dkrc Chapter 70 Old Debts, New Owners
Chapter 70 Old Debts, New Owners
The notice for the special inspection was locked in the service station's drawer for several days.
Jiang Haiping takes it out twice a day, morning and evening, and checks each of the materials that need to be prepared.
All the sales records for the refurbished water pumps have been compiled, with each transaction accompanied by the buyer's signature or fingerprint. Warranty follow-up records are also arranged by date.
The nameplate numbers of the original parts have been archived.
Hong Xiaobing and Ashun re-inspected the old water pumps in the old parts warehouse that were waiting to be refurbished. They remeasured the impeller outer diameter, pump casing inner diameter, and gasket model, and recorded the data.
The training for the provincial skills competition has entered its final stage, and Ahai has increased the time he spends disassembling and assembling diesel engines from two hours to three hours a day.
Old Fang squatted down beside her with a stopwatch, timing the time; Ding Haisheng practiced overhead welding in the welding area; and Lin Xiu'e repeatedly chipped the groove opening by the stone trough.
That morning, Jiang Haiping was checking the warranty follow-up records for the refurbished water pumps in the workshop when a commotion suddenly broke out from the dock.
It wasn't the usual shouts of fishermen unloading their catch; it was someone arguing loudly, their voices sharp and urgent, mixed with the sounds of wind and waves crashing on the shore that were common at the dock, carrying all the way from the rocky beach to the workshop entrance.
Old Fang put down the wrench, walked to the workshop door, and glanced towards the dock.
A few people gathered on the dock, surrounding a fishing boat that had just docked. A fisherman in his fifties stood on the bow, his face roughened by the sea breeze. He pointed towards the stern and spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire dock.
Standing opposite him was Hong Chuandong, who had just gotten off the ferry and was carrying a plastic bucket of fish fry.
Old Fang stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe and went over to ask what was wrong.
When the old fisherman saw Lao Fang, he raised his voice even louder: "Master Fang, you're in charge of the service station, you be the judge."
The water pump impeller on my boat was replaced last month at a private boat shop near Hongjia Island. They said it was a refurbished part, and the price wasn't much cheaper than a new one.
After running for only a few days, the impeller jammed again, almost leaving me stranded at sea.
I went to find the plant owner, and he said the impellers were sourced from the service station.
As the old fisherman spoke, he pulled an old water pump out of the cabin.
A layer of white salt frost had formed on the outer shell, and the impeller was stuck tightly, not moving an inch when twisted by hand.
Old Fang took the water pump and examined it from all angles.
The nameplate on the pump casing was newly made; it wasn't the aluminum sheet nameplate used at service stations, but a thin sheet of iron with the words "Moon Island Renovation" stamped on it in steel lettering.
The handwriting was crooked and messy, completely unlike the style of the refurbished parts factory nameplate that Jiang Haiping handwritten on the title page of the register.
Old Fang put the water pump on the ground, pointed to the crooked words on the nameplate, and said, "Brother, this is not a refurbished part from our service station."
Each refurbished water pump at the service station has an aluminum nameplate with the refurbishment date, serial number, warranty expiration date, and the signature of the verifier.
We haven't used the metal nameplate before. Go find the owner of the private boat raft on Hongjia Island where you had your water pump replaced.
The old fisherman squatted on the ground, turning the water pump over and over again to examine it several times. Pointing to the nameplate, his voice lowered slightly: "The owner of that row told me that the goods came from the service station, and there's even a registration book."
He was Ding Fugui's apprentice in Baishakou, but I don't know his surname.
When Lao Fang heard Ding Fugui's name, he took the cigarette out of his mouth and remained silent for a while.
"Brother, did you know that Ding Fugui's boat raft in Baishakou was shut down by a joint inspection team from the county?"
The old fisherman looked up at Lao Fang and said he knew. At that time, the whole island was talking about how Ding Fugui almost killed someone by using welding rods to glue the rudder.
Old Fang said that the service station had no cooperation with him, and the group he brought had no connection with the service station either. They said they didn't recognize the nameplate, and they didn't guarantee the quality. They said the service station could take apart the water pump on his ship to take a look, but they wouldn't be responsible for the warranty.
Goods that didn't leave the service station are not the service station's responsibility.
The old fisherman squatted on the dock, put the water pump back into the cabin, thanked Lao Fang, and stood up to slowly walk back.
He took a few steps and then turned back, saying that he still needed to go to Hongjia Island to find that dam owner. When the pump was replaced, they promised a six-month warranty, but now they're renegeing on that promise.
Hong Chuandong stood by without saying a word until the old fisherman left before putting down the plastic bucket.
Old Fang pointed to the fish fry thrashing about in the bucket and asked why he had time to come over today.
Hong, the boat owner, said that several more private boats have recently opened on Hongjia Island.
Some of the signs were the old signs that Ding Fugui used in Baishakou. Some people specialize in collecting discarded water pumps, refurbishing them, adding a metal nameplate, and then selling them. Others go around telling fishermen that they have a cooperative relationship with the Moon Island Service Station.
The service station was renowned for refurbishing water pumps, and private boats used this as a front to sell their products.
Fishermen can't tell the difference, so they buy fake refurbished parts. When problems arise, they don't dare to contact private boats or rafts. It's only a matter of time before they come to the service station to settle accounts.
Ding Haifeng was registering newly arrived used water pump impellers in the used parts warehouse when he heard the commotion at the dock and looked up at the window.
He lowered his head again and continued tracing the register, his hand never stopping the wrench.
Hong Xiaobing squatted at the entrance of the old parts warehouse, cleaning the old sealing gaskets that had been removed. He overheard the conversation at the dock from beginning to end, wiped his face with cotton gauze, and went into the warehouse.
He saw Ding Haifeng squatting in front of the worktable, sketching the registration book in profile. He squatted down beside him and whispered, "You might know that old fisherman at the dock just now. He used to repair boats in Baishakou. He was your father's client."
Ding Haifeng paused for a moment with the wrench in his hand and said he knew that the boat had been repaired in Baishakou before.
Hong Xiaobing was silent for a while, then said that the old fisherman said that the group of people your father led were still using the service station's sign to sell refurbished parts.
Ding Haifeng lowered his head and continued to trace the register, saying that those people were not his father's apprentices. Ding Fugui had taken on several apprentices in Baishakou at that time, but later the boat rafts were seized, and those apprentices scattered, some of them going to shipyards in the south.
Some went back to their hometowns, but those who stayed in Hongjia Island were not from the service station. The service station requires aluminum nameplates and a signature of the verifier before refurbished parts leave the factory, but those people dared to sell them without any labels.
Hong Xiaobing flipped open the registration book page that Ding Haifeng had just finished tracing and looked at it. He then added that Jiang Haiping had already filed all the refurbished parts sales records and warranty follow-ups, and that every water pump had the buyer's signature.
When Lao Fang returned to the workshop, he told Jiang Haiping everything about the water pump, saying that Ding Fugui and his gang had started selling refurbished parts in Hongjiadao under the guise of a service station, and that they couldn't do without informing the provincial inspection team.
Jiang Haiping took out the refurbished water pump registration book, turned to the last page, and rechecked the materials required by the special inspection notice.
Every sale recorded in the register has the buyer's signature, and the origin and nameplate number of each refurbished water pump are documented.
When the inspection team arrives, these materials will be laid out. Whoever puts down the metal nameplate is responsible. The rules of the service station have nothing to do with those people.
Ding Haisheng practiced overhead welding in the welding area for the big competition. He increased the current by more than ten amps, and the welding rod moved at a constant speed, causing the flux coating to peel up on its own.
Molten iron dripped down and burned a hole in his glove, but he didn't flinch. After finishing the welding, he used a welding hammer to knock off the flux residue, leaving a neat and tidy weld.
Ah-Guang squatted down next to him and handed him welding rods, then quietly recounted how someone had been selling fake refurbished parts under the guise of a service station at the dock that morning.
Ding Haisheng squatted in front of the welding machine, clamped the new welding rod into the welding clamp, pulled the mask down again, and said, "My brother is still in the old parts warehouse."
Ah Guang said he was tracing the register, and had already traced several pages. He knew everything that happened at the dock this morning.
Ding Haisheng remained silent for a while, then the welding rod lit up again, and the fish-scale pattern overlapped layer by layer, moving more slowly and evenly than usual.
In the afternoon, Jiang Haiping invited Wang Cunzhi to the service station.
At the workshop entrance, I recounted the story of the old fishermen's water pumps at the dock from beginning to end, and then laid out the refurbished water pump registration book and special inspection notice materials for him to see.
Wang Cunzhi flipped through the registration book from beginning to end, stood up to look at the materials, and then pulled Jiang Haiping aside and whispered, "I have to go back and report this to Director Sun right away. Ding Fugui doesn't dare to show his face in person now, but his subordinates are hard to manage. The fishermen can't tell the difference, and the service station's reputation can't be ruined."
Jiang Haiping pushed the register forward another half inch and said that all the sales records of refurbished water pumps, nameplate formats, and sources of old parts at the service station were in the register, and each entry had the buyer's signature.
The next batch of new service station refurbished nameplates has been ordered from a hardware store in town.
In addition to the old part number, refurbishment date, and warranty expiration date, the new nameplate also includes the words "Made by Moon Island Service Station" and a signature field for the verifier.
Wang Cunzhi returned the registration book to him, saying that the provincial inspection team valued the source of the old parts and the traceability of responsibility for the refurbishment most.
As long as every refurbished part can be traced to its corresponding nameplate and acceptance record, it's useless for others to add more sheet metal nameplates outside.
In the evening, Hong Xiaobing closed the windows of the old parts warehouse and tucked them in tightly with plastic sheeting.
Ding Haifeng closed the registration book, stood up, walked to the warehouse entrance, and glanced towards the dock.
Old Zhou's newly sewn sampan swayed gently in the stone trough, the newly inlaid planks on the bottom of the boat shining in the sunset.
Jiang Haiping put the order for the new service station refurbished nameplate in the drawer and locked it. He then sat on the stone stool at the workshop entrance and opened the last page of the register.
New nameplate engraving, special inspections, and preparations for a major skills competition – several things are piled up at once, and the service station can't afford to slack off on any of them in the next few days.
As darkness fell, the noise from the docks had long since subsided.
The loquat leaves rustled in the night breeze, and the waves lapped against the stone trough.