Lunch break.
Just as Dong Xuebin stepped out of his office to head to the cafeteria, he heard some news—the date for this year's Out-of-Province Study Exchange had been moved up to early February. This time, they were going to Jiangzhe Province, and there seemed to be ten slots. In truth, the so-called study exchanges were nonsense. Put bluntly, they were just trips under the pretense of exchanging experience. Chengxi Branch Bureau organized one every year. Because of the special nature of the state security department, they could not use overseas inspections as an excuse to travel abroad like other government agencies, so they could only wander around provinces within the country.
"Sister Chang." Dong Xuebin called Chang Juan over. "How were the slots allocated in past years? Did the General Office ever get any?"
Chang Juan thought for a moment. "I don't think so. The people who got to go were all leaders with ranks, or people who had made major contributions to the Branch Bureau that year and performed exceptionally well, or else..." Her voice dropped. "...people with backing and connections could also be assigned a slot. Uh, Director Dong, there's no question you'll be included this year." In terms of contributions to the Branch Bureau, who had done more than Little Dong? In terms of connections, Little Dong also had excellent relationships with the leaders. And in terms of rank, Little Dong was already deputy section chief. Chang Juan therefore felt certain that a slot would be reserved for Dong Xuebin this year.
Dong Xuebin had thought so too, but after considering his recent argument with Yan Lei, he no longer felt so sure.
After lunch.
Dong Xuebin conscientiously went to Deputy Director Xu Yan's office. "Director Xu, I'm here to admit my mistake."
Xu Yan, seated