Don't Call Me Sister

"Hm? Does he have something against me?"

"That shouldn't be possible. It's my first day here. I couldn't have offended him."

Just as Xiao Wang was lost in thought, a cute young woman in her early twenties stood up from the workstation beside him.

She was around five foot two, petite, with shoulder-length short hair. Her round face, round eyes, and round glasses made her look especially adorable.

"Hello, my name is He Dong'er. I'm the clerk for Team Four. What's your name?"

"Xiao Wang."

"Alright, fill out your basic information first. I'll enter it for you later. Once that's done, I'll process your onboarding and take you to collect your things."

"Much obliged."

As He Dong'er spoke, she handed Xiao Wang a form.

Xiao Wang took it and gave it a quick look. It was much like a résumé form from his previous life, though a few special sections were different.

"Could I borrow a pen? Thanks."

"Here."

Xiao Wang took the pen and began filling in each field, including his name, gender, age, family relations, and so on.

When he reached the section for his graduating school, Xiao Wang hesitated for a moment before finally writing Mount Yuan Outer-City No. 7 Advanced High School.

Below that was a choice between two options: martial arts or firearms.

Xiao Wang checked the box for martial arts.

The final section was for position, with choices ranging from intern, staff member, deputy group leader, group leader, deputy captain, captain, deputy bureau chief, and bureau chief.

Xiao Wang checked the lowest option: intern.

After filling it out, he handed the form back to He Dong'er for her to enter into the system.

He Dong'er accepted it and began entering the information item by item.

"You're only nineteen?"

"Yes. Strictly speaking, I'm not quite nineteen yet, but being off by a few months shouldn't matter, right?"

"It's fine."

He Dong'er continued entering the information. When she reached Xiao Wang's graduating school, she looked up at him in surprise. "You graduated from high school?"

"That's right. Is there a problem?"

He Dong'er tilted her head, somewhat puzzled. "Not exactly, but I've never seen a staff member who only graduated from high school."

"Really? Then where did everyone else graduate from?"

"Most of them graduated from Mount Yuan Military and Police School. Of course, a few graduated from Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy. Our captain, for example, graduated from Yuanwu."

"Then where did you graduate from, big sister?"

At once, He Dong'er's face flushed slightly. She adjusted her glasses to ease her nerves, looking a little shy.

"Don't call me big sister. Just call me Dong'er."

"I'm probably younger than you, right?"

"Mm. I'm twenty-two this year."

"Then you really are older than me. Calling you big sister isn't inappropriate."

Hearing that, He Dong'er looked around. Once she saw that no one was nearby, she relaxed slightly and said in a low voice, "Don't call me big sister. Just call me Dong'er."

"Don't worry, I don't mean anything by it. If you're afraid your boyfriend might misunderstand, I can call you Sister Dong'er from now on."

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't have a boyfriend. Anyway, you can't call me big sister."

"Alright, then I'll call you Sister Dong'er from now on. You still haven't told me where you graduated from."

"I graduated from Mount Yuan Military and Police School too."

"Oh?" Xiao Wang looked puzzled. "You graduated from Mount Yuan Military and Police School, so why are you working as a clerk instead of going out on field assignments?"

"Not every staff member has to go out on field assignments. I don't really like that kind of fighting and killing either."

"Oh, I understand."

"You chose martial arts as your specialty. Are you planning to apply to Yuanwu in the future?"

"That's the plan."

"Then you'll be the captain's junior schoolmate in the future."

"If I get in, I suppose so."

As Xiao Wang answered, what he really thought was that he would not only be her junior schoolmate, but also her junior disciple.

Of course, he did not say that aloud.

After entering all the information, He Dong'er reminded Xiao Wang, "Bring two one-inch photos tomorrow. I'll make your ID badge for you."

"Alright, thank you."

"Okay, let's go. I'll take you to collect your things."

As He Dong'er spoke, she stood up.

"Sister Dong'er, there's something I'm curious about."

"What is it? Ask away."

"You're the clerk for all of Team Four, so why is your desk assigned to our Group Three?"

"There's a reason for that. Come on, I'll tell you as we walk."

He Dong'er walked ahead, and Xiao Wang followed closely behind her.

After they had moved some distance away from Group Three's area, He Dong'er finally spoke in a low voice. "Because there were no other spaces available. Only Group Three had a few empty desks."

One look at He Dong'er's manner told Xiao Wang that she was avoiding Xu Liyan, afraid he might overhear. Yet Xiao Wang was even more puzzled after hearing the answer. What was there to hide? It wasn't as if she had said anything bad.

"Then why are the other groups full while Group Three still has empty spots?"

Xiao Wang continued asking. He felt this matter might end up affecting him as well.

"That's a long story. Simply put, Group Leader Xu hasn't been promoted for years, so the members under him couldn't see any hope of advancement either. Several of them transferred to other groups."

"I see. Then why can't Group Leader Xu get promoted? Is that Captain Wen Lujia's decision?"

"Of course not. Captain Wen also intends to promote Group Leader Xu to deputy captain this time, but I don't think it's likely. A group leader needs to be voted into the position of deputy captain by people at the captain level or above. Group Leader Xu has tried several times already, but he's never managed to move up."

Xiao Wang listened.

It feels like this Group Leader Xu must have offended someone higher up. No wonder he's still working under Wen Lujia at his age. But why does he seem so hostile toward me? That makes no sense. Today is the first time we've met. And why did Senior Sister Wen arrange for me to work under him? There's clearly no future for promotion here.

Several questions surfaced in Xiao Wang's mind.

I can only investigate slowly, or find a chance to ask Senior Sister Wen.

As he thought, Xiao Wang continued asking, "Sister Dong'er, how many groups are there under Captain Wen, and roughly how many people?"

"Our Team Four has six groups in total. Each group is supposed to have ten people including the group leader, but the Group Three you're in only has six people including you."

Xiao Wang nodded.

"Then the proportion of people transferring to other groups really is pretty high."

"You'd better not bring this up in front of Group Leader Xu. It's quite embarrassing for him, after all."

"Understood."

As they talked, they arrived at the first-floor supply collection window.

Xiao Wang looked around and noticed it was not far from the window where he and Wen Lujia had collected the bounty last time.

He Dong'er leaned against the counter and spoke to the person inside. "A newcomer from Team Four is onboarding. His information has already been entered into the system. We're here to collect supplies."

A form was then handed out from inside the window.

Xiao Wang picked it up and looked it over. It contained only basic information. Apart from name and gender, there were details such as height, weight, shoe size, and the like.

After filling it out and confirming everything was correct, he received two sets of Patrol Bureau staff uniforms.

"Come on, I'll take you to collect your combat gear and weapons."