Chapter 58: Promotion? Transfer? Benefits? |
"Yes." Zhang Hongbo nodded. "I promised Yuan Chenyang I'd alter his records within the next year."
Yang Yan closed the dossier. Falsifying backgrounds was nothing new to him.
The quiet, persistent marginalization of refugees was an open secret. But some leaders had sharp eyes and would pluck talent from the refugee ranks.
To preempt potential discrimination, altering their records was a standard practice.
Give it seven or eight years, and who'd remember someone's old refugee status? Whatever the official records said — that was reality.
"Do you have a plan?" Yang Yan set the file aside.
"He's assigned to a patrol squad. By regulation, he should be patrolling at least once every three days." Zhang Hongbo spoke quietly. "But he hasn't been going out at all lately. I can have a talk with him."
"He's still a 1st-tier professional. He can't refuse."
"Since it's within his duties, let's proceed." Yang Yan suppressed his hesitation.
"That's the only way, I suppose. He should understand." Zhang Hongbo sighed. "After all, it's not like we'd let him take the risk alone. Our people will have his back."
Yang Yan said nothing to that. He turned and left with Gu Bing.
Only once they were in the elevator did Gu Bing — who had been silent throughout — push her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "He's using you."
"His own son has Brilliant Silver talent. After cultivation and reassignment to Nanfeng City, there's a high chance the boy inherits the City Lord's position. An extra Su Chen means an extra variable."
"Let us make the call, and afterward, even Yuan Chenyang won't have grounds to object."
"I know." Yang Yan was unbothered. "As long his method gets results."
............
An eager Fatty Sun dragged Su Chen to the top floor and knocked on the office door. They entered after receiving permission.
"Oh, you two?" Zhang Hongbo was genuinely surprised. He hadn't even issued the summons for Su Chen yet.
Well, this saves time.
"Please, sit." He smiled warmly — the picture of hospitality.
Before Zhang Hongbo could speak, Fatty Sun beat him to it, his face blooming into a chrysanthemum-like grin. "Congratulations, Lord City Lord!"
"Congratulations to me?" Zhang Hongbo, who'd been rehearsing his talking points, paused. Confusion flickered in his eyes. "For what?"
"The Supervision Department has just produced a new 2nd-tier professional — a pillar of our great Nanfeng City! Surely that calls for congratulations." Fatty Sun jumped in smoothly.
"A 2nd-tier... professional?" Zhang Hongbo's eyelid twitched. His gaze drifted slowly to Su Chen, who stood with a look of modest composure.
"That's right — Su Chen himself." Fatty Sun confirmed the guess, adding with feeling, "And it happened right under your watch over the Supervision Department. Clearly, you and Su Chen share fate."
Su Chen's sharp senses caught a split-second shift in Zhang Hongbo's expression, but the City Lord recovered almost instantly. His face settled into one of warm admiration. "I never would have guessed. Old Yuan really struck gold this time — you're already a 2nd-tier professional."
Su Chen quietly raised his guard, putting on a self-effacing smile. "Ever since my teacher was kind enough to take me on, I've treasured the opportunity. I've trained diligently every day without slacking."
"To advance, I haven't even gone out on patrol during this stretch."
"A small matter! The Director's own student — of course you'd get some privileges." Zhang Hongbo waved it away with a generous hand, looking genuinely pleased. "Truly a pillar of our Nanfeng City."
"A 2nd-tier professional shouldn't be an ordinary patrol squad member anymore — the rank of squad leader barely suits your strength. However, there are no openings within the Supervision Department at the moment."
At those words, Fatty Sun's grin wavered slightly.
But Zhang Hongbo thought for a moment and continued, "How about this — for now, we'll assign you the honorary rank of Deputy Division Chief within the Patrol Division."
Fatty Sun's face lit up like a fireworks display. He kept shooting glances at Su Chen, practically willing him to accept on the spot.
Deputy Division Chief? Su Chen felt a strange twinge. He instinctively demurred: "I couldn't possibly. I've only just joined the Supervision Department. I haven't accomplished a single merit. How could I accept a promotion? What would my colleagues think?"
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Nanfeng City needs every capable person it can get." Zhang Hongbo left no room for refusal. "Have Section Chief Sun file the paperwork, a deputy will countersign, and I'll stamp it."
"Oh, and as a Deputy Division Chief, you'll be entitled to select a 2nd-tier weapon from Logistics."
Su Chen opened his mouth to protest.
"Also — one annual allotment of Glazed Blood, three doses of 2nd-tier Mist Fiend Potion per week... and authorization to requisition a 2nd-tier body forging method."
Su Chen swallowed whatever he'd been about to say.
"Off you go, then..."
In the end, Su Chen waited in vain for the other shoe to drop. He left the office baffled.
'It was genuinely just a reward?'
Even in the elevator, he was still muttering, while Fatty Sun practically vibrated with excitement. "I never imagined the City Lord would be this generous. I misjudged the man — thinking the worst when he's clearly a gentleman."
'That fast, truly... just locking himself in his room and training day and night without rest? Seizing every last scrap of time and opportunity... that kind of willpower...'
Back in his office, Zhang Hongbo's brow furrowed. His gaze lingered on the word "Brilliant Silver" on the dossier. For the first time, genuine hesitation crossed his face.
............
The promotion came through at a speed that stunned Su Chen. Fatty Sun happily went off to process the paperwork and returned in under thirty minutes.
"Ha ha..." He was grinning from ear to ear, holding up an elegant cyan hurricane insignia. "Deputy Division Chief, would you look at that... the City Lord really is magnanimous. It hasn't been long at all, and already, little bro, you're nearly at my level."
"If the Director had handled this, there'd be grumbling. But coming from the City Lord — different story entirely. Now then, little bro, pack your things and get ready for your new post."
"New post?" Su Chen had been turning the hurricane insignia over in his fingers. At those words, a strong premonition struck. "Where?"
Fatty Sun was still beaming with envy. "The Northern District Supervision Branch. You'll serve concurrently as Deputy Branch Director. You're a 2nd-tier professional now — you can't just sit around collecting a paycheck."
"Once you come back, Qin Cheng's position might not be his much longer."
"I see..." Su Chen lowered his head, eyes turning cold. So that was the game — they were dangling him as bait.
Yuan Chenyang had used him once. Zhang Hongbo must have come up empty in his own investigation, so now he'd resorted to this gambit.
Fatty Sun, reading Su Chen's expression as reluctance to relocate, tried to reassure him. "Don't worry — the Northern District is fairly prosperous. The branch office has everything you need. Even the Gravity Room is five-times gravity. Aside from the Branch Director, you'll be the top authority."
"Let the underlings handle the actual work. You'll live the same way you do here."
"Honestly..." Su Chen shook his head. Old Sun knew too little of the bigger picture. He still thought this was a promotion.
But then another realization struck — this didn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment idea from Zhang Hongbo. It seemed premeditated.
He recalled that on the very first day of the City Lord's arrival, Zhang Hongbo had specifically called Fatty Sun in to drop hints.
Su Chen's mind turned. 'Good thing I'd already advanced to 2nd-tier. Otherwise, Zhang Hongbo probably would have just ordered me out on routine patrols.'
What's done was done. He collected himself and said, "Let's hit Logistics first. The City Lord promised me quite a list."
Collect the benefits first.
"Let's go — I'll come along." Fatty Sun's beady eyes spun with calculation, a devious chuckle escaping. "Section Chief Qian in Logistics is an old friend of mine. Word is he recently got his hands on something special. We're going to pry it out of him."