Shen Huiying put down the phone, a complicated expression flickering across her face. She felt somewhat guilty about passing the information from the drinking gathering straight on to Secretary Zhou.
But she had no choice. A vulnerable woman like her could not survive in this ruthless world of officialdom without a powerful patron to cling to.
She had originally entered the discipline inspection system through her parents-in-law's connections. Later, her husband kept a mistress, leaving their marriage intact in name only, and her relationship with his parents had also turned ice-cold.
After that, through her connection with her former classmate Wu Haili, she had hitched herself to Yu Jiangbo, who was then the Deputy Municipal Party Secretary.
To give him his due, Yu Jiangbo had treated her reasonably well. A word with Zhao Ming, the Discipline Inspection Commission secretary at the time, had been enough to get her promoted to director of the General Office.
People had to know how to be grateful! Even though Yu Jiangbo's prospects now looked grim, and even though she appeared to have cut ties with Wu Haili, they had actually stayed in touch by phone all along, and she had done everything she could to help her.
In fact, the "terrible" idea of having Wu Haili use mental instability as an excuse to make several scenes at the Discipline Inspection Commission, threatening to report what had happened to its new leadership, had been hers.
And that had undoubtedly involved a tremendous risk!
Now that Yu Jiangbo's ship had sunk, she had no choice but to find another patron. After carefully weighing the reliable information she had obtained from Wu Haili, she had decided to place her bet on the newly arrived Discipline Inspection Commission secretary.
Shen Huiying changed into her pajamas, washed up, and