Chapter 690: You continue

Since Zheng Ru remained shy and silent for a long time, and because Division Chief Lan had mentioned when he first stepped out of the elevator that she would find time today to evaluate his work from yesterday, Zhao De focused his mind on mastering the Planning Division's workflow. An hour later, nearing ten o'clock, a series of hurried footsteps approached from the end of the corridor. Moments later, Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, drenched in sweat and panting, entered the office. As soon as he came in, he wiped the sweat from his face, rushed to his desk, and while setting his briefcase down, asked them nervously, "Has Division Chief Lan been to the office?"

Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao said, "Division Chief Lan has been here. Brother Xia, you'd better go over and explain yourself to her quickly."

Zheng Ru looked at him with a gleeful expression and said, "Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, you'd better prepare yourself. Division Chief Lan was already angry when she came by this morning and saw you weren't here. She told you to go find her in her office as soon as you arrived." Zheng Ru added fuel to the fire, scaring Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian so badly he turned pale. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, his eyes filled with fear, and he took a long, deep breath as if he were about to head onto a battlefield.

"Brother Xia, it's fine. Just go and explain it to Division Chief Lan." Seeing him so nervous, Zhao De comforted him out of kindness.

Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian wiped the cold sweat from his face, took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and walked out of the office. With heavy steps, he reached the door of Lan Mei's office, just a meter away. Even before knocking, he was incredibly nervous. He tried to calm himself down, then raised his hand and knocked three times lightly on the door.

"Come in," came Division Chief Lan's indifferent voice from inside.

Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian gathered his courage and pushed open the slightly ajar door. Division Chief Lan's silhouette appeared behind the desk directly opposite. She was leaning back in her chair, chin raised, staring at him with a cold gaze. Her expression was even more severe than usual, making him shudder involuntarily. "Di... Division Chief Lan, you... you were looking for me." Seeing her so cold and stern, Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian's tongue tied itself in knots.

"Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, you've been working for several years now. You can't possibly not know what time work starts in the morning, can you?" Lan Mei didn't move a muscle in her chair. Her tone wasn't overly harsh, but that only made Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian wonder what kind of trouble this vicious-hearted woman was planning for him next.

"I... I know," Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian said with a fawning smile.

"If you know, then why are you late! You have no sense of organization or discipline! This is a workplace! It's not your home; you can't just come and go as you please! A unit has its own discipline and rules! Furthermore, in the Planning Division, besides me, you are the one with the most seniority. You are a veteran comrade; you should be setting a model and an example!" As expected, Lan Mei's initial silence didn't mean she had forgiven him. Seeing his fawning smile made her particularly angry. She straightened her back, slammed her palm onto the desk with a loud "thwack," and scolded him loudly.

Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, already extremely nervous, shrank his neck at the sound of her hand slamming the desk. He kept his head down, taking the full force of her verbal storm like a hairdryer, without a single word of rebuttal.

Seeing him silent, Lan Mei softened her tone slightly after finishing her criticism: "You are a veteran comrade. I originally wanted to save your face and didn't want to criticize you like this, but you have no sense of organization or discipline. Look at you—you're here now, but you still look like you haven't woken up, and I didn't see you staying late at the office last night! Besides, the Planning Division's work isn't that heavy! I don't care what you were doing last night or whether you slept, but it's unacceptable if it affects your work the next day!"

Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian was a malicious person. Hearing that Division Chief Lan seemed interested in his whereabouts last night, he looked up and said, "Division Chief Lan, I... I wouldn't have been late today, but it was mainly because the new guy in our Planning Division, Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, Zhao De, insisted on taking us out to dinner. He got me drunk while we were eating, which is why I'm late today."

Lan Mei sneered, arched her willow-leaf brows, and asked with a tone of disdain, "So, you're saying I shouldn't be criticizing you today, but rather that Zhao De?"

Hearing the shift in Division Chief Lan's tone, Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian hurriedly said, "Division Chief Lan, no, that's not what I meant. It's my fault for being late today. I was just... just reporting the reason for my tardiness to you, nothing else." Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian was a truly base creature. He claimed he meant nothing else, but by saying this to Division Chief Lan, he was clearly pushing the blame for his lateness onto Zhao De. He knew full well that Zhao De hadn't invited Lan Mei to dinner last night out of consideration for their own plans, yet he told her this, clearly betraying Zhao De.

Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian did this because he had worked in this unit for several years and had always been a spineless staff member tormented by Lan Mei. His work ability was limited, so promotion was naturally difficult, but the guy was an ambitious schemer who refused to remain just a staff member. Moreover, the Planning Division had suddenly gained two new colleagues: one was the biological daughter of the Construction Committee's top leader, and the other was the "cousin" of the Provincial Organization Department's Minister. Their backgrounds and connections were beyond his reach and were direct competitors on his career path. This put immense pressure on Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, and he took this opportunity to lodge a complaint against Zhao De in front of Division Chief Lan, to trip him up and gradually ruin his reputation before the leadership, squeezing out one competitor at a time.

Whether Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian's plan would succeed was not as simple as he thought. The reason he hadn't been promoted to any official position after all this time was precisely because of his character. He always felt that sucking up to leaders and cleaning up their messes was the way to get ahead, but Lan Mei, the Division Chief of the Planning Division, despised people who only knew how to flatter and had no real ability. That was why Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian had failed to get ahead after working under her for years, yet he mistakenly believed it was because he hadn't flattered her enough. Today, he used this opportunity to trip up his new colleague, Zhao De. Although Lan Mei was dissatisfied that Zhao De had been given special treatment and placed in her Planning Division because he was the "cousin" of Minister Su of the Provincial Organization Department, she also didn't like Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian trying to trip up a colleague who had only been on the job for two days. Therefore, Lan Mei seemed uninterested in Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian's explanation for his lateness and said coldly, "I don't care why you were late. Excuses are useless! You are a veteran comrade; I think you know that sometimes I don't want to waste my breath on you. I don't want to say much today either, but two new comrades have joined the Planning Division this year. I hope you will set a good example as a veteran comrade and not lead them astray! That's all. Go down and write a profound self-criticism and hand it to me before you leave work this afternoon!"

"Al... alright." Seeing that Division Chief Lan had finished venting her temper and hadn't made things too difficult for him, Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt smug about his cleverness in using this opportunity to sabotage Zhao De as he retreated from her office. Just as he was about to pull the door shut, she suddenly called him back and instructed, "Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, go over and call Zhao De for me!"

"Understood." Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian agreed and pulled the door shut, a smug, sly smirk on his lips. He thought that since he had just told Division Chief Lan that his lateness was due to Zhao De's dinner party, she must be calling Zhao De over to criticize him. Thinking this, Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian felt much more balanced. He felt that as long as he could suppress a potential competitor like Zhao De, taking a little criticism was worth it.

He returned to the Planning Division office with his own calculations. The three people inside were waiting to see how the snake-hearted Division Chief Lan would punish him, so six eyes were fixed on him. Xia Xia Xia Xia Jian, still smug with his sly smile, suddenly saw the three of them staring at him. He wiped the smile off his face, widened his eyes in surprise, and asked, "What's wrong with you guys? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Just checking to see if you're missing any arms or legs," Zheng Ru said indifferently. Seeing that this guy still had a sly smile on his face after returning from Division Chief Lan's office, Zheng Ru felt a bit disappointed that he hadn't been given a hard time.