One day...
Five days...
Ten days...
After staying in the General Office for quite some time, Johny Lee was becoming increasingly familiar with the work.
However, the deeper he delved, the more he felt his chances of promotion were slim to none. There were simply too many rules in officialdom, and he was new and ignorant of everything.
Whether it was speaking out of turn or making small clerical errors, almost all his daily usage of "BACK" was wasted on correcting low-level mistakes.
Coupled with Jack's deliberate suppression and Paul's insolence, Johny had endured a very difficult time in the General Office during these first few weeks.
Today
Outside, dark clouds gathered, and a light rain began to fall against the glass.
Johny folded his wet umbrella in the corridor, pushed open the General Office door, and called out, "Morning, Jane. Morning, Tammy, Moose."
Tammy looked up from her computer. "Johny is late today! Hehe, did you have a date last night?"
Jane looked over while applying her morning makeup. "Little Johny has a girlfriend? Whose daughter is she?"
Johny laughed, shaking off his umbrella. "With my salary? Why would I look for a girlfriend? Don't tease me, ladies."
Jack tapped his desk with a pen, interrupting the banter. "Johny, you're just in time. Here, do this for me."
He slid a stack of files across his desk.
Jack had no idea how many tasks he had pushed onto Johny in the past half-month.
Paul also beckoned from the corner.
"Johny, come and help me when you're done with that."
Johny's back molars ground together.
These two bastards!
In the morning, Johny went upstairs to deliver several documents.
After finishing his grunt work, he sat back at his desk and thought about his future development path.
Finally, a thought struck him. He decided to start writing his application to join the Party.
Since Johny's goal was the National High Council, joining the Party was a necessary first step.
Moreover, being a Party member would make things smoother in many aspects, add substance to his resume, and greatly increase his chances of promotion.
Swish, swish, swish...
While searching for sample materials online, Johny began to draft his application.
Fueled by his hunger for promotion, he actually finished before the end of the workday.
Looking at the nearly ten thousand characters he had written so fluently, Johny was a little impressed with himself.
Human potential was indeed limitless. When writing his university thesis, he had wasted weeks to write five thousand words. But now, motivated by power and wealth, his writing speed was supersonic.
"Johny, what have you been writing all day?" Samson (Moose) asked from the desk across, his voice slow and simple.
Johny waved the manuscript in his hand. "My application to join the Party."
Samson scratched the back of his massive head. "Join the Party?"
"Oh, you want to join too?" Tammy, who had sharp ears, immediately smiled.
"I submitted my application a year ago and just became an 'active applicant ' this year.
I have to study the Constitution, submit thought reports...if there are no surprises, I'll only be approved as a probationary member by this time the year after next. Just wait. It takes forever."
"I estimate it'll take four years," Johny smiled helplessly. He knew the review process was extremely slow; three years was considered fast.
"By the way, I should give this application to the Party branch. Who is the Secretary?"
Tammy pointed upwards. "You can just give it to our Section Chief Lee. He's in charge."
Section Chief Lee was the Deputy Section Chief of the General Affairs Department and also served as the Director of the General Office. Because his relationship with Deputy Director Zane was good and rumor had it Lee wanted to let go of the General Office to climb higher, he delegated a lot of authority.
Basically, all matters in the General Office were handled by Zane.
Lee rarely came down here, only comes occasionally stopping by to inspect. Johny had only seen him from a distance three or four times.
Technically, according to his official position in the General Office, Lee was the Director, so calling him "Director Lee" would be the most accurate.
However, the position of Director was clearly not as high-ranking as Deputy Section Chief, nor did it sound as impressive as "Section Chief." So, everyone naturally called him by the Section Chief title.
Yes, officialdom is a place that is both reasonable and unreasonable. If you were to constantly call him "Director Lee"... that would show your political immaturity.
At this moment, the room suddenly fell silent.
Johny looked up.
Speak of the devil.
Deputy Section Chief Lee had arrived.
"Section Chief Lee."
"Good day, Section Chief Lee."
Everyone stood up one after another, adopting the respectful posture of welcoming a leader.
"Busy, everyone?" Lee gestured with his hand. "Sit down, continue working."
Lee was very thin, built like a reed pole. He seemed much more cheerful than the sickly Director Zane, and his smile didn't have that hint of fake bureaucratic kindness; it seemed quite sincere.
Rumor had it Lee's family situation was tragic. His daughter had leukemia or some other serious illness; in any case, they were financially drained.
Tammy said the Bureau leaders wanted to organize a donation for him last year, but for some reason, Lee had refused the charity.
Over by the private office, Director Zane opened the door and came out, smiling. "Director."
Lee, who was not yet fifty, smiled and patted Zane's upper arm. "Old Zane, you're not in good health. Be careful not to overwork yourself."
Zane straightened his back more than usual, his face showing gratitude. "Thank you for your concern, Director. I'm fine."
Among all these people, only Zane called Lee "Director."
Regarding official titles, Johny had specifically consulted Tammy about this. He knew that Zane's use of "Director" was highly nuanced. It wasn't that he used the wrong title; it was a response to Lee's delegation of authority.
If Zane also called him "Section Chief" like the staff members, it might make Lee feel that Zane, his deputy was being arrogant, trying to push the actual Director "outside" the General Office to seize power.
By calling him "Director," Zane was telling Lee: I haven't forgotten that you are the real head of this office. I defer to you.
You can see how much learning is involved here!
Anyway, the current Johny Lee still couldn't quite figure it all out.
After a while, Lee strolled over to Johny's desk to inspect. Johny took the opportunity to hand him the Party membership application and made some "grand and empty" declarations of loyalty.
Lee roughly flipped through the thousands of characters in the application. He didn't say much, just spouting some official jargon about needing to perform actively, study hard, and strive to join the organization soon.
Then he remembered something. He turned around and handed a document to Director Zane.
"This is?" Zane accepted it suspiciously.
Lee rubbed his forehead with a finger, looking troubled. "Bureau Chief Yates is going to the Municipal Bureau for a meeting next week.
This is the general outline for his speech. Work hard on writing the draft and try to make Bureau Chief Yates satisfied."
Lee leaned in closer, his voice lowering. "Don't let it be like last time, Old Zane. I'm entrusting this matter to you. Don't let Bureau Chief Yate think our General Office is incompetent."
"This... Yes, we... we will definitely do a good job!" Director Zane answered, his voice sounding very bitter.
Johny noticed that upon hearing they had to write a speech draft for the Bureau Chief, the faces of Tammy, Jack, Paul, and the others immediately turned sour. The air in the room grew heavy.
Huh?
What's going on?
Johny and Samson, who didn't understand the inside story, exchanged puzzled glances.
Is a speech draft really that difficult to write?
Authors Note:-
Well ...that's chapter 21....
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