Chapter 21 – Troublesome Speech?

One day……

5 days……

10 days……

Dong Xuebing had started working at the General Affairs department for some days. He became more familiar with the work there, but he felt the chances of being promoted was slim. There were too many unspoken rules at his workplace. He was new and still does not know many of these rules at work. Almost every day, he got to use his power “Back” to rectify his mistakes. Furthermore, Guo Shunjie was purposely making things difficult for him, and Guo Panwei had asked Dong Xuebing to do his task for him. The past few days, Dong Xuebing was suffering at work.

Today.

Dark clouds covered the sky, and it was drizzling.

Dong Xuebing reached the office and kept his umbrella. He opened the office door: “Good morning, Sis Chang, Tan Zhi, Zhuang Zhi.”

Tan Limei scolded: “Bing Zhi, you are late today. Did you go out on a date last night?”

Changjuan was putting on her makeup, as usual. She turned to Dong Xuebing: “Xiao Dong, you have a girlfriend? Who is your girlfriend?”

“Dong Xuebing laughed: “Stop poking fun at me. Which girl will like me?”

Guo Shunjie knocked his desk a few times with his pen. “Xiao Dong, you are just in time. Here, do this.” Dong Xuebing had lost count of the number of tasks given to him by Guo Shunjie in the past two weeks.

Guo Panwei also waved to him: “Xiao Dong, after you are done with your task, come and help me.”

Dong Xuebing gritted his teeth. These two bastards……

In the morning, Dong Xuebing delivered a few documents and returned to his desk. He was thinking about his prospects in this office.

Suddenly he thought of an idea. He decided to apply to be a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Since Dong Xuebing’s goal was to enter Central Bureau, then becoming a member of the CPC is essential. Once he was a member of the CPC, he would be able to build up his portfolio and increase his chances of promotion.

Click, click, click……

Dong Xuebing went online to search for information and fill in his application form.

Dong Xuebing was able to complete his application form before the end of the say. Looking at the almost 10,000 words application letter, he felt proud of himself. He was amazed at what he could do when he focuses all his energy into it. When he was writing his thesis at University, he could only write about 5,000 words over 10 days. But now, it was for his promotion, and he was motivated.

“Bing Xhi, what are you writing the whole afternoon?” Zhuang Zhi, who was seated opposite Dong Xuebing asked.

Dong Xuebing waved his application form: “Application to the CPC.”

Zhuang Zhi scratched his head: “You are joining the CPC?”

“Oh, you also want to join the CPC?” Tan Limei overheard their conversation. She smiled: “I have submitted my application one year ago and had just become a Party Activist. I am still learning to about the Party’s programmes and submitting periodical reports. I think I should be able to become a Probationary party member the year after next.”

“I think I got to wait for 4 years.” Dong Xuebing laughed. He knew the application process to be a CPC member would be very long. Even 3 years was considered short. “Oh, I should pass my application form to the Party Branch. Who is the secretary?”

Tan Limei replied: “You can submit to Li Qing, Director Li. He oversees all the applications.”

Li Qing, General Affairs Department’s Deputy Director, and General Affairs Office’s Chief. He had a close relationship with Deputy Chief Zhou, and he let Deputy Chief Zhou take charge of the office. He only visits the office once in a while and let Deputy Chief Zhou handles all the work. Dong Xuebing had only met him 3 to 4 times from afar.

Actually, Li Qing should be addressed as Chief Li as he was the head of this General Affairs Office. But ‘Chief’ does not sound better than the Director. His rank was Deputy Director. So, everyone addressed him as Director Li. This was one of the unspoken rules in the government sector. The lower levels must address the higher-ups with the best sounding titles.

Suddenly, the office became quiet.

Dong Xuebing looked up from his desk. Speaking of the devil, Deputy Director Li had entered the office.

“Director Li.”

“Good afternoon, Director Li.”

Everyone stood up and greeted Director Li.

“Hi, carry on with your work.” Li Qing waved his hand, gesturing them to return to their work.

Li Qing was very skinny. Like bamboo. The feeling he gave others was cheerful and friendly, unlike Zhou Changchun. Zhou Changchun had a pretentious smile, whereas Li Qing seems more sincere. Li Qing’s family was poor. His daughter had Leukaemia or some other illness. He was in financial difficulties. There were rumors that Tan Limei had wanted to help him raise funds for his daughter’s medical treatment, but Li Qing stopped it for some unknown reasons.

The other end of the main office, Zhou Changchun walked out of his room. “Chief.”

Li Qing, in his 40s, walked over and patted Zhou Changchun’s arm: “Old Zhou, you must take care of your health.:

Zhou Changchun straightened his back and replied: “Thank you Chief for your concerns. I am fine.”

Zhou Changchun was the one person who addressed Li Qing as Chief.

Dong Xuebing had asked his senior Tan Limei about this. There was a lot more to the way Zhou Changchun address Li Qing as ‘Chief”. This was not a mistake. It was to show that he was grateful to Li Qing for letting him oversee the office. If he addressed Li Qing as ‘Director’ like the rest of the people, it would show that he was arrogant and had taken over Li Qing’s role as Chief. This was to imply to Li Qing that he was still the person in charge of General Affairs Office and Zhou Changchun had not forgotten that.

There were too many of such complicated rules there.

Dong Xuebing was still learning about these unspoken rules.

After a while, Li Qing walked past Dong Xuebing, and Dong Xuebing immediately passed his application form to him. Dong Xuebing said some “fake, exaggerated claims” about how much he wanted to enter the CPC, while Li Qing flipped through the pages of the application form. He gave Dong Xuebing some encouraging words and suddenly remembered something. He turned around and pass a document to Zhou Changchun.

“What’s this?” Zhou Changchun took the document from him.

Li Qing rubbed his temple: “Bureau Chief Yang is going to the City’s Bureau office for a meeting. This is the contents of what he is going to say. Put in some effort and write a good speech for Bureau Chief Yang. Don’t mess it up like the previous time. Old Zhou, I will leave this task to you. Don’t let Bureau Chief Yang thinks that our General Affairs Office are all useless.”

“This…… Yes….. We….. We will do this well.” Zhou Changchun reluctantly replied.

Dong Xuebing looked around. When everyone heard that they have to write a speech for Bureau Chief Yang, everyone’s face changed.

Huh?

What’s happening?

Only Dong Xuebing and Zhuang Zhi who did not know what was going on were confused.

What’s so difficult about writing a speech?