The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 476 - 447 We Are Young, But Not Foolish_1

Chapter 476: Chapter 447 We Are Young, But Not Foolish_1

Huo Yingjie naturally understood this principle: having shouldered too many unjust blames, he was marked regardless.

"I have my own sense of measure," Huo Yingjie said, "You need to control your temper, you can’t just argue with others because they say a few words. They are in cahoots, and in the end, they will still bully us. We are at a disadvantage because we are outnumbered!"

"I get it, Boss," Zhou Yuanchao said, "I argued with them before because you never put them in their place, and I just couldn’t swallow that anger. Now that we are ready to get back at them, I certainly won’t rush into an argument with them."

"Alright, just be careful," Huo Yingjie said, aware that as a young man, coming to such a team, he expected to be ostracized, but had not anticipated it reaching such an abject level.

This was no environment for scientific research; it was darker than damn politics!

In the afternoon, they went to their work units and received the new task and workflow charts.

This self-serving team leader named Chen, around fifty, had a thin and gaunt frame, seeming virtuous and incorrupt, usually speaking with a gentle and amiable laugh, but his actions were somewhat underhanded.

Having obtained the task chart, Huo Yingjie went over it on scratch paper that very night.

Damn it, it was wrong again.

Huo Yingjie was absolutely certain that Leader Chen was setting him up to fail.

Upon seeing the theoretical data on the Boss’s draft paper, Zhou Yuanchao cursed, "That bastard Chen, does he think we are fools? Giving us a false plan and keeping the correct one for other members of the team, so even if we submit the correct plan, he’ll dismiss us for getting involved with other members’ tasks, and in the end, we’ll be the ones getting scolded."

After some thought, Huo Yingjie said, "Yuan Chao, if we don’t work on this solution, Chen will criticize us for not following the group’s work arrangements. After all, even a failed plan can provide some insights."

"Yeah, if we don’t show any results, we’ll be ridiculed by them," Zhou Yuanchao said, "How about this, Boss? We toil a bit more and conduct two sets of experiments. That way, we will provide relevant data for the incorrect version; and if we come up with the correct one, it shows we are not lacking innovative thinking."

"Ah, that’s a good idea, but what about the materials?" Huo Yingjie had also thought about this approach, but without materials, their plans were just a pile of useless papers; nothing at all.

"This won’t work, that won’t work," Zhou Yuanchao said, annoyed and embarrassed, "I really want to beat up that Chen."

"Alright, don’t be impulsive," Huo Yingjie said, "We’ll first apply to Leader Chen through the proper channels. If it doesn’t go through, I’ll appeal to the higher-ups."

"Alas, poor us, that’s all we can do," Zhou Yuanchao said, joining Huo Yingjie in refinements to the correct plan.

The next day before the work began, there was a motivational meeting, where past achievements and experiences were shared, along with expressions of determination and discussions on future plans.

Huo Yingjie and Zhou Yuanchao, due to their youth and inexperience, were scheduled to speak last.

Standing up, Huo Yingjie said, "Leader Chen, Comrade Zhou and I spent all night verifying the task chart you gave us and found several theoretical supports are incorrect. We’ve made corrections and are applying to conduct the experiment following this revised plan."

Leader Chen, with his amiable smile said, "I’m glad to see such dedication from you young comrades, but as you know, these plans are all set beforehand. Any contingencies are accounted for during the experiments. You just need to follow orders and conduct your experiments diligently."

"But if we carry out the experiments according to this task chart, the results will be wrong in the end, and everyone will say we’re wasting the team’s resources and holding the team back. But let’s not forget, this was the task assigned to us by the team. Every time, we followed the task chart, and each of our queries and requests have never been addressed by the team. Given this, why should we bear the consequences of a pre-determined flawed experimental task?" Huo Yingjie said, smilingly and calmly, while preventing the rising Zhou Yuanchao from standing up.

"Young comrade, don’t be so impulsive!" Leader Chen looked displeased, knowing that each time Huo Yingjie submitted his revisions, they were perfect, even more accurate than his previous analyses, which is why he kept those ideas for himself and his students.

Huo Yingjie smiled and said, "I’m not being impulsive, merely truthful. If I follow the incorrect plan, the outcome will naturally be wrong, but this isn’t Zhou Yuanchao’s or my fault, so we won’t shoulder those undue blames."

"We are all colleagues in one group; we must work together and not quibble over small matters, hindering the group’s unity and work progress," Leader Chen began to speak eloquently, hoping Huo Yingjie would not dwell on this issue.

"Working together is essential, and now I hope Leader Chen will sign to acknowledge that we are not without ideas, nor are we incompetent," Huo Yingjie smiled, holding out two documents, "This one is the task chart Comrade Zhou and I received yesterday, and this is the new plan we came up with overnight. According to the rules, this one needs your signature, which you haven’t signed; and this one also requires your signature, Leader Chen. If the final result is correct, then please don’t look at us or talk down to us with scorn."

Leader Chen was taken aback, not expecting Huo Yingjie to play this move.

The previous task charts were always signed by him after the experiments were completed and collected. As for the other document that Huo Yingjie submitted, once copied, they were just a dozen sheets of waste paper.

"Are you questioning my leadership?" Leader Chen said darkly, trying to use his position and age to press down on Huo Yingjie and Zhou Yuanchao.

In the team, Leader Chen always had the final say, no one dared to contradict him.

"We are questioning your leadership," Zhou Yuanchao couldn’t help but blurt out, "We’ve been here for two months, shouldering one blame after another. If we were inherently foolish, that would be one thing, but every time we manage to calculate the correct theoretical support. Nevertheless, we’re scolded in the end, while our original ideas become someone else’s achievements. We may be young, but we’re not stupid!"

"You... you..." Leader Chen, angered, pointed at Huo Yingjie and Zhou Yuanchao.

"You two insolent kids, don’t push it too far," said one of the balding men in his forties angrily, "We have a strict management system; what matters most is following orders, you lack discipline..."