The next day.
Western District State Security Branch Bureau.
Dong Xuebing wore his newly bought suit to work. He greeted the old guard at the guard house and before walking into the compound.
Only Tan Limei and Zhuang Zhi were in the General Affairs Office. When Tan Limei saw Dong Xuebing, she gasped in surprise. “Bing Zhi looks so mature today. So handsome.”
Dong Xuebing replied: “I do not have many nice clothes like you. You are dressed up so pretty every day.”
Tan Limei laughed happily. “You are so good at praising others.” There was no one else in the office, and Tan Limei playfully patted Zhuang Zhi’s tummy. “Hey, you should learn from Bing Zhi. Look at him. He had just joined our office and had gotten the trust of Chief Zhou. If this carries on, he should be replacing Zhou Panwei position in Chief Zhou’s heart. Look at you. You are not good with words. How can you leave a good impression with the leaders?”
Zhuang Zhi scratched the back of his head: “I…… I cannot speak well.”
Dong Xuebing looked at Tan Limei. “Tan Zhi, why do you care so much about Zhuang Zhi?”
Tan Limei blushed. “Who do I care about so much? Hmph! It’s my turn to clean the office today.”
Zhuang Zhi quickly stood up. “I will help you.”
“That’s more like it.” Tan Limei passed the mop to him.
Was Dong Xuebing good with words? Knows how to make the leaders like him? This was impossible if it was in the past. He was a quiet person since middle school to university. He could not speak well and get along with others. But after he set his goal, he felt he had changed a lot. He forced himself to say things that will please others. He did it for his promotions.
He needs to be humble and modest first before he could get promoted.
10 minutes later, all the staffs arrived in office.
Dong Xuebing felt his phone vibrates. He took out his iPhone 4 to take a look. It was Qu Yunxuan who had messaged him. “My boss just gave out an instruction. I need to work overtime today. I might not reach home until after 8 pm. You get dinner yourself.” Dong Xuebing replied. “Ok. Be careful when you are coming home.” After sending the message, he was about to keep his phone back into his pocket when a dark figure appeared beside him and snatched his phone away.
It was Tan Limei who snatched his phone.
“Wow!” Tan Limei shouted in surprised. “It’s iPhone 4. Bing Zhi, you bought this iPhone 4?”
Guo Shunjie who was looking at his monitor snorted loudly and did not say a word.
Guo Panwei who did not keep up with the latest trend asked: “What is iPhone 4?”
Changjuan explained: “It’s a handphone model. It is the hottest handphone now. I heard that it cost 5,000 to 6,000 RMB with the accessories. Hehe, Xiao Dong, you are really willing to buy.”
Guo Panwei exclaimed: “How much? 5,000 to 6,000 RMB for a handphone?” Civil servants’ salary was not a lot when compared to those private companies. He felt that 5,000 to 6,000 RMB was too expensive even to buy a PC, let alone a handphone.
Tan Limei looked at the phone in her hands with envy. “This phone is so pretty. I must also get one when I get this month’s salary. Huh? I can’t afford it even with this month’s salary. I can only wait for next month.” She said and looked at the phone before pleading with Dong Xuebing. “Bing Zhi, we are good friends. Can we exchange our phones for a few days? Let me play with it for a few days please……”
Dong Xuebing shrugged his shoulders. “I am ok with it. But your phone’s sim card is different from iPhone.”
Tan Limei slapped her forehead. “Ah…. I forgot about that. Here, have your phone back.” She gave the phone back to Dong Xuebing unwillingly. Tan Limei likes to follow the latest trends. She kept stealing glances at Dong Xuebing’s desk while working and kept borrowing his phone to play around once she was free.
There was a meeting in the morning at the small meeting room upstairs. Chief Li Qing was not around, and it was Chief Zhou who chaired the meeting. The meetings in the government sector were all the same. It was not for the department heads to talk about their staffs’ performance. It was to discuss the documents given to them by their higher-ups. Dong Xuebing felt this was meaningless but forced himself to listen to Zhou Changchun’s “chanting” while thinking of how to get promoted.
10 minutes……
20 minutes……
Dong Xuebing was falling asleep and controlling himself from yawning.
The people from the General Affairs Office were used to this. Other than Old Yan was doing his own things, the rest were trying their best to pay attention.
“That’s all for today.” Zhou Changchun drank his tea and cleared his throat. “Two of you will follow me. The rest return to the office. There is a lot of work this morning. Do your best.” Zhou Changchun looked around the meeting room thinking who to pick to follow him out for some errands.
Dong Xuebing and Guo Panwei puffed out their chest and straighten their backs.
Then Zhou Changchun said. “Panwei, Shunjie, both of you follow me.”
“Yes, sir.” Guo Panwei replied immediately and proudly looked at Dong Xuebing. It was as if he was telling Dong Xuebing that did you see it? Even if you have some credits, Chief Zhou still trusts me more than you. Guo Panwei was had been upset with Dong Xuebing immediately felt better.
Guo Shunjie did not expect Zhou Changchun would call his name. He brightens up. This means the leader had forgotten about the incident that day. He also looked at Dong Xuebing who had been trying to be closer to Chief Zhou recently. He was delighted to see Chief Zhou not calling Dong Xuebing. Dong Xuebing was still a newbie.
“Oh yes.” When everyone was walking out of the meeting room, Zhou Changchun suddenly said: “There will be two very important documents which will be sent to Chief Li Qing there. Two of you must go and collect it and send it to the confidential department. Nothing must go wrong…. Errr…..”
Dong Xuebing puffed up his chest and had a “leave this to me” expression on his face.
After hesitating for a while, Zhou Changchun looked at Dong Xuebing for a second and said: “Xiao Chang and Xiao Tan, both of you will do this. The Confidential Department might be having a meeting this morning. If there is no one to collect the documents, don’t bring the documents back to the office. Return it back to Chief Li Qing. There are no duplicates for these documents. Nothing must happen to the documents.”
“Rest assure Chief.” Tan Limei and Changjuan nodded.
Guo Panwei and Guo Shunjie looked at Dong Xuebing. There were laughing at him in their hearts.
Dong Xuebing felt helpless. After all, he was still new in the office. Zhou Changchun had only started to trust him. But compared to the rest of the staffs, he still trusts the seniors more. Especially Guo Shunjie who was Zhou Changchun’s, right-hand man.
Sighed……. It will be a long journey….
