Twenty years of cold chain

Chapter 30 Technical Comparison Meeting

One day in mid-August, Hu Shutong received a call from Xiao Wu, informing him that the HACCP technical comparison meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. Xiao Wu had already contacted Minghe Group and provided Hu Shutong with the exact location.

Hu Shutong has been preparing for this moment for the past few days. He is satisfied with the plan, but he also needs to put some thought into how to get others to agree with it.

Upon arriving at the Minghe Group headquarters, the thirty-plus-story building cast a large shadow, and people in suits hurried about, while luxury cars filled the parking area. Standing at the foot of the building, Hu Shutong suddenly felt a little apprehensive, and this apprehension only intensified as he sat down in the conference room.

At the long conference table, Hu Shutong sat in the corner furthest from the door. A short while later, six or seven people dressed identically walked in, each with a name tag that read "Technical Department Group 1". Then another group of people came in, labeled "Technical Department Group 2".

The two groups sat in separate rows, far from Hu Shutong, making him appear extremely isolated. To make matters worse, people were looking at him and whispering among themselves, while Hu Shutong continued flipping through his schedule, maintaining a relatively composed demeanor.

Inside the elevator, the assistant was flipping through documents and giving a report. "President Qi, there are three worksheets for this meeting. Two of them were completed by the group's special task force, and the other was provided by Mingda Institute."

This Mr. Qi, whose full name is Qi Zhendong, is the Technical Director of Minghe Group and one of the Group's Vice Presidents. He is tall and slender, with sharp eyes, standing at 1.8 meters, possessing a long face and a thick, bushy mustache, giving him a rather imposing presence. Qi Zhendong has recently been busy preparing for a large amount of preliminary work on the logistics park; if his assistant hadn't reminded him, he would have completely forgotten about it.

Taking the worksheet from his assistant, Qi Zhendong glanced at it and, without waiting for a word, strode into the conference room. In an instant, everyone in the conference room sat up straight, their eyes fixed straight ahead, not daring to look to the side.

With a loud thud, several sheets of paper were slapped onto the table, and an inexplicable aura of arrogance dissipated.

"Who devised Plan Number Three here?!"

The room fell silent, people kept their heads down and didn't dare to look around, which showed how ruthless this director was.

Hu Shutong slowly stood up. "President Qi, this one is mine."

Upon seeing his attire, Qi Zhendong's expression softened, but his tone remained sharp. "Mingda, right? Are you teaching me how to write an essay? Let me ask you, how many workers can decipher this pile of writing that looks like ants?"

Hu Shutong was momentarily stunned. His word count was perfectly reasonable. This was a technical comparison meeting, not an operational report. The discussion was not only about the data, but also about the steps involved.

"Mr. Qi, these are all necessary procedures. The training will focus on the limits, and I have already marked them with different colors."

"Then why don't you just list the limits?"

"President Qi, I haven't explained why this is the limit. What I've written is all the content that should be on the schedule, and it's already concise enough."

"That's what you think of as streamlining. Technology should be responsible for efficiency. What I need is clarity. I don't have time to assess the comprehension of every worker."

"Mr. Qi, this has nothing to do with comprehension; all you need is the ability to recognize."

As they talked back and forth, Hu Shutong didn't notice that everyone else in the meeting room was lowering their heads. Qi Zhendong had risen through the ranks at Minghe, and when he was "General Manager Qi," he left a deep impression on the entire group; his abilities were beyond doubt. After his promotion, he privately became known as "Thunder Manager Qi," a man with a fiery temper and ruthless actions, whom no one dared to contradict.

The situation was unprecedented for everyone present, so the secretary quickly tried to smooth things over, "Mr. Qi, perhaps we should take a look at the other two plans first?"

When things reached this point, everyone hoped that Hu Shutong would be sensible. The plan had already been rejected so badly that leaving the meeting in anger would have been more dignified. Little did they expect that this college student would be so oblivious.

Hu Shutong could easily understand this sense of rejection, but compared to these superficial matters, he was more interested in seeing how well the two technical teams had prepared their plans. Besides, this wasn't just Hu Shutong's problem; Pang Shiyou was also behind him. What would it look like to abandon the project on the spot?

Only then did the projector turn on, and the comparison of the two schedules appeared on the screen. It must be said that it looked exceptionally concise. Hu Shutong's schedule was laid out in a grid of 70-90 lines, while the technical team's schedule was laid out in a grid of 40-50 lines.

These plans devote a lot of energy to the pre-warehousing stage, treating pests, diseases, and pesticide residues as important issues. These are certainly important, but in Hu Shutong's view, this is just one aspect of raw material acceptance, which is clearly top-heavy.

Both groups presented their plans, which had been significantly improved from the previous ones, taking into account physical, chemical, and biological hazards. Several prominent data points were the result of repeated experiments and verifications by the groups, and differed significantly from those listed by Hu Shutong.

Such a schedule is not unusable; in fact, many processing companies are using schedules that are not as complete and detailed as these two. Hu Shutong firmly believes that his schedule is more reasonable in its specification of the entire process, and only his strict definition of packaging, storage, and transportation makes it a complete system.

During the process, Qi Zhendong asked a few questions, and after a brief moment of thought, he conveyed his decision to everyone: "Temporarily set one group, and leave this plan as it is for now. Do not invest any more manpower."

"President Qi, I can turn the plan into a simplified flowchart, which will absolutely not contain anything that would interfere with understanding," Hu Shutong continued to plead.

This was the first task Pang Shiyou had assigned him. The teacher had reviewed it on the bus that day and had no objections. If he didn't pass in the end, the teacher would definitely question his ability to express himself. Hu Shutong cared a lot about Pang Shiyou's opinion of him, and he would do his best to do everything perfectly.

"I don't have time to review the procedures, nor can I motivate everyone to spend time holding meetings like this again, you know what I mean?"

Hu Shutong found it unbelievable. This was already a ready-made solution, something that should have been a simple nod for Qi Zhendong. Why did it turn out like this? Moreover, it was clear from the questions he asked the two groups that this person understood the technology and the planning schedule.

People at the scene couldn't help but glance at Hu Shutong. It's good that college students are full of vigor, but being so stubborn makes him seem a bit ungrateful. Moreover, it also exposes his emotional intelligence. A naive student sitting in such a setting should try to make a good impression, which might be very helpful in getting into Minghe in the future. Is it really necessary to "relentlessly pursue" him like this?

"Next, we'll have a meeting in the southern suburbs. This will be the main focus of our work going forward, so don't get distracted by other things." As he spoke, Qi Zhendong looked at Hu Shutong.

Faced with this "eviction notice," Hu Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, slowly stood up, neatly folded the schedules on the table, and glanced at the two schedules on the projector. Qi Zhendong's narrowed and slightly moving eyes were full of authority, but in the instant Hu Shutong looked away, Qi Zhendong saw a hint of disdain.

……