Chapter 86

Section Chief Zhou received a sudden call from Secretary Huang saying that Qiao Wei, who was loaned from Xiahekou Town, would be arranged in the Propaganda Department later.

Ection Chief Zhou was a bit surprised.

Because Qiao Wei wasn’t loaned by him. If it wasn’t him, then it must be the leader. He knew about it. Yesterday, Secretary Huang mentioned to him that a rookie from Xiahekou Town had been specifically named and loaned by Secretary Meng.

In such a situation, Section Chief Zhou thought Qiao Wei would be placed in the office and follow Secretary Meng’s arrangements directly.

Section Chief Zhou understood that Secretary Huang must have acted on a whim. If it had been arranged in advance, Secretary Huang would have notified him yesterday, not just now.

Secretary Huang wouldn’t make such a work mistake.

But it didn’t matter; it had nothing to do with him. Having an extra pair of hands was good for him. It was almost National Day, and there was a lot of work to do.

The clerk Xiao Pan handed Qiao Wei over to Section Chief Zhou and left without much explanation.

Qiao Wei had to clarify some things herself. If things weren’t clearly confirmed at the beginning, there would easily be contradictions and unpleasantness later.

“Section Chief, you’re aware of the few situations that Secretary Huang confirmed with me, right?” she asked.

Because it was the Propaganda Department, she had dealt with them twice before coming to the county. She was more familiar with them than with Secretary Huang and the others.

Section Chief Zhou asked, “Is it about the commuting time?”

Secretary Huang just gave instructions over the phone.

This was a condition negotiated with Xiahekou Town, and it had already been reported to Secretary Meng. Secretary Huang wouldn’t neglect to inform, otherwise, it would be considered his own work mistake.

Secretary Huang wouldn’t make such an error.

As long as the negotiated conditions were confirmed, it was sufficient. Qiao Wei didn’t have any other requests.

Section Chief Zhou arranged a desk for her.

It was a desk that no one was using, but it was piled with a lot of papers and miscellaneous items. There are many printed materials.

Qiao Wei raised her eyebrows slightly, feeling that the Propaganda Department wasn’t very good. Since she was loaned here, at least they should have prepared a decent desk for her.

She didn’t expect that Secretary Huang’s decision to place her in the Propaganda Department was made on a whim, and the people in the Propaganda Department weren’t prepared at all.

Section Chief Zhou called a few clerks over to help tidy up.

There were two young male clerks who were obviously more enthusiastic.

When they were almost done moving things, Section Chief Zhou, holding a tea kettle, asked with a smile, “Where’s your child? I heard from Secretary Huang yesterday that you would bring your child here?”

Qiao Wei replied, “He’s in the kindergarten.”

It turned out that he was married; he had mistaken her for an unmarried woman. The unmarried male clerks were disappointed.

Section Chief Zhou said to everyone, “You guys don’t know her, right? She’s Qiao Wei from Xiahekou Town. The article in the city newspaper the day before yesterday was written by her.”

There was a chorus of “Oh~” in the office.

Sometimes, people’s voices were really interesting. The same word sounded completely different depending on the tone, length, volume, and context.

There were genuinely surprised voices.

There were slightly raised voices with a hint of challenge.

There were perfunctory responses to avoid awkwardness.

Interesting.

Qiao Wei thought she had already fallen in love with retirement life during her time at the radio station, but she realized deep down that she was still a worker at heart. As soon as she returned to this environment, she immediately felt invigorated, and her worker’s spirit awakened.

Qiao Wei hung her bag and water bottle on the back of the chair and took out her own tissue. In this era lacking disposable items, she always kept tissues in her bag, which was especially useful.

The female clerk next to her glanced at her bag and water bottle and commented, “Your water bottle looks new.”

Qiao Wei replied, “Yes, it’s new.”

The female clerk nodded slightly in acknowledgment and didn’t say anything else.

Overall, the atmosphere didn’t feel particularly friendly to the loaned staff, but it wasn’t particularly bad either. It was just an ordinary office environment.

Qiao Wei took out her lunch box, enamel cup, and her own tea leaves from her bag and put them in the drawer.

After tidying up, everyone was busy with their own tasks, and no one paid attention to her.

Indeed, the workload at the county committee was higher than that at the town committee.

There was no retirement atmosphere here like at the town committee. Everyone really has the attitude of workers now.

After all, she couldn’t just sit idle, so she went to Section Chief Zhou and asked, “Chief Zhou, is there anything you need me to do now?”

Section Chief Zhou had many things on his desk. He rummaged through them and picked out a document, saying, “Can you proofread this?”

Qiao Wei asked, “When do you need this by?”

Section Chief Zhou replied, “By the end of today’s workday is fine.”

Qiao Wei’s work at the County Committee started with proofreading an article.

At lunchtime, nobody called her except Section Chief Zhou, who said, “Qiao Wei, it’s time for lunch.”

Qiao Wei responded and took her lunchbox, joining the crowd heading to the cafeteria.

The people in the office formed their own groups and didn’t pay much attention to the staff borrowed from subordinate units. After all, even kindergarten teachers had such a strong sense of superiority.

Qiao Wei didn’t mind, as she had mentally prepared herself to be treated like a workhorse before coming here.

It wouldn’t be a big deal to work for a few months and then persuade the leadership to send her back.

As long as the food and drink were good, the best thing about the County Committee was the delicious cafeteria food.

In the afternoon, she finished proofreading the document by three o’clock and returned it to Section Chief Zhou.

This way, if there were any issues, there would be an hour left to address them.

As expected, Section Chief Zhou glanced over it, nodded, and asked her to transcribe it.

After transcribing, it was 3:50 PM. Section Chief Zhou nodded, saying, “It’s done.”

Qiao Wei returned to her seat, poured out the remaining tea from her thermos, rinsed it with hot water, and the timing was just right.

They agreed to leave work at 4 PM before the National Day.

Qiao Wei stood up, put on her military shoulder bag and grabbed her water bottle, then walked up to Section Chief Zhou, saying, “Chief Zhou, I’m leaving now.”

“Alright,” Section Chief Zhou said, “Take care on your way.”

“Okay.”

With a crisp response, Qiao Wei left.

Just like that.

Left.

Left.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

“Why did she leave?” a female colleague at the neighboring desk exclaimed. “It’s only a little past four.”

Normal working hours were until 5 PM. It was only 4 PM now.

Section Chief Zhou sipped his tea, glanced through the manuscript, and said, “She brought her child, and the commute is long, so she’s scheduled to leave at four.”

A staff member commented, “How unusual, bringing her child along.”

Because in general, when borrowing staff from subordinate units, the unit below would never send someone who wasn’t convenient, it would always be someone suitable. But Qiao Wei was personally designated by Secretary Meng, so even if it wasn’t convenient for her, she had to come.

Section Chief Zhou knew, but he didn’t say anything.

Instead, he blew on the tea leaves and said, “After National Day, she’ll leave at three-thirty.”

The office suddenly buzzed with surprise.

They had never seen such an arrogant borrowed staff member before.

Section Chief Zhou took another sip of tea and continued, “She won’t come on rainy or snowy days, and if there’s anything to do, just call her.”

The staff in the Propaganda Department were stunned.

They were used to borrowed staff members being submissive.

Of course, there were also those who were lazy or cunning. But most of them were diligent and submissive. Some who had ambitions to stay would even be particularly diligent.

But they had never seen anything like this before.

“Do they even know they’re from a subordinate unit?” someone said indignantly.

“Yeah, she acts like she’s been sent here to supervise us, as if we’re the subordinate unit,” another added.

Normally, they would refer to “people from subordinate units” as “people from below.” After all, they were from the superior unit.

But after saying it for a long time, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority over those below them.

This was also a common problem in government offices. Bureaucracy was rampant.

Section Chief Zhou just drank his tea.

The writers all had a bit of literary ailment.

The other day, a writer from Qingshan Town had spoken to him in a condescending tone, making him lose face.

These people from subordinate units were quite annoying.

After Qiao Wei left, she knew that the staff in the Propaganda Department would probably say something behind her back. But she didn’t care at all.

If others didn’t care about you, then you shouldn’t care about them either.

She was unyielding. She never thought about staying in the county government. The Town Committee was her fairyland retirement home.

Besides, she was a military spouse, so who would she be afraid of?

Qiao Wei went to pick up Yan Xiang from the kindergarten.

The teacher who received her was surprised. “You’re picking him up already?”

Qiao Wei replied, “I’m borrowed staff. Secretary Huang arranged for me to leave at four. After National Day, I’ll leave at three-thirty.”

Leaders’ secretaries, leaders’ assistants, leaders’ security guards, leaders’ communicators, leaders’ drivers, and even leaders’ family nannies—all were useful.

She mentioned Secretary Huang, and it worked like a charm.

The teacher went in and brought Yan Xiang out.

Qiao Wei observed Yan Xiang.

He had come over for a nap during lunchtime, but it was naptime at the kindergarten, so she hadn’t seen much.

Now, as she observed, she saw that Yan Xiang was in good spirits and in a good mood, so she felt relieved.

After thanking the teacher, she took Yan Xiang and left.

As soon as she left, the teacher went back and told everyone, “She leaves work at three-thirty after National Day.”

“Why is she so special?”

“I don’t know, she said Secretary Huang arranged it.”

Teacher Wang said, “She’s from a cadre’s family, her husband is on the same level as Secretary Meng.”

“I see.”

It was still September, and the weather was perfect at four in the afternoon.

Qiao Wei rode happily along the country road. “Look, so many birds!”

“What did you do at kindergarten? Tell Mommy.”

Yan Xiang tugged on her belt and said, “We played games and told stories.”

“Was it fun?”

“Yes.”

As long as he found it fun, it was fine. Qiao Wei had been worried that he might not be able to integrate and feel lonely. Because before, Yan Xiang didn’t like to play with other children at the kindergarten, he preferred to play alone.

Or with adults, like at the radio station.

But he was doing well at the kindergarten, so Qiao Wei felt reassured.

Even if she was unhappy with her work, it didn’t matter to her. She was a mature adult who could face and handle things on her own.

What worried her was whether Yan Xiang would be unhappy outside. If that were the case, she would have to find a way to go back to the Town Committee.

Yan Xiang was so happy at the radio station, treating it like his own home.

Fortunately, everything was fine.

“Grab Mommy’s hand!” Qiao Wei said, “Let’s go home—”

“Ah, look, cows!”