Chapter 1201: Come to my office for a moment

The two walked out of the office building, each got into their own car, and drove out of the Jianwei Bureau gate one after the other. While waiting for a red light on the way home, He Liping recalled the text message Zhao Desan had sent her after work. She guessed that he must have secretly grasped the fact that she and Zheng Tulu were taking kickbacks. Moreover, it was he who had taken her to the warehouse at noon to see the items, and now that the items in the warehouse had been cleared out, if that guy were to spread it around everywhere, she, a newly appointed deputy director, would likely be unable to gain a foothold in the Provincial Jianwei Bureau at all. The most urgent task, He Liping felt, was to stabilize the situation, starting with Zhao Desan, and make him a propaganda tool by her side.

Thus, it was only then that He Liping replied to Zhao Desan with a message.

When he received her message, Zhao Desan was on the bus home. He took out his phone and saw it was from He Liping. He thought to himself, "Finally, you're willing to reply to my message." Thinking this, he pressed the read button, and a few lines of text appeared before his eyes: "Comrade Xiao Zhao, you are a sensible person. Dealing with that batch of office supplies was Director Zheng's idea. It is best if you don't talk nonsense about these things, so as not to bring trouble upon yourself. I happen to know that your relationship with Director Zheng in private is not very good."

Zhao Desan's original intention in sending that message to He Liping was to make her understand that everything she did was within his grasp, but he hadn't expected this woman to use Old Man Zheng to pressure him. This infuriated Zhao Desan, and he sent a message directly back to her: "I say, Sister He, the fact that my relationship with Director Zheng is bad is a matter between him and me. Besides, I think you also know that I, Comrade Xiao Zhao, am not someone to be trifled with. Whatever you two are doing in private, I have it all under control. For example, besides splitting the loot in the office this afternoon, I'm afraid you two did some other things, didn't you?"

Upon receiving Zhao Desan's message again, He Liping felt a bit of lingering fear after reading it, especially since Zhao Desan had hinted at noon today that he had photos of her and Zheng Tulu. Thinking of this, she felt that this guy Zhao Desan really could not be underestimated. This was only her first day at work; not only had he "handled" her, but he wasn't afraid of her at all. How would she live her life from now on? To be able to gain a foothold in the Jianwei Bureau, it seemed she definitely could not ignore Zhao Desan.

He Liping did not reply to his message again. On the way back, she kept thinking about how to handle her relationship with him. If she got too close to him, Old Zheng would get jealous; if she went against him, her position would be at risk. He Liping felt she needed to carefully weigh and consider it. She hadn't expected the interpersonal relationships in the Provincial Jianwei Bureau to be so complex; even a small staff member could play her in the palm of his hand. She really hadn't expected it.

The next day, as soon as work started, taking advantage of Zheng Tulu going out to handle some business in the morning, He Liping found Zhao Desan in the unit's QQ group and sent him a private message, telling him to come upstairs to her office.

Seeing a stranger's avatar flashing in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, he clicked on it, and a dialogue window popped up with a message inside: "Comrade Xiao Zhao, come to my office for a moment."

Zhao Desan clicked on the stranger's profile: Age: 35, Gender: Female. He immediately realized it was He Liping.

She wants me to go up? Is it possible that Zheng Tulu is trying to set some kind of trap for him through her again? Forget it, go up first and see. Zhao Desan prepared himself mentally, got up, walked to the third floor, and went straight to the door of He Liping's deputy director office. Afraid of alerting Zheng Tulu next door, he knocked on the door very lightly.

"Come in." He Liping knew it was him and replied while leaning back in her boss chair.

Zhao Desan gently pushed open the door and went in. Facing her, he still appeared very humble and lowly, his face full of fawning smiles as he said, "Sister He, were you looking for me?"

He Liping leaned back in her chair, looked at him with an eerie expression, and ordered: "Lock the door from the inside."

"Ah?" Zhao Desan was suddenly a bit surprised, his mouth slightly agape, and he looked at her, unmoved.

He Liping blinked, and with an impatient, commanding tone, said: "I told you to lock the door from the inside! Don't you understand Chinese!"

"Oh." Zhao Desan turned around and, while locking the door, thought to himself, "She wouldn't want to do *that* right here in the office, would she?" After locking the door, he turned back around and chuckled: "Sister He, it's locked. Do you have any instructions for me?"

"Come here." He Liping leaned back in her chair and stared straight at him. Perhaps He Liping's gaze always had a provocative meaning to it; such a direct, piercing stare made Zhao Desan feel a bit unsteady inside. Fearing this was a setup by her and Zheng Tulu to fix him, he remained standing where he was, hesitant and unwilling to walk forward.