Chapter 702: The person is lost

"Do you like watching movies?"

"Mm, it's quite fun."

Li Xue felt a bit embarrassed by her second brother's question. Having just come out of that small cinema, her face was still flushed with excitement.

Among the children and young people of this era, who hadn't received this kind of education?

As long as they were of age and could hold a rifle, they would all undergo training.

Li Xuewu himself started training from kindergarten. He could proudly say that he was carrying a rifle before he was six years old; this was the truth.

Watching a movie about national hatred and family vengeance, it would be strange if she weren't excited.

On the way home, Li Xue sat in the passenger seat, letting the evening breeze blow the hair by her ears. Watching the late-returning pedestrians under the streetlights, she asked her second brother, "Second Brother, what kind of person will I become?"

"Mm... that's hard to say."

Li Xuewu, while driving, pretended to think for a moment before answering, "There is a saying that can better answer your question."

"Which one?"

Li Xue turned her head, looking at her second brother in the dark, wanting to find the answer to her confusion from him.

"Dare to ask where the road lies; the road lies beneath one's feet."

Li Xuewu nodded, speaking this line he was all too familiar with.

He used to listen to it just as lyrics, but thinking about it now, how could it not be a kind of truth?

Li Xue was still somewhat confused. She looked at her second brother, then turned her gaze outside the car.

The road is walked by oneself; where one wants to go is about choosing the path one wants to take.

No one can make decisions for you for a lifetime; eventually, one must grow up to be an adult.

The jeep in the dark night carried the confused Li Xue, breaking through the darkness and heading straight toward the light.

On Monday, Li Xuewu woke up at the Sihe Academy. He hadn't returned to the villa last night because today was the Dragon Boat Festival, and it was also Li Shu's first birthday.

Tonight, Father Li Shun and the third brother Li Xuecai wouldn't be able to return; they had to pick up the eldest brother Li Huai and Wu Laoshi to come back for a reunion dinner.

In the morning, Li Xuewu ate the deep-fried cakes made by his mother, dipped in the white sugar they had specially bought on the street yesterday; it was truly delicious.

When it was time to go to work, Sha Qizhi and Han Jiankun came to pick him up. Li Xuewu told Li Xue she could take his car, but she refused.

For one thing, the car was quite crowded because her second brother still had to take his wife to work, making a detour before they could go to the Steel Mill.

For another, her second brother's shift wasn't fixed; sometimes he was at the Steel Mill, sometimes he went to the Public Security Brigade, and she couldn't afford to wait.

If she happened to get off work in the afternoon and her second brother was at the Public Security Brigade, could she still ask him to pick her up?

So, riding her bike to work alone was quite good; it wasn't hot at this time in the morning, and it was very cool.

The flow of bicycles on the street was like a great river. When encountering a fork in the road, some flowed to the other side, while others continued to surge forward.

Li Xue "went with the flow" in the morning commute and arrived at the Steel Mill.

Before the factory gate, she got off her bike very obediently, pushed it into the factory area, and looked at the police dog held by the security guard; Li Xue wasn't very afraid anymore.

The first time she came, she was startled, and the police dog, seeing her fear, bullied her all the more, barking at her.

Now that she had entered as an official employee of the Steel Mill, the police dog seemed to know she was "one of their own," merely tilting its head and looking to the side when it saw her.

She stored her bicycle and, while walking, put the key into her leather bag.

This leather bag was the one obtained from the First Prison yesterday; the style was similar to the one in her second brother's hand, and it felt just right to hold.

If there were paper documents that needed to be carried, she just needed to fold them, and it could also hold the pens and personal items she used daily.

When she entered the office area with the crowd of commuters, she didn't notice the slightly surprised gazes of those behind her.

Who was this person wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, a black skirt suit, and low-heeled leather shoes? This "black and white" style of dressing had only been seen on the male comrades in the government offices.

Now that they saw it, female comrades wearing it also had a capable and confident temperament.

Especially with the small black leather bag, Li Xue's tall figure looked even more confident and youthful.

This surprise was only discovered after she entered the office. When she saw the amazed gazes of the crowd, she also felt a bit embarrassed.

Just as she wanted to lower her head, she remembered the words her second brother had said these past few days.

She gathered courage in her heart, straightened her back, confidently greeted the seniors in the office, and walked toward her own desk.

Peng Xiaoli looked at Li Xue walking over in a daze, and only reacted when Li Xue greeted him.

He responded to Li Xue's greeting somewhat stammeringly, took another look at Li Xue, and then scratched his face and lowered his head to look at the documents.

How could he have the heart to read? Before Saturday, she was still a fledgling little girl, full of childishness and panic, wearing clothes that bore the traces of a student identity. But only after a weekend, what had happened to Li Xue?!

Li Xue didn't know what had happened either; it seemed she remembered everything, yet it all seemed very distant, as if yesterday was the past, and the memories of yesterday only gave her the confidence of today.

She knew that her attire today, learning from the outfits of the female cadres she saw at the club yesterday, must have stunned the people in the office.

From the initial politeness and deliberate distancing, Li Xue knew that these people were polite to her because of her second brother, and it was precisely because of her second brother that they looked at her with strange gazes, giving her confidence.

Now, she wanted to re-establish her image, walk out from behind her second brother, and walk her own path.

She thought this, but the people who saw her were reminded of Li Xuewu.

Truly, if there is a brother, there is a sister; the same black and white, the same style of clothes, the same small portrait badge on the chest, the same leather bag.

Even every move Li Xue made now had the shadow of Li Xuewu, looking more and more like her brother.

At this moment, they were all thinking that one Li Xuewu in the Steel Mill was enough to torture their nerves; if there were to be a second Li Xuewu...

"What's going on in the west corridor?"

During the busiest time in the office in the morning, the Li Kezhang walked in from outside the door, frowned, and asked the people in the room, "Did the people from the Service Office not come to clean?"

"Li Kezhang, they cleaned."

The person sitting at the door stood up to reply, then whispered a report: "I asked, it seems Li Kezhang Wang gave instructions that the corridor on the working group's side is not to be cleaned by the cleaning team."

"Li Kezhang Wang?"

The Li Kezhang frowned, then scanned the room. When he saw Li Xue, he paused slightly, then nodded and went out.

The person at the door sat down, but the others started talking.

"Hey, what's the situation?"

"Just heard, it's all whistle-blowing letters, a huge pile, more than yesterday's!"

Someone curled their lips and said softly, "I passed by there and glanced at the big-character posters. Some mention Deputy Factory Director Li, some mention Deputy Factory Director Nie, and some mention Deputy Factory Director Jing."

"Deputy Factory Director Jing?!"

The person listening from the side expressed surprise at the right time and asked, "How did it get involved with Deputy Factory Director Jing again?"

"Don't say it!"

The previous person pursed their lips and signaled with their eyes, "She's the one in charge of the Service Office~"

"Hey! This is really lively!"

Although the discussion in the room wasn't loud, there was a lot of it, and Li Xue heard it too.

Whenever she thought of the protagonist they mentioned, Deputy Factory Director Jing, an image of a capable female leader with exquisite features and very appropriate attire appeared in Li Xue's mind.

In fact, this was indeed the case. At thirty-something years old, having worked in government offices for a long time, she naturally carried the temperament of someone in a high position.

Coupled with her own good figure and appearance, the whole person looked even more exquisite sitting there.

Li Xue really couldn't connect the whistle-blowing letters they mentioned with this factory leader she had met once.

Even more so, she couldn't connect the content of the big-character posters they mentioned with this female leader.

Hosting the Finance Department for personal gain... Hosting the Personnel Department for nepotism... Unfair handling of affairs in the Joint Enterprise Department...

Whether intentional or unintentional, there was no content related to the Service Office on the big-character posters.

Because Jing Yunong was in charge of the Service Office's work, and the day before, the Li Kezhang of the Service Office had instructed not to clean up the big-character posters, this situation inevitably caused people to discuss it.

"Xiaoli!"

The person who had just replied to the Li Kezhang at the door walked in from outside, holding a large stack of documents, and called out for Peng Xiaoli to come over and help.

Peng Xiaoli hurriedly stood up, saying it was hard work, and his hands were already reaching to take the documents the person was holding.

This was also his job; the two of them went to various departments every day to collect the documents handed down yesterday afternoon and hand them to the leaders, or bring up the content reported from below.

As for documents at other times or special documents, they were reported by the secretaries of the departments or the heads of the departments themselves.

Because there was other work in the morning, Peng Xiaoli took turns with this clerk, one person per day, to help the other collect documents for the departments they were responsible for.

At this time in the morning, the heads of each department were busy, mostly docking with the secretary positions, so there was no fear of any omissions.

They first collected the documents from each department, organized them, and handed them to the leaders, then received documents from the leaders, organized them, and handed them to the departments below; this was their job.

Today was the other person's shift; he was busy with manuscripts in the office, and now he had to separate his own share and organize them to hand to each leader.

Li Xue followed him to learn, and seeing him like this, she went over to help.

The person sitting at the door looked at Li Xue and joked to Peng Xiaoli, "If the newcomers brought in for training were all this diligent, I'd want to find someone to help too~"

"Hey~ you're a newcomer yourself~"

Peng Xiaoli didn't even lift his head, his hands nimbly organizing the documents belonging to him, while also sorting the documents belonging to each leader, making it easy to organize later.

"Just like you aren't."

That person retorted unconvinced, but while busy with his mouth, his hands weren't lazy, just as nimble as Peng Xiaoli's.

The two of them moved very quickly, and Li Xue was dazzled. Peng Xiaoli, having finished organizing the last one, saw her watching them and smiled, explaining the tricks involved.

Li Xue smiled when she saw him taking the initiative to explain to her, and listened carefully.

The person at the door curled their lips and started organizing their own pile.

Peng Xiaoli taught carefully, Li Xue learned carefully; Peng Xiaoli was busy, Li Xue helped; the two of them were faster than the person at the door.

"Done."

After confirming the signature of the department head on the last document, Peng Xiaoli closed the document and looked at Li Xue.

"There are documents from four departments here."

Peng Xiaoli looked at Li Xue and said, "Among them, the ones regarding Deputy Factory Director Li and Deputy Factory Director Nie are quite special. I'll go find the Factory Director; you take the remaining two departments to send to... no problem, right?"

Having said this, Peng Xiaoli paused, looking at Li Xue to ask if she wanted to send these.

"Good, no problem."

Li Xue nodded, glanced at the leaders to whom the documents belonged, hugged the documents of the remaining two departments, and followed him out the door, imitating Peng Xiaoli and the way he taught her.

Passing by the door, Peng Xiaoli also received an envious look from his colleague at the door, and he returned a proud look.

There were always such confrontations in the office, whether well-intentioned or malicious, forming the melody of daily work.

At the office door, Li Xue separated from Peng Xiaoli to complete her first independently executed task during her internship.

It sounded very difficult, but it was actually very simple: just hand the organized documents to the leaders and confirm if the leaders had any documents to hand down.

Generally speaking, there were many things at this time in the morning, and the leaders' approvals were also very efficient, making document reception very convenient.

Saying it was simple, it was actually very difficult; what was difficult wasn't the documents, but the people.

Some leaders were hard to get along with and would express their attitude toward the documents to the secretary, as if the secretary could convey this attitude to those below or above.

Actually, that wasn't the case at all. These secretaries were busy enough, and their status was just that of clerks, so they were as cautious as possible in their work attitude; how would they dare to express an attitude to those leaders?

The result was that these secretaries bore the leaders' anger and became the fish in the moat.

What Peng Xiaoli told Li Xue was that the heads of the departments below were still okay; except for a few who were quite cowardly, the rest were very normal.

And as for those few who were quite cowardly, he also pointed them out to Li Xue one by one.

Li Xue was his apprentice; this was a very important relationship in the workplace. He wasn't afraid that Li Xue would spread anything, because that would also be a very bad thing for Li Xue.

And when talking about the factory leaders, Peng Xiaoli was more cautious, only pointing out the personalities and work styles of a few leaders to Li Xue, especially introducing a few examples.

Summarizing, among these factory leaders, Factory Director Yang was upright, Deputy Factory Director Li was kind to others, Deputy Factory Director Nie was serious and earnest, and Deputy Factory Director Jing was meticulous.

The Party Committee side was simpler, with less work relationship; Party Secretary Yang was enthusiastic, Deputy Party Secretary Gu was talented and capable, and Party Secretary Xue was stern.

Actually, there used to be a "Deputy Factory Director Deng who was kind-hearted and soft-faced," but later Deputy Factory Director Deng offended someone; it was truly a pity.

This last introduction wasn't told to Li Xue by Peng Xiaoli; he deliberately omitted it. She heard this later, knowing it was done by her second brother. Hearing others say this, she also felt a sense of absurdity.

The documents she was going to send to these two departments now were for the meticulous Deputy Factory Director Jing.

Perhaps because she was in charge of financial work, Deputy Factory Director Jing would be more concerned about details in the work process, and even more concerned about the numbers in the work; she couldn't have wrong data when reporting, otherwise she would be scolded.

This was what Peng Xiaoli told her, and it was also a reminder to her that when reporting, she shouldn't use specific data if she didn't have to, and shouldn't pretend to understand when she didn't, because Deputy Factory Director Jing understood very well.

The leaders that these secretaries in the office came into contact with were too many, and they also evaluated leaders from their work ability and work attitude.

Their evaluation of Deputy Factory Director Jing was that she was shrewd and capable, virtuous and talented, meticulous, and aloof.

What Li Xue understood was that perhaps Deputy Factory Director Jing was highly educated and too capable, and instead became difficult to get along with because she couldn't display her talents in this kind of work environment.

She didn't know if her understanding was right, but she was just a clerk in the office, with no qualification to evaluate leaders, and even less qualification to understand leaders.

Having just heard the discussion about Deputy Factory Director Jing in the office, and now having to send documents to her, Li Xue was also constantly encouraging herself in her heart.

Including when Peng Xiaoli asked her just now, Li Xue felt that she would encounter more difficulties in her work. If she dodged them all, she wouldn't get exercise and growth, and eventually, there would be a day when she couldn't dodge them.

So she was also mentally prepared to be scolded for making mistakes when receiving documents for the first time.

However, just as she walked to the door of Deputy Factory Director Jing's office, reality gave her a blow.

"Can't even do this little bit of work well?"

"How is your work as a secretary done!"

"Everything has to be done by me, then what are you here for!"

The sound of stern reprimand came intermittently from the office. Li Xue stood at the door and listened for a moment; it was Deputy Factory Director Jing's voice.

There was no need to guess who was being scolded; it must be Deputy Factory Director Jing's secretary, and the reason for being scolded was also easy to guess. Those things at the door of the working group today might be the fuse for Deputy Factory Director Jing's anger.

Part of the anger was for outsiders to see, and part of the anger was directly for the secretary.

Not being able to predict or investigate that this kind of thing would happen was actually the secretary's dereliction of duty.

It wasn't to say that the secretary was there to dig up gossip for the leader, but a question of political sensitivity.

A secretary must have a sensitive heart, a pair of sharp ears, a pair of eyes that can see things, a mouth that can speak, hands that can write manuscripts, and two legs that can run.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a secretary is an all-around warrior; this was also the reason why many leaders' secretaries could become department deputies after going down; they had already received full exercise.

Li Xue stood at the door, somewhat at a loss. The door wasn't closed tightly, and Deputy Factory Director Jing's voice was still a bit loud. She also knew that now wasn't the time to knock and enter.

But waiting here, if she were discovered by Deputy Factory Director Jing or the secretary inside, it would be another problem.

She couldn't leave; Li Xue understood this truth.

She was just there to send documents. If the documents were hugged back, without her saying anything, someone would definitely notice this situation. They wouldn't say she lacked ability, but would say she heard something.

By then, the gossip in the government office would use "Li Xue saw it" or "Li Xue heard it" as factual basis.

Li Xue wouldn't do something that made her a villain on both sides. She moved her steps slightly away from the door, placed the documents in her hand on the windowsill of the corridor, and lowered her head to organize them, looking as if there was a problem with the documents and she was temporarily checking them.

Cadres and clerks passing by noticed Li Xue's attire and were somewhat surprised, but they all restrained their gazes and walked past as if they didn't know.

As for Li Xue standing by the window opposite Deputy Factory Director Jing's office organizing documents, everyone didn't pay attention; this was very normal.

Perhaps after ten minutes, Li Xue heard the sound of a door opening behind her. She turned around and saw it was Deputy Factory Director Jing's secretary, Fu Ruchen.

"Hello, Secretary Fu, I'm here to send documents to Deputy Factory Director Jing."

Li Xue hurriedly tidied up the documents on the windowsill, hugged them, and greeted Fu Ruchen.

Fu Ruchen looked at Li Xue, his expression still unable to hide his embarrassment. Knowing who she was, he laughed dryly and signaled the documents in his hand, saying, "You have to wait for me a while; I have to go to the Factory Director's side first, or you can just send them in directly; the leader is in there."

This kind of work conflict encountered during handover was also normal. Generally, the Factory Office secretary sent them directly to the leader; after all, they also had other work in their hands and couldn't wait for the secretary, nor could they let the leader wait.

Li Xue saw Fu Ruchen smile and turn to leave. She couldn't help but frown, pursed her lips, glanced at the door of Deputy Factory Director Jing's office, took a breath, and still knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Deputy Factory Director Jing's voice was still as stern and clear as ever, only today's response had some different emotions.

Li Xue heard the voice and pushed open the office door. Seeing Deputy Factory Director Jing sitting behind the desk slightly raise her head, she greeted, "Hello, leader. Morning documents, from the Finance Department and the Personnel Department."

As she spoke, she placed the documents of the two departments on Jing Yunong's right hand side, with the document direction inward, just right for the leader to see.

Jing Yunong didn't speak, picked up the table of contents on the documents of the two departments, looked at them, knew what documents were handed in, and nodded.

After putting down the table of contents in her hand, Jing Yunong didn't directly signal her to take the already approved documents as usual, but looked Li Xue up and down, slightly raised her eyebrows, and said, "This outfit looks like an official employee."

Li Xue felt a bit frightened by being looked at by the Deputy Factory Director. Hearing the leader say this, she couldn't help but tidy the hair by her ears and replied, "I learned to dress like everyone else."

Jing Yunong's mouth curled slightly, but her eyes narrowed, as if she were smiling, and as if she weren't.

She hadn't seen any female comrades in the government office dress like this, and even less had she seen anyone wear such exquisite shirts and skirts.

Jing Yunong was a woman, and even more so a woman who was strict with herself. Naturally, she could tell that what Li Xue was wearing wasn't the finished clothes from the supply and marketing cooperative, nor from the shopping mall.

Including the shoes Li Xue was wearing when she just entered the door, they weren't mall goods either, but looked like the handicrafts from the custom-made shops in Magic City before.

Even if one didn't look at the craftsmanship, one could tell the good from the bad just by looking at the fabric of the clothes.

It was rare to see silk used for shirts now, but the luster and comfort of silk fabric were much better than other fabrics.

And although the fabric of the skirt suit Li Xue was wearing was labor cloth, other good materials were added in the details.

Looking at the style and design again, especially the small badge on Li Xue's shirt chest, it was eighty percent similar to the attire of that person in the Security Department. This person really spent money on his sister.

Jing Yunong knew these things just by glancing at them, and she thought of them instantly.

She didn't say anything more to Li Xue. Last week, she looked like a student who had broken into the office; today, she looked much more mature. She was just expressing her feelings.

Signaling the documents on the desk to Li Xue, Jing Yunong lowered her head again and looked at the materials.

Li Xue pursed her lips, walked forward, moved the documents on Deputy Factory Director Jing's desk to a different direction, and then organized them one by one.

Some of the documents here were from one department but were separated; they needed to be organized together, and it was necessary to check whether the leader's signature and opinions were complete.

There were also documents reported from below that were stopped at Deputy Factory Director Jing's side; they also had to be selected first, checked clearly, and then put together, ready to be returned to the departments below.

These tasks should have been done well by Deputy Factory Director Jing's secretary and handed over to the Factory Office secretary. The Factory Office secretary only needed to check the content table of contents.

Now that these documents were all piled up here, only Li Xue could do it herself.

She had only heard Peng Xiaoli talk about how these documents should be sorted, but this was her first time actually operating them; after all, she hadn't come for many days.

Just like this, Jing Yunong looked at the materials behind the desk, and Li Xue organized the documents beside the desk, occasionally making marks in the notebook she brought.

After organizing all the documents, Li Xue looked at Deputy Factory Director Jing and said, "Leader, they are organized; I'll take them away."

"Mm, good."

Jing Yunong raised her head, looked at Li Xue, and said, "Help me close the door."

"Okay, leader."

Li Xue answered softly, hugged the documents, nodded to the Deputy Factory Director, and went out.

After closing the door well, Li Xue, standing at the door, heard the Deputy Factory Director inside seemingly on the phone. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief; she had finally completed her first task.

After tidying up her mood, she hugged the documents and walked back. When she reached the office door, she encountered Fu Ruchen returning from the corner of the stairs, still carrying the smell of cigarettes; it was obvious he had finished his work long ago and had hidden away to smoke.

Caught red-handed by Li Xue, Fu Ruchen was also a bit embarrassed. Knowing who she was, he laughed dryly and signaled the documents in his hand, saying, "You have to wait for me a while; I have to go to the Factory Director's side first, or you can just send them in directly; the leader is in there."

Fu Ruchen also didn't have a kind heart. Clearly knowing that the relationship between Deputy Factory Director Jing and Li Xuewu was a bit subtle, he still let Li Xue face the furious Jing Yunong.

And he hid away to smoke while clearly knowing that Li Xue was in a hurry to send documents to Jing Yunong, just to delay the time of returning.

Li Xue also saw his little thoughts, but didn't say anything, just saying that she had organized the leader's documents and taken them away.

Fu Ruchen didn't dare to bully Li Xue openly. Seeing that she didn't seem to notice, he went with the flow, smiled, and promised, walking into the corridor.

Li Xue stood at the office door and looked back at Fu Ruchen's back, her gaze carrying exploration and doubt, not knowing why she didn't know him, yet was pitted by him like this.

"What's wrong?"

At this time, Peng Xiaoli returned from the Factory Director's office. Seeing Li Xue standing at the office door and looking at Fu Ruchen's figure in the corridor, he asked, "Did he give you trouble?"

"No."

Li Xue shook her head, looked at Peng Xiaoli, and said, "I've brought back the documents approved by Deputy Factory Director Jing."

Peng Xiaoli frowned slightly, looked at Fu Ruchen's back, then looked at Li Xue, and said earnestly, "If he bullies you, tell me; I'll deal with him."

After finishing, he also whispered a reminder: "This person smiles on the surface, but is very sinister behind the back; he is best at using little tricks. You should guard against him."

It wasn't Peng Xiaoli's fault for being careful; it was just that the people and things in this office were like the trees and wolves in a big forest. There were many trees and the wolves were fierce. A newcomer like Li Xue, who was like a little lamb, would inevitably get hurt.

He was Li Xue's master and also the person in charge of docking with the Security Department. If Li Xue suffered grievances and the leader was unhappy, the person in the Security Department would also implicate him when he got angry.

Li Xue didn't want to cause trouble, so she shook her head again, simply explaining what had just happened, without saying the severity of it.

Li Xue didn't say it, but Peng Xiaoli could still hear it. His gaze glared fiercely at Deputy Factory Director Jing's office side. He didn't say anything, but he had already held a grudge in his heart.

Among those mixing in the office, how many were good people?

Don't look at Peng Xiaoli who had only been working for a few years and was still considered a young clerk, but his fierceness in the unit was also a set.

Without this fierce spirit, he wouldn't be able to survive in this big forest and would have been swallowed alive long ago.

Taking Li Xue into the office, Peng Xiaoli signaled Li Xue to organize the documents, while he himself leaned toward the desk of the person at the door and whispered, "Deputy Factory Director Jing was whistle-blown; why is Fu Ruchen so happy?"

"Happy?"

It wasn't just the person at the door who heard it; many people in the office were pricking up their ears to listen.

When Peng Xiaoli finished speaking, these people all looked at each other, as if they had figured out something.

And the person at the door also narrowed their eyes. After making eye contact with Peng Xiaoli, they asked in surprise, then said, "Can't be, he is very much relied upon by Deputy Factory Director Jing, and has a very good relationship with Li Kezhang Wang of the Service Office..."

After these words were finished, the expressions of everyone in the room moved again. Many incomprehensible places were connected. Everyone tacitly lowered their heads and got busy with the things in their hands.

It was just that someone went out from time to time, and someone came in.

And Peng Xiaoli also just said that one sentence, as if shaking his head incomprehensibly and returning to his position.

Seeing Li Xue looking at him again, Peng Xiaoli smiled slightly, and the sunlight shining on his face even had a bit of a proud look.

Who said that people who are jealous and spraying each other on weekdays must have a bad relationship? Who said that those who mock and step on each other must be enemies? Sometimes it is also a kind of cooperative relationship; only by standing on the opposite angle can one hear different voices.

Li Xue turned her head back, and looking at the documents in her hand again, she immediately felt that there were still too many things she needed to learn, completely not just a little bit in work.

The news in the office leaked out naturally very quickly. Peng Xiaoli's unintentional question was processed and pondered, and then spread throughout the third floor.

And in the Factory Office Director's office next to the Factory Director's office, Xu Sinian also heard this news from someone.

Don't think that department-level cadres wouldn't listen to this kind of gossip; instead, they paid more attention to this kind of idle talk in the government office, which was also a kind of political ecology barometer.

When the wind blows and when it rains, if one didn't even know this, then what was one mixing in the government office for?

It was just that when he heard this news, he thought more and was even more helpless, because he knew more than the news and understood more.

Just now, Deputy Factory Director Jing gave him a phone call. The content of the phone call was very direct, saying that her secretary was going down to continue exercise and study, and asked Xu Sinian to arrange a secretary for her.

The leaders of Jing Yunong's batch all came together. Except for Deng Zhiwang's secretary who was brought by himself, the others were all deployed from the Factory Office.

It hadn't been half a year, and Deputy Factory Director Jing actually wanted to change secretaries.

Of course, this wasn't a big deal. After all, the secretary's relationship wasn't hung on the Deputy Factory Director, but on the Factory Office.

According to the nature of the position, a leader's secretary, such as Fu Ruchen, had no essential difference compared to the office docking secretary Peng Xiaoli; it was just that the work content was different.

Which secretary a leader wanted to use was naturally up to the leader. This didn't involve the adjustment of the level, just the different division of work content.

Now that the leader in charge of the factory's Personnel Department had spoken, wanting to adjust the secretary's work, wasn't that simple?

Xu Sinian thought at the time that Deputy Factory Director Jing's secretary Fu Ruchen had entered the factory three years ago, was also a high school graduate, and was now a ninth-level clerk. What could he do if he went down?

At that time, he didn't know what Fu Ruchen had done wrong, thinking it should be related to the whistle-blowing letters and big-character posters this morning. This reason for changing secretaries was also understandable.

Xu Sinian also picked the relatively excellent clerks in the office to recommend to Jing Yunong; it was a tradition for factory leader secretaries to be picked from the Factory Office.

Of course, the secretary candidate could also be transferred from below and then hung on the Factory Office.

But Xu Sinian recommended several people in succession, none of whom satisfied Deputy Factory Director Jing. Deputy Factory Director Jing even commented on the candidates he recommended as being worthless.

Xu Sinian knew that Deputy Factory Director Jing must have had her own candidate in mind, waiting for him to ask actively.

Then ask. This was just choosing a secretary, not choosing a wife or a husband, and there was no saying of being responsible or not.

When Xu Sinian finished asking, the other side of the phone paused. Deputy Factory Director Jing seemed to be thinking, thinking about which young person in the Factory Office was okay.

Xu Sinian just waited here, waited for a long time, and only then heard Deputy Factory Director Jing on the other end of the phone say: "Just the new one, Li Xue."

This gave Xu Sinian a big fright. The fountain pen in his hand flew out, and the ink that popped out sprinkled all over the table in dots.

He endured the surprise and didn't make a sound, asking Jing Yunong if she had a nervous breakdown, choosing Li Xue as secretary.

It wasn't that Li Xue couldn't be Jing Yunong's secretary, nor was it the relationship between Li Xue's brother Li Xuewu and Jing Yunong; these were all reasons that couldn't be brought to the table and couldn't be spoken out.

The only reason Xu Sinian could say was that Li Xue was a newcomer, and she hadn't even worked at the Steel Mill for five full days. How could she be a secretary for a leader?

But Xu Sinian knew this reason himself; would he think Deputy Factory Director Jing didn't know?

So when Deputy Factory Director Jing heard him silent here and asked back "Is it not possible?", what could he do? What could he do? This was the Steel Mill, this was work, this was the Deputy Factory Director in charge of personnel. Could he say it wasn't possible?

So when he heard this news from the office, Xu Sinian finally understood why Jing Yunong didn't use Fu Ruchen; it turned out it really had something to do with Li Xue.

He naturally understood Fu Ruchen, this young man. There wasn't a young person in the office he didn't understand; otherwise, why would he be called the Office Director?

He had some little cleverness, but he was also very capable, and he did his job as a secretary very well.

As for the set in the office, Xu Sinian didn't care. Which young person in the government office didn't have some Taoist practice? Survival of the fittest.

Fu Ruchen went down; it could only be said that his Taoist practice was shallow. Li Xue went up; it could only be said that he was going to suffer.

How could he not suffer? Initially, he confidently let Li Xue come to the Factory Office to work, and he even had the face to guarantee to Li Xuewu that the person wouldn't be lost here.

Yi yi yi~~~

The current Xu Sinian sitting behind the desk really wanted to cry out. He was too difficult.

If any leader chose Li Xue as secretary, he wouldn't be so embarrassed, except for Jing Yunong. How did he not think that this person would have this move of drawing the firewood from under the cauldron?

Thinking left and right, caught in a dilemma, Xu Sinian still picked up the phone he had taken a fancy to for a long time on the desk and asked the operator for the Security Department.

"Hello? Li Xuewu."

"That... Li Kezhang Li."

Xu Sinian heard Li Xuewu's voice and felt a bit weak. The tone of his speech was also a bit lacking in confidence. He greeted him and then said in the following words, "I'm sorry, brother, I have failed your expectations."

"Mm?"

Li Xuewu heard that the tone wasn't right. The first sentence was an apology; this crime wasn't small!

"What's wrong? What failed? Was your affair with that person in the Propaganda Section discovered by your wife? Or were you caught?"

Xu Sinian heard Li Xuewu's barrage of questions and instantly couldn't stay calm. He grabbed the phone and hurriedly interrupted, "I don't have that kind of relationship with her; we are just ordinary friends!"

After explaining, he remembered, how did Li Xuewu know about this?

But he had other things now, this wasn't important for the time being. After explaining a sentence, he explained in a weak voice about Jing Yunong wanting Li Xue to be secretary.

When he finished speaking, he clearly felt the cold air on the other end of the phone and couldn't help but move the receiver away, as if Li Xuewu couldn't hit him this way.

He waited for a long time and didn't see Li Xuewu speak. Xu Sinian just wanted to cough and ask what Li Xuewu's opinion was, but heard a cold voice from the other end of the phone: "Didn't you say that the person wouldn't be lost?"

"The person isn't lost!"

Xu Sinian looked outside the office door and explained to Li Xuewu while arguing, "Still in the Factory Office, just responsible for assisting Deputy Factory Director Jing's office work..."

He was explaining the secretary's work. Saying it one way or another, it was still a leader's secretary.

Li Xuewu didn't wait for him to finish and interrupted, "This damn thing isn't called losing the person, then what the hell is called losing the person~"

Xu Sinian saw Li Xuewu say this and had no choice. He had explained, but he felt his explanation couldn't even fool himself, let alone fool Li Xuewu.

"What to do? I have no way either. She called and said it directly, and after saying it, she hung up the phone, not even giving me time to question!"

Xu Sinian knew how to complain. Clearly, it was he who didn't dare to question, but when it came to Li Xuewu, it was Jing Yunong who was overbearing and didn't give him a chance.

Li Xuewu was too lazy to talk nonsense with him. He held the phone with a dark face and said, "What to do? Wait for me to deal with you! Stop bragging in the future!" ===== CHAPTER 703 =====