Volume 1: Gathering Storm Chapter 10: The Writing Team (Part 1)
Deputy Director Meng Fanxun, who is the same age as Wu Tianran, is tall and has a remarkable capacity for alcohol. His father is the deputy director of the municipal finance bureau, and his mother is the deputy director of the municipal party committee's administrative office. In terms of family background, he can be said to be unmatched in the entire secretarial department. However, Meng Fanxun dresses modestly and is humble in demeanor. He always arrives early and leaves late. As soon as he enters the office, he first sweeps the floor, waters the flowers, and then carries two large thermoses to the boiler room to fetch hot water. By the time others arrive at work, Meng Fanxun has already taken out his notebook and is excerpting what he considers important theoretical viewpoints, key points from leaders' speeches, official etiquette, and famous quotes from newspapers such as People's Daily, Shanyang Daily, Secretary Work, and Leadership Science. At first, Wu Tianran found Meng Fanxun's behavior puzzling. As a newcomer to the department, Tianran also often arrived early at the office but always ended up lagging behind Meng Fanxun. Tianran once said to Meng Fanxun, "Old brother, let me take care of these menial tasks." Meng Fanxun replied, "This is my specialty, but you can share some of it." Thereafter, the two of them jointly took on these tasks. Later, Tianran discovered that Meng Fanxun was so low-key and diligent because he was actually not good at writing materials and possibly felt a bit inferior. The words he wrote could be summed up in one word: "chaotic," and they couldn't even form coherent paragraphs. Although Meng Fanxun was the most diligent and obedient person in the department, his status in everyone's eyes was the lowest. After all, this is a place where people play with materials; if you can't wield your pen skillfully, you naturally won't be able to stand firm. Tianran thought that Meng Fanxun's parents must have had high hopes for their son when they sent him to work at the municipal party committee office, hoping he would make a name for himself in the future. However, in Tianran's opinion, this Meng Fanxun was absolutely not cut out for writing materials and must be deeply suffering in his heart.
Deputy Director Li Bingxue is a few years older than Tianran, and she used to be an officer in the People's Liberation Army. Before her transfer, she worked as a communications officer in a certain group army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Her current marital status is unknown, with some saying she is already married with children, others claiming she has been divorced for a long time, and some even saying she has always been single. Li Bingxue is extremely meticulous and principled, exuding an aura of a strong woman. This makes her stand out in the municipal party committee office, where people often fawn and flatter. When writing, if Zhao Huaizhong dares to modify her work, she will confront him directly and demand that he explain himself thoroughly. Otherwise, she won't let it go. As a result, Zhao Huaizhong also doesn't dare to carelessly alter her texts. Bai Mingyuan witnesses this and feels annoyed in his heart. This old Zhao is just a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong - what kind of person is that? In Tianran's opinion, Li Bingxue's writing skills are quite solid, likely due to her long experience with communications reporting in the army. However, her shortcomings are also apparent: she has a tendency to be overly emotional and individualistic, sometimes revealing too much of her sharp edges, which doesn't meet the requirements for leadership speech drafts that need to be simple and rigorous. Overall, though, Tianran still has a very good impression of Li Bingxue.
Here is the translation:
Jia Dongdong, Secretary Wang Guoqiang's secretary, was a year younger than Tianran. If the secretary was at home, Jia wouldn't come to the office. He would carry the secretary's briefcase and hold his glass tea cup, sitting in the passenger seat, accompanying the secretary to various meetings and banquets. If the secretary wasn't at home, he would sit in the office, and the pager would ring nonstop. Some people wanted to invite him to dinner, some asked if the secretary was at home or when he would return, and others asked for his help. Sometimes, people even came to the office to chat with him. As a result, it was better if he didn't come to the office; when he did, everyone couldn't work properly.
Moreover, Jia didn't participate in most of the department's major projects because he was too busy, busier than Secretary Wang. He only took care of reviewing the speech materials provided by various departments for the secretary and writing some short congratulatory messages or toasts. Since he served directly under Secretary Wang, he looked down on Zhao Huai Zhong. And Zhao also called him "half a person in the department".
When Tianran arrived, Jia was very happy and handed over all the materials that needed his attention, even letting Tianran write some short congratulatory messages. In return, Jia often invited Tianran to dinner parties, which was a treatment others in the department couldn't enjoy. He also sent Tianran some good cigarettes, wine, and tea from time to time.
One time, after getting drunk, Jia patted Tianran on the shoulder and said: "Old brother, I'm Secretary Wang's personal secretary, you're my trusted secretary, equivalent exchange, you're also Secretary Wang's personal secretary." Tianran smiled and replied: "Where did that come from? I just arrived at the office; later, I'll still need to ask for your help."
"Brothers take care of each other," Jia said. "Later, if you need a car or need to sign something, just let me know." Tianran responded casually: "Good, I won't hesitate to bother you in the future."
It was 1997, and the original secretary of the municipal party committee had gone to work elsewhere. The vice mayor of Shanyang City, who was also the former county party secretary of Bahe County, Zhu Yongsheng, took over as a member of the standing committee of the municipal party committee and secretary general of the municipal party committee. Tianran had visited this old leader when he first arrived in Shanyang. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yongsheng had now become his direct superior, it was indeed "the mountain does not turn, the water turns, fate is predetermined". After Zhu Yongsheng became familiar with his work and visited each department of the municipal party committee office to see his colleagues, Tianran went to Zhu's office for a private visit.
Zhu Yongsheng was very familiar with Tianran at first sight and hurriedly said: "Xiao Wu, sit down quickly."
"Old leader, I was thrilled to hear that you are coming to the municipal party committee. In the future, please help me more. Also, if there's anything at home that needs someone to run an errand or something, just give me orders, I'm a free spirit with no worries."
He naturally pulled out two cigarettes, gave one to him and put the other in his mouth, then hurriedly went forward to light it for Zhu Yongsheng with a lighter, as if he had found the feeling of being a secretary a few years ago.
"Xiao Wu, I've just arrived at the municipal party committee and I'm not very familiar with the situation here yet. If there's anything going on in the office or if you have any requirements or opinions about me, please tell me honestly. Don't treat me as a secretary-general, treat me like your elder brother."
"With your quality and broad-mindedness as an old leader, the work of our municipal party committee will definitely turn over a new leaf, and epoch-making changes are already waiting in sight."
"What's this, Little Wu? You've also learned how to play politics? Are you going to put a tall hat on me?"
"What I said is from the heart, and as for me, Wu Tianran, I dare not speak rashly in front of my former leader." Seeing someone knocking on the door to look for the secretary-general, Wu Tianran stood up and bid farewell.
As he walked downstairs, Wu Tianran suddenly thought to himself, "Have I, Wu Tianran, also been tainted by this bureaucratic quagmire?" When he heard that Zhu Yongsheng was coming to serve as the Secretary-General, he felt a thrill of excitement at the time, feeling that an era-defining opportunity had arrived. Is this normal? Are you really going to become a politician? Wu Tianran thought back to his university days and Bai Shasha, who still made his heart ache, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
