Not a Literary Youth but Illiterate!

All morning, the entire office worked frantically on drafts.

Zhou Changchun had not only assigned Dong Xuebin to write one. To be safe, Zhuangzi, Tan Limei, Guo Panwei, and the others all had to write their own versions, determined to satisfy Director Yang.

Dong Xuebin's writing was the most resolute. Although he had never met Deputy Director Yang Yizhong, he had gathered from Tan Limei and the others that, since Deputy Director Yang was so strict about drafts, he must be the literary sort. So Dong Xuebin tried to make his prose more ethereal and literary, cramming in every idiom and historical allusion he could use, along with every metaphor and simile he could think of.

It was not until the noon break that Dong Xuebin finally took his hands off the keyboard and nodded at the computer screen in satisfaction.

There, this would definitely work. Dong Xuebin, Dong Xuebin, your chance to impress the leadership had arrived.

With the speech in hand, Dong Xuebin went upstairs to Yang Yizhong's office. Taking a breath, he knocked on the door with complete confidence.

"Come in."

Dong Xuebin pushed the door open. When he saw Yang Yizhong sitting in his office chair, he froze slightly. Deputy Director Yang did not quite match the image of a literary youth he had imagined. He looked somewhat rough around the edges. But Dong Xuebin had already formed an impression. Looks can be deceiving. This guy must be a literary youth deep down.

Yang Yizhong looked him over, his thick brows furrowed. "You are?"

Dong Xuebin answered respectfully, "I'm Dong Xuebin, newly assigned to the General Office."

"Oh, the draft's done?" Deputy Director Yang held out a hand. "...Let me see it."

Brimming with excitement, Dong Xuebin handed him the A4 sheet, then happily waited for the leader's praise and commendation. He had rendered a service now. Once he went back, Deputy Director Zhou and the other colleagues would definitely see him in a new light.

But before Dong Xuebin could even be happy for three seconds, Yang Yizhong tossed the speech straight back at him.

"What the hell is this supposed to be? Huh?" Yang Yizhong's face darkened as he slapped the desk hard. "It's complete nonsense!"

Dong Xuebin's face turned green. "Huh?" You did not even read it, and it was already no good?

Yang Yizhong shouted, "What the hell is wrong with your General Office? I really don't get it. You can't even write a simple speech? Especially yours—what topic did I ask you to write about? Look at what you wrote instead!" He angrily pointed at the first few lines. "'Know honor, understand stop; together strengthen harmony.' What the hell is that? Huh? What is that?"

Dong Xuebin hesitated. "Director Yang, you read it wrong. It's... 'Know honor, understand shame; together build harmony.'"

Dong Xuebin had struck a sore spot, and Yang Yizhong immediately flew into a rage. "So what if I only finished elementary school and can't read? Is that not allowed?"

Dong Xuebin was completely dumbfounded. Are you kidding me? Weren't you a literary youth? Weren't you extremely demanding about the language in drafts? Elementary school education? Damn it, so you weren't a literary youth—you were illiterate?

No wonder you rejected everyone's drafts. There were too many characters you didn't recognize.

Damn, damn, I was in trouble.

Dong Xuebin knew he had badly offended Yang Yizhong this time and hurriedly shouted, "Back!"

The deafening noise quietly faded away.

Only the clock continued ticking away.

"You are?" Yang Yizhong looked toward Dong Xuebin.

Dong Xuebin immediately understood what point in time he was at and let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm Dong Xuebin, newly assigned to the General Office."

"Oh, the draft's done?" Deputy Director Yang held out a hand. "...Let me see it."

How could Dong Xuebin possibly dare to give it to him now? He hid the draft behind his back and hurriedly found an excuse. "Sorry, Director Yang, it's not finished yet. I came to ask what time this afternoon you need it by at the latest."

Yang Yizhong frowned impatiently. "Didn't I say the sooner, the better?"

"Sorry for disturbing you. I'll go back and get to work."

Watching Dong Xuebin leave, Yang Yizhong got up, leaned over the windowsill, and lit a cigarette for himself. Years ago, he had worked at a chemical plant on the outskirts of Beijing. Later, he had backed the right leader and, through a fortunate coincidence, had been brought into the system by that leader. His education level was extremely low, and he could not recognize even slightly uncommon characters. That was why he had relentlessly rejected the General Office's speeches without giving the real reason. How could he explain it? Say that he had only graduated from elementary school? Say that he was poorly educated? He could not afford that humiliation. Yang Yizhong thought that if no one in the General Office could grasp what he meant, he would have to ask a few old subordinates from the East City Branch Bureau to write the speech that evening.

Meanwhile, on his way back to the office, Dong Xuebin tore the speech to pieces and threw it away. That damned draft nearly got me killed. Good thing I had Back, or I wouldn't even know how I died.

After lunch, Tan Limei, Zhuangzi, and the others returned to the General Office. When they saw Dong Xuebin come in, they asked, "Binzi, how's it going?"

"Uh, almost done. Almost."

Guo Shunjie glanced at him mockingly. You're pretty eager, huh? Even us old hands can't write a draft that works. You think you can?

Chang Juan irritably shoved her keyboard away. "I can't write any more."

Guo Panwei clutched his hair, racking his brains.

Tan Limei said angrily, "Who knows what kind of draft he even wants? My writing is good enough already!"

Only Lao Yan sat there leisurely reading the newspaper, looking as though it had nothing to do with him.

Dong Xuebin had no time to chat. He sat down at his computer, pulled over the keyboard, and began typing desperately. This time, he had truly understood Yang Yizhong's intent, and writing became completely effortless. Idioms? Historical allusions? Absolutely not. Similes? Metaphors? The two of you could get as far away as possible.

Straightforward.

What he wanted was straightforward.

Speech: "Hello, leaders. The topic of my speech is 'Raise the Sails of Honor and Disgrace.'" After writing it, Dong Xuebin felt something was off and deleted it. No, Deputy Director Yang might not recognize the character for "disgrace." So he changed it to "The rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every common man." Mm, those were all familiar characters.

He wrote and wrote, thought and thought.

To his surprise, this elementary-school-composition kind of thing was not so easy to write. The wording had to be straightforward, but the content could not be simplistic. It was quite a challenge.

After an unknown amount of time, the office door was pushed open.

"Uh, Director Yang."

"Director Yang."

Tan Limei, Guo Panwei, and the others all stopped working, their scalps immediately tingling.

Yang Yizhong's face was dark. "The drafts still aren't done? It's been more than half a day already!"

Zhou Changchun hurried out from the small office. "They're finished. We were just about to bring them to you. Little Tan, Little Chang, bring the drafts over."

Including Zhuangzi's and the two Guos' versions, there were five speeches in total.

Yang Yizhong lowered his eyes and took them, quickly reading them one after another. "No... not right... this one's no good either... what is this supposed to be... this one too... no..." In the blink of an eye, all five speeches had been rejected. "Lao Zhou, don't tell me your General Office can't even write a speech? Huh?"

Tan Limei, Chang Juan, and the others lowered their heads in silence.

"Director Yang, we..." An official one rank above could crush those below, much less Yang Yizhong, whose rank was several levels higher than Zhou Changchun's and who had considerable influence in the system. If Yang Yizhong became dissatisfied with Zhou Changchun, Zhou would not be able to sit securely in his deputy director position. It might slip away from him one day. Zhou Changchun truly wanted to build a good relationship with this newly arrived deputy director, but now not only had he failed, he had made things worse.

The more Zhou Changchun thought about it, the angrier he became. But he could not vent that anger on Director Yang, so he turned with a dark face toward Guo Shunjie, Guo Panwei, Chang Juan, and the others. His subordinates usually all seemed capable enough, with such positive attitudes and such enthusiasm for work. Yet when it really mattered, look at them—not one of them was any use.

"Director Yang." Dong Xuebin suddenly pulled a freshly printed A4 sheet from the printer. "I've finished mine."

Guo Panwei glanced at him. A newborn calf really isn't afraid of tigers. He still dares to charge forward at a time like this? Wasn't he asking to be scolded?

Guo Shunjie snorted inwardly, watching coldly to see how Dong Xuebin would embarrass himself.

Yang Yizhong had already lost confidence in them. Without saying a word, he extended his hand with a cold expression.

Dong Xuebin carefully handed him the draft with both hands. "I don't know whether it suits your taste. If not, I'll revise it."

The General Office staff all sighed inwardly, closed their eyes, and waited for another round of scolding.

One minute...

Two minutes...

Three minutes...

Yet the expected rebuke never came. After a long while, under everyone's stunned gaze, the gloom on Yang Yizhong's face suddenly vanished. He raised his right hand and slapped the draft heavily, then burst into laughter. "Good! Look at what he wrote! Hahaha! This is how a speech should be written!"

This unexpected outcome left Guo Shunjie, Zhou Changchun, and the others dumbfounded.

Yang Yizhong patted Zhou Changchun on the shoulder. "Lao Zhou, I'd say your General Office is quite capable after all. Not bad, not bad." Then Yang Yizhong looked at Dong Xuebin approvingly and nodded firmly. "I remember your name is Dong... Dong Xuebin, right? Good kid. From now on, no one else needs to write my drafts. You'll handle them."

"Thank you for your trust, Director Yang." It was extremely rare to leave an impression on a leader. Dong Xuebin immediately straightened his back, doing his best to look spirited.

The moment Yang Yizhong left, the General Office erupted.

Tan Limei was the first to cry out, "Binzi, what did you write? Why was Director Yang so happy?"

Chang Juan smiled. "Our General Office really has hidden talent."

Guo Panwei looked at him jealously.

Guo Shunjie's expression was not very pleasant. Such a picky Director Yang had actually been so satisfied? Their group had written more than a dozen drafts without success. What was going on?

Naturally, Dong Xuebin could not tell anyone that Yang Yizhong did not recognize many characters. If Director Yang found out that the news had come from him, he would be in serious trouble. So he only said that Yang Yizhong might prefer writing that was more straightforward and concise.

After seeing the draft document saved on Dong Xuebin's computer, everyone understood what "straightforward and concise" meant.

Tan Limei admired him wholeheartedly and gave him a thumbs-up. "Binzi, amazing!"

Zhou Changchun had not expected the problem to lie in Yang Yizhong's education level either. He secretly thought more highly of Dong Xuebin's powers of observation, then warmly patted him on the shoulder in praise. "Good kid, you didn't disgrace our office." Zhou Changchun felt that what the General Office lacked was someone like Dong Xuebin, someone who could hold things together at a critical moment.

P.S. There have been quite a few updates these past two days. Please show some support. This is the second update—please vote with Recommendation Tickets.

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