neng now completely distrusted them, pointing at Linyuan Farm's site, "They started yesterday, we started yesterday. You call that 'best effort'? Go check their progress and then come back and look at ours. We did sign a contract, but a contract is just a piece of paper. If you don't want to work, I can always replace you! Do you really think I can't find anyone else to work on these tens of thousands of acres?"

Chen Hu and the others were clearly taken aback by this.

In truth, compared to previous projects, they had indeed been more dedicated and put in more effort.

After all, they had been paid extra, so they couldn't just take the money and run; they had to put in some effort.

But Zhao Neng's words clearly didn't sit right with them.

"Mr. Zhao, don't get upset. Let's go check out the other site," Chen Hu quickly appeased Zhao Neng, hurrying out with the others.

They had a feeling that Zhao Neng was a bit of a soft target, but the project was indeed massive. They knew that once the 2000-acre campsite was built, there were still tens of thousands of acres to develop.

Securing these projects would make them a lot of money.

Chen Hu and the others quickly arrived at Linyuan Farm's site and were equally stunned by the progress.

"Did they just start yesterday?"

"It should be correct; Mr. Zhao has no reason to lie about this."

"But to make this much progress in one day and night, they must be working like mad!"

"..."

This level of progress wasn't unachievable for them, after all, their country was known for its unparalleled infrastructure capabilities, even for civilian construction teams.

But doing so would mean treating their workers like beasts, and it wouldn't last long.

"This construction team is so competitive, they're not following industry rules!" one of the team leaders complained.

Another grunted, "They won't last more than two days."

"Let's head back. It looks like Mr. Zhao and Linyuan Farm are in competition. If we want to secure more projects from Mr. Zhao, we need to step up our game," Chen Hu said, frowning at the bustling site.

The others naturally understood.

If it weren't for the competition, Zhao Neng wouldn't be so anxious. If they couldn't keep up, they might lose the project.

They hurried back.

Wasn't it just about pushing the workers to their limits? They could do that too.

And they believed the other team's workers wouldn't last long.

They could push their workers to the limit, and things would return to normal afterward.

When Chen Hu and the others returned to the Kai Lin Investment site, they heard Zhao Neng instructing his assistant from behind a car, "These construction teams seem untrustworthy. See if you can poach some of their workers from Linyuan Farm. I can offer more money!"

Since they were all being paid extra, he might as well poach the better workers from the other side.

Chen Hu and his companions were immediately embarrassed.

They realized that if they didn't take action soon, they might really be replaced.

Feeling the pressure, they each called out to their own employees, urging them to keep going and work as hard as they could.

Before long, the additional workers Chen Hu and the others had found arrived and joined the construction effort. The site quickly became a bustling scene of activity, and the work pace noticeably picked up.

Zhao Neng naturally noticed this and was somewhat satisfied.

However, he still hoped that his assistant could poach the construction team from the Liyuan Farm.

He didn't believe that offering a higher price wouldn't tempt them.

This was a classic case of outspending the competition.

With his deeper pockets, he had the capital to pull off such a move.

So, he just needed to wait for the news.

By evening, his assistant finally returned. Zhao Neng immediately asked, "How did it go? Did you manage to poach their construction team?"

The assistant looked helpless as he replied, "Boss, it's impossible. I couldn't even get into their construction site, and when I tried to chat with the workers, they completely ignored me. Even when I offered them double the pay to come work for us, they weren't interested."

Zhao Neng's face showed disbelief.

Just a laborer, and they wouldn't budge for double the pay? This had to be a joke, right? They should have jumped at the chance.

But this left him with no choice. If he couldn't poach their construction team, he had to rely on Chen Hu and the others.

However, the work pace of these people had indeed picked up significantly today. At this rate, even if they couldn't match the speed of the Linyuan Farm's site, they wouldn't fall too far behind.

When the camping site opened a few days earlier, he could offer special promotions to attract customers.

This was still a matter of using his capital to outmaneuver the competition.

Kaolin Investment, besides their previous projects, still had 200 million in funds before starting this project. They had already spent 60 million on land acquisition, and even if the camping site construction cost another 50 million, they would still have nearly 100 million left.

If worse came to worst, they could always take out a bank loan, as Kaolin Investment had access to substantial credit.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that his construction site had become a chaotic scene.

"Damn, we can't keep this up. We worked all night last night and haven't rested yet."

"Even a donkey can't handle this!"

"That's right, I'm done, I'm done."

"..."

Chen Hu and the other construction team leaders were embarrassed.

They had tried to push their workers to the limit, but it seemed their workers couldn't even last a single day.

This was incredibly awkward.

Worse still, the other side showed no signs of slowing down.

Seeing this, Zhao Neng frowned and called over Chen Hu and the others, demanding, "What's the meaning of this? Are you trying to pull a fast one on me again?"

Chen Hu and the others felt genuinely wronged.

"Mr. Zhao, we really aren't. This kind of work pace is just unsustainable."

"That's right, the workers can't keep up."

"..."

"Then why can they?" Zhao Neng pointed at the Linyuan Farm's construction site, demanding an answer.

Chen Hu and the others were at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond.

Zhao Neng didn't even listen to their explanations. He got into his car and left, heading back to the office. Once there, he immediately posted the 2,000-acre camping site project on an engineering website, offering a 50 million investment and a 15-day completion deadline.

He believed that Chen Hu and the others were colluding to play him. He needed to find a new construction team. There were plenty of teams in the city and province, and with a project like this, there would be no shortage of takers.

Chen Hu and the others looked at the Linyuan Farm's construction site with frustration.

This was truly cutting off their means of livelihood.

"We can't let this continue," Chen Hu growled, looking at the opposite site. He walked to one side and called over a subordinate, instructing him, "Tonight, take a few guys to the other construction site and cause some trouble. Threaten them to stop being so competitive and cutting off others' livelihoods."

Having come from the streets, Chen Hu knew that sometimes you had to use street tactics.

Vandalism and destruction were out of the question in a law-abiding society.

But causing some disruption was fine; even if they got caught, it would only be a few days in jail.

If something went wrong, his subordinates could take the fall without implicating him.

Moreover, he knew the personalities of those construction workers. They were all hardworking laborers, and as long as he could intimidate their foreman, the rest would back down.

His subordinates were well-versed in these tactics, having grown up in that era.

The key was that the other side was an outside construction team. By disrupting their work, he was showing them that he wasn't to be trifled with.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end