To Special Assistant Yang, it seemed like the end of the world was nearing.
Staring at Speaker Long, he seemed to be completely drenched with tears.
“Speaker Long, Speaker Long, please don’t be like this! I’ve been working at the secretariat for so many years, don’t I at least deserve some credit for my efforts…? I want to reiterate that it was truly an accident, and I really was too busy to remember…” Special Assistant Yang pleaded.
His current appearance was a stark contrast to his usual dignified mannerisms and the graceful way he carried his slender body. Now, he seemed like a toad that had broken its spine. His usual charismatic persona was nowhere to be seen.
Speaker Long sympathetically patted his back, saying, “Don’t stress yourself out too much. Just go home and take some much-needed time off. After the interim election is over and Cabinet affairs are settled, then we can discuss your work issues.”
Hearing what Speaker Long said, Special Assistant Yang felt as though Speaker Long still had some faith in him, and he felt a flicker of hope rise up.
He pulled out his handkerchief to wipe away his tears and nodded. “I’ll do what you say, Speaker Long. If you want me to take some time off, then that’s how it will be. Although, who do you have in mind as my successor? I can brief him on the job.”
Speaker Long glanced towards his computer. He seemed to have no intention of furthering the conversation. “You just focus on summarizing your work at hand and give me the memo.”
He refrained from telling him who his successor was.
Special Assistant Yang clamped his mouth shut, shooting several glances at Speaker Long. However, Speaker Long refused to meet his eye.
Finally getting the message that Speaker Long was indeed done with him this time, Special Assistant Yang sheepishly left Speaker Long’s office and returned to his own.
His office was on the same floor. Although not as spacious as Speaker Long’s office, it certainly wasn’t small either.
Standing before the window in his office and looking out at the beautiful scenery in front of him made the previous events an even harder pill to swallow.
After graduating from B University’s Undergraduate Law School, Special Assistant Yang had been accepted to the secretariat due to his academic excellence. He had worked his way up for ten years, starting as a low-ranking secretary and moving up all the way to where he stood now.
Yet his current position was not secure.
Although Speaker Long was satisfied with him, he had no further intention of mentoring him as an apprentice. As if being a Special Assistant at the secretariat was his end career goal and the zenith of his career.
Of course, for the highly ambitious and opportunistic Special Assistant Yang, this was far from satisfying.
Therefore, when Speaker Long started scouting for talent outside of the secretariat, Special Assistant Yang had already felt as though his career prospects were being jeopardized.
When Cai Shengnan and Gu Nianzhi, two people Speaker Long had nothing but praise for, had appeared, Special Assistant Yang felt like he needed to do something about it.
He knew that unless he acted quickly to eliminate the threat, sooner or later, these two so-called stars would threaten his chances of rising to the top, becoming his most potent rivals, and perhaps even replace him one day!
Moreover, between Cai Shengnan and Gu Nianzhi, Special Assistant Yang had always considered special Gu Nainzhi to be the weaker one and, therefore, an easier target, so he decided to eliminate her first.
Yet he never imagined that his elaborate scheme would be dismantled by the hands of Gu Nianzhi.
With a downcast face, Special Assistant Yang packed his belongings into his briefcase, then wrote a summary of all he had been working on. He sent a memo to Speaker Long’s email. Only after all of this had been done did he take his briefcase and leave, telling some confidants, “I’m not feeling well, so I’m taking some time off. You guys better not slack off while I’m gone.”
“How could we?!”
“Special Assistant Yang, you need not worry. We will work diligently!”
“Special Assistant Yang, you have been working too hard. You should see a doctor if you feel unwell.”
Special Assistant Yang’s colleagues said their farewells and saw him out the door.
Special assistant Yang knew that Speaker Long wouldn’t let him lose the respect of his colleagues. He knew that the real reason he was forced to take time off would not be announced.
Although, Gu Nianzhi would definitely spread nasty rumors about him to their other colleagues.
Which was somewhat justified, since if Gu Nianzhi had been the one being forced to take time off, Special Assistant Yang definitely would have taken the opportunity to do as much damage to her reputation as he could.
Working at the secretariat required being cunning and fierce.
Without others falling, you won’t rise.
If you were going to step on others to get ahead, make sure you finished the job because if not, it would come back to bite you in the end.
Special Assistant Yang could personally attest to that.
This incident was the perfect example. He had tried to step on Gu Nianzhi, yet failed miserably due to the fact that he hadn’t made sure to finish the job.
Passing by Gu Nianzhi’s tiny workspace, Special Assistant Yang paused to smile at her and say, “Miss Gu, let me say this to you out of friendship. Life is a pendulum; nobody will always be lucky, and nobody will always suffer misfortune.”
Gu Nianzhi had spoken too much with Speaker Long and Special Assistant Yang while wearing her mask, and while the interior of the mask was pure cotton and, therefore, very soft. However, compared to her skin, it was still far too rough. The corners of her mouth stung from the constant rubbing.
Earlier, after she left Speaker Long’s office, she headed directly for the bathroom, took off the mask, and examined herself in a small compact mirror. She discovered that the skin around her mouth was red and swollen, and starkly contrasted with the surrounding porcelain skin. It was a hideous and unnatural sight.
When Special Assistant Yang passed by with his briefcase in hand, she honestly felt no interest in engaging in any sort of interaction with him, let alone participating in a conversation.
Every time she spoke, she felt a painful rubbing sensation.
Yet she had never thought that Special Assistant Yang still wouldn’t have learned his lesson, or that he would stop over to do some last-minute damage.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
Suppressing the discomfort around her mouth, she said calmly, “Right back at you. Don’t keep focusing on other people. Perhaps you should examine yourself some more. Don’t you think this bad blood between us should be settled once and for all and put behind us? I’m getting annoyed with you always being out to get me.”
Special Assistant Yang was simmering with rage inside and snickered, saying, “If you don’t want to listen to my advice, that’s up to you. I guess I should have minded my own business since you obviously don’t appreciate me sharing this piece of wisdom!”
“I have some offensive things to say, can you take it?” Gu Nianzhi said.
The two of them butted heads, and neither one seemed to have the intention of backing down first. At that moment, the intern Special Assistant Yang had recruited, Rong Mingxing, came in and said timidly, “Special Assistant Yang…”
Gu Nianzhi waved her hands and turned around to face her large LCD monitor to indicate that she was busy and had no intention of entertaining any further dialogue.
Special Assistant Yang sneered as he walked away, bringing Rong Mingxing to the small meeting room outside.
“Senior Yang, are you ill? Is it severe? Is there someone to take care of you?” Seeing that it was just the two of them, Rong Mingxing addressed him more intimately.
Special Assistant Yang treated Rong Mingxing much better than he treated Gu Nianzhi.
He smiled and said, “It’s just a small fever, it’ll subside after a day or two of rest. You need not worry.”
…
While Special Assistant Yang said goodbye to Rong Mingxing in the small meeting room, Huo Shaoheng was at the headquarters of the Special Operations Forces, busy reexamining Hong Kangquan’s microchip tracking data in the central control room.
The data bewildered Huo Shaoheng.
According to the microchip tracking data, Hong Kangquan had stayed home all night yesterday and had never stepped foot outside!
Then who on earth had his subordinates been following last night?
Could it be that they tailed the wrong person?
That seemed unlikely.
The two Special Operations Forces members he had following Hong Kangquan used a pin-sized camera to record the whole their entire night.
He saw with his own eyes that Hong Kangquan had left his residence and called a taxi that then headed for the gay bar.
Hong Kangquan was the one seen on the recording.
So why wasn’t the microchip data reflecting what they saw with their own eyes?
Huo Shaoheng rested his chin in his hands. He seemed to be deep in thought.
…
At the same time, in an apartment near the Sihuan district subway station, the police were investigating Lu Dayong’s death.
The landlord regretted renting the room to Lu Dayong. Now he had to furiously defend his innocence to the cops and swear that he had nothing to do with Lu Dayong’s death!
Furthermore, his property had been burnt down, and the cost of the repair was estimated to be an extraordinary amount.
Not to mention the fact that neighboring property was damaged as well, and he was responsible for compensating them. How truly distressful.
The police couldn’t care less about the compensation procedures. Their focus was on Lu Dayong’s death the night before.
After interrogating the landlord, the police started interviewing the neighbors.
The interviews provided intriguing pieces of information.
“Sir, there was indeed an incident last night. Someone was looking for Lu Dayong. They got into a fight so loud that the entire floor could hear.”
“Yeah, yeah! I even opened the door to see who it was, and it was a loan shark! Tall and burly, had a booming voice as well, absolutely terrifying!”
