The Next Day
West City Branch Bureau
Dressed in his newly bought black suit, Johny Lee greeted the old man in the reception room with high spirits and stepped through the Sub-bureau's gates.
Only Tammy and Samson were in the General Office when he arrived.
Upon seeing Johny, Tammy immediately let out a cry of surprise. "Oh, Johny! You're dressed quite maturely today. Not bad, not bad at all!"
Johny complimented her back smoothly. "I just threw these clothes on. I can't compare to you; you look beautiful every day."
Tammy giggled happily. "Johny sure knows how to talk."
Seeing no outsiders around, she boldly patted Samson's large arm with the back of her hand. "Hey, big guy, why don't you learn a thing or two from Johny? Look at him, he's only been in the General Office for a few days, and Director Zane already trusts him immensely. If this keeps up, he'll probably replace Paul's position in Director Zane's heart in a few months.
Then look at you, you're so big, yet you don't even know how to speak properly. How are you going to leave an impression on the leadership?"
Samson scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I... I'm not very good with words."
Johny blinked his eyes playfully. "Tammy, you sure seem to care about our Samson quite a bit, don't you?"
Tammy's face turned red, and she spat forcefully, "Who am I caring about? Hmph! Time to clean up! I'm on duty today!"
Samson quickly stood up. "I'll help you!"
"...That's more like it." Tammy didn't stand on ceremony and threw the broom directly to him.
In truth, when had Johny ever been silver-tongued? Pleasing leaders? That was almost impossible for him in the past.
From middle school through university, he had been a complete introvert, very poor at expressing himself.
But since he found a goal, Johny felt he had changed. Even if there were things that were hard for him to say, he could force himself to say them, all for the sake of promotion and wealth!
This was the old saying: To lead men, one must first serve them.
Ten minutes later, everyone from the General Office had arrived.
At that moment, Johny's phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking out his new iPhone 4, he saw a text message from Maggi:
'The leadership just notified me that I have to work overtime tonight. I might not get home until after eight, so eat dinner on your own.'
Johny clumsily tapped the touchscreen to type: 'Okay, stay safe on your way home.'
He was about to put the phone away when a dark shadow flashed beside him, and the phone was suddenly snatched away.
It was Tammy.
"Wow!" Tammy gasped in immense surprise. "It's an iPhone 4! Johny, you actually bought an iPhone 4?"
Jack, who was sitting nearby looking at his computer, gave a soft huff but didn't say anything.
Paul, who lagged behind fashion trends, asked curiously, "What's an 'Eye-Phone'?"
Jane explained, "It's a smartphone, the hottest model in the world right now. I heard that with accessories, it costs five or six thousand. Hehe, little Johny really was willing to spend."
Paul was stunned. "How much? Five or six thousand? Spending five or six thousand to buy a phone?"
Civil servant salaries couldn't compare to those in the private sector. In Paul's view, spending that much on a computer was expensive enough, let alone a phone.
Tammy looked at the device from all angles with envy. "It's so beautiful! No, this won't do. I have to buy one after I get paid this month. Uh, wait... it seems even with my salary it won't be enough. I'll have to wait until next month!"
After saying that, she blinked her eyes and pleaded while waving the phone. "Johny, seeing as we're such good buddies, how about we swap phones for a few days? Let me experience it too."
Johny shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it, but isn't your SIM card different from the iPhone 4's slot? You'd need to cut it."
Tammy slapped her forehead. "Ah, I forgot about that. Sigh... here, take it back."
After reluctantly returning it to Johny, Tammy's fashion-seeking heart didn't settle down. One moment she was glancing at Johny's desk, and the next she was borrowing the phone to excitedly fiddle with it; she couldn't keep herself busy enough.
In the Morning
The General Office had a meeting in the small conference room upstairs. Section Chief Lee didn't come, so Director Zane presided over everything.
Meetings within the system mostly followed the same pattern: either the department head summarizing recent work or reading aloud documents sent down from above. Regardless, Johny felt it wasn't very meaningful. He forced himself to listen to Zane's "monotone chanting" while his mind pondered how to get promoted.
Ten minutes... twenty minutes...
Johny was getting sleepy, barely suppressing the urge to yawn.
The others in the General Office seemed to have long grown used to it. Aside from Old Quinn being absent-minded, everyone else feigned focus.
"...Alright, that's all for today's meeting."
Director Zane took a gulp from his teacup, cleared his throat, and said, "I need two people to come out with me to handle some business. The rest of you head back to the office; there's plenty to do this morning, so everyone get serious."
His gaze searched the faces of the clerks below, seemingly considering whom to take with him.
Johny and Paul reacted the fastest, instantly straightening their backs and sitting upright, looking eager.
However, Zane said, "Paul, Jack, you two come with me."
"Yes!" Paul immediately agreed, casting a smug side-glance at Johny.
He thought to himself: Don't think you're something special just because you achieved a small merit with the stocks; see that? The leader still trusts me more.
Paul, who had been somewhat jealous of Johny being favored these past few days, felt much more balanced now.
Jack hadn't expected Zane to call his name, and his spirits were instantly lifted. This meant the leader hadn't taken the water-cooler incident to heart, and their conflict had vanished. Seeing Johny so eager to get close to Zane but not being picked, Jack was delighted.
A newcomer is indeed just a newcomer.
"Right."
Just as everyone was trickling out of the small meeting room, Director Zane suddenly stopped them.
"Two very important documents will be delivered to Section Chief Lee's office this morning. I need two people to receive them and take them immediately to the Confidentiality Section. There must be no mistakes, hmm..."
Johny puffed out his chest again, wearing an expression that said 'leave it to me.'
After a moment of hesitation, Zane's gaze swept over Johny's face, but it only paused briefly before moving away.
He pointed to the women. "Jane, Tammy, you two go instead. The Confidentiality Section might have a meeting this morning. If the person who receives the documents isn't there, don't take them back to the office; return them directly to Section Chief Lee's side. These are unique documents without backups, so there can be no mishaps."
"Rest assured, Director."
Paul and Jack looked at Johny, their eyes filled with amusement.
Johny felt quite helpless. After all, the time he had been at the General Office was too short. Director Zane's appreciation of him hadn't reached the level of absolute trust yet. By comparison, Zane still trusted the veterans of the office more, especially Paul, who was Zane's longtime confidant.
Sigh.
The road ahead is still very long!
Authors Note:-
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