Chapter 32: Bad Things Happen Every Year, But This Year Is Worse

Xia He laughed softly at these words, gazing at Fang Qingye as she said slowly:

“Xiao Fang, what you’re saying is a bit idealistic. From a managerial standpoint, an employee’s kindness has no necessary connection to their ability to perform a given job.”

“True, but you’ve seen how capable Chen Meimei is—she graduated from Jinling Audit College with a major in auditing, which fits the credit position perfectly, and besides—” Fang Qingye paused, then added:

“Zhang Rong is indeed a hard worker, but I think he has one major flaw.”

“What flaw?”

“He’s too utilitarian.”

“That’s not much of a flaw,” Xia He sipped her milk tea and continued slowly. “People driven by utility are goal-oriented and tend to be efficient.”

“But if someone sees money and status as the only measures of life’s value, and can’t achieve them through proper means, they’ll resort to other methods—that’s a disaster for both them and the unit.”

After hearing Fang Qingye’s words, Xia He thought for a moment, then said: “Alright, assign Chen Meimei to the Credit Section. But don’t tell anyone what we’ve discussed today, and don’t go to Chen Meimei to claim credit!”

“Am I that shallow? I’m not some green kid!”

Fang Qingye picked up his milk tea.

“You’re barely twenty—what do you mean you’re not a green kid?!”

But he did seem far more mature than most boys his age.

Talking with him was easy.

And he played badminton really well.

On Monday morning, Fang Qingye received a notice from Personnel asking him to report to the Comprehensive Office.

He didn’t hesitate—packed his things, said goodbye to Zhang Qunying next door, then headed downstairs, when he received a call from Chen Meimei.

“Fang Qingye, I’ve been assigned to the Credit Section! I thought I’d end up as a teller downstairs.” Her voice crackled with excitement over the phone: “What about you? Where’d they assign you?”

“Comprehensive Office.”

“You’re more capable than me—you should’ve been assigned to Credit.” Chen Meimei added.

“Who says that? Getting assigned to Credit proves the leadership believes you’re capable! Keep it up, work hard!”

“Yes, I will!”

They exchanged a few more words, then hung up.

Fang Qingye smiled, slipped his phone into his pocket.

The Comprehensive Office was on the second floor, crowded with people, but only four had formal positions—including the director. The rest were temporary posts, like those in the typing and printing room and the archives room.

Drivers belonged to the labor post category and fell under the office’s management, but had no fixed desk.

The director’s office was a single room; the other three shared a large office. Fang Qingye had known them all since joining the branch a year ago.

He stepped in and quickly scanned the room.

Four ordinary slant-top desks, arranged in pairs facing each other. The man seated farthest inside was a thin, middle-aged man with glasses thicker than a wine bottle bottom—Mu Youzhi, the branch’s “One Pen.”

Every large organization has someone like this—a man who spends his life writing reports, like ancient imperial scribes who churned out endless, formulaic essays yet never grew tired of it. Hearing his own all-night drafts read aloud by superiors filled him with deep satisfaction.

It was said Mu Youzhi was exactly that kind of man—he’d worked in the Comprehensive Office since joining the branch, nearly twenty years, still buried in paperwork, handling nearly every summary and report the branch produced.

Those who joined the bank system with him had mostly become branch leaders; even the worst were middle managers. But Mu Youzhi remained a regular cadre until recently, when he was promoted to Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Office—a modest career advancement.

Now Fang Qingye thought: now that Mu Youzhi was deputy director, and I’ve been assigned to the Comprehensive Office, they’ll likely hand me the writing duties.

So I’ll become the “One Pen”?

Fang Qingye smiled inwardly.

Mu Youzhi saw Fang Qingye enter and smiled at him, then returned to his documents.

Across from him sat a short-haired woman in her forties, Liu Meili—warm-hearted, eager to take on tasks, managing every small and large matter in the office, the backbone of the Comprehensive Office.

She spotted Fang Qingye and immediately smiled: “Xiao Fang, welcome! Sit right there.”

She pointed to the empty desk nearest the door.

Fang Qingye nodded with a smile, carried his belongings over, and began organizing his desk.

Across from him sat a woman in her early thirties, quite beautiful. Though dressed like the others in standard office attire, the large diamond on her left ring finger clearly signaled a privileged background.

Fang Qingye knew her name was Cao Ting. Rumor had it she was the daughter-in-law of a county official; after marrying, she transferred from her teaching job to the branch with no real duties—just handling document reception and dispatch, essentially collecting a salary.

Cao Ting looked up when Fang Qingye sat down, gave him a smile as a greeting, then lowered her head to play with her phone. Fang Qingye heard the “dudu” sound of a QQ chat notification.

Fang Qingye finished organizing his things, poured himself a cup of tea, and began working slowly—though he had no idea what to do. Maybe he should grab a newspaper and study?

At that moment, Wu Shengli, Director of the Comprehensive Office, walked in and said to Liu Meili: “Meili, go get everyone from the typing room, the archives room, and Driver Lao Zhang. We’re having a quick meeting.”

Soon, four people brought chairs into the office. Driver Lao Zhang didn’t bring a chair—he just stood by the side.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Put down what you’re doing. Meeting now.”

At Wu Shengli’s words, everyone turned to look at him—including Cao Ting, who’d just been playing on her phone.

“Fang Qingye—Comrade Xiao Fang. You’re all familiar with him, so I won’t introduce him further. He previously rotated through our section and proved highly capable. Now he’s officially assigned to our Comprehensive Section. Let’s welcome him!”

Wu Shengli started clapping. The others followed, though the applause was sparse.

“Now, I’ll assign Xiao Fang’s specific duties.”

Hearing this, everyone perked up—even Fang Qingye straightened his posture.

“Xiao Fang’s main task will be writing various documents. This used to be Mu’s responsibility, but since he’s been promoted to deputy director and needs to assist me with overall section operations, I’m lightening his load… but Mu, you can’t just wash your hands of it. You’ve got to guide Xiao Fang.”

“Don’t worry, Director Wu—I’ll give him everything I’ve got,” Mu Youzhi replied immediately.

Wu Shengli was satisfied with Mu’s response and turned to Fang Qingye.

“Xiao Fang, don’t feel pressured. If you don’t understand anything, ask Director Mu—he’s our unit’s famous ‘One Pen.’”

“I’ll definitely seek guidance from Director Mu,” Fang Qingye responded promptly.

Newcomers to the workplace always feared writing documents—no university taught students official writing, so they always sounded like students.

But for Fang Qingye, this wasn’t hard. In his past life, writing reports and analyses for investment banks was routine.

It was just annoying.

Economic analysis documents had some interest; the worst were the endless work summaries—full of bureaucratic clichés—but ironically, those were the easiest to write.

Still, he’d find a chance to talk to Xia He—don’t burden him with so much writing, he thought.

The brief meeting ended. Wu Shengli returned to his office; everyone went back to work. Mu Youzhi, showing responsibility, fetched ten boxes of documents and reports from the past three years and handed them to Fang Qingye to study and imitate.

Looking at the towering stack of ten thick boxes, Fang Qingye felt dizzy—couldn’t there be digital copies?

Whatever.

He randomly opened one box, pulled out a document, and began reading slowly—just to pass the time.

At that moment, Cao Ting, seated across from him, suddenly spoke up:

“Oh no… is our system cursed this year? We just had our own troubles, and now Pingdong Branch has a major incident too!”