Chad, the capital of N'Djamena, the same day that Chandan struggled in the Red Sea.

Lao Xie and they were busy all night and finalized the final bidding documents for the second phase of the contract.

Lao Xie is confident in getting the contract, and "Weizhong" completed the project delivery on time and with high quality after getting the first phase of the contract; The equipment runs stably after commercial use; They returned to N'Djamena at the risk of danger as soon as the rebel rebellion was put down, demonstrating the sense of responsibility and professionalism of "Weizhong"; It has been unanimously affirmed by customers.

In addition, Lao Xie has a good relationship with the customer "CTO", so good that he quietly set up the control point of "Weizhong" in the technical standard, and took the functional characteristics that only "Weizhong" products have as one of the scoring items of the technical standard evaluation.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, I had to go to the customer to hand in the final bidding documents and open the bid, and after lunch, Lao Xie planned to sit in the seat and rest in the chair. He closed his eyes, but his mind was uneasy.

He remembered the day when it was time to call home, and it was estimated that there would be some free time only at noon, so he put on his headphones and called Xiaoling with "Skype".

Xiao Ling's voice was lukewarm, and Lao Xie asked sensitively, "What's wrong?" You don't seem to be happy? ”

"It's nothing", Xiaoling paused for three seconds: "Your mother, complain to Sister Wang next door about the high prices in Shenzhen, the vegetables are not delicious, and you are tired of taking a baby." Sister Wang met me in the elevator and said that my mother-in-law was very hard and asked me to be more considerate and take care of her. What does that mean? To complain to my neighbors and make others think how lazy, unreasonable, and abusing the elderly every day? ”

When Lao Xie heard this, his head grew again: "The old man complains casually, he has no intentions." The last time I came back in the elevator, I met the old man and the old lady upstairs from their hometown back to Shenzhen, dragging a box and carrying a bag, as soon as they saw me, they said that they didn't want to go back to Shenzhen at all, how good their hometown is, how fresh and cheap the vegetables are, and they have no choice but to come to Shenzhen or something to bring their grandchildren. The old people are like this, they like to complain a few words on their mouths, but the difference is that they come when they are called, and they fight when they come. ”

"Are your parents willing to help take care of the baby in Shenzhen? If I don't want to, I'll still find a way to find a babysitter and not force them. However, it is not easy to find a nanny in Shenzhen, and it is not convenient to have a live-in nanny, which is annoying. ”

"Didn't they just want to bring their babies to Shenzhen? If you want to say how much they like Shenzhen, that's really not. Okay, my mother is complaining about Shenzhen, not about you, don't worry about it. ”

"Okay, Shenzhen is not good, I wronged her. I'm so careful, and I'm more wronged by your family. ”

"That's not what I meant."

Xiaoling had already hung up the phone.

Lao Xie took off his headphones and leaned back in the chair. Xiaoling is still understanding and considerate of him most of the time, but she still always expresses her dissatisfaction with his parents in things that seem small to him. He is still able to tolerate and accommodate Xiaoling most of the time, but there is still no way to say that his parents are not in order to cater to her.

Lao Xie sighed and closed his eyes again. He suddenly remembered Yan Lili, how is she now?

Before he could think about it for a few more minutes, the phone rang, and it was the customer "CTO" calling. Lao Xie quickly answered the phone, and the other party's voice was a little depressed: "Xie, this business is not successful, our friendship is still there, and we will still have many opportunities to cooperate in the future." ”

Lao Xie listened to these brainless words, his heart sank, he subconsciously looked at the time and asked, "What do you mean?" Isn't it the afternoon bid opening? I'm not misremembering the time, am I? ”

"CTO" said hesitantly: "There is no mistake in time, but this contract for the second phase of expansion will not be yours, it will be given to 'F Company', and all the shares will be given to 'F Company'!" ”

Lao Xie was incredulous: "There are still a few hours before the commercial bid is delivered, and the results of the technical bid will only be announced in the afternoon, how can there be results?" Didn't you say the day before yesterday that we had the highest technical score? ”

The "CTO" said: "Yes, you are right. But the 'CEO' is sure you're going to be out in the second phase, so I think that's it. Thank you, you have done a great deal of excellent work and have been with us even in the most dangerous situations, and I am very touched and regretted by this result. As a friend, I can imagine your frustration, so I can't help but call you first to express my apologies. You have to believe that there will still be opportunities for us to work together in the future. ”

Lao Xie was a little confused, and mechanically agreed to the other end of the phone.

For the past two days, he has been in a state of excitement, almost sleepless, doing the final work of the bidding with everyone. At this moment, it was as if an inflated balloon had been pricked by a needle, and he suddenly felt tired and slumped in his chair.

His mind was spinning and he thought, "The customer's 'CEO' was messed up by 'Company F'?" But since it is a tender, how can the result be determined before the bid is opened? What will be the reason for the customer to put it on the table? Since the 'CTO' took the risk and made this call in advance in an irregular manner, 'Weizhong' should be more than lucky? ”

It's time for them to leave soon, it's too late to do anything.

Lao Xie got up from his seat and walked to the bathroom.

Xiaoqiang was standing in front of the washbasin at the door of the bathroom, seriously wearing his tie in front of the mirror.

The customers here don't pay attention to dress, Xiaoqiang is just a technical service engineer, and he usually doesn't pay attention to dress. Lao Xie felt as if he had never seen him wear a suit or tie.

Xiaoqiang saw Lao Xie behind him from the mirror, and said with some embarrassment: "I used to be a sales brother who signed the contract before I appeared, and I was about to witness the glorious moment of getting the contract for the first time on the spot, so I wore a formal one." Mr. Xie, how to wear a tie? I don't remember. ”

Lao Xie didn't speak, motioned for him to turn around, and slowly helped him straighten his tie.

Xiaoqiang said: "When I graduated from college, my wife said that I was going to Shenzhen, and I had to go abroad, so I was dragged to the best tailor shop in the town to make this suit, which is the high-end suit in our town, which cost my wife two or three hundred yuan, and I have been reluctant to wear it." ”

Lao Xie's heart suddenly twitched. He couldn't speak, just turned and opened the bathroom door, hid himself inside, gently closed the door, locked it, and tears welled up in an instant.

I haven't closed my eyes much in the past few days, my eyes are dry, and my eyes hurt from tears, so I have to close my eyes hard.

It was the first time he had shed tears in the office over something at work. After months of dedication, even ignoring the threat to their lives, the boiled duck would really fly away like this?

Five minutes later, he pushed the door open and shouted to everyone, "Go, go, it's time to go." ”

They lost without controversy.

The technical standard "Weizhong" is the first, and "Company F" is the second, but the gap between the two companies is not large.

The business standard is strange, and the contract worth tens of millions of US dollars, "Company F" accurately underreported 500,000 yuan less than "Weizhong".

Moreover, the client slightly revised the rules at the last minute, reducing the proportion of technical subjects from 40% to 30%, and the proportion of commercial subjects from 60% to 70%.

In the evening, everyone got drunk at the restaurant of Mary, the proprietress of Taiwan.

Xiaoqiang fell on the table, tears in his eyes.

Mary would always come in and say hello when everyone was about to eat, and ask if everyone was satisfied in her always warm and gentle tone. Do I need to add a few dishes?

She patted Xiaoqiang on the shoulder: "What's wrong?" Why is the big man crying? It's just a loss of business, I heard what you said, what's there to cry about? It's good to win it back next time, at such a young age, what can't you afford to lose? ”

Lao Xie consciously controlled himself and didn't drink much.

He sighed: "This is the third time I have seen my brothers cry in the company!" ”

Mary deliberately said in an exaggerated tone, "Isn't it? I also said that Xiaoqiang is useless, why are you all like this? Lao Xie, do you cry like this? ”

Lao Xie laughed twice: "I cry with a hammer, I never cry." ”

"The first time I saw my brother cry was in Egypt," he recalls. One day, I was suddenly called to a meeting by a customer, but after I went, I was scolded by the customer, saying that there was a problem with our equipment, and we didn't find out the reason for a week. I wondered, thinking to myself that our little brother who was responsible for maintaining that equipment went to the computer room every day, why didn't he ask me any questions recently? Caught me off guard by the client. When I got back to the office, I asked him what the hell was going on? I was on fire and loud. ”

He took a sip of wine, and then said: "I haven't said a word yet, that brother, a 1.8-meter-old man from the northwest, stood there and told me about the process of analyzing problems in those days, while tears flowed down his face. Do you know what he was like? ”

Xiaoqiang raised his head: "What does it look like?" ”

He stood there, speaking in a voice that was not unusual at all, and when I looked up, I was startled to see his tears on his face. He was under a lot of mental pressure that week, but he was too honest to ask for help, he didn't know how to call out, and the pressure was all on himself. The brother left his job not long after. ”

Everyone was silent, and Xiaoqiang said, "What about another time?" Who is crying? ”

Lao Xie said: "Another time in the United Arab Emirates, I went to the client's office with a brother to report the progress of the project, and the client was very fierce, scolding us and attacking us personally, and the brother suddenly turned around and rushed out of the client's office. I'm on fire, what are you running? What for? I said sorry to the customer and went to him, only to find that the brother was standing outside in the corner, not angry, I asked him and did not agree, I took a closer look, and was silently crying, silently. After about five minutes, he wiped his face twice, didn't speak, and walked back to the client's office to continue the discussion with the client. ”

Mary digressed: "Oh, if I don't talk about this, I'm going to cry if I talk about it again." Xiaoqiang, I rarely see you in a suit, you're very handsome! ”

Xiaoqiang glanced down at himself: "My mother gave it to me, and I have been reluctant to wear it." ”

Lao Xie raised an arm and pointed to his elbow: "I've been buying this suit for a few years, I bought it in Dubai, 'Zegna', the most expensive dress I bought, after wearing it for a year, I said that the quality of foreign brand-name suits is not good, and it has only been worn for a year to grind like this?" Old Han laughed at me next to me, saying, 'How can you buy a good suit like this and wear it all day long, and when you see someone else playing football, you also wear a suit and leather shoes, and you go camping in the black and white desert with this suit, and you are embarrassed to blame the quality of the suit for not being good?' ’”

Everyone laughed.

Mary said, "That's right, let's talk about more happy things, and I'll go outside and take care of the other guests." ”

Xiao Qiang stood up with his glass in his hand, knocked over his chair and ignored it: "Sister Mary, I toast you with a glass of wine!" ”

A new round of clinking glasses began in the private room.

Cairo, Egypt.

Qian Dan was not in a good mood for a few days.

Lao Xie said that everyone is becoming more and more convinced that it is no coincidence that "Company F" has nailed the "Weizhong" quotation several times, and the range of people who can know the quotation information for the Chad project is not large, except for two or three local people, that is, a few people in charge of sales and major project management in the regional department, everyone is already very careful, and the possibility of inadvertent leakage is almost none.

Qian Dan knew that Zeng Zijian was among the few people in the regional department who might know the quotation information, and he felt more and more that Zeng Zijian was unusual, but he didn't know what to do? Go to Zijian for verification in person? Go and report to Lao Xie and even the leader about Zijian and Brother Wang's relationship and his own suspicions? But what if everything has nothing to do with Zijian? That's the "if" he would rather believe in in the bottom of his heart.

There were not many people in the office on the weekend, and Qian Dan was tired, so he walked to the rooftop again.

The top floor leads to the rooftop is an iron door, the hinge of the door is broken, inflexible, he pushed hard, the door "squeak" opened, he stepped on the roof, stunned, Zeng Zijian was not far away leaning on the railing to make a call.

Zeng Zijian turned his head when he heard the "squeak" of the door, and when he saw Qian Dan, he calmly hung up the phone, with a smile on his face, and said, "Are you also working overtime?" No weekends? ”

Qian Dan felt that he was smiling a little ugly, and he asked rhetorically: "I heard that we lost our orders in Chad?" ”

Zeng Zijian put away his smile: "Yes, we are having a meeting to review and discuss accountability." ”

"Accountability?"

"This kind of project is lost to competitors, and the leaders will definitely clean up people."

"Who's going to clean up?"

"The person responsible for losing the order, including your turtle Xie Guolin."

Qian Dan blurted out: "Didn't you say that it was because the offer was leaked?" ”

Zeng Zijian sneered: "Who told you that it was because the offer was leaked?" Lose the order one by one, hurry up and get rid of the pot? Xie Guolin is a person who has not done well in after-sales, and has been replaced by you, this time our account manager in charge of the project was malaria, and no one went to the scene for a while, he thought he could do it, so he recommended himself to do pre-sales, he knows a fart! Think you can handle a project if you have a good relationship with the 'CTO'? Have you figured out the customer's decision-making chain? The project was working in a mess, and he didn't report the news of the 'CTO' a few hours in advance, so he sat back and waited. ”

Zeng Zijian raised his chin: "The weather is very good today, I'll go down first, the meeting hasn't finished yet, don't spend it in the office all the time." ”

Qian Dan looked in the direction of his raised chin, and a plane slowly crossed the sky, and the big pyramid was clearly visible on the horizon. He remembered the days when he and Lao Xie were looking at the roof of the building, Lao Xie was really unfavorable, and he was simply a generation of back-to-back heroes.