Chapter 1521: Experienced and Astute

How could this be? Zhao Desan had only just sat in the deputy section chief's chair, and his seat wasn't even warm yet; how could he possibly be toyed with by such petty tricks? Therefore, after a brief and beautiful moment had passed, he smoked a cigarette and gradually shifted the topic to work plans. Holding the proposal, he scanned it cursorily while saying to Jia Wanli, who was dressed but still lingering in the afterglow: "Wanli, why did you take all the work upon yourself in this proposal? I am the deputy section chief; this work should be done by me. You are here to assist me, to help me with chores—you don't need to rack your brains over these things."

Although Jia Wanli had received the ultimate pleasure a woman could enjoy from Zhao Desan, she had orders from He Liping above. Thus, she was currently wavering between the two, unsure of whose side to stand on. If she considered her future and fate, she would undoubtedly follow He Liping, but from a personal perspective, she was a woman—a woman lacking a man's affection. Now that she had encountered a man like Zhao Desan, who was tall, handsome, and capable of making her feel like she was in heaven, she felt conflicted. As for this work plan, a large portion of its content had been drafted by He Liping under the instructions of Zheng Tulu. Although Zhao Desan had passed the first test of the study trip arranged by He Liping and she trusted him somewhat, He Liping was, after all, an old hand. To ensure Zhao Desan would focus on serving her in the future so that she could one day sit in the top position, He Liping had played some dirty tricks behind the scenes. Leveraging Zheng Tulu's wariness of him, she arranged for her cousin Jia Wanli to monitor him. At the same time, once the division of labor in this work plan was clarified, Zhao Desan would be left as a mere figurehead with very little power, making it easier for her to control him.

To thrive in officialdom, first, one must possess a high IQ; second, one must have emotional intelligence beyond the average person; and the third point is particularly important: the application of wisdom and strategy. Only those who possess all three can carve out their own world on the treacherous, thin-ice path of officialdom.

Zhao Desan was undoubtedly the "officialdom prodigy" Su Qing spoke of who possessed all three elements. His IQ went without saying; his emotional intelligence could be seen from the fact that so many women had given him their hearts; and his application of wisdom and strategy was also self-evident. Through this work plan, he had already seen through the intentions of Zheng Tulu and He Liping: they wanted to sideline him. How could he let them sideline him? That was why he had said those words to Jia Wanli, wanting to gradually probe her stance.

"It's precisely because the leadership sent me to assist you, Deputy Section Chief Liu, that I should do a bit more," Jia Wanli, this little daughter-in-law, was tight-lipped and had not yet completely surrendered to Zhao Desan.

Zhao Desan chuckled, continued flipping through the work plan, and said: "I understand your intentions, but I am the deputy section chief. If I let you do everything, wouldn't that make me a freeloader? It's more reassuring for me to handle some of the work personally. Besides, Wanli, you are also a comrade; I must know how to cherish the fair sex. How could I assign you such heavy tasks? Don't you think?"

"Deputy Section Chief Liu, I want to help you share the workload; don't you understand my heart?" Jia Wanli used a beauty trap, saying.

"I understand, I understand, of course I understand. If I don't understand your heart, Wanli, who would?" Zhao Desan laughed, while inwardly cursing: *Damn it, don't try that on me! *

After flipping through the work plan, Zhao Desan casually placed it on the desk. Seeing his action, Jia Wanli became anxious to know if he agreed to the division of labor, so she asked with a delicate, soft smile: "Deputy Section Chief Liu, how is it? If you have no objections after reading the work plan, please sign off on it so I can report back to the leadership."

"I've only just skimmed it; I'll take a good look when I have time." Zhao Desan smiled and played tai chi. In any case, he certainly wouldn't approve this work plan. He would just drag it out and let He Liping and Zheng Tulu assemble it. *They want to play with me and sideline me? Not a chance, * Zhao Desan thought to himself, then casually picked up another planning outline for the Chanba New District to read.

Seeing Zhao Desan's action, Jia Wanli didn't say anything more.

Before getting off work, Zhao Desan's thoughts were entirely on the matter of Zheng Jie. He wondered why Zheng Jie had suddenly come to his office as if she had something to say after knocking on Zheng Tulu's office door today. With this question in mind, Zhao Desan prepared to go to Zhao Da's home after work in the afternoon to ask Zheng Jie about the specific situation.

After work, he parted ways with Jia Wanli at the unit entrance. Already in a taxi heading to Zheng Jie's house, Zhao Desan suddenly remembered Jia Wanli's work plan and thought he should take it home to study it carefully and ask the experienced Su Qing for advice. Thus, Zhao Desan ordered the taxi driver to turn around. He returned to the entrance of the Construction Committee, got out of the car, quickened his pace, and walked into the main gate, heading straight for the comprehensive office building. It had been half an hour since work ended, and the cars in front of the building had all left, leaving only Zheng Tulu's Audi A6 parked alone in front of the building. Zhao Desan suddenly felt something was wrong. As he walked into the building, he thought, *Why hasn't this old guy left the unit half an hour after work? * With suspicion, he walked into the office building. Just as he reached the first-floor stairwell, Zhao Desan suddenly heard Zheng Tulu raising his voice and ordering: "At the door, directly above, so you can see the whole office. You guys install the camera more discreetly. This is a method the unit came up with to supervise the leadership's work. Yeah, right..."

Zhao Desan's entire train of thought was immediately captured by Zheng Tulu's voice. He slowed his pace, walked silently to the corner, and peeked in the direction the sound was coming from. He saw Zheng Tulu standing in the middle of the corridor at the entrance of his office, directing two strangers who were using a simple stepladder to drill holes and install something right above his office door. *Damn! What is this old bastard up to? * Zhao Desan thought, full of suspicion, while staring intently at the actions of the people at his office door. When the man on the ground took a button-sized camera out of his bag and handed it to the person on the ladder, Zhao Desan finally realized what was happening. His eyes widened, and he clenched his fists. Only then did he know that this old guy wanted to secretly install a camera in his office to monitor his every move.

*Damn it! This move is too ruthless! I really didn't expect this old fox to play this trick on me. But fortunately, heaven has eyes, and I discovered it. * Zhao Desan hid not far away, secretly observing every move at his office door. Zheng Tulu, holding his briefcase and smoking, directed the two strangers to install the camera to monitor Zhao Desan. It wasn't until the installer used a laptop to connect to the camera and demonstrate it to Zheng Tulu that the old guy nodded with satisfaction. He ordered the two men not to speak of this and took out a few hundred yuan to distribute among them.

Seeing that the camera was installed, the installers packed their tools and prepared to leave. Zheng Tulu also turned around. Just as he was about to see Zhao Desan, fortunately, Zhao Desan reacted quickly, immediately pulled his head back, turned around, and ran out of the office building in a flash. He circled behind the building to hide, waiting for the old bald donkey to leave before returning to the office to investigate.

Finally, two minutes later, Zhao Desan, hiding behind the corner of the office building, saw Zheng Tulu and the two installers walk out of the building. Zheng Tulu turned back to give them a few instructions, then walked straight to his car, opened the door, got in, started the engine, and left.

Only after watching Zheng Tulu's car drive out of the Construction Committee gate, turn into the bustling traffic, and disappear from sight did Zhao Desan feel relieved enough to walk out from behind the office building. He walked quickly into the building, went straight to his office door, and looked up at the camera installed right above the door. He was so angry he gritted his teeth, his jaw aching. He spat fiercely and said: "Damn it! Want to mess with me! Not a chance!"

After standing at the door looking up for a long while, Zhao Desan gritted his teeth, opened the office door, and walked in. He closed the door from the inside and looked up at the camera again. The shooting angle was perfectly centered, enough to take in his not-so-large office at a glance. Thinking that his every move in the office would be under Zheng Tulu's control from now on, Zhao Desan gritted his teeth in anger. For a moment, he couldn't figure it out. In a fit of rage, he grabbed a broom and raised his hand, ready to smash the camera hidden above the office door, but he suddenly calmed down. The broom held in mid-air stopped, and he slowly lowered his hand. He thought with extreme calmness: *Since Zheng Tulu wants to use this dirty trick to secretly monitor my every move in the office, I must not ruin his plan. Why not go along with it? Under his surveillance, I will act more honestly, letting this old guy gradually relax his guard against me. As long as I can gradually dispel his idea of trying every possible way to suppress me, I feel my future path in the Construction Committee might be easier. * After considering this calmly for a moment, and thinking it over three times, he finally calmed down. He put the broom down, acted as if nothing had happened, came to the desk, packed the work plan, walked out of the office again, left the Construction Committee, and took a taxi to Zheng Jie's house.

Arriving at Zheng Jie's house, familiar with the route, Zhao Desan knocked on the door, and it happened to be Zheng Jie who opened it. When he saw her, he noticed the makeup on her face hadn't been washed off yet, and she had just changed out of her flamboyant clothes. She was wearing a milky-white camisole nightgown, with her black bra and panties faintly visible underneath, which made Zhao Desan, standing at the door, widen his eyes instantly. He stared at Zheng Jie, dumbfounded, his eyeballs almost popping out, and his heartbeat accelerated. Although he had already shared the joys of the bed and skin-to-skin intimacy with Zheng Jie, this was the first time he had seen her appear before him in a nightgown. The Zheng Jie that met his eyes was truly a

beautiful young lady who made one want to cherish and pity her. Zhao Desan was almost drooling, and for a moment, he forgot to even greet her, just staring at her with glowing eyes, unblinking.