Chapter 62: Destiny Determined by Appearance
After breakfast the next day, Tao Shilin prepared the vehicle early according to Hu Jiao's arrangement. The deputy director who had refilled water in the conference room yesterday came to ask Hu Jiao whether he should temporarily choose a secretary to follow him.
This is the rule that is set under the surface. On the surface, he is a subordinate secretary of the secretarial department, but secretly he is a full-time employee.
Hu Jiao wanted to go down for a walk, but it was not appropriate to bring only a driver, and he did not specify any accompanying personnel. Yesterday, the three deputy directors did not dare to come to ask for instructions, for fear of being suspected of wanting to interfere in the position of director.
So before leaving, the deputy director in charge of the secretarial department had to bite the bullet and ask for instructions on the secretarial work under his charge.
Hu Jiao happened to be standing at the main door on the first floor, looking around and pointing at a guy with a cat head and body sneaking in, "Hey, you, stop."
The guy's face was pale. He had just shaken hands with the new county party secretary yesterday. He turned around with a sad face and said, "Secretary... Good morning... I'm not late..."
Hu Jiao laughed immediately. Ha, it turned out that this guy thought that I was a new official and came to check attendance in the office for no reason.
She waved at him, "Come here, which department are you from? What's your name?"
The man's head buzzed, and he didn't know how to answer. The deputy director glared at him fiercely, and seeing that he didn't respond, he quickly added, "His name is Huang Shanta, and he is a clerk in the General Affairs Section... He used to work in the Kaochuan Township Government, and was transferred here last year."
Hu Jiao nodded. "Huangshan Tower, that's a good name. What are you responsible for?"
Huang Shancha calmed down after a buffering period. "Report... Secretary, I will be responsible for the report and data collection."
Hu Jiao looked at the deputy director, "Your name is..."
"Cheng Youlun, in charge of the secretarial and general departments."
"Well, Director Cheng, this Xiao Huang, right? Does he stutter when he speaks?"
Cheng Youlun glared at Huang Shancha again. Hu Jiao frowned slightly. He really hated this kind of guy who stepped on his subordinates to show off and please his boss in front of his superiors.
"No, it's probably because I've been in the countryside for too long and haven't had much contact with my superiors, so I'm a little nervous."
People who manage secretaries usually have some knowledge. This statement is quite pertinent and the reason is good, which shows their intention to protect their subordinates.
It's a pity that he is not calm enough and a bit impetuous.
Hu Jiao waved his hand nonchalantly, "Tell him to prepare his men to go down, I'll be waiting in the car."
Cheng Youlun stared at Hu Jiao blankly with his mouth half-open in an "O" shape. But two seconds later, he reacted immediately, pulled up the still dazed Huang Shanta, and ran quickly into the building. He stopped just as he started, "Hu, Secretary Hu, wait a minute, I'll ask him to come down right away!"
Hu Jiao turned around and walked down. Tao Shilin had sent an imported off-road vehicle. He had just watched the scene happening from below and couldn't help but begin to envy Xiao Huang. If he was lucky, he could pick up gold even if he fell down?
Hu Jiao walked out of the car and kept looking around. The driver was waiting there early. He was a man in his fifties, bald, with a rosacea, and wearing a suit and hiking shoes.
Tao Shilin introduced the driver earnestly, "Secretary Hu, this is Master Tao Gui, the team leader of the small car team. He used to drive for the National People's Congress. He was recently added to the team. He has more than 30 years of driving experience."
Hu Jiao nodded to Lao Tao and pointed at the SUV. "Is the whole vehicle imported?"
When Tao Gui heard the secretary asking about the car, he said proudly, "Yeah! It's worth more than 700,000!"
Hu Jiao sighed, "It's over the limit. There are regulations, but it's too much."
Tao Shilin looked at Hu Jiao in embarrassment. "Secretary, there is nothing we can do about it. We bought the car only last year. When we investigated the case, the county committee, the special case team, and the city reported it, but there was no response. We have no choice but to use it like this for now. Besides, several towns have dirt roads. If we change to a sedan, I'm afraid we won't be able to get there."
Hu Jiao waved his hands , thinking back to what he had done at Tieshu, and said to Tao Shilin, "Go ahead and talk to the profitable companies in the county, such as the power company or the tobacco company, and find any one to transfer the ownership to. If they are willing to change, let them buy two or three new cars according to regulations."
Tao Gui felt a pang of pain when he heard this. "Secretary, I guarantee you'll be able to sleep well in this car, no matter how bad the road is."
Hu Jiao chuckled and didn't answer. He waved at Tao Shilin to signal him to leave.
Tao Gui was still unwilling, "Secretary..."
Hu Jiao took out a pack of good cigarettes from his pocket and threw it to Tao Gui, "Here, take it and smoke it. I know you drivers all want to drive good cars, but there are regulations, and you can't let others find fault with you. Besides, we have to improve traffic. If the road conditions are good, ordinary cars can also run well."
Tao Gui carefully put the cigarette into the inner pocket of his suit and nodded in response, "The secretary is right. It is better to repair the road and drive fast than to buy a good car and drive it on a bad road."
Hu Jiao gave him a thumbs up and praised him, "That's a brilliant point!"
Tao Gui hurriedly opened the passenger door and said, "Secretary, please get in the car first. Director Sun has already made tea for you. Drink it first."
Hu Jiao got into the car and saw a stainless steel thermos cup on the cup holder near the gear shift. Hu Jiao picked it up with interest, unscrewed it, and a light green tea aroma wafted to his face.
This Tao Shilin.
Tao Gui also got into the car from the other side and opened the dark box in front of Hu Jiao. "What kind of music does the secretary like to listen to?"
Hu Jiao put the teacup away and flipped through the discs inside. There were a few pieces of light music, but unfortunately there was none of his favorite Chinese classical folk music.
“No guzheng?”
Tao Gui turned around and got out of the car, "Wait a minute, Secretary." Then he ran back to the office building quickly. Hu Jiao watched his suit fluttering in the air, and his steps in his sneakers were particularly brisk.
Hu Jiao couldn't help but think of an adjective in his mind: in this day and age, this outfit is so cool and handsome.
Huangshan Tower has three characteristics that left a deep impression on Hu Jiao. First, he is introverted. He would blush when talking to people, his eyes would wander around, and he didn't dare to look people in the eye. Second, his facial features are distinct, with a flat nose, dark eyes, and a big forehead. Third, he has a good memory. Although Cheng Youlun stuffed a lot of documents and materials into his pocket, he could always report the data clearly no matter what Hu Jiao asked.
Through preliminary understanding, I learned that he was an undergraduate who graduated from Nanzhao University in 1994. In fact, Hu Jiao and he started working in the same year, but Huang Shanta is three years older than Hu Jiao, already 32 years old, has been married for two years, and has a daughter who just turned one year old.
I used to work in Kaochuan Township Government and was transferred to the County Party Committee Office last year.
When asked how he was transferred back, Huang Shanta's face turned red. Tao Gui came to his rescue and said, "He is the son-in-law of County Magistrate Wen."
Wen Xinghai’s son-in-law?
Hey, I didn’t expect that I would randomly click on Wen Xinghai’s son-in-law. However, this Xiao Huang’s appearance… Wen Xinghai is an old handsome man, so his daughter should be good-looking, right?
How come there is such a...special son-in-law?
After a week of traveling with the two of them, Hu Jiao finally completed a preliminary understanding of the six towns. After spending a few days together, Hu Jiao was quite satisfied with the performance of Huangshan Tower.
Hu Jiao has a one-sided opinion that when it comes to a person, one should not judge him by his appearance alone.
People with real talent often don't look that good. If everyone was like him, wouldn't it cause social unrest and world war?
In fact, Hu Jiao decided to use Huang Shanta for two reasons. One was to win over the local Wen Xinghai to add strength to the upcoming personnel competition; the other was that Huang Shanta was unpopular and was left out in the comprehensive department. It was a waste of resources for an undergraduate to deal with reporting and data collection.
Hu Jiao has been wandering around the countryside these days and his cell phone has no signal. He didn't know that the county's section-level cadres were having a great time in the county town trying to compete for positions.
On the way back to the county town, Huang Shanta received several calls in succession, all asking where Secretary Hu was.
The seventh floor of the county party committee office has undergone a drastic renovation and reorganization, and has now become the secretary's office.
Hu Jiao took the elevator straight to the seventh floor. Huangshan Tower followed Hu Jiao closely, carrying a briefcase, a leather bag, a teacup and a phone in his hands.
There are two elevators, and people cannot take the elevator below the third floor. Originally, the two elevators stopped at the single-floor and double-floor floors respectively. Now, the county party committee office has changed the elevator so that the single-floor floor only stops at the seventh floor, and the other elevator is available for other people to use.
These were explained by Tao Shilin in the elevator. Hu Jiao did not express his opinion and just watched the floor numbers change blankly.
"Secretary Hu, here are the office keys. You have one set, our office keeps one set, and Secretary Huang has another set." Tao Shilin said as he walked towards the seventh floor. The seventh floor was divided into four sets of offices, each with a secretary's room. There was also a small lounge and bathroom in the office. Hu Jiao's secretary's office was at the very end.
According to Hu Jiao's suggestion, the desk was moved from the original main book building. Even the coffee table for entertaining guests in the southeast corner, the wooden sofa, and the dismantled bookcase, when combined, have a bit of Ming and Qing style.
Although Tao Shilin had been observing, fearing that the secretary would be unhappy, Hu Jiao remained expressionless. Tao Shilin had no choice but to explain to Huangshan Tower the placement of items such as water heaters, tea leaves, tea cups, and stationery.
There were small national and party flags on the desk. Hu Jiao walked over and sat down slowly. Tao Shilin quickly pushed the recent urgent documents in front of Hu Jiao and said, "Secretary Hu, this is a document that needs to be processed urgently. Do you see anything else in the office?"
Hu Jiao shook his head. Next to the two telephones were address books, which contained the address books of the county’s main leaders and the municipal party committee and government.
Huang Shanta made some tea, and left the office with Tao Shilin, carefully closing the door. Tao Shilin breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at Huang Shanta, the subordinate who might become the first secretary of Sanmei, and pointed to the small office next to him, "Secretary Huang, your office, go and take a look."
Huang Shanta waved his hands hurriedly, "No, no, well, the secretary hasn't decided yet, I, I'll go back to the office first."
Tao Shilin looked at his expression, which did not seem fake, and there were traces of sweat on his protruding forehead. "Don't be nervous. You must have gained a lot after following the secretary for a week, right?"
How do you answer this?
Huang Shanta grinned and chuckled, "I've been scolded a lot for serving the leaders."
Tao Shilin was a little jealous and decided to help him. "Then let me ask the secretary for you to make a decision as soon as possible, so that everyone won't be without a backbone and feel uneasy."
Huang Shanta leaned forward and said, "Well, then I'll trouble you, Director Sun."
"What's the trouble? At most I'll get criticized. Wait, I'll go in first."
Tao Shilin knocked on the door, and Hu Jiao responded from inside, "Come in."
He glanced and saw that it was Tao Shilin, and continued to read the documents, "If you have anything to say, tell me. Also, call Xiao Huang."
Tao Shilin stood very straight, with his waist slightly bent, very humbly, "Secretary, I want to ask you for instructions, can you decide on the assistant secretary?"
Hu Jiao put down the documents, and Tao Shilin's heart sank. Could it be that Xiao Huang was unhappy?
"Let Xiao Huang take over for now. Okay , you can go out if you have nothing else to do. Tell him about the work procedures first, and then come back to me immediately."
Huang Shanta pricked up his ears outside the door but couldn't hear the conversation inside. He felt lost and a little scared. He tried hard to recall his performance over the past few days, but there was really nothing outstanding about him. His appearance was not up to standard, and it also affected his image as a leader.
The more he thought about it, the less confident he became. When Tao Shilin came out, he jumped up and opened his mouth to ask, but had to hold it back. Tao Shilin glared at him, slowly closed the door, and then warned him softly, "You better be careful! " He turned around and quickly opened the secretary's office, waving for Huang Shanta to follow in.
"The secretary said that he will let you take over for the time being, Shanta. Originally, the secretarial department is not under my jurisdiction. Today, because of your matter, it is considered a violation of discipline." Tao Shilin's expression was a little heavy.
Huang Shanta was so excited that he was shaking all over. He had never thought that he could become the secretary's personal secretary. Being transferred to work in the county committee was already a great joy for him. Now the opportunity had come.
"Thank you, thank you... Thank you Director Sun, you have worked so hard, I will definitely remember your kindness!" First there was a series of thanks, followed by more kindness or something.
Seeing Huang Shanta's incoherent speech, Tao Shilin was very satisfied and nodded gently. "Shanta, now the opportunity has come. You must seize it firmly, be serious, careful, and responsible, and serve the leader without making mistakes. Whether you can become Secretary Hu's confidant depends on your performance in the future. Come, I will tell you something, and then you can go to the secretary section and Deputy Director Cheng to hand over the procedures."
Tao Shilin has no control over his secretary, and knowing clearly about the secretary's job responsibilities, he can only give a few warnings based on his experience.
Huang Shanta then went back to the General Affairs Section and transferred his work to the Section Chief for further arrangements. Amid the envious gazes of his colleagues, his originally thin body became even lighter and he floated towards the Secretary Section.
The general manager was an old cadre in his early fifties. After Huang Shanta left, he said with emotion, "This guy, you really can't judge a person by his appearance. Comrade Shanta will also have a chance to turn things around."
A colleague who used to be close to Huang Shanta also responded with a smile, "That's right, the strange man with a strange appearance is talking about Huang Shanta. He was supposed to be transferred to the secretarial department, but people said he had a problem with his image. Now he is about to become the first secretary, which really vented the anger of our general department!"
Another female colleague couldn't help laughing. Come to think of it, they are from the secretariat of the county party committee, and they often regard themselves as the county party committee's advisory group. They act like they are one level higher than everyone else, and they usually look up to the sky and act arrogantly.
"I heard that Xiao Huang was at work when the secretary was out. Deputy Secretary Cheng was asking for instructions from the secretary , but Secretary Hu just pointed at him and stopped him. Haha, people who saw it said that Xiao Huang was so scared that his calves twitched the sanxian. They thought he had made some mistake."
The person who came before immediately imitated Huang Shanta's actions and said, "I, I'm not late..."
The section chief also laughed, clapped his hands and said, "Well, let's not add insult to injury. The people in the secretarial section have been hurt quite a lot this week, and everyone is keeping a low profile. Of course, we can see some clues from Xiao Huang's adventure."
The female comrade asked, "Section Chief, what are the signs? Can you give me some pointers?"
Others followed suit, and the section chief said with a smile , "Appearance determines destiny!"
Everyone rolled their eyes at him. The section chief laughed, took a breath and said, "I was just joking. Xiao Huang's appearance has always been mocked by everyone. I'm not criticizing this behavior, it's human nature. He is indeed not good-looking, but he is lucky! Think about it, he was able to get into university, was assigned to Kaochuan Township, married the girl of Deputy County Master Wen, and then transferred to the county party committee, and now he is the secretary of the secretary."
"Oh, I understand what the chief means. Xiao Huang's unique appearance and his unattractiveness have become an advantage!"
Lesbians wonder, "Is there an advantage to being ugly?"
The section chief said, "Of course. If you are ugly, you have to be ugly in a distinctive way. Let me put it this way, were you impressed by Xiao Huang the first time you saw him?"
The female comrade nodded vigorously, "That's quite profound!"
"That's right, it's hard to forget. There's a special description for this kind of people in the physiognomy book..."
The guy who had been excited about the Huangshan Tower interrupted the chief's speech, "Strange people with strange appearances! For example, Zhu Yuanzhang was born with a horse face, very ugly, and was a beggar, a monk, and finally became the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Right, chief?"
"Right! So it doesn't matter if you are ugly, the key is luck. Of course, you also need to have a certain level of ability, otherwise it will be in vain if you don't have the ability to grab the opportunity when it comes. It's just that ugly people are more likely to make trouble, so there must be gains and losses. When judging people, we should not only look at the appearance, nor just pick out the shortcomings, but also be good at discovering others' advantages and strengths. From Xiao Huang's point of view, our comrades in the General Affairs Department should have more confidence and work harder to do a good job. Nine parts perspiration and one part luck are geniuses."
These words happened to be heard by Organization Minister Chen Yongzheng, who was just about to come to the General Affairs Office to find someone to arrange for his family. As his daughter was now in high school, his wife was transferred here as well.
The Organization Department had already arranged for his daughter's schooling, and his wife's work relationship had also been settled. He could have sent his secretary or called someone from the General Affairs Section to come over, but Chen Yongzheng thought that he would need help from the General Affairs Section in many things in his life in the future, so he took the initiative to come and take a look, which would save him a lot of trouble in the future.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this statement, Chen Yongzheng politely knocked on the door, attracting the attention of the person inside. The section chief hurried over to greet him, "Hello, Director Chen!"
The other people also hurriedly greeted him. Chen Yongzheng smiled and nodded to everyone, "My family is coming today, so I'd like to trouble you comrades to help us. We are not very familiar with the situation in the city."
The section chief agreed repeatedly, saying that such a good thing could not be found anywhere, it would only involve moving some things, asking the logistics staff to prepare meals, and then sending a comrade to lead the minister's family to find their way around, and buy daily necessities and so on.
These are trivial matters, and the more important thing is to please the leader.
After Chen Yongzheng left, the female comrade lowered her voice and asked, "Why do you think Minister Chen asked us to help?"
The section chief was also a little unsure. According to what Minister Chen said, if he just notified the Organization Department office, what could not be done?
