Chapter 12: The Way of Being an Official, Valuing Building Bridges

  Ye Ming listened to Xu Fei's suggestion that he go talk to Li Runji, to see if he could get in touch with Director Xia and have his punishment revoked. He thought of the warning from Director Zou before he came to the provincial city and smiled bitterly: "Director Xu, at this point, I can only believe one thing: good will be rewarded, evil will be punished, it's not that there won't be retribution, but the time hasn't come yet! I'm not a kind person who repays kindness with kindness. I also want to tell Secretary Li about the truth of my punishment and let him talk to Director Xia about Li Li's evil deeds, and have that beast in human skin punished by law. However, this involves many problems: for example, the reputation of my female colleague, the civilized creation and image of our new Leng County Bureau, etc. So, I can only suffer in silence - it's hard to speak out, and I don't want to bother any leaders."

  Xu Fei listened to him and thought he made sense, so she stopped pursuing the topic and began to enlighten him from another angle: "Xiao Ye, you have been working in the tax system for three or four years now, but you are still just a small clerk. With your ability and level, it's not right that you're still in this state. Have you thought about the reason behind it?"

  Ye Ming shook his head and said, "I really never thought about it. I just live my life according to my own way, never intentionally pursuing anything, nor thinking that I must be a certain official or make a lot of money. Therefore, I never go to the leaders' homes to socialize, nor do I go to flatter them - this is probably the main reason why I haven't been promoted until now!"

  Xu Fei looked at him with a slightly sympathetic gaze and said, "Younger brother, I admire your attitude of being unruffled by fortune or misfortune and adapting to circumstances. I also appreciate your straightforward and upright approach to dealing with things. However, now that you've entered the administrative system, you must think of ways to strive for progress and stand out from the crowd. Otherwise, you'll end up achieving nothing in your lifetime - because in this system, whether someone is considered successful or not isn't measured by how much work they do, how many tasks they complete, how much money they earn, or what honors they receive. The only standard for measuring success here is: how high a position you hold! Do you understand my meaning?"

  Ye Ming nodded thoughtfully and said, "Director Xu, I understand the principles you're talking about. But I just can't bring myself to fawn over our leaders, put aside my self-respect and say those flattering words, or go to their homes to report my thoughts and pay New Year's visits!"

  Xu Fei shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Younger brother, you've misunderstood. Your ideas are too extreme. I also don't agree with running to the leader's home for no reason, nor do I agree with bribery, corruption, or buying and selling official positions. However, let me tell you a principle: the key to being an official is building bridges. If you want to mix in the official circle, if you want to make a name for yourself, you must build all sorts of bridges. These bridges include money bridges, emotional bridges, alumni bridges, war comrade bridges, and human relationship bridges... Through these official bridges, you can connect with your superiors, connect with their superiors, and connect with various people who can help you in your career... For example, now I think the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission's Secretary Li is one of your official bridges. Through him, you can connect with the Provincial Bureau's Director Xia. And Director Xia is another bridge you've built, through whom you can connect with the leaders of K City Taxation Bureau and Xinleng County Bureau... As these bridges are built one by one, as long as you follow this path step by step, you will definitely achieve great things in your career."

  Xu Fei was so painstakingly instructing Ye Ming for two reasons: firstly, he highly appreciated Ye Ming and felt that if he remained at the grassroots level, his talent would be wasted; secondly, he thought Ye Ming was a very intelligent person with strong comprehension skills, and if he gave him some guidance, he would definitely learn from it and find shortcuts to advance in his official career.

  Of course, the most important thing is that he discovered the huge "official bridge" value hidden in Ye Ming's body: He has now boarded the golden Li Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission this "Tianqiao", and he can also borrow his power to board Li Deputy Secretary's bridge, laying a solid foundation for his future promotion...

  Ye Ming listened to Xu Fei's high-sounding words, then lowered his head and fell into deep thought. Just as he was about to express his own views, the mobile phone in his pants pocket suddenly rang out.

  He took out his mobile phone and looked at the number. It was Xia Chuchu's mobile number, whom he had met two hours ago at the hospital entrance.

  "Hello, is it Xiao Ye?"

  Xia Chuchu's Mandarin sounds particularly pleasant over the phone.

  Ye Ming heard the two words "Xiao Ye" and suppressed his smile, answering seriously: "Hello Miss Xia. I am Xiao Ye. Do you have something to ask me?"

  "This is the thing: after I left the hospital, I called our station leader and told them about your situation. They very much agree with my idea and asked me to definitely invite you to be on our show. How about this: tonight I'll take you out for dinner and we can discuss the details of you going on the show?"

  Ye Ming was startled when she said she wanted to treat him to dinner: If he went to dinner with her, what if she dug deeper and insisted on knowing his real name? That would be terrible...

  So he instinctively refused: "Miss Xia, sorry, I have something tonight and really don't have time. Sorry!"

  "Huh? Are you that busy? Can't even spare time for dinner? I'm not taking up much of your time, just having a meal!"

  Ye Meng didn't want to get entangled with her again, hastily said a sentence "I'm really sorry, I have an appointment with my friend for dinner." and then quickly hung up the phone.

  Xu Fei casually asked, "Little Ye, is it your classmate who invited you to dinner? Tonight I'll treat you, let's eat at the Hunan restaurant across the street. We can drink and chat more in depth while we're there."

  Ye Ming smiled and said, "It's not my classmate. This thing is a bit funny: just now I came out of the hospital and met Xia Chuchu, the host of the provincial TV show 'Romantic Hand in Hand', at the entrance. She insisted that I fit the conditions for one of her female guests and wanted me to go on her matchmaking show. At the time, I didn't agree with her. Now she's inviting me to dinner, it must be a trap, and I'm sure she'll try to persuade me again, so I turned her down!"

  "Who? Who just said was going to take you out for dinner?"

  Xu Fei looked at Ye Ming with an incredulous gaze and asked in surprise.

  "It's Xia Chuchu from Provincial TV Station, she is the precious daughter of Director Xia from Provincial Bureau!"

  Ye Ming didn't know why Xue Fei, who was usually calm and composed, had such an expression on his face, so he spoke more heavily.

  Xu Fei patted his palm and said to Ye Ming: "Brother, you're really dull! Do you know how many people in this provincial city want to invite Xia Chuchu for dinner? Do you know how many people in our bureau are racking their brains to have a meal with Xia Chuchu? Today she took the initiative to invite you to dinner, which is the first time I've heard of Xia Chuchu inviting a boy to dinner. You should know: she's Director Xia's precious only daughter, and for you, it's also a golden bridge closer to Director Xia... Quick, quick, return the call and say you're inviting her to dinner at the Furong Hotel."

  Ye Ming was still hesitating when his phone rang again. He looked at the number and it was Xia Chuchu's once more.