Power and Wealth

......

Monday.

Morning, at 8 am.

Dong Xuebing was walking towards Western District StateSecurity Branch Bureau. He was still thinking about the ridiculous goal he set for himself two days ago. But when heremembers that he had not even reportedfor work and he was already dreaming ofbecoming a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, heblushed. If his mother or his classmates knew about his dreams, they would surely laugh at him. But Dong Xuebing willnot give up so easily. He will work hard to achieve this goal.

Western District, Zhixin Road.

West side of a cross junction.

Looking at the time, it was only 8.20 am. There was stilltime before 9 am. Dong Xuebing walkedover to a roadside stall and bought an egg crepe for breakfast. He ate the crepe behind a pirated book store. He wasfamiliar with this area. The venue for his written test, No. 15 Middle School, was just ahead. Just across thewalkways was the South entrance to Jiangong Hospital. Further east was thenorthern entrance of Tao Ran Ting gardens.

Just after Dong Xuebing finishes his crepe, he saw a busentering a bus stop in front of him.

A man alighted from the bus. All the passers-by turned tolook at him. He was a young man about 1.9m in height and about 150 Kg inweight. He should be about Dong Xuebing’s age and had a fierce look. All theother office workers at the bus stop thoughthe was a hooligan and stepped away from him.

After alighting from the bus, the tall and fat man lookedaround and walked towards Dong Xuebing.

When Dong Xuebing thought that he was going to be beaten upby this big size hooligan, that big size man squatsdown on a step 1 m away from him. He reachedout his hand and patted a dirty stray cat sleeping on the steps. He stroked thecat, and the cat was meowing and lickingthat man’s hand.

“Are you hungry?” That man asked the cat gently. “What doyou want to eat? I will go and buy now.”

The cat was meowing and playfully scratching that man withits claws.

That big size man played with the cat for a while beforewalking over to a roadside stall to buy a sausage and start feeding the cat. “Eatslowly. Don’t choke.” His actions were a stark contrast to his outerappearances. Dong Xuebing was still not accustomed to this, but he felt thatthis was a caring person.

It was finally 8.50 am.

Dong Xuebing walked past that big size man and made a turnaround the corner. He walked towards a rusty gate. He could see 2 old buildingswhich were built in the 70s or 80s in the compound. The metal gates were closed,and there was only an opened window by the side of a small guardroom. A few people were pushing their bicycles slowlythrough the gate. Dong Xuebing felt hewas in the wrong place. He thought this was an office building and thecondition of this place was too poor.There were even no guards outside. This was more like a state-owned factory,rather than a State Security branch.

There were no signages at the entrance.

Dong Xuebing looked around and then tried to follow a middleage man, who was pushing his bicycle, through the gates.

“Eh! You. Wait!” An old man’s head sticks out of that open window of the guardroom. “Who are youlooking for?”

Dong Xuebing immediately replied: “Is this the WesternDistrict State Security Branch Bureau? I have just passed my Civil Servant testthis year, and the Political Sectionoffice had called me to report today at 9 am. My name is Dong Xuebing.”

The old man nodded and picked up the landline phone to make a call. After a few seconds, that old man hung up the phone and nodded to Dong Xuebing.He hands over a registration book to him. “Sign this, and you can enter. The Political Section office is at the southeastbuilding. That grey colored building. It is on the second floor, right at theend of the corridor. You proceed there straight. Don’t wander around.”

“Ok. Thank you.”

The mood in the compound was very different from othergovernment agencies. Beijing people were very hospitableand will greet and chat for a while when they see someone they know. They willtalk about some meaningless stuff, like “Have you eaten breakfast?” “how’s yourflu?” “Are your kids in school?” Etc. But in this compound, the people onlynodded to each other and did not speak. Only when they saw a leader, they willopen their mouths and greet them “Good morning, Section Chief.” Or “Goodmorning, Director.” There was no pointless chatting.

Grey building.

Second floor’s corridor.

Dong Xuebing saw the sign “Political Section office” on thewall. But there were lots of offices there, andhe does not know which office to enter. When he was hesitating, he heardfootsteps behind him. He turns around. Huh? It was that big size man he met atthe bus stop. Was he also from the State Security?

“Excuse me.” Dong Xuebing asked. “This is my first day. Doyou know which office should I go?”

That big size man paused and scratched his headembarrassedly. “I am also here to report, and I am also looking for theoffice.”

“Huh? What a coincidence.” Both kept quiet. Dong Xuebingcould feel this person was not good at talking like him. He cleared his throatand said: “Errrmmm...... My name is Dong Xuebing.”

That big size man smiled: “I am Sun Zhuang. I have justgraduated from University. My friends in school callme Zhuang Zhi (means pillar in Chinese).”

Both shook hands and walked into an office nearest to them.They entered the correct office. A staff member in civilian clothes told themto wait there. A Deputy Chief from the Political Section office entered theroom and go through all the paperwork and told them the rules and regulationswithin the department.

More than an hour past.

The Deputy Chief took a sip of tea: “That’s all. The both ofyou will be posted to the General Affairs Department. I heard that the department is short on manpower. Try tofamiliarize yourselves with this place. Tomorrow will be your official firstday. As for your uniforms, we will give it to you when it is ready. Anyway,other than some meetings in the City Bureau, we do not need to wear the StateSecurity uniforms. This is not important.”

After finishing what he had to say, he asked the staffmember to show Dong Xuebing and Zhuang Zhi where their office was.

The General Affairs Department was located on the groundfloor. It was a partitioned small office. There were 8 to 9 desks in it.

That staff member from the Political Section office walkedin and said: “We have newcomers. Both are fresh graduates. This is DongXuebing, and this is Sun Zhuang.”

Dong Xuebing knew the firstimpression was essential and he modestlysaid: “I am new here and do not know anything. Please guide me along in thefuture. Thank you.”

Zhuang Zi heard Dong Xuebing, and he quickly said: “Me too. Please guide us along.”

The people in the office look at both of them from head totoe.

One girl in the office laughed. “Don’t worry. Once you enterthis office, we are one big family.”

That staff member from the Political Section office pointedto the 5-6 people in the office. “Chief Zhou had gone to the doctor? He doesnot seem to be around. This lady is Tan Limei, that is Old Yan, Guo Panwei, GuoShunjie, Changjuan......”