Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 177

'When the news of my appointment as vice minister comes out, it'll definitely shock everyone, right?'

Thinking this, Qiu Tu stepped onto the elevator, intending to go to the 9th floor and patiently wait for news.

Just as the elevator doors were slowly closing until only a crack remained, suddenly! A large hand violently grabbed the elevator door.

The elevator doors sensed the foreign object, shook violently, and then slowly opened.

Noticing this unexpected turn of events, Qiu Tu looked up at the elevator entrance.

Then he saw a man in an ordinary green uniform with a stripe and three flowers on his shoulder standing outside the slowly opening elevator doors.

It was none other than... Zheng Tao, Qiu Tu's defeated opponent from a few days ago.

Upon seeing Qiu Tu, Zheng Tao's expression remained unchanged, as if he wasn't the one who had been slapped in the face a few days ago.

Because they belonged to different departments and it wasn't a formal meeting, Qiu Tu didn't salute, but simply nodded slightly and greeted him, "Director Zheng, you're late today. That's not like you."

"You're normal..."

"Shouldn't we be working overtime late into the night, without ever leaving get off work?"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Zheng Tao's forehead veins throbbed slightly. Then he snorted softly, ignoring Qiu Tu's sarcasm, and walked directly into the elevator.

The elevator doors closed slowly, and this time no one bothered us.

Thus, in the slowly rising, enclosed space, only Qiu Tu and Zheng Tao remained.

It's unclear whether it was the awkwardness of being in the same space or Qiu Tu's earlier sarcasm that angered Zheng Tao.

After staring at the elevator door for two seconds, Zheng Tao slowly spoke, "Director Qiu, although we are both 'directors,' my position is one level higher than yours."

"You're just an ordinary section chief."

"Therefore, you should know how to respect your superiors."

Seeing that Qiu Tu remained unmoved, Zheng Tao said coldly, "Moreover, don't underestimate us just because we're only one level apart. There's an insurmountable gap between a section chief and a deputy section chief!"

"Did you know that once you become a department head, or even a deputy head, you will have a luxury villa and luxury cars in the city center provided by the city hall?"

"They have full-time nannies, full-time drivers, and full-time secretaries."

"Furthermore, all daily necessities are supplied through dedicated channels, so there is no need to purchase them! It can be said that there are no worries about food, clothing, housing, or transportation."

"They enjoy the best resources in the New Territories."

At this point, he glanced at Qiu Tu again and said coldly, "And what about you?"

"If I remember correctly, you tricked Director Qin out of that car you were driving, right?"

"When I saw it yesterday, not only was the car body dilapidated, but even the windows were broken."

"Besides, you're still living in a tenement building in a slum, right? You have to walk through filthy sewage and garbage everywhere every day on your way to and from get off work. It must be unpleasant, right?"

"Your riding boots have suffered along with you."

"In addition, although your position is section chief, you don't even have your own office because you haven't officially taken over the work of the action department. You have to go to an empty conference room to make phone calls and hold meetings, right?"

"Well... as for a full-time secretary and a full-time driver, that goes without saying."

"Now, do you understand the difference between us?"

Upon hearing Zheng Tao's words, Qiu Tu: ......

Qiu Tu actually understands Zheng Tao quite well:

It's nothing more than that I slapped him in the face too hard yesterday, causing him to lose face and prestige throughout the entire investigation department.

So, when I saw myself this morning, I wanted to take a jab at myself from another angle and regain my dignity.

However, he clearly chose the wrong angle.

Putting aside the fact that he just moved to a new villa yesterday, let's talk about the position of Deputy Minister...

I'm about to get promoted too.

This won't hurt me at all!

Thinking this, Qiu Tu looked at Zheng Tao and said with a smile, "Director Zheng is right."

“As your former subordinate, I was deeply inspired. So I decided to strive for the next level and reach the same height as you.”

At this point, Qiu Tu seemed to have just remembered something and suddenly said, "Oh right, didn't the Political Department recently have a vacancy for a deputy minister position?"

"I think this is perfect for me!"

"I'll talk to the director in a bit and see if he can give me this position."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Zheng Tao was stunned for a moment, then looked at Qiu Tu with disdain, as if he were looking at a lunatic.

Deputy Director of the Political Department?

What kind of pipe dream is Qiu Tu having?

Although this position has the same rank as other deputy ministers, it is the most prestigious among all deputy ministers.

Let alone the section chiefs of various departments, even the deputy director of the security division himself wanted to compete for this position. As for the senior deputy directors of other departments, even more were interested.

So, it's not Qiu Tu's turn at all.

However... as a respectable person, Zheng Tao's mere "counterattack" against Qiu Tu was already quite remarkable.

So even though he thought Qiu Tu was going crazy, he just gave Qiu Tu a cold look and didn't bother to pay any more attention to him.

Qiu Tu wasn't one to hold a grudge, so when he saw Zheng Tao back down, he didn't provoke him any further.

Soon, the elevator went up to the second floor, and the elevator doors slowly opened.

Zheng Tao stepped out of the elevator.

However, just as he stepped out of the elevator, Zheng Tao suddenly stopped.

He seemed to still be holding back, so he turned to look at Qiu Tu and said expressionlessly, "You can't get promoted. So the gap between us can't be closed."

Qiu Tu never expected Zheng Tao to launch a surprise attack.

He laughed, then put his hands in his pockets and asked confidently, "What kind of bet?"

Zheng Tao, "You bring it up."

Qiu Tu's eyes darted around. "Don't you have a full-time secretary?"

"Lend me your secretary to play with... for two days."

"Oh, right, and the driver and your car too."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Zheng Tao's face turned extremely ugly.

He didn't agree immediately. Instead, he gave Qiu Tu a cold look and said, "You've been promoted to vice minister. You'll have your own secretary, driver, and car. What do you need me for?"

Qiu Tu shrugged nonchalantly, "Can't I have two if I want?"

He said, "Two secretaries, two drivers, and two cars—that's quite a show!"

"One secretary was with me, and another secretary was holding my dog. One car was carrying me, and another car was carrying my dog."

"Just thinking about it makes me happy!"

Zheng Tao was so angry his face turned purple!

He snorted coldly and turned to leave!

Seeing this, Qiu Tu laughed and then chased after him, asking, "Are you going to gamble or not, Director Zheng?"

From afar, Zheng Tao's voice, squeezed out through clenched teeth, could be heard: "Bet!"

Seeing that Zheng Tao was actually gambling, Qiu Tu shook his head slightly, feeling that yesterday's events had indeed greatly stimulated Zheng Tao.

Such a calm person actually dared to make a bet with himself when the outcome was still uncertain.

Thinking of this, Qiu Tu suddenly realized another possibility:

Holy crap! Is Zheng Tao's secretary some kind of ugly monster?!

'Damn it... I should have done my research beforehand.'

'I'm still too young!'

.....

at the same time.

Zheng Tao stormed back to his office on the second floor, seething with anger.

Push open the door.

In the office, a beautiful woman who looked to be around thirty years old was wiping the table.

She wore a black pencil skirt and a white shirt. She had a voluptuous figure and a supple physique.

Perhaps it's because her curves are so exquisite that even the simplest business attire looks incredibly alluring on her.

Hearing the door open, she lifted her heavy upper body and turned to look.

Upon seeing Zheng Tao, she smiled and greeted him gently, "You're back? How did your meeting with the Special Operations Department go? Did you get any bad treatment?"

Hearing the woman's familiar concern, Zheng Tao felt no joy whatsoever. He frowned, then said in a deep voice, "I've said it so many times!"

"This is the investigation department! Not at home!"

"Besides, we're already divorced in the shelter! You're just my subordinate, not my spouse!"

"When you see me, address me by my title, salute me, and greet me!"

"It's fine if no one else is here today. But if others were here, who knows what rumors would spread!"

"If I leave the director with the impression that I can't separate public and private matters and am not doing my job properly, how will I get promoted or carry out my work!"

At this point, perhaps thinking of his bet with Qiu Tu, Zheng Tao's expression darkened further.

He said, "I disagreed with you coming to be my secretary from the beginning."

"It is a major taboo to blur the lines between public and private matters."

"But you kept pestering me, wanting to be by my side and take care of me! You even followed me to the area that was yet to be planned! I really had no choice but to transfer you here."

"If you continue like this, then get back to the administration office!"

The young woman was clearly unaware of the conflict that had just occurred between Zheng Tao and Qiu Tu.

She genuinely believed that her untimely concern had offended her husband, and her eyes welled up with tears...

But seeing Zheng Tao's gloomy face, she didn't dare to argue. She could only salute and say aggrievedly, "Yes, sir."

Seeing her like that, Zheng Tao felt even more annoyed. He stared at the beautiful woman for a couple of seconds, then waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, alright, get out."

"Call Lao Shi over here. I need to talk to him about cooperating with the Special Operations Department."

Hearing Zheng Tao's words, the beautiful young woman nodded, "Okay..."

Then she walked towards the door. At the door, she turned back to look at Zheng Tao and said softly with concern, "Tao... take care of yourself. You stayed up all night again yesterday; your body won't be able to take it."

"And...you made everyone work overtime as soon as you arrived at the police station, everyone..."

Upon hearing the beautiful young woman's words, Zheng Tao's face darkened again.

Seeing this, the beautiful young woman dared not try to persuade her any further and could only quickly leave.

After the beautiful young woman left, Zheng Tao sat heavily in a chair, staring at the door with a gloomy gaze.

Although he felt that Qiu Tu had a 99.99% chance of not becoming the deputy minister of the political department, he was certain that his gamble would not fail.

But for some reason, ever since he made that bet, his right eyelid has been twitching nonstop...

This ominous premonition made him uneasy.

That's why he was so irritable just now, and treated his wife, who was also his secretary, so rudely.

After thinking quietly for a while, Zheng Tao let out a heavy sigh, patted his face, and reassured himself, "It should be alright. Don't scare yourself."

.......

at the same time.

The 12th floor of the Investigation Department, the highest level.

In the high-level conference room, the remaining eight top executives of the Investigation Agency were also having a meeting.

However, the meeting clearly did not go very well.