Shackles (Part 2)
Yan Zhiyuan led Lin Zhouze out of Deputy Minister Du's office. Through the large transparent glass window, a dozen heads in the office to the left scrambled upwards, wondering if they wanted to see Lin Zhouze, who had finally been "taught a lesson," or Minister Yan of the Ministry of Information, who rarely appeared in public.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you outside." Yan Zhiyuan said to Lin Zhouze, then turned on his bracelet, pulled out the screen, and started to deal with some of his own things. Lin Zhouze hesitated, pursed his lips, lowered his head, and pushed open the door he didn't want to touch at all.
As expected, as soon as he entered the office, curious people came up to him and asked him questions. "Xiao Lin, what does Deputy Minister Du want to see you about?" "Xiao Lin, did you get scolded? You look so unhappy." "Xiao Lin, I saw you came out with Minister Yan. Was he waiting for you outside?" "What is your relationship?"
Lin Zhouze ignored them and just focused on packing up the things on his desk. Fortunately, he hadn't been here long, and most of the time he was out on business, so there wasn't much to pack up and take away.
Just as he turned to leave, clutching a stack of study materials in one hand and a water bottle in the other, Brother Chen, who had been observing him from the side for a while, came over and said, "Hey, Xiaolin, are you going out on another field trip? If you need any help, just let me know. Don't overwork yourself."
Lin Zhouze couldn't help rolling his eyes and asked with a smile: "Brother Chen, do you want to help me, or do you want to do something for Minister Yan? He is outside, you can just open the door and talk to him directly, there is no need to get close to me here." After saying that, he didn't care about the other person's expression, pushed away his shoulder and walked out.
Brother Chen stood there awkwardly, a flattering smile on his face. As the saying goes, anger springs from the depths of the heart, and when he suddenly turned around to stop Lin Zhouze, he met Yan Zhiyuan's eyes outside the window. In an instant, all Brother Chen's plans came to an end, and in the end, he watched helplessly as Lin Zhouze and Yan Zhiyuan left together.
In stark contrast to the suddenly bustling office, Lin Zhouze and Yan Zhiyuan were both silent in the elevator, their surroundings only the rustling of machinery. Only after exiting the Ren Management Department building did Lin Zhouze cautiously speak, "Why... did you choose me?"
Yan Zhiyuan continued walking towards the Information Department building, thinking to himself, "His attitude has definitely changed," while trying to figure out how to avoid scaring his new assistant. "Like I just said, you're very hardworking, and your field work scores are pretty good. I think you're a good fit."
Lin Zhouze: "Oh... is that why?"
Yan Zhiyuan: "What else do you think the reason is?"
Lin Zhouze paused and muttered, "I thought you knew." Seeing that the distance between him and the person in front was getting farther and farther, he hurried to catch up.
Yan Zhiyuan smiled and thought it was true. He said, "You don't like the environment of your original office, or you don't like the people there, that's why you don't want to stay there."
"..." Lin Zhouze's cheeks quickly heated up after being seen through. "They are all a bunch of selfish people, no different from those people in the outside world. I didn't join the association to work with people like this."
Yan Zhiyuan's laughter was carried by the wind into Lin Zhouze's ears: "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed again." Yan Zhiyuan stopped and turned back, looking at him seriously. "Those guys under me in the Information Department are also selfish bastards."
"It's just not for myself." Yan Zhiyuan glanced towards the north, "It's for the entire association." Lin Zhouze followed him to the north in confusion, then heard him say, "Don't worry, you'll know soon."
As it turned out, "soon" was not just talk. Lin Zhouze saw it the very night he entered the Information Department with his few pieces of equipment.
In the evening, when the staff was most present, Lin Zhouze was brought in for a face-to-face introduction. No one asked him to introduce himself; Yan Zhiyuan simply let everyone know what the new colleague looked like before assigning him to a separate cubicle. This private office was fully equipped, with all the necessary systems already configured, and nothing that looked private was visible.
"Except for necessary meetings, I'm basically not at the association the rest of the time. There's a clear division of labor for all matters within the department, big and small." Yan Zhiyuan pulled out a palm-sized display screen from somewhere and placed it on the table. "This will be your workstation from now on. Work hard. I'm rooting for you."
Lin Zhouze's name and contact information were displayed on the screen. "I have a mission, so I'm leaving now." Yan Zhiyuan left in a hurry, without any sense of leadership, just letting the newcomer get acquainted.
Lin Zhouze didn't dare to stop him, so he had to pack up his things quickly and then started waiting, because he didn't know what to do now, and didn't want to go out and cause trouble, so he was waiting for people and things to come to him.
However, the situation here was completely different from his previous position. There, Lin Zhouze, often ordered around doing menial tasks, sat and waited for over half an hour, but the cubicle door remained unopened. The room was so deserted that he began to wonder if the outside was truly bustling with activity as he had just witnessed.
So he tiptoed closer to the door, intending to secretly open a crack to see what was happening outside. But just as he stretched out his hand, there was a "bang" sound, and the door suddenly opened from the outside and hit his forehead violently.
"Uh... Assistant Lin, what are you doing here?" The person standing at the door was the cadre he had just met, Shen Buhui. Lin Zhouze rubbed his nose and forehead in pain, his eyes blurred by the tears rushing up. "Nothing, I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do."
Perhaps it was because the nasal tone of the sentence was too strong that Shen Buhui could hear the pain in Lin Zhouze's heart. She said a little embarrassedly, "You go back and sit down first. Wait for me for a while." Three minutes later, she came back in with a medical kit and two large folders, and put the folders on the table.
"Close your eyes and look up." Shen Buhui opened the medical box neatly, took out a small bottle of medicated oil, poured a few drops into his palm and rubbed it, then pressed it on Lin Zhouze's forehead, which was already swollen and hard.
"Hiss." Lin Zhouze blinked open her eyes and saw Shen Buhui's clean and neatly stitched cuffs. She said, "Use the patch on yourself later and get some sleep. You'll be fully healed by tomorrow. This is specially provided by the association's medical department."
Lin Zhouze answered sullenly, "Oh." Then she continued, "But before that, I can submit these two stacks of documents only if you confirm and sign them." She withdrew her hand, and waited until Lin Zhouze felt better and opened his eyes before pointing to the two folders on the table.
"You don't need to check the content again, and you don't need to be responsible for the data and results in it after signing. You just need to confirm that these events and projects have ended and the results have been released. That's enough." Shen Buhui glanced at his watch and said, "I'll come here to pick it up in an hour. As long as the things are there, it's fine." The implication is that it doesn't matter whether Lin Zhouze is there at that time.
After saying this, she gathered her hair and walked out quickly and silently. "No wonder I didn't hear them approaching," Lin Zhouze muttered to himself as he took a folder and opened it. Inside were indeed a number of "Results Documents," each clearly stating the producer and responsible person for each step.
Shen Buhui did not lie. Lin Zhouze's signature only required him to be responsible for the result, because the others already had corresponding signatures. This turned out to be the clear division of labor that Yan Zhiyuan mentioned.
It was already late, but Lin Zhouze still quickly browsed through every document. Thanks to his gifted memory, he actually remembered a lot of things in the process.
An hour later, Shen Buhui came to retrieve the documents as promised. She also watched Lin Zhouze apply the patch and take the medical kit away. After she left, the office returned to silence, but somehow, Lin Zhouze no longer felt that it was deserted.
Estimating that it was almost time, Lin Zhouze planned to update and improve his association work information tomorrow, and also check for any changes in permissions and benefits. As he thought about this, he shut down the various systems in the room and walked out.
The Information Department's night shift was just as crowded as the daytime shift, unlike the Ren Management Department and most other departments. So when Lin Zhouze saw the brightly lit office area outside, he instinctively wanted to turn and run. But he suddenly realized that everyone inside was at their desks, focused on their tasks. No one stopped to look at him, their new colleague, let alone come up to chat.
This was a disregard similar to the previous one, yet completely opposite.
That night, Lin Zhouze tossed and turned in his bed in his apartment, thinking back to Yan Zhiyuan's words. Shen Buhui had asked him to sign, and had accidentally hurt him. There had been no lighthearted apologies or expressions of concern, only efficient, practical action, and she herself had made excellent use of time.
If putting only her own affairs first is considered selfish, then she is indeed that kind of "selfish bastard", and so are the other colleagues outside.
Lin Zhouze thought about those documents again. They were all events and projects that had results from last night to this evening, including but not limited to casualties and subsequent management decisions of some social supernatural events.
The faster and more timely the decision is made, the fewer people will suffer and the more dignity the association will have.
The more ordinary people the association can help, the less it will always be a cage that restricts people with special abilities.
This was the life path that Lin Zhouze had already decided on, so he liked these selfish bastards very much, even though he had never communicated with most of them.
"I think I've come to the right place." This was his last thought before he fell asleep.
Since then, Lin Zhouze has started a new job that is busy, fulfilling and satisfying. He no longer goes out to work simply to avoid annoying colleagues, nor does he avoid staying in crowded work areas.
As Yan Zhiyuan's assistant, he interacted with more and more people and handled a wider variety of matters. Furthermore, Yan Zhiyuan's obsession with completing tasks and earning points was no less intense than that of other members of the Association's psychics, leaving him with little energy for the Information Department's work. Unsurprisingly, most of the tasks were transferred to the exceptionally capable Lin Zhouze.
The consequence was that Yan Zhiyuan's assistant, who had temporarily left due to family matters, was extremely grateful and thankful for Lin Zhouze's arrival after returning, and willingly transformed himself from Minister Yan's deputy to Lin Zhu's deputy.
——
"Just like that. Not long after, because I knew too much about Yan Zhiyuan, he threatened me and promoted me to Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Information. I couldn't leave even if I wanted to." Lin Zhouze felt a little helpless and nostalgic when he said this.
Shi Youchen asked, "So, the incident you mentioned happened after you became the deputy minister?"
Lin Zhouze nodded. "Yes, it was half a year after I joined the association, in the autumn of the 167th year of the new calendar."
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