Chapter 9: Fei Chai wants to be an official

  Although Fei Chai had long made up his mind to be a bureaucrat, there was at least one thing he hadn't learned yet, and that was to hide things on his face. As soon as he entered the bath center, his complexion changed. Zhang Peng didn't say anything, but couldn't help sneaking a laugh without covering it up, let alone being able to deceive Zhu Ya Jun.

  Zhu Yajun saw Fei Chai's embarrassment and whispered a sentence: "You're still so honest."

  The manager of the bathing center lobby seems to be an old acquaintance of Zhu Yajun, and warmly came forward to greet him: "Hey, Boss Zhu, what a coincidence! Xianxian is off today, otherwise I'll give her a call?"

  Zhu Yajun cursed with a smile: "Damn it, every time I come, she's on break, what's the meaning of this?"

  The lobby manager smiled and said: "I'll call you right away..."

  "Never mind," Zhu Ya Jun waved his hand and said, "I came and she's gone. Tell her that Brother Pig is angry, let her handle it herself."

  The lobby manager smiled and asked again: "Then you..."

  Zhu Yajun pointed at Fei Chai and said: "My brother and I will have a spa first. You..." He then turned to Zhang Peng and said: "You old slick, go play by yourself, I want to discuss business with my friend."

  Zhang Peng responded with a sound and walked in, casually putting his hand on the counter edge, apparently he was indeed familiar with the place.

  Zhu Yajun said to the hall manager: "We want a big room for hydrotherapy, that one is spacious and luxurious, don't let anyone in first, we'll soak and chat."

  The lobby manager nodded and led the two to the VIP room, where tea and fruit were waiting. Just as he was about to leave, Zhu Ya-Jun called out, "Do you know the difference between plump and fat? Last time I got screwed over."

  The hall manager smiled and said: "No one can cheat Old Zhu." He said as he walked out.

  After he closed the door, Zhu Yajun said to Fei Chai: "These guys' mouths are unreliable. If they're not satisfied later, we'll replace them...". As he looked at Fei Chai's expression, he couldn't help but laugh and continued: "Old Fei, are you one of our corrupt officials? You guys are out there struggling in the snow and ice, while we..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Fei Chai waved his hand repeatedly and said: "No no... it's just that... don't laugh at me, I've never been out to play before."

  Zhu Yajun smiled and said, "I can tell by your expression. But let me tell you, I'm not a corrupt official. Tonight's gathering is on my own dime, so relax and have fun. We're all over 30 now, we should learn to enjoy ourselves. Outside of work hours, we're just ordinary people too. We've got the same desires as everyone else."

  Fei Chai felt his face burning and said: "Still doesn't feel quite right."

  Zhu Yajun burst out laughing and said: "You, where did that elegant demeanor on the podium go? Don't worry, it's not like I'm asking you to come here and talk about romance. Once you leave this door, you're still a good husband. Honestly speaking, your wife is really beautiful, I'm even jealous of her. The people in this room put together can't compare to half of her. But men are like that, even if they eat a full Manhan feast every day, there's still a time when they get tired of it, and occasionally coming out to have a bowl of night-cooled noodles is not bad either." After finishing speaking, he laughed again with a mischievous grin, and Fei Chai could only follow along and laugh.

  Although he didn't want to come to this kind of gathering, Zhu Yajun, as the head of a department, was able to bring you to this place, which means he doesn't treat you like an outsider, let alone when someone else is hosting.

  After laughing, Zhu Yajun said: "Actually, you see me as a director, I'm not bad at it. Everyone who sees me welcomes me with a smile, but who knows which one is sincere? You're different, we've lived in the same dormitory for so many years, and I know your character and talent very well. From now on, let's join forces, you'll take care of business, and I'll deal with those sycophants and things you don't like. Let's do something big together, what do you say?"

  He was so excited by what he had just said that his face turned red with enthusiasm and he hastily agreed: "Good! Let's do it!"

  Zhu Yajun was about to continue speaking when the door opened again, and the manager walked in. It turned out that the room had already been prepared. The two followed the manager out and arrived at the room, where two yellow buckets were emitting hot air in a small space.

  Zhu Yajun had already unzipped his down jacket in the VIP room, and since it was even hotter inside, he casually took off the down jacket. The manager quickly took it over, and a girl received it, put it on a hanger and took it outside to hang up. Zhu Yajun then said to the manager: "Alright, don't let anyone serve for now, you can come back in 20 minutes."

  The manager smiled and accompanied the girl out. Fei Chai thought to himself, "This guy is always smiling like this all day long. I reckon he won't be able to adjust after work for at least two hours. It seems that earning money isn't easy either."

  Zhū Yàjūn's companion urged him on the side: "What are you standing there for, take off your clothes, can't two big men be embarrassed?"

  Fei Chai knew what was going on and just laughed it off, starting to take off his clothes.

  Two big men stripped themselves naked in an instant, Zhu Yajun looked at his own bulging white belly, and then at Fei Chai's dark bronze skin and inverted triangular figure, and said with envy: "You're still good, I remember you liked to exercise in college, and even took a cold shower in November and December."

  Fei Chai smiled and said, "Yes, all these years, no matter what, I haven't given up. In my luggage, apart from books and spare clothes, there are only jump ropes and dumbbells. No choice, living outside is tough, many people rely on their physical strength to make a living, by the time they're 40 or 50, they're already plagued with illnesses, I don't want that."

  Zhu Yajun slowly soaked himself in the hot water, then let out a long sigh and said: "It seems that exercise is still good. A friend of mine opened a gym and gave me a year's membership card. I've been too lazy to go, but next time I see him, I'll ask for one for you too, and we can go together. I should also start exercising."

  Fei Chai also got into the hot water, feeling that taking a bath was indeed more comfortable than showering. He casually replied to Zhu Ya Jun: "Okay, but I've been troubling you since I came back, it's a bit embarrassing."

  Zhu Yajun said: "Cut it out, let's talk about something else. But seriously, what are your thoughts and requirements for future work?"

  Fei Chai took a deep breath and entered the topic, his heart still skipped a beat. He swallowed hard and said: "This doesn't matter, whatever the organization assigns me to do, I'll do it, as long as I have time to work on my own little research project."

  "This won't do, Old Fei." Zhu Yajun straightened up and said, "This world isn't about others sending everything your way just because you have talent. You've got to fight for everything yourself."

  Fei Chai said: "I'm afraid of giving you trouble, and..."

  Zhu Yajun smiled and said, "You should also change this notion of yours. What's wrong with trouble? Trouble means benefits. Nothing in the world is free, so don't worry about giving me trouble, I like trouble. And don't have any worries, don't be afraid of what others might say. It's a fact that we're old classmates, and it's also a fact that your skills are on display there. If you're not satisfied, you can try to compare with me, come on, let's compete."

  Fei Chai smiled again, didn't say a word. One reason was that he didn't know what to say, and the other was that he thought Zhu Ya Jun had already made arrangements for his work, so there was no need for him to speak up. As expected, Zhu Ya Jun picked up a cup of water and splashed it on his face, then said: "A few days ago, I had a meeting with those old fogies from the bureau, mainly about you. To be honest, I didn't have any confidence at first, but my old classmate, you really gave me some face. After a few classes, these guys had nothing to say, just one thing... it's too damn unbelievable."

  Fei Chai saw Zhu Ya Jun suddenly spit out dirty words and asked: "How did you say that and suddenly come up with such a sentence?"

  Zhu Yajun mentioned this matter, obviously still somewhat indignant: "The place you used to be didn't treat you as a human being at all. You're such a talented person, and your administrative level is only deputy section chief."

  Fei Chai heard this and also wiped his face with a sigh: "Last time in the regular exam, I was short of several votes when voting for the people's evaluation."

  Zhu Yajun scolded: "What's the use of public opinion? I don't know what that is. And since no one voted openly, who knows what's true or false?"

  Fei Chai fell silent, wasn't it just like this?

  Zhu Yajun also said: "Originally, in response to the city's economic construction policy, our bureau also established an 'Economic Construction Technical Support Work Leading Group'. You know, these are all useless things. The office under the group was originally the Geophysical Exploration Office, and except for submitting a few reports, they didn't do any specific work. A few days ago, we were criticized by our superiors, saying that we need to increase our efforts and allow us to establish a temporary institution. I thought of setting up an independent office under the leading group, which can solve the problem of deputy department-level treatment. Originally, I wanted you to be the director, but your vice-section level is really giving me a headache."

  He said lightly: "Actually... whether or not being a leader doesn't matter, as long as the work is comfortable."

  Zhu Yajun said: "I understand you, you might think it's no big deal, but I feel uncomfortable, haha."

  Both of them laughed for a while. Zhu Yajun continued, "Finally, we thought of a compromise. Let Deputy Director Wei concurrently serve as the head of the Economic and Technological Bureau, and you, immediately let Old Liu handle the formalities to implement your deputy director-level treatment, then take on the role of vice-head. Do you understand what I mean? Letting Old Wei be the head is actually just to show that the bureau leadership attaches great importance to this project, but the real person in charge is still you."

  When he heard that he really had to manage a department, Fei Chai was both happy and worried. As a technical cadre, he didn't have much confidence in personnel management. Zhu Ya-jun saw him spacing out again and laughed: "What's wrong, are you happily stunned?"

  "Not really." Fei Chai covered up with a smile and said: "It's just that I have a feeling of ascending to heaven in one step."

  Zhu Yajun burst out laughing: "What's this 'one step to the sky' nonsense? Good brother, let's work together on the same rope, and better days are yet to come!"

  Fei Chai said: "Actually, I'm not afraid to tell you that as a runner-up, I still have some ideas for future work."

  Zhu Yajun said: "Then you'd better think about it carefully, from tomorrow on, you'll take a week off at home to adjust, and next Monday, you'll take office. As for me, during this period, I'll supervise the handling of your administrative rank, office phone number, etc. However, there's one thing I want to remind you: we're currently focusing on economic construction, so no matter what you do, it must revolve around this. At least we have to prioritize this, otherwise nothing else can be done well. After all, we are the Geological Survey and Monitoring Bureau, not just a pure mineral exploration agency."

  Zhu Yajun's words were very much to Fei Chai's taste, and he also disliked the idea of hastily digging up something from the bottom, so he said: "Actually, I have a big plan..."

  He originally wanted to discuss his own ideas and see if he could get Zhu Yajun's support, but as soon as the words came out, Zhu Yajun waved his hand and said: "Let's talk about this later, it's time for entertainment. If you can't hold back, make a plan book, we'll find time to study together. It's been a long time since I've done research with someone, my heart is itching too."

  Fei Chai saw that Zhu Ya Jun had already said so much, and his own plans couldn't be explained in just a few sentences, so he shut his mouth and watched as Zhu Ya Jun pressed the servant's bell.