Chapter 61: People Leave, Tea Goes Cold

What was bound to come had finally arrived!

No matter how much Zhang Jun did, no matter how hard he tried, he could not change this fact.

"I will follow whatever arrangement the boss makes," Zhang Jun said respectfully.

That was all he could say.

He certainly couldn't brazenly ask for a promotion, could he?

He believed that Ma Hongqi was a man of integrity and would not abandon him entirely.

Ma Hongqi suddenly let out a long sigh. "Little Zhang, many things cannot be changed by human effort alone. Alright, you can head back first!"

Zhang Jun's heart felt as if it were hanging by a thread, bouncing up and down.

He returned home and slumped onto the sofa.

Liu Yujie had finished cooking and placed the dishes on the dining table one by one. Noticing his absent-minded expression, she asked, "Zhang Jun, what's wrong with you?"

Zhang Jun gave a light cough and said, "The boss might be returning to the capital to take up a post."

This news struck Liu Yujie like a bolt from the blue, filling her with anxiety both inside and out.

"What's going on? Has it been finalized?" Panic-stricken, Liu Yujie untied her apron, came over to sit beside Zhang Jun, grabbed his arm, and asked, "He hasn't even been Vice Governor for a year yet, has he? Why is he suddenly returning to the capital?"

"How would I know? I'm not the head of the Organization Department!" Zhang Jun said, feeling thoroughly vexed.

"Then you need to hurry up and ask him for an official post! Why not go to the Provincial Health Department? Or the Municipal Health Commission? If you get promoted by half a rank, you could become a deputy director, which is a position with real power."

"You think I don't want to? How am I supposed to bring that up?" Zhang Jun shook his head.

"Oh, he's about to leave and you still find it hard to speak up? If you miss this bus, there won't be another one!" Liu Yujie urged anxiously. "He is your boss! You've been serving him from dawn till dusk, wasn't it all for this very day? If he just walks away scot-free, you'll be done for!"

Zhang Jun's phone chimed.

He glanced at it; the message was from Shen Xue, asking if he had eaten yet.

Zhang Jun was in no mood to flirt with any woman at the moment.

Compared to a political career and official rank, women were mere ornaments. With power, you had everything; without it, everything was out of the question.

If Zhang Jun lost Ma Hongqi as his backing, Shen Xue would probably spare him not even a single glance.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jun felt even more depressed.

He ate his meal hastily, finding no appetite in any of the dishes.

The eight o'clock evening news began.

Looking at the delicate and charming Shen Xue on the color television screen, Zhang Jun felt somewhat dazed. If he had known, he should have just taken Shen Xue that night. He feared there would never be another such golden opportunity to be intimate with such a celestial beauty.

With his mind wandering, he went to bed early, feeling not even a shred of interest in trying to conceive a child with his wife.

Liu Yujie lay beside him, continuously lecturing him on finding Ma Hongqi to demand an official position before it was too late.

Annoyed by the nagging, Zhang Jun covered his ears with both hands and deliberately let out loud snoring sounds.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Seeing that it was still early, he sprang up from the bed and quickly slipped into his clothes and trousers.

Wearing a short nightgown that revealed her fair, smooth, and rounded legs, Liu Yujie sat up and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going out on business! The boss gave me an order. I almost forgot because of all your nagging." Zhang Jun ran his fingers through his hair and hurried downstairs.

He rode his bicycle to the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The outpatient department of the hospital had long been closed, but the emergency department was still operating.

Zhang Jun had interned there previously, and he knew everyone in both the outpatient and emergency departments.

"Secretary Zhang is here!" The little nurse at the triage desk smiled, revealing two cute dimples upon seeing him.

"Hello," Zhang Jun smiled back at her and walked toward the pharmacy.

He had thirty doses of traditional Chinese foot-soak medicine prepared for Ma Hongqi, mixed, cut into small pieces, ground into powder, packaged, and placed into a bag.

Zhang Jun insisted on paying, but the pharmacy staff flatly refused to ring up any bill, saying, "With such a tiny amount of items, does Secretary Zhang even need to pay out of his own pocket? You're underestimating our hospital!"

Having no other choice, he left fifty banknotes on the counter and walked away.

The next morning, Zhang Jun headed to the Reception Guest House to pick up Ma Hongqi as usual.

To his surprise, the receptionist told him, "Governor Ma left early this morning."

Stunned, Zhang Jun asked, "Where did he go?"

The receptionist replied, "Back to the capital, taking his luggage with him."

A loud roar echoed in Zhang Jun's mind, and the world seemed to spin before his eyes.

"Did Governor Ma mention how many days he'd be gone?" Zhang Jun asked anxiously.

"I don't know. He didn't say, and I didn't dare ask," the receptionist shook her head gently. "Brother Zhang, would you like to come in and sit for a while?"

"No need." Zhang Jun turned to leave, then paused, turned back, handed the bag of medicine to the receptionist, and said, "From now on, use this whenever Governor Ma has a foot soak. One pack each time. Let me know when it runs out."

Accepting the medicine, the receptionist murmured, "Who knows when Governor Ma will ever come back!"

Arriving at his office to tidy up and clean, Zhang Jun looked at the empty seat of the Vice Governor, feeling a complex mix of emotions that he couldn't put into words.

He desperately wanted to make a phone call to Ma Hongqi.

After all, leaders at this level, as long as time permitted, preferred taking the train rather than flying, unless there was an extremely urgent summons from the capital.

Trains were safer and made it easy to arrange a soft-sleeper compartment, which was also convenient for answering important phone calls and handling work matters while on the move.

Especially older veteran cadres; many of them could not travel by plane.

Forget airplanes; some leaders even avoided elevators, choosing to climb the stairs whenever they were below the fifth floor, primarily for safety reasons.

It was always better to be safe than sorry.

If a real emergency happened, no one could bear the responsibility.

Zhang Jun pulled out his phone, hesitated for a moment, and dialed Ma Hongqi's number anyway.

The call went through, but nobody answered.

Disappointed, Zhang Jun hung up the phone.

He quickly experienced the sorrow of people growing cold and distant once a leader left office.

His colleagues in the general office seemed to know about Ma Hongqi's return to the capital even earlier than he did, and each of them cast rather strange glances his way.

Ma Hongqi's transfer order had not officially been issued yet, so Zhang Jun remained a secretary, and his workspace was still this secretary's office.

Zhang Jun sat in his chair, pretending to be busy handling official business.

Yet, an entire morning passed, and not a single person came looking for Ma Hongqi!

If this had been any other time, it would have been simply unthinkable.

It was as if overnight, the entire province knew Ma Hongqi had returned to the capital.

What disappointed Zhang Jun even more was that Ma Hongqi never returned his call!

As it neared the end of the morning shift, Zhang Jun took out his phone, saw Shen Xue's message from the previous night, and replied: "Are you free at noon? Let's have lunch together."

Shen Xue's reply came back quickly: "Brother Zhang, I have things to do at noon. Can we reschedule for another day?"

Zhang Jun slowly closed his eyes, thinking to himself that human relationships could be so fickle and the world so cold, reaching such extremes!

He couldn't even be bothered to reply, simply pocketing his phone, tidying up his desk, and grabbing his briefcase as he left work.

Along the way, colleagues he met seemed to deliberately avoid him.

Those few people in Section Four greeted him when their paths crossed, but the smiles on their faces were noticeably less warm and enthusiastic than before.

Upon returning home, Zhang Jun saw that Liu Yuda had arrived. Sitting with his legs crossed and puffing on a premium cigarette, he was chatting away with his older sister in the kitchen:

"Sis, your husband is finished! Ma Hongqi is back in the capital! He can't keep going as a secretary! The business I have in hand is probably going to go under too! Fortunately, I've saved some money these past few days—enough to sustain me for a while. Oh, brother-in-law, you're back!"

Zhang Jun hurled the briefcase in his hand straight at his brother-in-law, and yelled furiously, "Who did you say was finished? I'm not dead yet! Are you wishing bad luck on me?"