Chapter 155: Looking after his own
After settling Su Can and his family in, Cheng Ruinian returned to the Secretariat. Some people glanced his way and whispered among themselves.
Secretary-General Guo Huai came over, his face dark, and asked about some specific reception arrangements for the day. Then he dropped a stack of reports in front of him. "Cheng, you need to redo this report. You need some content of your own. Mayor Zhou doesn't want this patchwork of borrowed material forced into place. You must have it done this afternoon."
Although he knew perfectly well that Guo Huai was making things difficult for him, Cheng Ruinian took it respectfully. "Then I'll revise it again."
The bad blood between Cheng Ruinian and Guo Huai dated back to when they had first entered the Municipal Government offices. Both had taken a liking to a girl in the office named Yang Li.
Guo Huai had pulled out all the stops back then, but Cheng Ruinian had beaten him to it in the end.
After Cheng Ruinian married Yang Li, Guo Huai had been miserable for quite some time, utterly despondent. The two had, after all, been rivals in love. They had both been young and hotheaded, and Cheng Ruinian had made some inappropriate remarks to others. Guo Huai was petty by nature and had held a grudge ever since. Later, Guo Huai had flourished in the Secretariat. By the time both men were approaching forty, his status as the former mayor's "chief secretary" had helped him smoothly ascend to the position of secretary-general when a reshuffle and personnel transfers left a vacancy.
That was when Cheng Ruinian's misery began. Every draft and report he submitted to Guo Huai came back for revision. He was almost invariably singled out at work meetings, and