novelslam Chapter 103 Making Things Difficult
Chapter 103 Making Things Difficult
The 22nd day of the first lunar month, the fourth day after the start of centralized maintenance.
The first batch of six boats from Hongjia Island have been loaded onto the rafts.
Ding Haisheng squatted next to the stern shaft of the second ship. The goggles on his mask were covered with welding sparks. He wiped them with a cotton swab and continued welding.
Ah Guang squatted down next to him, handing him welding rods. He recorded each rod as a separate entry, and the logbook already contained more than half a page of welding rod consumption records.
Ah Hai was dismantling gearboxes on the third boat, his torque wrench whirring from morning till night.
Jiang Haiping squatted on a stone pier next to the boat raft, spreading his account book on his knees.
The concentrated maintenance has only been going on for four days, and the old parts are being consumed faster than expected.
Seven bearing housings and four copper washers have already been used.
He scratched a mark on the inventory figures with his fingernail, closed the ledger, stood up, and walked to the workshop door.
"Ah Guang, how many copper washers are left?"
"Two." Ah Guang ran over from the boat raft, clutching the register to his chest. "Ding Haisheng used an extra one when welding the stern shaft yesterday. He found that the flange surface was uneven where a gasket should have been used, so he added a copper gasket to fill the gap."
"Two aren't enough. Once the boat from Hekou Village arrives next week, we'll need at least eight more copper washers." Jiang Haiping put the ledger in his pocket, walked to the loquat tree, and pushed out his bicycle.
The supply and marketing cooperative is located in the town center, in a gray brick building with a wooden sign that reads "Binhai County Supply and Marketing Cooperative" hanging at the entrance.
Jiang Haiping propped his bicycle up at the door, pushed open the glass door, and went inside.
The sales clerk behind the counter recognized him; he was wearing a blue work uniform from the Moon Island service station and always came to buy copper washers.
"We're out of copper washers." The sales clerk took a small cardboard box off the shelf and rummaged through it. "There were only a dozen or so left before the Lunar New Year, and we haven't restocked since. The whole county is undergoing centralized maintenance, and other service stations have bought up all the copper washers."
When will you restock?
"It's hard to say. The purchase order has been submitted and is awaiting approval."
Jiang Haiping came out of the supply and marketing cooperative and pushed his bicycle back home.
The shortage of copper gaskets is no small matter during the concentrated maintenance period. He knew that the service station would not be able to survive until next week without copper gaskets in stock.
The procurement approval of the supply and marketing cooperative is under the jurisdiction of the logistics department, and Section Chief Huang and Director Zheng of the logistics department have been colleagues for many years.
Back at the service station, Wang Cunzhi's Jialing 70 was already parked at the entrance.
He was sitting under the loquat tree, holding an enamel mug. When he saw Jiang Haiping come in, he put the mug on the stone slab.
"I heard about the copper gaskets. The county agricultural machinery company's inventory has been depleted, and the whole county is scrambling for them."
"Could we transfer it from the neighboring county?"
"Transfers between counties require approval from the county and county-level organizations. The approval goes down to the logistics department, which now has a new director surnamed Zheng." Wang Cunzhi picked up the mug and took a sip. The water was cold, and he frowned.
Jiang Haiping leaned against the loquat tree trunk. His surname was Zheng.
Before the Lunar New Year, Wang Cunzhi mentioned that Director Zheng, the former director of the supply and marketing cooperative's warehouse, was Ma Desheng's maternal uncle.
He rejected the extra diesel quota once, citing a flawed reason in the wording of the regulations.
The procurement approval for copper gaskets is now handled by the logistics department. If the process is followed through normal channels, no one will dare to refuse to approve it. However, if there are "reasonable delays" every time, and the approval is delayed for several days, it will be rejected.
"I have already filled out the purchase requisition form and submitted it. If they say that the inventory is sufficient and no restocking is needed, then there will be a shortage of copper pads."
"The service station's centralized maintenance cannot be stopped because of a shortage of a 30-cent gasket." He took out his ledger from his pocket, turned to the page on copper gasket inventory, and scratched a mark on the bottom number with his fingernail.
Gasket repairs can be delayed for a few days, but centralized maintenance cannot wait.
Three days later, the copper gasket still hadn't been approved.
When Ding Haisheng was welding the fourth fishing boat towed from Hekou Village, the stern flange surface was uneven, and copper gaskets were needed to fill the gap.
Ah Guang took out the last two copper washers from the toolbox.
Ding Haisheng took it, placed it on the flange, tightened it with a wrench, and tested the gap.
"This is the last one." Ah-Guang turned the empty cardboard box over and placed it on the worktable.
Wang Cunzhi came again in the afternoon.
He parked his motorcycle at the gate of the courtyard and walked in without greeting Ah Hai as usual. He went straight to the loquat tree, took out a piece of paper from his canvas bag, and handed it to him.
"The purchase order was returned by the logistics department. The reason given was that the requested quantity exceeded the quarterly budget and had to be reduced before it could be submitted."
Jiang Haiping took the return notice and read it over.
It was stamped with the Logistics Department's seal, and the person in charge's signature was illegible, but you could still make out that their surname was Zheng.
He had calculated the budget before coming to the countryside: one copper washer costs three cents, and applying for twenty would cost a total of six yuan.
The service station's hardware procurement budget for last quarter was forty dollars, and there are still eleven dollars left in the account.
"The reason is invalid. There are still eleven dollars left in the quarterly budget, and six dollars are within the limit." He placed the notice on the stone slab.
"I know. But the guy surnamed Zheng insists that the budget approval method has changed this year, starting with individual items listed separately, not the total amount."
The budget for a single hardware purchase has been changed to 3.5 yuan, and 6 yuan is 2.5 yuan over the limit.
The separate budget allocation is true; the county issued a notice at the beginning of the year, which all service stations received. However, the person surnamed Zheng has discretion in its implementation.
The budget can be flexibly allocated; he has the right to adjust it, but he won't let you adjust it.
"He didn't break the law." Jiang Haiping folded the notification and put it in his pocket.
"Yes. He's blocking you according to the rules. Every single one of them has a basis, and every single one of the bases is true, but every single one of them is placed right at the point where it's most difficult for you to handle." Wang Cunzhi put his hands in his pockets. "And he's just a link in the chain of procedures, not the decision-maker."
You won't sue him. You can't sue him. He can waste a lot of time with you, with constant daily squabbles.
Jiang Haiping walked to the front of the worktable.
Ah-Guang placed the unused copper gasket box next to the register, the empty box facing up, and wrote "Inventory Zero" on the lid with a ballpoint pen.
Ding Haifeng stood up from under the window of the old parts warehouse and placed the micrometer on the box.
"Haifeng, are there any old parts that can replace the copper washers?"
Ding Haifeng walked to the shelf of old items and pointed to each of the labels on the third row.
Sealing gaskets, flat washers, spring washers, copper gaskets, aluminum gaskets.
The compartment for the aluminum gasket is empty.
He crouched down to look at the notes in the register next to the blank space, then stood up.
"The service station previously removed several aluminum gaskets from the wastewater pump. The register noted that they were usable but the pressure resistance was reduced by one level."
Aluminum gaskets are softer than copper gaskets and are not pressure resistant enough for use in diesel engine oil line joints, but they can be used for flange clearance adjustment.
Three of them were removed last year and placed at the bottom of the fourth row of the used parts shelf.
He took out the old parts box at the bottom of the fourth row, and inside were three aluminum gaskets wrapped in old newspapers.
The edge of the gasket was slightly oxidized; wiping it with cotton yarn revealed the silvery-white material underneath.
He picked one up and held it up to the light. There were no cracks, and the thickness was the same as the copper gasket, 0.5 millimeters. He measured it with a micrometer, and the tolerance was within the allowable range.
"Aluminum gaskets can be used to adjust the flange clearance. Oil line connectors cannot be substituted; copper gaskets must be copper." Ding Haifeng placed the aluminum gasket on the workbench and measured it again with a micrometer.
"How many more copper gaskets are needed for the oil line connector?" Jiang Haiping asked.
Ahai poked his head out from the raft and said, "We still need at least two more diesel engine oil line connectors. We can use aluminum gaskets to replace the flange clearance for now, so there's no rush."
"I'll try to get the two copper washers from the county agricultural machinery company. If I can't get them, I'll ask Director Sun for special approval; the county bureau has emergency spare parts." Wang Cunzhi zipped up the canvas bag.
After finishing work in the evening, Jiang Haiping spread his account book on the stone slab under the loquat tree.
Next to the copper gasket inventory was written three words: "Aluminum gasket substitute".
He wrote another line below: "The logistics department's budget is listed separately, and the individual amount is reduced."
After purchasing agricultural machinery parts, you can't just list copper gaskets as a single item. All hardware parts must be included in one application for the total amount. As long as the total amount doesn't exceed the limit, listing them separately won't prevent you from exceeding the total amount.
"From now on, every time I submit a purchase order, I'll read through the terms and conditions first." He closed the notebook.
Ah Guang took the register off the workbench, turned to the remarks column of the page with the copper gaskets, and wrote a line neatly: "Aluminum gaskets to replace flange clearance. Zheng can't be delayed for now." After writing, he looked up at Jiang Haiping.
"Director Zheng will find other faults." A-Guang closed the register.
"I know." Jiang Haiping put the ledger into his pocket.