131: Chapter 131 This isn't showing respect, it's clearly making things difficult.

Early the next morning, Zhao Yang stood at the entrance of the Provincial Government compound, wearing a dark gray suit.

The main gate was solemn and majestic, with the national emblem hanging high above.

The General Office of the Provincial Government was in the West Annex, a five-story gray building with a plain and unassuming exterior.

Following the notification, Zhao Yang went to the Personnel Division to report for duty first.

The Personnel Section was at the corner of the first floor, with the door half-open.

Zhao Yang knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

A middle-aged man wearing glasses was hunched over his desk; he looked up to size Zhao Yang up.

"Hello, I am Zhao Yang, here to report for duty."

The middle-aged man stood up, a professional smile appearing on his face:

"Oh, Comrade Zhao Yang, welcome, welcome! I am the Personnel Section Chief, Tian Hongbin."

After processing the paperwork, Tian Hongbin took a kraft paper file bag from his drawer and handed it to Zhao Yang:

"Your work ID, meal card, and office supply requisition form are all inside. Please check them over."

Zhao Yang took it and thanked him.

Tian Hongbin adjusted his glasses, his tone revealing a touch of courtesy:

"Comrade Zhao Yang, Secretary-General Zhang gave special instructions that once you arrived, he would personally take you to the Policy Research Office. Please sit for a moment while I go ask for instructions."

Secretary-General Zhang? Zhang Hongtao?

Zhao Yang's heart stirred slightly.

Zhang Hongtao was the Secretary-General of the Provincial Government, the chief steward of the Provincial Government, a department-level cadre who directly oversaw the General Office and the Policy Research Office.

If he was taking him personally, it was surely because Sun Zhendong had already given him the heads-up.

Before long, Zhang Hongtao, accompanied by Tian Hongbin, came to the Personnel Section.

Zhang Hongtao reached out his hand proactively: "Comrade Zhao Yang, I've heard much about you. A first-class merit recipient from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. The Policy Research Office was only recently established, and we are in dire need of talent like you."

Zhao Yang hurriedly stood up to shake his hand, saying modestly:

"Secretary-General Zhang, you flatter me. It was thanks to the guidance of the leaders at the Commission for Discipline Inspection."

Zhang Hongtao patted his shoulder: "Let's go, I'll take you to the Policy Research Office and hand you over to Wang Jingmin."

The two of them went downstairs one after the other, crossed the connecting corridor, and arrived at the Policy Research Office work area.

The Policy Research Office occupied half of the second floor of the West Annex; unopened cardboard boxes were stacked in the corridor, and temporary signs were posted on the walls.

Zhang Hongtao knocked on the door of the director's office and, without waiting for a response from inside, pushed the door open and entered.

"Jingmin, I've brought the person to you."

Wang Jingmin was reading documents, and upon seeing Zhang Hongtao personally bring someone over, he hurriedly stood up:

"Secretary-General Zhang, why did you come yourself? A phone call to me would have sufficed."

Zhang Hongtao waved his hand: "This is Zhao Yang, transferred over from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, a first-class merit recipient. Put him to work here; don't let his talent go to waste."

The fact that Zhang Hongtao personally brought him over already spoke volumes.

Moreover, his words were very direct, which surprised Wang Jingmin, the Director of the Policy Research Office.

He glanced at Zhao Yang and nodded with a smile: "Secretary-General Zhang, rest assured, I will definitely cultivate him well."

After Zhang Hongtao left, Wang Jingmin picked up the phone and dialed a number: "Jianguo, come over here for a moment."

A moment later, a middle-aged man in his early forties knocked on the door and entered.

Deputy Division Chief of the Economic Division, Liu Jianguo.

This man was of medium build, his hair combed meticulously, and his face wore just the right amount of deference.

"Director Wang, did you call for me?" Liu Jianguo stood at the door, his attitude respectful.

Wang Jingmin pointed at Zhao Yang: "This is Zhao Yang, who just transferred from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection to work in the Economic Division. Take good care of him."

Liu Jianguo's smile froze for half a second, but he quickly returned to normal.

Shouldn't people from the Commission for Discipline Inspection generally be placed in the Political Division?

What could he do in the Economic Division?

He didn't know which leader's connection this was—taking up a headcount, unable to do the work, yet snatching credit.

It was a bad deal to have this person.

Although he thought this way, he was very enthusiastic with his words: "Director, rest assured about having Little Zhao with me!"

Liu Jianguo took Zhao Yang out of the office, walked through the corridor, and arrived at the Economic Division office area.

The Economic Division's office area was a large open-plan space with seven or eight desks pushed together, piled high with files and materials.

A whiteboard hung on the wall, listing the progress of various research projects.

Liu Jianguo entered and clapped his hands: "Everyone, stop for a moment. I'd like to introduce a new colleague."

There were five men and one woman in the office, and their gazes fell squarely on Zhao Yang.

"This is Zhao Yang, transferred from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection to serve as the Section Chief of the Investment Section. Everyone, please welcome him."

Sparse applause rang out.

Liu Jianguo briefly introduced the six people in the office.

The men were Zhou Fei, Sun Peng, Lv Bin, Gao Wenbo, and Chen Mo, respectively.

The woman was very young and quite attractive; her name was Chen Xiaotong.

Liu Jianguo continued: "The Policy Research Office was just established, and the staff is not yet fully assembled. The Economic Division is temporarily divided into industry, commerce, finance, and investment sectors. Although everyone has different duties, we are actually working together in one space, so we work together when there is work to be done."

Liu Jianguo looked around and pointed to a desk in the corner: "Little Zhao, you sit there for now. You can go to the storage room later to get your computer and office supplies. If there's anything you don't understand, ask Zhou Fei."

Zhao Yang nodded: "Understood, Chief Liu."

After giving his instructions, Liu Jianguo turned and returned to his own small office.

Zhao Yang walked to the corner and began to tidy up the desk.

Before he had even turned on his computer, he heard hushed discussions coming from not far away.

Sun Peng leaned back in his chair, twirling a pen in his hand, and winked at Lv Bin: "Hey, did you hear? This guy from the Commission for Discipline Inspection has a first-class merit."

Lv Bin leaned over and lowered his voice: "A first-class merit at such a young age? Are you kidding me? He comes in as a substantive section-level official, and has a first-class merit to boot..."

Sun Peng glanced at Zhou Fei, who was not far away, and lowered his voice even more: "Now Brother Zhou's deputy division chief position is probably in danger."

Zhou Fei clearly heard their discussion and frowned slightly: "What are you two whispering about!"

Gao Wenbo lay back in his chair, a cigarette in his mouth, watching the three of them with cold eyes.

Chen Xiaotong waved her hand in disgust to disperse the smoke: "Section Chief Gao, can you not smoke in the office?"

Zhao Yang watched the people in the office out of the corner of his eye, feeling that the atmosphere in the office was a bit off.

He had just turned on his computer when Liu Jianguo came over from next door.

Carrying a thick stack of documents in his arms, he slammed them down on Zhao Yang's desk with a thud.

"Little Zhao, since you're new, let's start with something simple to get you familiar with the work."

Zhao Yang looked down and saw a stack of dynamic reports from various provinces—at least twenty or thirty volumes, with over a hundred copies in each.

Liu Jianguo clapped his hands: "These are the provincial reports from the past three months. Get them organized this week and propose some reference opinions that we can learn from."

After saying this, he turned and went back to his office.

Not far away, Chen Xiaotong was looking down at her documents.

Her peripheral vision swept over, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly to reveal an imperceptible smile.

This task was originally hers; not only was it tedious, but summarizing and extracting the key points was extremely difficult.

After working on it for three days, she had acted cutesy and whined to Deputy Division Chief Liu Jianguo to shirk the responsibility.

Consequently, this huge pile had accumulated.

Zhao Yang frowned; there were only two days left in the week.

Asking him to organize and archive thousands of reports and also propose reference opinions.

This Deputy Division Chief Liu wasn't respecting him; he was clearly making things difficult.