After Chen Xia finished filling out the form, he took his leave.
Only Liu Jun remained in the office, gazing thoughtfully at the form in his hand. Then he picked up the phone on the right side of his desk and dialed a number.
"Hello, Director Qian? It's Liu Jun! Here's the thing... Yang Hua's promotion may have to wait. It's not that I'm unwilling to help this time... Mm, it's that Chen Xia from last time. Right, you didn't expect it, and neither did I... Mm, all right, we'll talk another time..."
After hanging up, Liu Jun felt somewhat helpless.
Last time, Chen Xia had been nominated for deputy captain, but the newly arrived Yang Hua had snatched the position away. Yang Hua's father was close to Deputy Director Qian of the Chief Office, so he had helped arrange things.
Who would have thought Chen Xia would work so hard? Not only had he broken through to become a warrior, he had also distinguished himself. There was no way they could give the captain's position to Yang Hua now.
Liu Jun hadn't expected Chen Xia to prove himself so worthy. Not long ago, he had been at the Seventh Stage of Ningyuan, and now he had already broken through to become a warrior.
It was precisely the speed of his improvement that had drawn the Chief Office's attention.
Actually, Liu Jun wouldn't have minded who became captain. But now Chen Xia was a rising star at the Chief Office, so naturally, Liu Jun was inclined to favor him.
Besides, Liu Jun had felt somewhat guilty when Chen Xia was nominated for deputy captain back then.
Thinking of this, he called Captain Sun in the west of the city. "Hello, Old Sun? It's me. About that matter last time, regarding my subordinate's cousin... What do you think? Mm, right..."
A voice came through the phone. "He's been personally promoted by the Chief Office? ...That's not out of the question. Besides, the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group has been wiped out. All right, let's do it. But you'll have to tell Chen Xia about this. I'm under a lot of pressure too, after all." ...
Chen Xia had no idea that simply making a trip to the Chief Office and coming back had brought so many changes to the Patrol Inspection Office in the south of the city.
With the Chief Director personally handling the paperwork for Chen Xia's promotion, the process moved quickly.
When Liu Jun found Chen Xia again, he handed him a list, then took him to the Logistics Support Department. There, Chen Xia received two new sets of captain's clothes, trousers, a peaked cap, shoes, and a new electronic watch, an electric baton, and a knife.
The clothes were only for autumn. When winter came, they would issue him new ones.
Chen Xia went into a dressing room and changed into the full uniform. As the captain of Team Five, wearing the captain's uniform was the bare minimum.
Before long, Chen Xia had changed into a new undershirt, a dark navy uniform jacket, black trousers, a pair of brand-new leather shoes in his size, a belt, and a new Type D2 Technology Watch with more features and a higher-end model.
As the saying went, clothes made the man. Once Chen Xia put on the uniform and donned the captain's peaked cap, the two chevrons on his shoulders became one bar and one star. His whole bearing and appearance instantly rose a level.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but the higher the rank, the sharper the uniform really looked, giving off an air of authority.
In this high-martial world, within the Patrol Inspection Office, Chen Xia had been an old hand even before his official appointment, but he'd worn only two chevrons. Usually, after an official appointment, an officer wore one star; with an official appointment and a promotion to deputy captain, two stars; and a full captain, like Chen Xia, wore one bar and one star.
Don't underestimate that tiny difference. This was the outfit Chen Xia had dreamed of wearing. Now that he had changed into it, he examined the round, white Technology Watch in his hand. It seemed a little heavier than his previous one, but he liked it very much.
His Identity Card had been linked to the watch. It contained all kinds of software, and he had already logged into the internal group for the Patrol Inspection Office's Xingou Street Fifth Squad through the watch. He had been made the group's administrator.
Chen Xia had also been added to the Mid-level Captain group. It was full of Sub-Captains, all under the management of Zhou Tong, the Mid-level Captain of Xingou Street.
From now on, Chen Xia would be responsible for communications and related work. But he didn't feel any pressure. Patrol officers generally just carried out routine patrols. Even when they ran into someone formidable, the people below were rarely mobilized. A captain was a warrior in his own right and had the authority to act alone.
Chen Xia didn't need to curry favor with his superiors. He could go about his business as usual.
But the improvement in his benefits was substantial. Previously, after his pension, medical, unemployment, and housing fund contributions were deducted, he'd earned four thousand yuan a month.
Now that he was a squad captain, his salary after those deductions was twelve thousand yuan—three times what he used to make. It was the pay a normal warrior should receive.
A warrior hunting with a mercenary group outside the city could earn more, but working inside the city was relatively stable. With all the hidden benefits on top, it was a pretty good deal.
On paper, his salary had tripled. But a promotion would bring a huge change to his life. On four thousand a month, he might have only fifteen hundred left over; on twelve thousand, if he was careful, he could save another nine thousand five hundred a month—almost six times as much.
"Come to think of it, now that I'm really a warrior, this salary doesn't seem all that important."
With his strength, Chen Xia had already earned hundreds of thousands.
It wasn't exactly aboveboard, but it didn't break the law or violate his morals. By comparison, his salary was just the foundation.
"Captain Chen, you look quite dashing in that uniform."
When Chen Xia came out of the dressing room, Liu Jun patted him on the arm and praised him. "With your looks, if you take a fancy to any woman at the office someday, tell me and I'll set you up. You're not that young anymore. It's about time you got married."
"Captain Liu, you're joking. Right now, I'm focused on working hard, and no one would be interested in me anyway. Maybe some other time."
Chen Xia had thought about this before, but because of his family situation, he hadn't dared dwell on it. Now that he had his panel, he thought differently.
Of course, he didn't doubt Liu Jun. As a captain, Chen Xia was worlds apart from what he'd been before, so he had the credentials for a match.
Captain Liu was actually a pretty good person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have nominated Chen Xia before. Although it hadn't worked out, Chen Xia didn't resent him.
If anything, Chen Xia thought Captain Liu was a good man. He just hadn't been qualified to speak with someone like him before.
"You don't need to be so modest. A warrior under thirty is very much in demand."
Liu Jun laughed. Their exchange in the hallway didn't go unnoticed by the people nearby, and quite a few patrol officers whispered among themselves.
"Did you hear? Chen Xia's been promoted to captain!"
"Mm, I heard ages ago. He distinguished himself, and he's a warrior. Sounds like he's taking over as captain of Xingou Street's Fifth Squad."
"He's really made it now. I always knew that kid Chen Xia had it in him," an old patrol officer said.
"Really? That's not what you used to say."
"Ahem... By the way, does Yang Hua know?"
"Look, he's standing over there in a daze. Captain Liu took Chen Xia to the Logistics Department to get his uniform, and the news has already spread. Yang Hua must be pretty miserable."
As noon approached, most of the Patrol Inspection Office's personnel had returned.
The people from Xingou Street's Fifth Squad had also received the notice and gathered in their squad room. They weren't in the main building, though, but in Building 2.
Besides the main building, the Patrol Inspection Office's compound had several other buildings. This whole area served as the patrol command center for the eight main streets of the southern district, and patrol vehicles came and went constantly. Xingou Street's Fifth Squad was in Room 005 on the first floor of Building 2. It was where they usually clocked in for duty.
"Everyone..."
At that moment, Liu Jun brought Chen Xia to the main building and formally announced Chen Xia's promotion to captain.
Everyone in the administrative office applauded, their cheers enthusiastic. Yang Hua and Zhang Feng were among them.
Zhang Feng raised his head and clapped hard, while Yang Hua kept his head lowered, lost in thought.
After making the announcement, Liu Jun said a few words of encouragement, then took Chen Xia to the squad room to introduce him to his deputy captain and eight squad members.
Since Chen Xia had earned his position through his strength, there was no trouble from anyone refusing to accept him at the first meeting to hand over the post.
Many of the squad members looked at Chen Xia with respect. After all, the story of Chen Xia risking his life in a fight against the traitor Hu Biao had spread throughout the Patrol Inspection Office.
Once the handover was complete, Chen Xia had nine people under his command.
To celebrate Chen Xia's promotion, the people from Team Five wanted to treat him to a meal, but he declined. Instead, Chen Xia bought them lunch. Though he insisted on paying, his subordinates wouldn't give him the chance. Deputy Captain Xiao Qiang rushed to cover the bill.
After lunch, Chen Xia officially began his new post that afternoon. As captain, he could go out on patrol or stay in the office. But since he'd just been promoted, he naturally wanted to show a little diligence, so he took his team to patrol the eastern end of Xingou Street.
Xingou Street had eight teams, but it wasn't crowded at all. Its jurisdiction covered four square kilometers, more than enough to divide into eight smaller areas.
From now on, Chen Xia was in charge of his own patch.
The day's patrol was easy. Nothing much happened.
After returning to the Patrol Inspection Office, Chen Xia went to the Eighth Team's squad room. His colleagues there wanted to treat him to a meal and celebrate. It was also a sort of farewell ritual after his transfer to Team Five.
He got along pretty well with a few of the old colleagues on the team, and it would have been rude to refuse them outright. So Chen Xia told them not to treat him; he would cover the bill and buy everyone drinks.
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