991 Careful Deliberation
This ti, Gu Nianzhi waited only about five minutes before Special Assistant Yang ca bustling out from the main entrance of the towering Senate building.
The suit on him was unkempt, and the greenish-black stubble growing out of his mandible was apparent. He really did look like he’d stayed up working all night.
Gu Nianzhi chuckled. “Looks like you guys are swamped, Special Assistant Yang.”
“Very busy indeed. It really couldn’t be a better ti for you to be here to help.” Special Assistant Yang smiled as he walked her inside. “We have another intern with us today, she is also a student at B University. She’s a fourth-year student nad Rong Mingxing. She’s not here yet, but you’re early.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Oh, I see. Since you’re all so busy, I guess it’s a good thing that you’ve taken on a few interns.”
Special Assistant Yang brought her to Speaker Long’s office and started with an apology. “Speaker Long, I did go through with all the necessary formalities yesterday but at the very last minute, soone ca to verify matters relating to the election ballots so I forgot to submit the nas of the two interns to the security departnt. I stayed up last night, and I’m not very clear-headed.”
Speaker Long had been up all last night as well. He waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry about it, you’re swamped with work too. You can go take a shower, I’ll walk Nianzhi through the basic situation and assign so work to her.”
Special Assistant Yang zoned out for a bit but recovered quickly. He laughed and said, “That’s wonderful. Thank you for being so understanding. I’ll get going now. Nianzhi, co by my office later, I’ll show you to your seat,” he said as he gave Gu Nianzhi a nod, then smiled as he left.
The smile on his face, however, disappeared once he left Speaker Long’s office. He pushed his gold-rimd glasses up his nose and walked expressionlessly into his office. He looked at the tasks he had to allocate for the next few days.
One of his subordinates entered and complained, “Special Assistant Yang, those from the pri minister’s residence are here. They want to discuss matters relating to the election ballot, do you want to et them?”
Special Assistant Yang checked his schedule for the day. He was disinterested in dealing with the soon-to-be-replaced pri minister and his subordinates. He shook his head. “Let them wait.”
...
In Speaker Long’s office, Gu Nianzhi sat upright across from Speaker Long and listened as he explained the state of affairs at the Senate to her. He was speaking at the right pace and was succinct in his words. Very quickly, he briefed her on the entire situation at the Senate. “Nianzhi, you’re still an intern right now so you won’t be assigned any real substantial work. Take this ti to observe and think about things. When you’re clear about the workflow and processes around here, I’ll get Special Assistant Yang to assign so real work to you. What do you think?”
“No problem, I’ll follow your instructions.” Gu Nianzhi nodded and left the office, carrying along with her the files that Speaker Long handed to her.
Gu Nianzhi made a quick scan around Special Assistant Yang’s office when she got there. It was a huge office indeed. The french windows overlooked the Imperial City. It was a magnificent sight.
“Nianzhi, please sit.” Special Assistant Yang, who had washed up and shaved, looked quite refreshed now. He passed the task list to Gu Nianzhi. “Have a look at the list and see if you’re interested in any of these tasks in particular.”
Gu Nianzhi skimd through the list. The majority of the tasks involved typing, photocopying, making coffee, and organizing notes.
“Special Assistant Yang, are you sure these are tasks for interns?” Gu Nianzhi slid the list back to Special Assistant Yang and chuckled. “They look like things that part-tirs do.”
“Miss Gu,” said Special Assistant Yang, addressing her differently now. He got serious. “Interns here start by doing these tasks for the first few days. Of course, Miss Gu, you’re capable and outstanding, so perhaps they may be a waste of your talent...”
Gu Nianzhi laughed. “Well, I don’t think it’s a waste of my talent. It’s just that I spoke to Speaker Long before and ca here only because you were all so busy. I thought I could be of assistance. It’s a sha that I’m only going to be doing these tasks. It looks like you’re all not that busy after all. I an, you even made wait 20 minutes for you this morning. Really... what a way to put in my place!”
Special Assistant Yang pushed his glasses up and laughed. “Miss Gu, there must be so misunderstanding. These really are tasks assigned to interns. Rong Mingxing, the intern that I ntioned to you before, is here and she’s already gone to make so coffee.”
The corner of Gu Nianzhi’s lips curled slowly. “Well, in that case, I’ll go bring Speaker Long a cup of coffee.”
She turned around and left. It was only when he saw her reach the door that Special Assistant Yang called out, “Miss Gu, it’s alright if you don’t like doing these tasks. I have here so other tasks. Do you want to try them out instead?”
Gu Nianzhi turned around and said calmly, “Special Assistant Yang, if I don’t even mind making coffee, what else would I not be willing to try?”
“Miss Gu, you have a splendid work attitude. We need more talented people like you in the Senate!” Special Assistant Yang said as he brought out another file. “This is the information about the Pri Minister’s residence. Their representatives ca by early this morning to discuss election matters. Why don’t you et with them on our behalf? You just have to ask them what they think about it.”
This task was definitely much more aningful than serving coffee. Gu Nianzhi accepted it without hesitation.
Special Assistant Yang then got soone to bring her to her seat. Gu Nianzhi was now Speaker Long’s intern and thus considered part of the Senate’s Secretarial Office’s personnel.
The place she was brought to was also located sowhere in the Senate’s Secretarial Office.
Upon her arrival, Gu Nianzhi greeted the people that were there and even chatted with so of them. By the ti she sat down, she knew almost all of the nas and positions of those in the circle.
Everyone was still joking around with each other as Gu Nianzhi read up on the folder containing information about the pri minister’s residence. When she saw that Tan Guiren was among those who’d co for the eting, she raised her brows and asked her colleague who was seated beside her, “Does the pri minister’s daughter count as a representative of the pri minister’s residence?”
“How can that be?” Her colleague’s lips curled with disdain. “I don’t even know what she’s here for.”
The current pri minister’s family of three had already fallen off their pedestal and was no longer envied by others. They were the perfect examples of people who had gone their separate ways but still got together occasionally.
Tan Guiren, the only daughter of Cai Songyin and Tan Dongbang, could be considered an innocent party embroiled in all of this.
Gu Nianzhi studied the file, then stood up and went to the guest room to et with the personnel from the pri minister’s residence. However, before she left, Gu Nianzhi had soone show Tan Guiren out. She did not know why Tan Guiren had shown up, but she was sure that she would be at the eting.
However, since Tan Guiren was not there as a representative of the pri minister’s residence, it ant that Gu Nianzhi didn’t have to be too civil with her.
Gu Nianzhi went to et the three officials from the Pri Minister’s residence only after Tan Guiren left.
“What can I do for you?” Gu Nianzhi smiled calmly, presenting herself as soone approachable and affable.
“Miss Gu, we’ve received information that the re-election is imminent, but we feel that we need to deliberate more at length.”
“Yes, yes, yes, deliberate more at length. The people are ignorant and so they treat the victim as the perpetrator, but are you all that ignorant? I thought you bunch were of a higher caliber!”
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