dkrc Chapter 106 Secondhand Goods
Chapter 106 Secondhand Goods
Chapter 106 Secondhand Goods
Ding Haifeng stood under the loquat tree, put the micrometer back in the box, closed the lid, and then opened it again to take a look.
He put his hands into his work clothes pockets, his fingers touching the square wrench, which was icy cold.
Then I pulled my hand away and finished saying the rest of what I had to say that day.
"The copper washers in the secondhand shop were taken from scrapped machines. They weren't stolen, nor were they dumped from the supply and marketing cooperative."
However, the scrapping procedures for those machines were incomplete; some were simply obsolete equipment dismantled and sold for parts without proper scrapping certificates.
Old Fang took the cigarette out of his mouth.
He looked at Ding Haifeng for a long time, then put the cigarette back in his mouth.
"That means the source is incomplete. If the service station uses these old parts, it's like handing the knife to someone else if they get caught."
Last time, when the man surnamed Zheng came to investigate the origin of the old parts, he even managed to find a note saying that the aluminum gaskets were "ship dismantling parts".
The copper gaskets were removed from a machine with incomplete disposal documentation. How would you write "Source unknown" in the origin field?
Ding Haifeng did not respond.
He had thought about this problem.
He had thought about it while going through the ship dismantling records under the window of the old parts warehouse. But he also knew that the service station currently had zero copper gaskets in stock.
The purchase order was returned for correction, and it will take at least five days to be approved again after the correction is made.
The boat to Hekou Village is already halfway there. The aluminum gasket on the return oil pipe can last for two days, but what about after that?
Jiang Haiping leaned against the loquat tree trunk, took out the half-sheet of old newspaper from his pocket, and unfolded it.
The above lines are still there: Hong Laosan's debt, Lao Chen's twenty yuan, Hong the boatman's debt already settled, and the general accounts reconciled before the new year.
Second place in group performance, first place in stitching, and first place in used parts.
He turned the newspaper over and wrote two words on the back: "shim". Then he folded it up and put it back in his pocket.
"Have you checked the quality of the copper washers from the secondhand shop?"
"I've measured it. My dad brought a sample back last year, and I measured it three times with a micrometer. The thickness is 0.5 millimeters, within the tolerance range. The material is copper, and it's not oxidized." Ding Haifeng took the micrometer box out of his pocket and placed it on the stone slab. "It's old, but it works."
"Usable and functional are two different things. Every used part used by the service station must have a provenance. The copper gaskets from the secondhand shop are listed as being from dismantled scrapped equipment," but the scrap report is incomplete. If Mr. Zheng brings this up again in the future, this one incident will be enough to give the service station a run for its money."
"I know." Ding Haifeng lowered his voice, but each word was still steady. "So I don't recommend that the service station buy them directly. I suggest that you bring a few over first for emergencies."
The boats in Hekou Village can't wait five days. The aluminum gaskets will last two days, but after that, the oil lines will start leaking. The fishing boats will be stranded on the rafts, and the fishermen will be waiting at the dock every day. Every day they wait means one less day of fishing.
The courtyard was quiet for a few seconds.
Ah Hai squatted beside the diesel engine, holding a torque wrench in his hand, looking back at the loquat tree.
Ah-Guang sat at the worktable, the register lying on his lap, the pen resting untouched in the middle of the notebook.
Lin Xiu'e stood up from the kitchen doorway, wiped her hands on her apron, and didn't come over.
Old Fang took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked off the ash.
He squatted down and drew two lines on the stone slab with a twig.
One entry reads "Service Station Procurement," and the other reads "Secondhand Shop."
"Take five copper washers from the secondhand shop. Not to buy, but to borrow. Return them when the service station's purchase order is approved and the washers arrive." He placed the branch on the stone slab, looked up at Ding Haifeng, and said, "Borrowing secondhand items also requires registration. What should be written in the 'source' field?"
Ding Haifeng sat down on the roots of a loquat tree.
He opened and closed the micrometer box repeatedly.
I thought about it for a long time.
"The source is listed as a secondhand shop in Baishakou, dismantled equipment parts, the scrap certificate is missing, temporarily borrowed for emergency use." The remarks column should indicate the borrowing date, quantity, and person in charge. The return date should be added to the remarks column upon return. He placed the micrometer box on his lap. "If this is found in the future, I'll admit the source is incomplete. I won't hide it."
Old Fang glanced at Jiang Haiping.
Jiang Haiping leaned against the loquat tree trunk, going over Ding Haifeng's words in his mind. The source was incomplete; he frankly wrote it down in the register.
Borrowing, not buying.
Add a record to the remarks column after returning the item.
The service station's old parts management system does not include a clause on "borrowing," but it does not prohibit it either.
Director Zheng is meticulous about regulations. He can criticize the fact that "borrowing" does not comply with the old parts procurement process, but "borrowing" is not "procurement".
This is a loophole that the service station itself created in the management of old parts, putting the rules to good use.
"Five. Just five. A separate page in the register will be used to record the borrowed items. Source, quantity, borrowing date,..."
Write down the expected return date and the person in charge. Cross it out with a red pen after return.” Jiang Haiping squatted down and added a line between the two lines Lao Fang had drawn on the stone slab with a twig: “Borrowed. Write down the source in full. Do not hide.”
"I'll go tell my dad." Ding Haifeng put the micrometer box into his pocket, stood up, and walked towards the gate of the courtyard.
"Haifeng," Jiang Haiping called out to him.
Ding Haifeng turned his head back.
"Have your dad bring one over first. Just one. You measure it first, then show me the measurements. If it's up to standard, then you can bring the remaining four."
"OK."
Ding Haifeng rode his old bicycle out of the courtyard gate.
The wind on the seawall was even stronger than in January. He turned up the collar of his school uniform, lowered his body, and rode towards Baishakou.
The missing screw on the rear fender was still there, and it was being blown by the wind, rubbing against the wheel rim and making a faint metallic scraping sound.
You can still hear it even after riding quite a distance.
Lin Xiu'e walked over from the kitchen doorway, carrying an enamel mug in her hand.
She placed the jar on the stone slab and wiped her hands on her apron.
Jiang Haiping picked up the jar and took a sip; the water was lukewarm.
A new honeycomb briquette was replaced in the stove. Sparks slowly seeped into the coal holes, glowing red for a while before going dark again.
"A copper gasket from a secondhand shop, if it's of good quality, can last for a few days."
"It works just like a new one. The standard thickness of the copper gasket in the oil line connector is 0.5 mm. It is made of copper, which is hard enough and will not oxidize in a diesel environment."
"As long as the old copper gaskets don't have dents or cracks, they can be used normally until the next maintenance if they pass the inspection." Ah Hai stood up from beside the diesel engine and placed the torque wrench on the toolbox. "It's just that the source is incomplete. Old Fang is right. If this guy surnamed Zheng gets hold of it, it'll be even more troublesome than the aluminum gaskets with unknown sources."
Aluminum gaskets are worthless. Copper gaskets are on the county-level controlled material list.
"Control the supplies." Jiang Haiping placed the enamel mug on the stone slab.
"Yes. Copper is a controlled material. Copper gaskets are finished products that are controlled materials."
The county cooperative has separate regulations for the procurement and use of copper fittings. Service stations must obtain approval before purchasing copper gaskets, and the source of the purchases must be a supplier approved by the county cooperative.
"Secondhand shops aren't part of the approved channels." Ahai pulled an old manual from his toolbox, flipped to the page on copper fittings control, and pointed to a line of text, reading aloud, "The purchase and use of copper fittings must be recorded in a dedicated ledger, noting the source, batch number, location of use, and replacement date." Service stations have dedicated ledgers, but the source must be compliant.
Jiang Haiping took the old manual from Ahai's hand and read it from beginning to end.
The regulations for controlling supplies were issued the year before last. Some parts of the mimeographed text are blurred, but the key clauses are still legible.
He returned the manual to Ahai and walked to the entrance of the old parts warehouse.
"Ah Guang, do you have a management log for the copper gaskets?"
"Yes. There are more than ten pages at the end of the third register." Ah Guang turned to the page for copper fittings in the register and showed it to Jiang Haiping.
Every line is neatly arranged, with the source, batch number, usage location, and replacement date clearly listed from beginning to end.
"The five copper washers that were borrowed will be recorded on a separate page in the ledger. The source should be written down truthfully. When they are returned, the return date should be noted in the remarks column."
If the person surnamed Zheng finds this, they should say that the procurement approval was delayed during the service station's centralized maintenance period, and that the inventory of the second-hand store was temporarily borrowed as an emergency measure.
"All usage records during the borrowing period are complete, and the book was not used for any other purpose." Jiang Haiping returned the register to A-Guang.
"If you write it truthfully, he'll use the excuse that the source is incomplete to blackmail you." Ah-Guang hugged the register to his chest.
"He can already use the card even if the source is incomplete. What the service station is doing now is not preventing him from using the card, but ensuring that the service station can produce complete borrowing records when he does use the card."
The purchase order is still in the approval process; borrowing is an emergency measure. An emergency measure with complete records is better than having the fishing boat stranded on the raft due to a shortage of copper gaskets.” Jiang Haiping walked back to the loquat tree, took out his ledger from his pocket, flipped to the page for copper gasket inventory, and wrote a line in the blank space next to it: “Borrowed five copper gaskets from the secondhand shop; source accurately recorded. Account closed upon return.”
Ahai reinstalled the diesel engine's fuel line connector, tightened the copper gasket, and tightened it to the standard torque with a torque wrench.
He squatted down next to the diesel engine, wiped his hands with cotton yarn, and looked up in the direction of the seawall.
Ding Haifeng had already ridden far away, leaving only reeds bent over by the wind on the seawall.
Old Fang put the cigarette back in his mouth and squatted at the workshop entrance, looking at the empty seawall outside the gate.
He took the rag off the ladle and then draped it back over his shoulder.
"Ding Fugui, this son." Old Fang said half a sentence, took the cigarette off his mouth and flicked off the ash, without finishing his sentence.
Jiang Haiping leaned against the loquat tree trunk.
He closed the ledger and put it in his pocket, his hand touching the half-old newspaper.
Several more lines of text appeared next to the old newspaper that read "Hong Laosan, halfway before the winter solstice," filling it up with dense writing.
He mentally reviewed the matter of the copper gasket from the beginning.
The purchase order correction will be submitted tomorrow. The process should take at least three days, but in reality it takes five days.
Five copper gaskets were borrowed from a secondhand shop, and Ahai equipped each boat with them. One copper gasket was used for the high-pressure oil line, and aluminum gaskets were used temporarily for the return oil pipe.
Five orders are enough to last until the purchase order is approved. If Mr. Zheng finds other faults halfway through, we'll figure out another way. But this time, the service station didn't hide the loopholes.
If the source is incomplete, write "source is incomplete"; if it is borrowed, write "borrowed".
Lay every single detail out in the open, so that when he tries to find fault, he has to go through each and every one of them.