Chapter Four: He won't let me go! (1)
A few days later, the Yu'an City Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Luo Yan stood in front of that rather old, gray office building covered in ivy, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the sense of social death brought about by the "top male model," the "no-punishment agreement," and the unwashed BV shirt.
Today marks the beginning of a new life, the first day that her secure job is officially secured. Love and friendship in shattered form? Family relationships in disarray? All of that is irrelevant. From this day forward, Luo Yan belongs to the nation, and from now on, she will only accept the tests of the Party and the people!
I stepped confidently into the office, only to be immediately enveloped by a strong smell of old documents and disinfectant.
The office wasn't big, crammed with five or six desks. It was a bit messy but still relatively clean. A young girl with permed hair and round-framed glasses greeted us warmly, her cheeks flushed red like Fuji apples from the office's heating: "You must be the new Luo Yan? Welcome! My name is Liu Su, we'll be comrades-in-arms from now on!" She pointed to a desk piled with miscellaneous items by the window, "That's your seat. Director Zheng said to tidy it up yourself first, he'll come over after his meeting."
Luo Yan thanked him and sat down. Before she could even savor the "fragrance" of her new workstation, a slightly overweight middle-aged man in a navy blue jacket rushed in, carrying a badly chipped enamel mug. The words "Advanced Worker" on the mug were worn down to just the strokes.
Liu Su quickly said, "Director Zheng, Luo Yan has arrived!" As she spoke, she gestured towards Luo Yan, who was tidying up her workstation, "Luo Yan, this is the head of our Industry Department, Zheng Minqiang, Director Zheng!"
"You're finally here!" Director Zheng's voice was loud and clear, carrying a penetrating quality honed from years of lecturing. His eyes, sharp as searchlights, swept over Luo Yan from head to toe. "Let me make this clear from the start: since you've fought your way through the toughest of times to get in, you're not here to live like a pampered princess. Our Cultural and Tourism Industry Department is the central hub, the bridge, the face of the entire bureau, and above all, the fire brigade! Do you understand?"
Luo Yan quickly stood up: "I understand, I definitely will..."
"What do you know? You're new here, what do you know? This young lady has no humility at all..."
Director Zheng impatiently waved his hand to interrupt her, slamming a thick stack of documents onto the table with a "thud," sending dust flying. "First, input these past work summaries and project briefings into the computer and create electronic archives. The format templates are on the shared drive. Make sure the file names follow the same format as archive management. Finish it before you leave work today!" He paused, looking at Luo Yan's blank face. "Have difficulties? Being on the payroll isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you can't do it, say so now!"
"No problem, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Luo Yan snapped to attention, immediately straightening her back and almost raising her left hand to swear an oath.
Director Zheng grunted an "Mmm" through his nose, picked up his teacup, and walked away, leaving Luo Yan staring at the mountain of yellowed paper, on the verge of tears.
Shared drive, electronic files, format templates—she understood these terms individually, but put them together like gibberish. She reluctantly turned on her computer, found the folder named "Template Reference (Very Important! Do Not Delete!)" in the shared drive, and opened the only PDF document inside. There it was—a scanned copy of Director Zheng's handwritten "Format Instructions."
Luo Yan frowned and examined the scanned document, whose handwriting was as flamboyant as a doctor's prescription, for a long time. Could this be a wordless book that recorded some kind of martial arts secret?
Unexpectedly, on her first day at work, what defeated her was not the scheming interpersonal relationships she had imagined, but a PDF.
It's true what they say, "Every profession has its own secrets." She felt like a caveman who had traveled to the modern era, scratching her head in front of the computer screen and a pile of documents.
After much effort, Luo Yan finally managed to type a briefing into the computer. However, Director Zheng was in a hurry to print it out for verification. Luo Yan confidently operated the printer, but the machine suddenly convulsed wildly and spat out not a piece of paper, but a long strip of paper that was twisted up in a mess and smelled of burnt paper. It looked like a white venomous snake with its tongue out, coiled at the paper output.
Director Zheng rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Looking at this "masterpiece," his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "I asked you to print documents, not to perform performance art for the printer! How did you even load the paper? Didn't you know to turn it off first when it jammed? This kind of operation is so bad it's practically an antique!"
Liu Su quickly jumped in to smooth things over: "It's alright, it's alright, practice makes perfect. But Director Zheng, this old printer really needs replacing, it keeps jamming."
Director Zheng rolled his eyes: "You're going to pay for it? The bureau has several projects that haven't been able to win bids this year, and we're spending huge sums on advertising. That's all real money. Sigh, forget it. You should help Liu Su compile the visitor flow data for the major attractions in the first quarter."
So, having just ended the battle with the printer, I was plunged into a sea of numbers.
Luo Yan stared at the densely packed numbers, feeling dizzy. When she saw the unit "ten thousand" after "person-times" and looked at the corresponding number in front, she naturally did a mental calculation and then very "thoughtfully" divided all the data by 10,000 before entering it.
I printed it out and confidently went to Director Zheng for his signature.
"Comrade Luo Yan, did you forget your brain when you left home today? Are you about to sink as soon as you get ashore?!"
Director Zheng nearly crushed his enamel mug, pointing at the form: "35 people! The monkeys on Yu'an Mountain steal more than 35 snacks from tourists in a single day!"
"Ah... I'm sorry, Director Zheng, I'll go back and revise it right away!"
Luo Yan was about to reach for the form back when Director Zheng slammed it on the table. "Forget it, you don't need to revise it. Just send me the electronic version, and I'll revise it. Go call the person in charge of the cooperating travel agency and tell them to come to a meeting at 3 p.m. This can't be wrong, can it?"
"Yes, I'll go right away!"
Luo Yan slunk back to her workstation. Luckily, she had seen her contact list in the bottom drawer while tidying up, so she quickly opened it and dialed the first number: "Hello, is this Kanghui Travel Agency? This is the Industry Department of the Culture and Tourism Bureau. We're informing you that at 3 PM... Ah? It went bankrupt? Oh, I'm so sorry..."
"Hello, is this Global Scenery?... What? It changed its name? It's called Patrol? Okay, okay..."
"Hello, is this Patrol Travel Agency? We're calling to let you know this afternoon... Oh? Patrol? Patrol is our competitor?"
Director Zheng, standing at the door, was so engrossed in listening that the veins on his forehead throbbed. Finally, he couldn't help but rush over, snatch the phone, and force a smile into the receiver: "President Chen, I'm sorry, our new girl isn't familiar with the work yet... Yes, Deputy Director Zhang will personally preside over the meeting at 3 PM this afternoon." After hanging up, he slapped his forehead in exasperation at the quail-like Luo Yan: "The contact list you got is from last year! Couldn't you have asked Liu Su for a new one? The way you made that call almost ruined half of Yu'an Tourism's business! Anyone who knew you was announcing a meeting would think you were poaching someone from a competitor... Forget it, you should go to the HR department and submit a copy of your ID card first. I've already asked you several times. We'll talk about it when you get back."
Luo Yan then remembered that when she registered, Sister Zhou from the personnel department specifically reminded her that she needed to submit two copies of her ID card, so she quickly took out her ID card from her bag and went to the printing room across the street.
A few minutes later, Director Zheng's powerful tenor voice rang out again, piercing Luo Yan's delicate eardrums like thunder.
"Luo Yan, you're using A3 paper to photocopy your ID card?! Even a wanted poster isn't that big!"
"I'm sorry, Director Zheng, I made the wrong choice. We'll reprint it immediately!"
I thought it was normal to be flustered on the first day, but I didn't expect that this was just the beginning. Every day after that, the office was filled with Director Zheng's roars, and Luo Yan would say dejectedly, "Yes, Director Zheng," "I'm sorry, Director Zheng," "I'll change it right away, Director Zheng."
Liu Su chuckled and sent Luo Yan the latest version of her contact list, along with a cup of milk tea. "Every Friday, our office takes turns treating people to afternoon tea. Today it's my turn. You weren't here when I ordered takeout, and I didn't know what flavor you liked, so I ordered the same matcha milk tea as me."
"Thanks."
Luo Yan picked up the milk tea, raised it to Liu Su to express her gratitude, and lazily inserted the straw.
Liu Su noticed her dejection and comforted her, "Don't be like this. Director Zheng may scold you, but he will always back you up in the end. Actually, he has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You'll get used to it. We all started as newbies. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Luo Yan nodded. These past few days at work had indeed made her feel like a small, broken boat tossed about in a storm. Director Zheng was the old sailor who scolded her for "not being able to steer properly" while holding onto her mooring rope tightly to prevent her from sinking. The peaceful days she had imagined were quietly slipping away in this chaotic and hilarious "newbie village" routine.
That afternoon, Liu Su excitedly ran in, "Guess what I saw at the front gate?"
"What? Nezha's havoc in the sea has reached the police station's doorstep?"
Luo Yan casually picked up her cartoon thermos, opened the lid, and blew on the floating goji berries. Suddenly, she felt that this action was very... typical of people within the system, especially within the system. It had only been two weeks. Indeed, the environment shapes people.
"A pink Maserati with a Wuling Hongguang logo on it!"
"What's so strange about that?"
"Hey, see for yourself."
As Liu Su handed over the phone, Luo Yan glanced at it and immediately spat out the tea she had just drunk.
Maseratis are nothing special, and even a pink Maserati isn't unusual. As for the Wuling Hongguang logo on it... let's just consider it the owner's peculiar hobby. What's truly alarming is that the pink Maserati had a banner hanging on it that read: "Warmly congratulate the Luo family's daughter on her successful marriage to the Yu'an City Culture and Tourism Bureau!"
The banner was also decorated with colorful artificial flowers and balloons, so dazzling that it blinded Luo Yan's titanium alloy eyes just by looking at the photos.
"Holy crap, this is bad!"
Luo Yan quickly wiped the water from her mouth, not even bothering to talk to Liu Su, and sprinted away at top speed.
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