Chapter 18: Demonic Speech (Part 2)

Monday, Sunny
Today has been truly bizarre! Vice President Yin’s office door and windows have been tightly shut, locked down like a fortress. Why on earth would that be?
President Wang even went out of his way to ask me about his exact whereabouts—a question that could stump anyone. How the hell would I know where that bastard went? Yet, I could clearly tell that President Wang’s look was strange, as if Vice President Yin and I had once conspired to scam him. What a monstrous injustice! Could President Wang have found out about the boss giving me money? No need to fear! The money is locked right inside the drawer. Once the truth leaks, I will stick firmly to the story that I took it only because I simply couldn't refuse, and that I originally intended to hand it over to the bank's Party committee. Because Secretary Zhang of the Disciplinary Inspection Commission is away on a business trip, I have to wait for his return to clarify the matter. Reporting such affairs to the disciplinary secretary first is the proper working procedure that must be followed! Yes, that's how I'll think about it! No matter when or who asks, that is what I will say! With an iron mouth and hardened teeth, I must not waver.
Vice President Yin is truly Vice President Yin; this prick always loves to play outside the playbook. Otherwise, he wouldn't live up to the name his parents gave him.
When he called me, Chairman Liu was just shooting the breeze and chatting idly in my office! To be honest, I was genuinely worried he might bring up other matters over the phone. I merely hesitated for a split second, and Vice President Yin on the other end reacted instantly, loudly telling me to cover his night shift and making sure I wouldn't miss it. This fellow is truly cut out to do big things! His mind is full of schemes, and his belly is packed with cunning tricks. If I could learn even half a percent of that, I could go out and make my own way in the world. As expected of someone born into a fucking official's family; whether dealing with major matters or trivial details, he always displays extraordinary traits! Sooner or later, this kid is bound to return to the provincial branch for a promotion. In this lifetime, I will definitely follow him closely, follow him unto death!!!
Having said that, on the surface I still need to keep my distance and not get too chummy with him. Especially in front of Zhang Maolin, I even have to deliberately curse Yin Sen's ancestors down to the eighth generation from time to time! Because Zhang and Yin are as incompatible as fire and water, given my current lowly position, I cannot afford to play both sides. Otherwise, not only will the other members of the leadership team look at me with disgust, but it would also be hard to explain myself to Zhang Maolin. Everyone knows the disciplinary secretary is a bizarre character who is "bitter as vinegar when trying to make sugar." Even if you cannot befriend him, he is someone you dare not provoke. Even with the backing of my father-in-law's prestige, if anything happens that makes Zhang Maolin uncomfortable, I’m afraid I won't end up with any good fruit to eat in the end!

Wednesday, Light Rain
……
I never expected the boss to call and invite me out for the evening. It wouldn't do to decline, otherwise people would say that after taking the money I'm cutting off all ties of gratitude and affection! With no other choice, I had to tell a lie to A-Ye. Normally, I am unwilling to lie, especially reluctant to do so to A-Ye. When you cannot tell the truth to the wife you sleep in the same bed with, it creates psychological barriers over time! But for certain matters, there truly is no better way.
To my absolute surprise, upon walking into the private dining room, I saw that bastard Yin Sen was also present.
Strange, why didn't he call and notify me directly? I could tell that Yin Sen and the boss had already been drinking heavily beforehand. Yin Sen’s tongue was already slurring when he spoke, yet he kept repeating the same phrase over and over: the boss is extremely satisfied with your recent performance, and therefore specially arranged this occasion to express his delight!
The expression Yin Sen gave me was very eerie, as if he were saying, "Come on, don't keep it from me anymore, everybody gets a share!"
That's right, when dealing with real people, one shouldn't speak falsely; perhaps that is more direct and straightforward. Since the leaders aren't putting up any defenses against us, if we were to turn around and stubbornly play the "granson," that would be either unappreciative or sheer, utter stupidity! Hehe, to borrow the words of President Wang’s driver—these days, learning from Lei Feng ten times alongside an official definitely doesn't show as much camaraderie as visiting a prostitute together with your leader once...
However, I still exercised some restraint in the end. No matter how many times those young women pulled and tugged at me, I remained firmly planted like a "fishing platform"! I didn't move to the foot-massage couch until the groans of those sons of bitches began echoing from the private room shared by Yin Sen and the boss!
I will never do anything that crosses the bottom line. These days, a prostitute's crotch is more worn out than a tricycle driver's shoe soles; it's utterly disgusting!
The young woman's entire outfit weighed less than two ounces. Feeling uncomfortable, I said, "Can you go back and put on a complete set of clothes?" The girl immediately wore a look of utter astonishment, then smiled and said, "Sir, if you want to put on airs of obsessive cleanliness, you might as well go outside and wander around to pass the time. Why waste your money coming to this kind of place just to play the role of keeping yourself so pure?" Her retort was undeniably powerful; by comparison, it was I who ended up somewhat at a loss for words.

Tuesday [implied continuation]
I told her to just give me a back massage and foot therapy, and skip all the other services. The young woman stood frozen in place for a moment, then silently walked away. A few minutes later, a pretty girl wearing a pink short-sleeved athletic shirt and light blue mid-length shorts came over to my side, asking softly, "Are you only getting a back massage and foot therapy?" This change left me somewhat dazed, because the room was so dimly lit that I couldn't tell whether the one who came and the one who left were the same person. The other person replied, "The one you chased away is my older sister. I only do back massages and foot therapy and don't take on other kinds of work." A sudden warmth surged in my heart; I hadn't expected that both sisters had fallen into such a dusty, decadent trade. I could bet that their parents back home had absolutely no idea about the situation their daughters were facing outside.
This little girl had solid techniques; she clearly wasn't a novice. I asked her why, at such a great age, she didn't go learn a proper skill—how many years could she rely on youth to make a living? She replied that she would graduate in a little over a year, and once she found a suitable job in the future, she would take her sister out of this place too. I pressed further, "Are you a college student?" She shook her head, saying she was a student in the clothing tailoring class at a nearby vocational and technical school...
An hour passed. She stood up from her seat, bowed formally to me, and prepared to leave. I asked again, "Do your parents back home know that you two sisters are doing this line of work?" The girl seemed to instantly flare up, glaring fiercely at me! I quickly explained that I meant no malice and was just asking casually, feeling that it was a pity for girls with such fine looks! Casually, I handed her two hundred yuan. She quickly pushed it away, saying that the manager Liu who treated them had already paid. This gesture by the girl made me respect her even more! I never imagined that people working in this trade would also understand principles and rules so well.
Watching the girl's retreating back, my bodily instincts made my mouth water.
I wonder if I will ever get to see her again!
………
Zhang Maolin slumped weakly against the sofa.
His chest felt tight, his heart ached, and even his vision stung with soreness! He rubbed his hands together until they grew warm, then slowly pressed them against his face, yet he still felt uncomfortable. Standing up abruptly, he realized his head was spinning, and his feet felt as though they were stepping on a clump of soft cotton, completely losing their foundation, causing him to collapse headfirst onto the sofa!
……
Outside the window, the fierce gale continued to howl wildly.
Amidst the piercing north wind of late February, there was the exceptionally clear, shrill wailing of wild cats in heat—utterly desolate and hair-raising!
Zhang Maolin slowly stood up once more, pacing back and forth in the living room. As his feet moved, Wen Lu's face—originally steady yet brimming with sunshine—began to warp in Zhang Maolin's mind, gradually twisting under the dim, gray light and shadows...
"Bastard!!!"
Zhang Maolin cursed bitterly, grinding his back teeth together with a crunch! He couldn't help but pick up the closed notebook once again:

Saturday, Overcast
Overtime meetings on rest days are the absolute most effective way to invite people to curse your ancestors!
President Wang explained that this was to minimize the scope of people in the know and eliminate negative repercussions! Therefore, discussing the middle-level cadres' "May Day Outing" could only take up a little personal time. After his explanation, it was somewhat understandable; at least it provided an excuse to go outside and clear one's mind!
The meeting style remained unchanged! No matter how simple the matter, inside the meeting room people were guaranteed to be arguing fiercely: some advocated mountain climbing, some favored visiting a park, and others wanted to go spring-outing in the countryside! Truly, many mouths make a racket, like a bunch of turtles scrambling everywhere. Could it be that the entire Xing Shang Bank system is afflicted with this fucking attitude? Treating a matter no bigger than a "dog's testicle" as if it needed to be managed on the scale of a "bull's whip"?! Wherever President Wang's gaze fell, those little section chiefs immediately lowered their heads, sat up straight, and put on expressions of deep contemplation—this truly was an exquisite artificial landscape...
Damn it! Bureaucratic habits ruin people!
I observed President Wang's expression; from beginning to end, it remained benevolent and cordial. I know full well that this is a highly lethal expression! Of course, attaining President Wang's level of mastery probably takes more than three to five years of practice. Moreover, this kind of practice requires timely adjustments according to different occasions. I once attended the mobilization meeting for rectifying the style of credit business marketing across the provincial branch; the discussion speeches given by the presidents of various secondary branches were just as chaotic as a pile of dog shit! Especially President Wang—the timid, helpless expression he wore on that stage, compared to those division chiefs today, was arguably even worse. This is the exact reason why I admire President Wang.
I have long understood this truth: people who scrape by in officialdom, especially men, find that the firmness of their spinal column depends primarily on the occasion and their position. The ancients said that a great man can both bend and stretch, which shows that from ancient times to the present, the survival rules for men have scarcely changed. A man scraping by in the outside world does so precisely to constantly expand his face and prestige. This point holds true for both private and state-owned enterprises, only that in state-owned enterprises, the phenomenon is even more intense!
In contemporary society, a man's face and prestige are closely tied to wealth and power, and they share a positive correlation. Usually, riding in a Mercedes gives you more face than riding in an Audi; riding in an Audi gives you more face than a Santana; being driven gives you more face than driving yourself; driving gives you more face than wiping the car down; living in a landscape villa gives you more face than living in a standalone urban house; living in a standalone urban house gives you more face than living in a crowded tenement courtyard; not touching your wage packet gives you more face than spending it; marrying far away abroad gives you more face than being "consumed domestically"; an old husband with a young wife gives you more face than a matching young couple; having a mistress gives you more face than not having one; keeping a kept woman with public funds gives you more face than whoring with your own money; sleeping with a female celebrity gives you more face than whoring with a karaoke hostess; sleeping with a Hong Kong or Taiwan actress gives you more face than seducing a mainland actress; playing golf gives you more face than playing billiards; dining publicly at a star-rated hotel gives you more face than eating at the office cafeteria; and being able to speak a foreign language gives you more face than only being able to speak a local dialect.
When all is said and done—rich people have more face than poor people, and the powerful have more face than commoners; those who are reused have more face than those merely utilized, and those utilized have more face than those who are utterly useless! Human interaction is, in reality, the friction of face against face: those with big faces stand tall, those with smaller faces bend over, those with even smaller faces kneel, and those with zero face simply fucking crawl flat on the ground!
……
Every meeting is like this. I estimate that deep inside President Wang's heart, he must truly enjoy admiring the scene where everyone argues until their faces are red and feathers fly all over the floor. This kind of situation seems to objectively create an urgent need for a towering, pillar-like figure to step forward decisively and resolve the chaos with supreme majesty and a single softly uttered "remark." Yes, it must be so! When these meaningless disputes reach a certain boiling point, President Wang would stylishly slam his hand down on the table.于是, the unrestrained noise among the crowd would instantly cease! Then, President Wang could flow eloquently, unleash his arguments, and finally make the definitive judgment. What I am certain of is that in such a farcical show, what President Wang is after is precisely the inner thrill of projecting supreme authority!
Today was no exception; that flock of birds in the conference room argued for the duration of one of President Wang's cigarettes. The moment everyone saw him steadily pressing out his cigarette butt in the ashtray, more than a dozen mouths looked as though they had their wounds stitched up simultaneously, turning silent in a fraction of a second!
Sure enough, after deliberately twisting his short, thick neck, President Wang laid down the final verdict: "I think we should all go mountain climbing, get some aerobic exercise, and see if these old bones of ours still have what it takes." In truth, President Wang's physique is as tough as they come. Once, Vice President Yin, after getting drunk, told me a bawdy joke: President Wang's record high while training at a "hair-washing parlor" was conquering three girls in a single night, and every single shot had "ammo"! Furthermore, he drove one of the girls to weeping and begging for mercy, saying she'd rather forgo her tip...
Yin Sen said he had once witnessed President Wang's Lü Bu-like equipment at a bath center, and it was indeed extraordinarily bizarre! Not only was it exceptionally long, but it was also super thick and robust!
Anyway, I personally don't like climbing mountains. It's pointless and too exhausting! It would be much better to invite a few close buddies, rent a boat to slowly drift on the lake, and chat about ancient and modern times—how poetic that would be. Unfortunately, my rank isn't high enough yet; my words aren't even as useful as the leader's ass! Just wait for the day when I can puff out my chest and really spread my wings in Songyang!
Songyang, oh Songyang! When will you let me, Wen Lu, sit in the top chair?! Then I too can truly be a real man for once!