Chapter 64: An Ill-Timed Breakdown
Early the next morning, Ma Yuan, having prepared a stomach full of arguments and a wealth of theoretical support, received a notice from the company just before leaving his house. Most of the company's technical management were rushing to the construction site, and a car soon stopped by to pick him up.
Upon hearing the news, Ma Yuan was shocked.
Could it be that his instructions from last night had such a huge effect? But in theory, it shouldn't have worked so quickly, right?
It wasn't until Ma Yuan joined Yang Xu and the others and arrived at the site that he understood the reason. Pan Qingfeng, the director of Party A's Third Oil Production Plant, had specially invited senior officials from other oil production plants and the oil field's leadership to come for an inspection today.
The inspection was for this very well, which was being held up as a model project for its gratifying achievements. Pan Qingfeng's move was intended to build momentum for his upcoming theoretical research projects and to establish a successful precedent.
When they arrived, they saw the site had already been prepared. Colorful flags were waving, the construction area was arranged in an orderly manner, and the ground of the well site had been cleaned and leveled.
Just then, Squad Leader Wang Wanlin found an opportunity to pull Ma Yuan aside.
"Mr. Ma, Liu Shangming gave clear orders last night to continue construction as planned."
"But then you suddenly had us inject the expansion body. What… what should I do?"
Ma Yuan, not yet woken from his daydream of success, gave him a hard look. "What do you mean, what should you do?"
"Liu Shang has gone back to school. I'm in charge of the construction site now."
"Don't say anything, don't talk too much, and just keep working!"
At that moment, Pan Qingfeng, the director of the oil production plant; Zhang Zhengmao, the chief geologist; Shen Chengcheng, the chief engineer; and many other plant leaders all arrived.
Naturally, Boss Song Guangyuan, Xu Tiande, Director Zhong, and others went up to accompany them.
According to a reliable source, the senior leaders from the bureau and the expert team from the oil field were already on their way and were expected to arrive in half an hour.
Just as everyone was energized and beaming, talking and laughing in the relaxed atmosphere, a problem suddenly erupted on the construction site.
The high-pressure injection pump suddenly seized and stopped working. At the same time, it let out an appalling series of bangs.
Seeing this, the expressions of Pan Qingfeng, Song Guangyuan, and the others changed instantly.
The leaders from the bureau, the senior managers from other plants, and the expert team from the oil field were about to arrive, and a problem like this had to happen now?
This was a blatant embarrassment, a slap in the face!
So, before the smile on Pan Qingfeng's face had even faded, Yang Xu and the others immediately gathered around the pump to organize repairs.
Song Guangyuan, meanwhile, kept a smile fixed on his face as he reassured Pan Qingfeng.
"Director Pan, it's not uncommon for pumps to jam up at construction sites."
"It's a small problem. Ten minutes, it'll be resolved soon. You don't have to worry."
Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned. Eight minutes stretched on, and a crowd of frowning workers still surrounded the equipment. Yang Xu rushed over to Song Guangyuan and Pan Qingfeng, his face grim.
"Mr. Song, this pump might not be fixable in a short amount of time."
"And trying to transfer other equipment from another site now… it seems it's too late."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Song Guangyuan and the others changed dramatically. Pan Qingfeng's face was as cold as ice.
The next moment, Song Guangyuan, Pan Qingfeng, and their entourage strode over to the equipment. The crowd parted to make way for them.
Feeling extremely uneasy and with a headache building, Song Guangyuan's eyes subconsciously landed on Fan Song in the crowd, who was wearing brand-new red overalls.
"Fan Song!"
"Aren't you the company's equipment administrator?"
"The equipment is broken! Why are you standing so far away? Go find a way to fix it!"
Seeing Song Guangyuan's thinly veiled and rapidly escalating anger, and with the gazes of so many people fixed on him, Fan Song's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Um, Mr. Song, although I'm the equipment administrator, I… I don't know how to repair the equipment."
"In the past, the construction team always repaired it themselves. Who would have thought they couldn't fix it this time!"
As he said this, Fan Song didn't dare to look up and meet Song Guangyuan's terrifying, furious eyes.
In desperation, Song Guangyuan turned to Wang Wanlin, the squad leader, who was sweating profusely with his hands covered in oil.
At this point, Wang Wanlin was at his wit's end and could only explain.
"Mr. Song, it's because of the expansion particles that were added last night."
"Normally, when we add this stuff, it has to be soaked first. But it was added too hastily last night without any soaking."
"So now it's exceeded the pump's capacity, and the pump is deadlocked."
"As for the workers on site, we're all uneducated folks. How would we know how to repair equipment like this? Usually, if something small goes wrong, we can fix it ourselves."
"But right now… we really can't fix it in time."
Hearing this, Song Guangyuan was filled with regret.
He blamed himself for not paying enough attention to the company's management, for allowing mediocre people like Fan Song to get key positions through their connections.
Otherwise, how could a situation like this have happened today?
It was a perfect example of the old saying: a thousand-mile dike can collapse from a single anthill.
By now, Pan Qingfeng's face was flushed with anger. He stomped his feet and yelled at the people around him, "What are you all doing standing there in a daze? Hurry up and find the technicians in the plant who understand this equipment!"
Zhang Zhengmao, the chief geologist who had been standing behind Pan Qingfeng, also sensed something was wrong from Wang Wanlin's explanation.
"What?"
"According to the plan that Liu Shang and we established, this well was supposed to be filled with low-strength gel the entire time, right?"
"Why did you suddenly switch to an expansion body?"
"Also, where is Liu Shang? Why haven't I seen him?"
Prompted by Zhang Zhengmao, Pan Qingfeng and the others also realized what was wrong. "That's right, why did you all panic?"
"And yes, where is Liu Shang? Why was the construction fluid system suddenly changed?"
Under the aggressive questioning from everyone, Wang Wanlin had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue.
"Mr. Liu's vacation time was up, and he was afraid of being reprimanded by his professors at school, so he asked for leave and went back early."
"The pressure in this well suddenly dropped by 2.5 MPa last night, and we reported it immediately for instructions."
"We switched to this expansion body after receiving those instructions."
Perhaps because Liu Shang had been so certain and clear about the technical plan in previous discussions, Zhang Zhengmao asked subconsciously.
"It was Liu Shang who told you to inject the expansion body?"
Asked this directly, Wang Wanlin didn't dare to speak anymore. He just hung his head, refusing to respond.
At this point, Ma Yuan, who was also sweating, responded vaguely, his voice almost trembling. He simply couldn't bear the weight of such a huge responsibility and such a major accident.
"Uh, heh, Liu Shang has been in charge of this well, so maybe..."
But everyone present was a veteran in their field, having navigated difficult situations for years. Seeing the state Ma Yuan and Wang Wanlin were in, they had already formed their own conclusions.
Pan Qingfeng, who had fallen into despair, pointed at the motionless pump and sighed heavily.
"Hey! At such a critical juncture, why did you let Liu Shang leave?"
"If he was having problems with his school, I could have just made a call. Alas!"
"Now look at the mess you've made!"
Just when Song Guangyuan and the others felt overwhelmed, their scalps tingling with dread, a car sped towards them.
With a sharp screech of brakes, a figure, seemingly backlit by the sun, leaped from the car.
It was Liu Shang.
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