Afternoon, at 2 pm.
Finance Department Administration Office.
After walking out of the office, Dong Xuebing sat down on a sofa in the waiting area and crossed his legs. He lit a cigarette and smoked slowly. Luo Haiting poured some warm water in a paper cup from the water dispenser for Dong Xuebing, and he thanked her.
“Sister Luo, sit down.”
“Ok.” Luo Haiting sat beside Dong Xuebing. “Chief…”
Dong Xuebing continued to smoke. “… huh?”
Luo Haiting asked. “Is waiting here going to be effective? The last time I came, I had waited here the whole afternoon with several other leaders. But all of us did not get a single cent. Err… there are still lots of work in the Agency, and waiting here is not the solution. Do you think it will be better for us to report the situation to the higher-ups, and let Mayor Zhao speak to them?”
Dong Xuebing replied. “I had reported, and Mayor Zhao also cannot do anything.”
“Then…” Luo Haiting sighed. “Are we going to sit here and wait?”
“Yes. I got this. Let’s just wait here.”
Luo Haiting couldn’t understand how waiting here can solve this problem. It might be more effective to quarrel with Ding Li and exert some pressure on him. Do you think the Finance Department is afraid of you waiting here?
Everyone in the office looks at Dong Xuebing from time to time. Some of them recognized him and were whispering among themselves. They knew Dong Xuebing is here to ask the Finance Department for money, and they were used to it. Too many people had come to ask for money these few days, but all of them returned empty-handed. That’s why the staff were not too bothered by Dong Xuebing. They took a glance at the legendary ‘God of Plagues’ and returned to work. They believed Dong Xuebing will leave soon.
One minute…
Two minutes…
Three minutes…
Xu Xu walks out of the office with a worried look on his face. He looked at Dong Xuebing and nodded before leaving. He had not gotten any money from Ding Li.
Luo Haiting cannot stand it. She felt it is meaningless to wait any longer.
Dong Xuebing looked at his watch and took a deep breath. He mumbled to himself. “STOP!”
After a while, the Office Director, Tang Xiaojun, walks out of the office and saw Dong Xuebing sitting there. He said to himself in his heart. Just go ahead and wait here. Chief Ding will never give you a single cent. He turned and walks to a cubicle to continue with his work. Ding Li had occupied his office, and Tang Xiaojun can only work in the shared office.
Suddenly, a commotion was heard in the office.
A staff shouted in, shocked. “Where are the documents? Did anyone see the brown document envelope on my desk?”
The staff sitting beside him said. “Did you keep it in the drawer?”
“No.” That staff panicked. “I had placed it on my desk. Why is it missing? That is the next month’s budget report, and the County Government needs it urgently!”
Tang Xiaojun frowned. “How can you lose such an important document?!”
Before that, staff can continue to look for his document, a female staff shouted. “My PC monitor had blacked out. Can anyone who knows about PC help? My work is not saved.”
Tang Xiaojun scolded. “Quiet down!”
The female staff quickly shut up and pulled a young staff over to check on her PC. If the PC had broken down, she had to type the document all over again. This document contains important information required for tomorrow’s County Government’s meeting. There is not enough time for her to redo everything. After some checking, they realized someone had unplugged the PC. When the PC was switched on, most of the documents were gone. The female staff slapped her forehead in despair.
Immediately after that, everyone felt the office become colder. Some of the staff wore their coats, and some were shivering. Although it’s Spring, it is the start of Spring, and the temperature is still very low. Tang Xiaojun is feeling frustrated. He asked one of the staff to check the temperature of the air conditioner. That staff pressed on the remote controller a few times and told Tang Xiaojun the air conditioner had broken down. Tang Xiaojun shook his head and asked his men to call the repairmen. Like the rest of the staff, Tang Xiaojun also wore his coat. Despite wearing his coat, he still felt cold and went over to the water dispenser to get some hot water.
Click… click… the water dispenser is not working.
Tang Xiaojun shouted angrily. “What is going on today? Why is the water dispenser not working?”
A staff walked over. “Director, I had just poured a cup of water, and it was working fine.” The staff tried again and discover the dispenser had broken down.
“Send it for repairs!” Tang Xiaojun shouted.
“Eh?!” Someone shouted behind Tang Xiaojun.
Tang Xiaojun is getting furious. He turned around and stared at the staff. “What is it again?”
A slightly older staff held up the office phone and said. “Director, the phone is not working. I think the line is cut.”
“What?” A staff beside him grabbed his phone, and it was quiet.
The rest of the staff quickly picked up their phones and discovered the whole office’s phone lines were cut. Two of the staff were panicking. They were waiting for an important phone call. Why must the phone lines get cut now? They quickly took out their mobile phones to call the other party.
Tang Xiaojun’s face turned pale. All these troubles are coming one after another. What is this ending?
Tang Xiaojun returned to his cubicle after getting one of the staff to check on the phone lines. The office settled down, and everyone returned to work. Just when Tang Xiaojun picks up his pen to sign a document, something happened again!
*Click!
All the PC monitors and lights in the office went off!
“… Ah?! Blackout?”
“Blackout? Our department had not experienced blackouts for more than a decade.”
“Argh! My file! I still had not saved it!”
“Smoke! My PC is on fire! Quick! Water! Put it out!”
The office is in chaos as everyone tried to put out the fire.
Tang Xiaojun almost flipped his desk out of anger. He got a staff to check on the circuit breaker box and ordered the rest to carry out the PC on fire. What the hell is going on? Nothing had happened in the Finance Department Office all these years. Why did so many weird things happen within the last half an hour? Missing documents, air conditioner, and water dispenser broke down, phone lines were cut, blackout, PC on fire… What the f** is going on?!
Now, even a moron will know all these ‘accidents’ are related!
Luo Haiting was stunned, and she stared at Dong Xuebing.
Dong Xuebing is still smoking slowly with his eyes narrowed, and he doesn’t care about the chaos in the office. He continued to sit there without a care and had never left the sofa.
Tang Xiaojun and the office staff remembered something. All of them turned and looked at Dong Xuebing! They remembered Dong Xuebing has the nickname, ‘God of Plague,’ and is a good magician! Did Chief Dong do all these? If one or two incidents happened, it might be coincident. But five to six incidents happening within minutes is definitely not coincident!
Dong Xuebing is amused when he saw everyone looking at him as if he is a ghost. “Director Tang, why are you all looking at me?”
Tang Xiaojun had been doing administrative work all this while and is timid. He quickly says. “Nothing… nothing…” He had never thought of offending Dong Xuebing. It was because of the nature of his work that he got involved with him. He knew that a flowerpot fell onto Qian Fei’s head when he was with Dong Xuebing. The former Investment Promotion Agency Chief was also with Dong Xuebing when the elevator cable broke, and got a stroke because of the fright. There are many more unbelievable incidents involving Dong Xuebing.
Dong Xuebing laughed. “Your office seems to have endless troubles. Director Tang, did you all offend anyone? Haha… Could it be the Power Supply Bureau and the Telecom finding trouble with you all?” Dong Xuebing paused for a second and continued. “Oh, when can you all transfer the funds into our Agency’s account? I have been waiting for more than half an hour.”
Tang Xiaojun’s sweat rolled down from his forehead. “Let me ask you.”
At the same moment, Ding Li stormed out of the office. “What is going on? Why is there a blackout?”
Tang Xiaojun whispered something to Ding Li, and they entered the office.
“What is going on?” Ding Li asked impatiently.
Tang Xiaojun was scared by Dong Xuebing. He said nervously. “The chaos in the office started after Chief Dong come out from this room. First, documents went missing. After that, the air conditioner broke down, followed by the water dispenser. The phone lines were also cut, and a few seconds later, there was a blackout. A PC also caught fire. This…”
Ding Li heard it and gasped. “All this happened earlier?”
“Yes.” Tang Xiaojun wiped his sweat. “It happened within the past half hour.”
Ding Li is furious. “Who allowed Dong Xuebing to walk around our Finance Department? This is too much. How dare he cut our electricity supply? What is he trying to do? Ah?”
Tang Xiaojun replied. “No… Chief Dong… He… he had been sitting on the sofa all this while.”
Ding Li is stunned. “He is sitting on the sofa?! He did not leave the sofa?”
“He did not even leave for a second. Director Luo had not moved too. I was watching them.” Tang Xiaojun replied. “That’s why…”
Everyone had heard of the ‘God of Plague,’ but not many had experienced it. This time, the staff in the Finance Department get to experience it first-hand. It’s terrifying to see a series of weird incidents happening one after another. No wonder people gave Chief Dong this nickname!
