The suit on him was unkempt, and the greenish-black stubble growing out of his mandible was apparent. He really did look like he’d stayed up working all night.
Gu Nianzhi chuckled. “Looks like you guys are swamped, Special Assistant Yang.”
“Very busy indeed. It really couldn’t be a better time for you to be here to help.” Special Assistant Yang smiled as he walked her inside. “We have another intern with us today, she is also a student at B University. She’s a fourth-year student named Rong Mingxing. She’s not here yet, but you’re early.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Oh, I see. Since you’re all so busy, I guess it’s a good thing that you’ve taken on a few interns.”
Special Assistant Yang brought her to Speaker Long’s office and started with an apology. “Speaker Long, I did go through with all the necessary formalities yesterday but at the very last minute, someone came to verify matters relating to the election ballots so I forgot to submit the names of the two interns to the security department. I stayed up last night, and I’m not very clear-headed.”
Speaker Long had been up all last night as well. He waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry about it, you’re swamped with work too. You can go take a shower, I’ll walk Nianzhi through the basic situation and assign some work to her.”
Special Assistant Yang zoned out for a bit but recovered quickly. He laughed and said, “That’s wonderful. Thank you for being so understanding. I’ll get going now. Nianzhi, come by my office later, I’ll show you to your seat,” he said as he gave Gu Nianzhi a nod, then smiled as he left.
The smile on his face, however, disappeared once he left Speaker Long’s office. He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and walked expressionlessly into his office. He looked at the tasks he had to allocate for the next few days.
One of his subordinates entered and complained, “Special Assistant Yang, those from the prime minister’s residence are here. They want to discuss matters relating to the election ballot, do you want to meet them?”
Special Assistant Yang checked his schedule for the day. He was disinterested in dealing with the soon-to-be-replaced prime minister and his subordinates. He shook his head. “Let them wait.”
…
In Speaker Long’s office, Gu Nianzhi sat upright across from Speaker Long and listened as he explained the state of affairs at the Senate to her. He was speaking at the right pace and was succinct in his words. Very quickly, he briefed her on the entire situation at the Senate. “Nianzhi, you’re still an intern right now so you won’t be assigned any real substantial work. Take this time to observe and think about things. When you’re clear about the workflow and processes around here, I’ll get Special Assistant Yang to assign some real work to you. What do you think?”
“No problem, I’ll follow your instructions.” Gu Nianzhi nodded and left the office, carrying along with her the files that Speaker Long handed to her.
Gu Nianzhi made a quick scan around Special Assistant Yang’s office when she got there. It was a huge office indeed. The french windows overlooked the Imperial City. It was a magnificent sight.
“Nianzhi, please sit.” Special Assistant Yang, who had washed up and shaved, looked quite refreshed now. He passed the task list to Gu Nianzhi. “Have a look at the list and see if you’re interested in any of these tasks in particular.”
Gu Nianzhi skimmed through the list. The majority of the tasks involved typing, photocopying, making coffee, and organizing notes.
“Special Assistant Yang, are you sure these are tasks for interns?” Gu Nianzhi slid the list back to Special Assistant Yang and chuckled. “They look like things that part-timers do.”
“Miss Gu,” said Special Assistant Yang, addressing her differently now. He got serious. “Interns here start by doing these tasks for the first few days. Of course, Miss Gu, you’re capable and outstanding, so perhaps they may be a waste of your talent…”
Gu Nianzhi laughed. “Well, I don’t think it’s a waste of my talent. It’s just that I spoke to Speaker Long before and came here only because you were all so busy. I thought I could be of assistance. It’s a shame that I’m only going to be doing these tasks. It looks like you’re all not that busy after all. I mean, you even made me wait 20 minutes for you this morning. Really… what a way to put me in my place!”
Special Assistant Yang pushed his glasses up and laughed. “Miss Gu, there must be some misunderstanding. These really are tasks assigned to interns. Rong Mingxing, the intern that I mentioned to you before, is here and she’s already gone to make some coffee.”
The corner of Gu Nianzhi’s lips curled slowly. “Well, in that case, I’ll go bring Speaker Long a cup of coffee.”
She turned around and left. It was only when he saw her reach the door that Special Assistant Yang called out, “Miss Gu, it’s alright if you don’t like doing these tasks. I have here some other tasks. Do you want to try them out instead?”
Gu Nianzhi turned around and said calmly, “Special Assistant Yang, if I don’t even mind making coffee, what else would I not be willing to try?”
“Miss Gu, you have a splendid work attitude. We need more talented people like you in the Senate!” Special Assistant Yang said as he brought out another file. “This is the information about the Prime Minister’s residence. Their representatives came by early this morning to discuss election matters. Why don’t you meet with them on our behalf? You just have to ask them what they think about it.”
This task was definitely much more meaningful than serving coffee. Gu Nianzhi accepted it without hesitation.
Special Assistant Yang then got someone to bring her to her seat. Gu Nianzhi was now Speaker Long’s intern and thus considered part of the Senate’s Secretarial Office’s personnel.
The place she was brought to was also located somewhere in the Senate’s Secretarial Office.
Upon her arrival, Gu Nianzhi greeted the people that were there and even chatted with some of them. By the time she sat down, she knew almost all of the names and positions of those in the circle.
Everyone was still joking around with each other as Gu Nianzhi read up on the folder containing information about the prime minister’s residence. When she saw that Tan Guiren was among those who’d come for the meeting, she raised her brows and asked her colleague who was seated beside her, “Does the prime minister’s daughter count as a representative of the prime minister’s residence?”
“How can that be?” Her colleague’s lips curled with disdain. “I don’t even know what she’s here for.”
The current prime minister’s family of three had already fallen off their pedestal and was no longer envied by others. They were the perfect examples of people who had gone their separate ways but still got together occasionally.
Tan Guiren, the only daughter of Cai Songyin and Tan Dongbang, could be considered an innocent party embroiled in all of this.
Gu Nianzhi studied the file, then stood up and went to the guest room to meet with the personnel from the prime minister’s residence. However, before she left, Gu Nianzhi had someone show Tan Guiren out. She did not know why Tan Guiren had shown up, but she was sure that she would be at the meeting.
However, since Tan Guiren was not there as a representative of the prime minister’s residence, it meant that Gu Nianzhi didn’t have to be too civil with her.
Gu Nianzhi went to meet the three officials from the Prime Minister’s residence only after Tan Guiren left.
“What can I do for you?” Gu Nianzhi smiled calmly, presenting herself as someone approachable and affable.
“Miss Gu, we’ve received information that the re-election is imminent, but we feel that we need to deliberate more at length.”
“Yes, yes, yes, deliberate more at length. The people are ignorant and so they treat the victim as the perpetrator, but are you all that ignorant? I thought you bunch were of a higher caliber!”
