Chapter 60: Changes (Second Update)

Four o'clock in the afternoon, Jianguo Road Sub-district Office.

Inside the office, the staff members arranged their chairs in a row and sat facing forward as if attending a meeting. Qin Hongmei, the resident matchmaker; Li Jie, the real estate magnate; Fu Chenghao, the top academic achiever; and Zhou Qing were all among them.

At the podium in front of the crowd sat a man wearing a Zhongshan suit and gold-rimmed glasses, looking to be around fifty years old. Holding a notebook and a document bag, he was speaking in detail to everyone.

"The working state of our unit has been quite good recently. The resident complaint rate has dropped by two points compared to the last quarter, and the coordination work among various departments has been successfully completed. We must maintain this momentum moving forward."

Liu Jianhua, the director of the Jianguo Road Sub-district Office and the direct superior of everyone present, could be considered the helmsman of this little world.

Unlike the open-plan workstations of the ordinary staff, the director had an independent private office. Therefore, Liu Jianhua did not usually mingle with the others, which gave the staff room for casual chatter and laughter.

However, today was the scheduled routine meeting led by the leadership, so everyone had no choice but to hold back their mirth.

"...In addition, I need to announce an important matter here."

Liu Jianhua gave a light cough, and the staff members, whose minds had already started to wander, instantly perked up.

"Over the past couple of days, I've received calls from the municipal government once again. This time, they made detailed inquiries regarding our unit's environmental construction and work conduct."

"Judging by the hint from the municipal level, our district has already received key attention from higher authorities and might be upgraded in the future to enter the list of priority units. Perhaps before long, specialists will be sent here to inspect us."

As soon as these words were spoken, a rustling murmuring arose in the room.

This was not the first time. Over the past few months, the unit had successively received several phone calls from municipal leaders, making detailed inquiries about various sub-district operations.

For everyone present, this was definitely out of the ordinary.

Jianguo Road was located on the outskirts of Liangzhou City, far from any major arterial roads. On the contrary, it was a genuine forgotten corner where even district-level officials rarely paid attention under normal circumstances.

Yet now, the municipal government had made repeated phone calls spanning over several months. Such a high level of attention was truly unprecedented among peer units. The staff present had rarely witnessed such a spectacle and could not help but quietly whisper among themselves.

"...In short, being noticed by the municipal level is undoubtedly a rare opportunity. Everyone should redouble their efforts moving on, striving to achieve more substantive results this year and leave a good impression on the municipal leaders."

Liu Jianhua's gaze swept across the seating area: "Especially the young comrades. The superiors made special inquiries during the phone calls about the situation of the young comrades who joined this year, expressing a high level of concern regarding the newcomers' circumstances. This is a rare opportunity to showcase yourselves, and you must all seize it well."

As he spoke, he pushed up his glasses, locking his gaze on the few young faces in the crowd.

Just as he said, the phone calls he received without exception inquired about the new employees recruited this year. Once or twice could be explained as higher-ups caring about young talent, but asking every single time meant there was most likely something unusual about this batch of newcomers.

Although Liu Jianhua was not a high-ranking official, he was still a seasoned veteran. At the time, he had tactfully asked the other end of the line whether there was anyone among the newcomers who needed special "care" and what the situation was. The reply he received was no, that he should just handle work conduct and proceed normally.

Thus, everything seemed all the more fishy.

His gaze lingered on the three new employees of this year, pondering who on earth had the potential to attract municipal-level attention.

Could it be that Fu Chenghao, the selected elite scholar, had caught the eye of some high-ranking official? Or perhaps Li Jie, the second-generation wealthy heir, had bribed the authorities?

Whatever the case, paying special attention to this year's newcomers first could never be wrong.

"Well, that's all for today's matters. Meeting adjourned."

With those words, the gathering dispersed. When it came to keeping track of time, Liu Jianhua had always done a decent job, invariably ending meetings just before off-duty hours.

Seeing the Zhongshan-suited figure disappear through the doorway, everyone in the office returned to their respective desks and switched back to their usual mode of casual banter.

"The municipal government has issued another notice? I've stayed here for over twenty years, and I've never seen anything like this..." Qin Hongmei muttered softly, "What on earth is going on?"

"I suppose some senior leader is coming to inspect and happened to choose our place, and the people in the municipal government are just cooperating with their work," Fu Chenghao analyzed calmly. "I just don't know which leader it is."

"To have such a grand display, this has to be at least at the ministerial level, right?" Li Jie rubbed his temples with a troubled expression. "Sigh, judging by this, there's going to be endless work ahead... The big shots come to take a look at the pomp, and all of us working stiffs have to scurry around catering to them."

"On the bright side, others don't even have the path to be this working stiff," Fu Chenghao replied very calmly. Unlike his salted-fish colleagues, he genuinely wanted to produce some concrete achievements to lay the foundation for his subsequent political career.

"Why are you calling yourselves working stiffs? Just like Director Liu said a moment ago, with such great conditions, you should show yourselves more. In this regard, you all need to learn from young Fu here."

Qin Hongmei replied casually, then glanced sideways and spotted Zhou Qing, who was packing his things and getting ready to leave.

"Right, Little Zhou, how are things going between you and Jiajia? Jiajia hasn't come looking for you recently; didn't things spark between you two?"

The moment such topics were brought up, her enthusiasm immediately soared: "It's fine, if it really doesn't work out, I'll introduce another one to you. Do you think you could accept someone a bit older than you? I still have a niece on my side..."

The classic tactic of match-making deployment came flying over. Zhou Qing expertly evaded it with vague hums and aahs, turned around, and walked out the door.

"Caw~ Caw~"

Just a few steps outside, a muffled, hoarse cry reached his ears. Raising his eyes to look, he saw several wild crows surrounding the cage of a hwamei bird, calling out in high and low pitches like a bunch of hoodlums cornering an innocent maiden.

Under the onslaught of those cries, the hwamei in the cage shrank its neck, curling its entire body into a ball of feathers. If it had hands, it certainly would have been holding its head and whimpering.

Zhou Qing rested his finger against the side of his lips and let out a whistle, startling the crows by the tree into a simultaneous halt. As if receiving some invisible command, they instantly stopped crying, tucked in their wings, and lowered their bodies, appearing to bow to him.

With a gentle wave of his hand, all the crows flapped their wings and soared into the air, fluttering away into the sky. Only then did the hwamei rush to the front of the cage, chirping in high and low tones, its pair of small black eyes looking almost moist.

This bird was truly cowardly. Clearly on the verge of gaining spiritual awareness, it still acted like a perennial pushover. Not to mention fierce wild birds, even other people's mynas and parrots could lecture it a few words, while all it could do was softly chirp "Wishing you prosperity and wealth."

This frightened, spineless appearance was somewhat similar to another bird he used to raise.

"You really are hopeless."

He tapped the hwamei's head through the cage and lifted it up.

It was time for the scheduled bird-walking hour.