Chapter 31: Spotless Record

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Li Xiuyuan was responsible for getting the printer repaired. It might not sound like much of a task, but finding the right repairman and obtaining the proper invoice could easily cause trouble if left to a young newcomer who had only just started working.

So Li Xiuyuan first consulted Li Boyang, asking where they usually had the printer repaired when it broke down and where they obtained supplies such as copy paper.

This sort of thing was not to be underestimated. There were all kinds of hidden connections involved. For instance, in some hospitals, medicines prescribed by doctors could only be obtained from a particular clinic near the hospital.

The supplementary textbooks recommended by schoolteachers might only be available at a certain bookstore. In some departments, people who came to handle official business would always be directed to a nearby print shop or photography studio.

These things might appear coincidental, but in reality, they were all driven by vested interests.

If you failed to understand the situation and simply acted, you might unknowingly take someone else’s share of the pie and offend them.

Take the printer, for example. If they casually sent it to some repair shop outside, and that violated the established arrangement, would the repair bill still be reimbursed? Could someone accuse them of compromising confidential information?

After all, the printers used by the county government office were also used to print classified documents.

As Li Boyang watched Li Xiuyuan inquire about all this, a glint flashed through his eyes. This young man was no ordinary newcomer. He had only just started working, yet he already seemed to understand how things worked.

Li Boyang had originally thought that if Li Xiuyuan failed to grasp the situation and went straight to find an outside repairman, he could step in afterward and offer some guidance, earning himself a favor in the process. He had not expected Li Xiuyuan to be so thoroughly familiar with the rules.

Li Boyang gave Li Xiuyuan the telephone number of the company responsible for repairing the printer. After that, things were simple: make the call, confirm the price, and have the invoice issued properly.

There was no need to bargain. Companies that handled this kind of business understood the process even better than they did. As long as the invoice came from that company, it could be reimbursed by their county government office, even if the amount was substantial.

“Xiuyuan, do you want to come with me to the countryside and help handle a dispute over a village collective’s land contract?” Li Boyang asked.

Under normal circumstances, he would not have wanted to bring a newcomer along. But Li Xiuyuan was different, and Li Boyang felt like teaching him a few things.

“Brother Li, of course. I have no problem with that. I’d only be sitting around in the office anyway, and I can learn more by following you,” Li Xiuyuan replied at once.

Actually, he would rather not have gone to the countryside.

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He would have preferred to follow Big Sister Zhang or Young Widow Yang. The documents they drafted were all important, and working with them meant coming into contact with the leaders. If he could make himself known to those leaders and leave them with a favorable impression, that would be even better.

But clearly, that was impossible. Qu Hui would never give him such an opportunity.

Since that was the case, he could only follow Li Boyang and Wang Zhitao and help the two of them handle some of the work on their desks.

Although it was the sort of work that could easily offend people, Li Xiuyuan was not actually responsible for it. He was merely observing and learning.

“All right. Get your things together and let’s go,” Li Boyang said with a smile.

They spent the entire day at the township government office. In any case, they never saw any of the township leaders; only the director of the township government office accompanied them.

Li Xiuyuan also realized that Li Boyang had truly adopted a hands-off attitude. As long as he was assigned a task, he would show up and do it. But how well the task was completed had nothing to do with him.

Li Xiuyuan followed Li Boyang to the local township government office for two days. Aside from everything else, the stir-fried pork served in the township cafeteria was genuinely excellent.

Before he knew it, Wednesday had arrived.

When Li Xiuyuan came to work, he saw Wang Zhitao on the phone, arguing with one of the township governments below.

Among the documents submitted by the various township governments, several contained vague policy language or incorrect figures. Wang Zhitao had sent them back for revision. The township office had made a few minor changes and submitted them again.

At first, Wang Zhitao had thought the matter would not be complicated. Their attitude had been quite cooperative, after all. But when he opened the revised document, he found that it was exactly the same as before.

It was not that they had made no changes at all. They had simply left the key sections untouched and changed the wording here and there. Were they not just trying to fob him off?

He sent the document back again, but the other side was in no hurry whatsoever. They simply stopped submitting it.

The relevant department above was pressing them for the document, yet Wang Zhitao could not get it from the subordinate unit no matter what he did.

Now both sides were anxious. Over the phone, the township official said that perhaps Wang Zhitao could simply make the revisions himself. They did not know how to revise it, nor did they know what standard was expected.

Wang Zhitao was naturally unwilling. Even someone as straightforward as he was knew that some things could be done and others could not. Could he really alter a document that had been submitted by another office?

If something went wrong after he revised it himself, who would be held responsible? Besides, some of the figures were held by the township government. How could he possibly know whether they were accurate?

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“I’m not dealing with this for you. Submit it before the end of work this afternoon. If you can’t get it submitted, I’ll report it directly to the leaders.”

Wang Zhitao had pulled out all the stops, openly threatening to complain.

Listening from the side, Li Xiuyuan shook his head slightly. Could reporting someone be useful? Of course it could. Filing minor complaints and putting pressure on people were common tactics in bureaucratic infighting, and they worked remarkably well.

It was just that saying it so bluntly to the other party’s face made him seem overly upright.

A simple “You’ll bear the consequences yourself” would have carried far more weight. Saying that he would report the matter to the leaders sounded somewhat lacking in finesse.

Sometimes, an ambiguous threat produced better results.

“Director Wang, you’re making things difficult for us. We’ve submitted these figures again and again. I’d wager that your office has more complete records than our township government does. Why don’t you simply match the figures against your own records?

“Where are we supposed to find the time to collect all this data? Even if we had the time, we couldn’t withstand the way you keep putting us through this. You ask for the same figures three times in one month, then ask for them three more times in a different format. Where are we supposed to find the time?”

The other person’s voice rose over the phone. Li Xiuyuan could hear every word clearly. Helplessly, he sighed inwardly.

There was no easy judgment to make in a situation like this. Each side had its own position.

Then there was the system itself, which had created the problem. Both sides were in a difficult position. There was no absolute right or wrong.

Wang Zhitao believed he was in the right, while the other party felt they had done nothing wrong. They were both completely confident in their own positions. Even if Wang Zhitao truly reported the matter to the leaders, the final outcome would probably be nothing more than both sides continuing to argue.

Worse still, Wang Zhitao might ultimately be criticized for failing to handle the matter properly.

That was precisely why this kind of work was so difficult.