To Rong Mingxing, this was already a pleasant surprise…
She immediately stood up respectfully and with her back facing the bright and open glass walls, she continuously bowed at Gu Nianzhi. She was bowing so dramatically that it was basically the polite 90-degree bow given by Japanese people.
“Thank you, Miss Gu! Thank you, Miss Gu! I know that Miss Gu is a beautiful and kind person, so you’ll be sure to help me!”
Rong Mingxing gushed with compliments, her expression extremely thankful.
Gu Nianzhi faced the glass wall, so she unavoidably saw the people from the Secretariat outside her office practically spectating what was going on.
In the eyes of the experienced Secretariat staff, Gu Nianzhi and Rong Mingxing were the same kind of people—they were brand new interns hired this year.
But now one was already sitting in a private office, while the other was bowing humbly to the former…
This contrast was truly too sharp, so most people began to judge the situation for themselves.
At that moment, everyone was siding with Rong Mingxing.
Gu Nianzhi’s mind began to work as she calmly watched Rong Mingxing bow. When she was done, Gu Nianzhi finally smiled and pointed to a camera in the corner of the office, “I forgot to tell you that everything here is under surveillance. You can’t blame me if the words you said just now so happen to travel to Special Assistant Zhuang’s or Speaker Long’s ears.”
Rong Mingxing jerked her head up, her face instantly turned pale.
“Sur… Surveillance?!”
“That’s right.” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes crinkled into crescents when she smiled. She nodded gently, “Of course there is surveillance. Where do you think we are? This is the Senate. There is surveillance in every corner, so if you need to make a private phone call, you should remember to leave the Senate and go to a public place. Or you can make phone calls in a bathroom since there is no surveillance there…”
“Oh… Thank you Miss Gu… For the reminder… Well, I wasn’t really thinking when I said that just now. Miss Gu, please don’t mind me, I don’t… I don’t have intentions of asking you to cheat for me… I really don’t!” Rong Mingxing frantically explained herself and was terrified.
How could she have known that there was surveillance in Gu Nianzhi’s private office?!
If there was surveillance in here, what benefits could she reap even if Gu Nianzhi helped her cheat?!
Rong Mingxing’s face was contorted when she left Gu Nainzhi’s office.
Pushing the door open, she looked up to see several of her colleagues in the Secretariat standing at the door and peering curiously at her.
When they saw the bitter expression on Rong Mingxing’s face, they quickly came over to console her, “Mingxing, what happened? Did someone give you a hard time?”
“Mingxing, you can tell us if you’re having difficulties. Don’t be like this.” A middle-aged woman took Rong Mingxing’s hand while she pursed her lips in the direction of Gu Nianzhi’s office.
Because Gu Nianzhi had the support of Speaker Long and was beaten when she defended the Senate, everyone was very impressed by her.
But when they saw Gu Nianzhi boss around a fellow colleague of the same tenure even before she was officially employed, everyone instantly lost respect for her.
Gu Nianzhi walked out of her office and crossed her arms as she leaned against the door. She smiled, “That’s right, Mingxing. You should tell everyone how I was giving you a hard time. If you can’t say your share, we can watch the surveillance videos since my office is completely recorded at all times. We can clearly see what you’ve said and done, so there will definitely be no intentional video editing to cause misunderstandings.”
Rong Mingxing originally planned to mumble vaguely in order to mislead her colleagues, but she couldn’t help but shudder with fear when she heard the malice hidden in Gu Nianzhi’s words.
As soon as Gu Nianzhi said this, the other colleagues at the Secretariat became sheepish. They mumbled, “Miss Gu, we saw Rong Mingxing bow at you just now, so we had no idea what happened and wanted to ask her. Please be gracious enough to forgive us if we’ve offended you…”
Gu Nianzhi smiled cheerfully, “I don’t dare to accuse you of anything. The ignorant are not guilty, you haven’t offended me. As long as Rong Mingxing explains this clearly, I believe that no one will misunderstand. Isn’t that right, Rong Mingxing?”
Gu Nianzhi originally planned to entertain Rong Mingxing briefly so she could investigate why she was so confident she would rank first place if Gu Nianzhi was gone.
Everyone knew that Special Assistant Yang had single-handedly introduced Rong Mingxing as an intern for the Senate.
Special Assistant Yang was still on vacation at home because he had a conflict with Gu Nianzhi…
However, Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to allow Rong Mingxing to continue getting her way after seeing her creep her way up.
This wasn’t someone who could control herself.
Gu Nianzhi would be the one to suffer if she acted too vaguely with someone who couldn’t control herself.
Because such a person would interrupt her plans and certainly cause trouble.
To deal with such a person, Gu Nianzhi could only slap her back quickly and fiercely in order to prevent her from continuing to cause trouble.
Rong Mingxing’s face turned bright red, then pale as a sheet. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the ground as she bitterly cursed Special Assistant Yang for giving her such a terrible idea.
He had already given her so many ideas, so why hadn’t he warned her about the surveillance cameras in Gu Nianzhi’s office?!
If she had known there were cameras in the office, then she wouldn’t have chosen to ask Gu Nianzhi there. She would’ve intercepted Gu Nianzhi in the bathroom to beg for her help…
Rong Mingxing stuttered for a long time, so the other people in the Secretariat could already detect there was something fishy going on. They instantly detached themselves from Rong Mingxing.
Everyone chatted and laughed for a while before returning to their workstations.
Rong Mingxing was left alone there, staring woefully at Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi’s smile also faded from her face, “Rong Mingxing, is there a point of you doing all that? You really think that I’d fall for your little trick?”
“Miss Gu, please don’t say anymore!” Rong Mingxing gritted her teeth, “I will explain to our colleagues, you didn’t need to… Be so aggressive!”
Gu Nianzhi raised a brow before uncrossing her arms, “I was being aggressive? I didn’t even say a word—I was only listening to you talk and watching you play dumb. And you dare say I was the one being aggressive? So you think I should lie flat on the ground and let you stomp all over me, so you’d think I was kind and friendly?”
Rong Mingxing actually possessed a sharp tongue of her own, and as a graduate student of the B University Faculty of Law, how could she not be sharp-witted?
But she was compiler disadvantaged when facing Gu Nianzhi.
A few choice words from Gu Nianzhi was enough to make tears swirl in Rong Mingxing’s eyes. She was still worried about what would happen if someone saw the surveillance videos from earlier, so she was in no mood to argue at all. She spat out at Gu Nianzhi, “I’ve apologized already, but you’re still refusing to let go. So do what you want?” She quickly walked away from the entrance of the Secretariat and headed to the elevator.
When she was far away from the Senate building, she finally found a quiet spot to take out her phone to call Special Assistant Yang.
The first thing she said was, “Brother Yang, you set me up! Gu Nianzhi has surveillance cameras in her office, so everything I said was recorded!”
Special Assistant Yang was also taken back, “Surveillance cameras?! Her tiny office has surveillance cameras?!”
The cameras were there because Huo Shaoheng had especially requested someone to install them for Gu Nianzhi.
Rong Mingxing nodded fiercely, “She said there were cameras, and she could even access the videos at any time and play them for everyone!”
“She’s too sly!” Special Assistant Yang was so angry he banged the desk with his fists, “Nevermind that. I think you should resign. How can you continue working there now that she’s got something on you?”
“Resign?” Rong Mingxing cried out, “But… But… You promised me that…”
He promised her that as long as she received Gu Nianzhi’s help, he could guarantee that she would be able to remain in the Senate Secretariat.
Special Assistant Yang smiled wryly, “I didn’t know there were surveillance cameras in her office when I promised you that. If that’s the case, then there is no point in continuing to work there. You should resign. I’ll be honest with you, I have been in contact with some acquaintances at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are in desperate need of new hires, so I’ve already sent my resume over. I passed the first interview and when I meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the second interview, I’ll basically be hired. How about you resign first and when I get into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I’ll bring you with me?”
Rong Mingxing finally sighed in relief and her tone was much sweeter than before, “That’s wonderful! Congratulations, Brother Yang! I knew that you were amazing! Actually, now that I think about it, it’s also a good idea to leave the Senate since Gu Nianzhi is calling all the shots now. She’s always correct and she’s the best, so there are no hopes for me even if I stay. Brother Yang, please remember to get me into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!”
“That won’t be a problem.” Special Assistant Yang chuckled, then insinuated, “My stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately, do you wanna come over tonight and make something nice for me?”
Rong Mingxing’s eyes rolled while she declined indirectly, “But I need to work overtime tonight. I need to finish up all the work on hand before I resign, that way no one can use it against me. What do you think?”
This was a girl who refused to give out favors until she reaped benefits of her own.
Special Assistant Yang was fully aware of this, but he wasn’t too upset by it.
It was good she had a sharp mind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare to help a hare-brained person…
“That’s fine then. You should get back to work. I’ll call you once things are settled with me. Get ready to send your resume in.” Special Assistant Yang took a drag of his cigarette and didn’t hang up until Rong Mingxing agreed.
Rong Mingxing was already in a much better mood by the time she returned to the Senate.
She bought a tray of milk tea and egg tarts for her colleagues at the Secretariat and explained cheerfully when she brought them upstairs, “Everyone misunderstood what happened earlier. Miss Gu actually helped me out with a big favor, so I was thanking her.”
Everyone drank her milk tea and ate her egg tarts, so the previous awkwardness was forgotten.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t eat since Speaker Long so happened to call her upstairs for a meeting. She put her share of the treats in the common area of the kitchenette so everyone could help themselves to it.
Gu Nianzhi spent an entire day at a meeting with Speaker Long because he would be taking some Senators with him on a state visit.
It turned out that Nadu, the speaker of the federal branch of the Rajya Sabha had personally sent a letter inviting Speaker Long to bring several members of the Huaxia Imperial Senate to visit India.
The letter from India had arrived on somewhat short notice. When the invitation was delivered to Speaker Long’s desk, the proposed visit date was for April 1.
It was already March 21, so they only had about 10 days to make preparations.
Speaker Long needed to confirm the personnel arrangements if he was going to make a visit.
Gu Nianzhi must attend as well.
Gu Nianzhi was clever and witty. Her English was fluent and she possessed formidable legal knowledge. With her sharp tongue, she could also act as an interpreter when necessary to help argue with the unscrupulous journalists in India.
Special Assistant Zhuang was a cautious person and made no mistakes, so he would remain in the Senate while Speaker Long was away. He couldn’t go with them.
Speaker Long still needed to bring along one more Special Assistant.
Someone tried suggesting Special Assistant Yang, but Speaker Long pretended he didn’t hear it and continued to smile as he asked everyone, “…Which other Special Assistant would like to go?”
Speaker Long’s attitude was made very clear, so no one dared to mention Special Assistant Yang again. Finally, he decided on another experienced secretary and prompted him to become a Special Assistant. He would be accompanying Speaker Long on this visit.
Everyone stayed at the meeting until 6pm, so Reinitz grew impatient with waiting. He gave Gu Nianzhi a call and she finally sent him a text, “The meeting ended just now, I’ll be coming downstairs right away.”
