Chapter 285: A Little Section Chief Means Nothing
Cao Weida looked over and was also surprised for a moment.
It turned out that inside the gift box was actually a Hetian jade pendant.
Judging by its color and weight, it was clear that this jade pendant was definitely not cheap, and it might even be some kind of antique.
“They really invested a lot in this. This jade pendant is probably worth quite a bit of money.”
“I think it’s more than that. Look at how antique and elegant this jade pendant is; it might even be some kind of heirloom antique. The owner was really taken for a ride.”
Cao Weida smiled teasingly, picked up the jade pendant, and examined it closely, rubbing it fondly, his eyes unable to hide his liking for it.
As the ancient saying goes, a gentleman is like jade, and the Book of Rites also says ‘a gentleman does not let jade leave his body without cause’.
This is enough to show that the ancients had an inexplicable fondness for jade.
This jade pendant was carved with cloud patterns, with smooth and flowing lines full of dynamism.
When first held, it felt slightly cool, but not piercingly cold like metal. After just a short time of rubbing, the jade’s temperature quickly matched body heat, like touching warm and cool congealed fat.
The surface was finely polished, with no burrs or granularity. When running over the jade surface, it felt like stroking polished mutton fat jade—smooth yet not slippery, with a slight tackiness.
Especially at the carved patterns, the line edges were rounded and smooth, with no sharp corners, and even the fine decorative grooves were polished smooth and comfortable to touch.
“The craftsman who carved this jade pendant has exquisite craftsmanship; it’s clearly the work of a master!”
He tossed it in his hand, feeling its substantial weight, yet it was not oppressively heavy.
When pressing with fingertips, it did not deform, but one could feel the tight density inside the jade—not light and floaty like plastic, nor hard like stone, but with a tactile sensation that was soft yet firm.
“This must be what the ancients meant by ‘a gentleman is like jade’—warm on the outside, firm on the inside.”
Tsk, the old ancestors’ aesthetic taste was truly extraordinary!
Knock knock knock~
The knocking sound rang out again.
Cao Weida signaled with his eyes for Zheng Chaoyang to put away the gift box. He toyed with the jade stone in his hand and said “come in.”
The door opened a crack, and a center-parted head poked in.
After glancing around the office, his gaze fixed on Cao Weida sitting in the boss chair behind the desk.
A fawning smile immediately bloomed on his face: “Director, I hope I’m not disturbing you?”
“Come in.”
The newcomer had a center part, his hair gleaming with oil, combed shinier than a mirror.
The center part looked measured with a ruler, the oil slick trailing down from his temples, even the stray hairs behind his ears stuck neatly in place by the hair oil.
As he walked, the hair tips didn’t move an inch, but a strange smell of cheap hair oil mixed with tobacco oil wafted ahead first.
“Director, congratulations on your promotion!” The man strode to the desk in a few steps, carrying a food box in hand, which he placed on the desk with a crisp ‘click’ of the latch.
He lifted the lid, revealing a bowl of chicken soup inside, with faint oil slicks floating on top. The aroma instantly assaulted the taste buds, making one involuntarily sniff lightly a couple of times.
“This is Songhua chicken that my subordinate had someone fetch from the countryside. It took quite some effort—slow-cooked over low heat for six hours. Please have a taste?”
Cao Weida rolled his eyes inwardly, not even lifting his eyelids, his fingers rubbing the gold buttons on his director’s uniform.
Nearby, Zheng Chaoyang silently swallowed, a disdainful sneer on his face:
“Section Chief Liang, the Director is now in charge of public order for the entire city district. Does he lack your few bites of meat?”
The newcomer was none other than Liang Xinyuan, who had just been mentioned as the one who went to Trading Company President Fuqu Dayong’s home to investigate the theft case.
“How could that be? It’s just that my subordinate saw it was almost mealtime. The Director is busy with a thousand things every day, and I was afraid he’d tire himself out, so I brought this to nourish his body.”
Liang Xinyuan smiled obsequiously, pulled a small box from his pocket, opened it, and respectfully handed it over: “This is to show respect to the Director’s wife. Please inspect the quality.”
Cao Weida glanced sideways at it and couldn’t help laughing. Why, you ask?
Because inside this box was actually a pair of emerald green bracelets.
However, unlike the jade pendant, these were a pair of jadeite bracelets.
Just one look, and he lost interest. Compared to jadeite wares, he still preferred Hetian jade or Lantian jade and the like.
Jadeite only became popular in the mid-Qing dynasty, famous for its bright colors, hardness, and transparency, but Cao Weida didn’t like it much.
The ancients liked jade because it was associated with ‘virtue’ and ‘character’—that’s where ‘a gentleman is like jade’ came from.
As for jadeite, besides being pretty, it had no deeper meaning.
Of course, even if he didn’t care much, it didn’t detract from the bracelets’ high value. He smiled and nodded:
“That’s thoughtful. I’ll accept your gesture, but next time, no need to go to such trouble. Just do your job well. Although the Foreign Affairs Section is a newly established department, its importance is still very high.”
“By the way, speaking of that, I just remembered—how’s the case at President Fuqu Taijun’s home? Did you find anything?”
Liang Xinyuan’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly explained: “Director, don’t misunderstand. How could I be investigating cases? As you know, I’m from the Foreign Affairs Section, and our main service objects are precisely the Taijuns.”
“President Fuqu’s home was robbed, and President Fuqu was very angry. To avoid him taking it out on our bureau, my subordinate just went to pay a visit.”
“Alright, alright, no need to explain. I’m not blaming you.” Cao Weida interrupted him with a faint smile. “Just tell me directly how things stand.”
Liang Xinyuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, griping inwardly: You didn’t say you were blaming me, but if I didn’t clarify my attitude, you’d be giving me a hard time soon enough, right?
This guy was the one who dared to execute a sergeant by firing squad right at the police station entrance—and that sergeant had cozied up to the Japanese, yet he still shot him dead without a care.
With that kind of power and ferocity, he didn’t dare offend him.
Plus, after returning, he heard that Deputy Director Ji Hongxin had been placed under house arrest.
Tsk, if he didn’t even care about the Deputy Director, what was a mere Foreign Affairs Section Chief like him?
“I don’t know anything about criminal investigation, so I called the Public Security Section to find Section Chief Ding, but he was in a meeting at the time, so I had the Deputy Captain go over. But in the end, nothing was found.”
“Since no useful clues were found, President Fuqu was very angry. I spent a long time appeasing him before calming him down, which is why I returned late. Please forgive me, Director.”
“It’s all for work, I understand.” Cao Weida smiled, thinking to himself that this Liang Xinyuan was at least sensible. As long as he didn’t cause trouble later, he couldn’t be bothered with him.
“Alright, go back to your duties.”
“Yes, then this subordinate will take his leave. Director, drink the chicken soup while it’s hot. If you like it, I’ll prepare more.”
“Mm, go ahead.”
After sending Liang Xinyuan away, Cao Weida pointed at the chicken soup and teased: “Come on, Chaoyang, let’s eat together. I saw you swallowing just now. Smells good, right?”
Zheng Chaoyang chuckled helplessly: “You got me— it really is fragrant. It’s got my appetite all riled up.”
“Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony with you.”
The glossy Songhua chicken lay in a white porcelain plate, its golden skin taut and shiny, juices seeping from beneath the skin mixed with bits of pine flower egg, pooling into a ring of amber glow at the bottom of the plate.
As soon as the chopsticks touched the chicken skin, there was a soft ‘pop,’ and the paper-thin skin split open, revealing tender white muscle embedded with scattered pine flower egg granules in black-brown and pearly white.
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth; as soon as his teeth touched the chicken, the fresh juices spread across his tongue tip.
“Slurp~~ Mm, it’s really delicious!”
Zheng Chaoyang ate with relish, munching away while his eyes stayed fixed on the chicken in the plate.
His family background hadn’t been well-off before, and after joining the Party, life became even simpler. Places like the Eight Great Buildings were rare visits.
Something this delicious was only for special treats when following Cao Weida; he wouldn’t splurge on it himself.
With that money, it would be better to send more aid to the base area.
The current base area, thanks to the Great Production Movement, had achieved partial self-sufficiency in supplies, escaping complete reliance on external aid, but overall it was still quite poor.
These Party members outside the base area, as long as they had any money, mostly donated the surplus through special channels to the base area after covering basic living expenses.
Seeing his expression, Cao Weida across from him laughed out loud: “This Songhua chicken has to use a chick from that year—first braised, then steamed. The pine flower eggs need to be soft-centered to infuse that fresh, penetrating flavor.”
Lately, he often went to places like the Eight Great Buildings for meals, and whenever the dishes came, the restaurant boss would always chat and build rapport, explaining the dishes’ styles and flavors.
Eating and listening more, Cao Weida naturally picked up some knowledge.
Speaking of Songhua chicken, a TV series suddenly popped into his mind—Underground Transit Station!
This TV series had an episode called ‘Songhua Chicken Conference.’
This was a world where multiple TV series were fused together, so he wondered if Underground Transit Station had been fused in as well.
Zheng Chaoyang gnawed a chicken leg, stripping every bit of meat off the bone, then set down the bare bone with a sigh:
“Here we are eating the good stuff and drinking spicy soup, while over at the base area they’re still eating coarse food and vegetables.”
“‘Rich men’s gates reek of wine and meat, while frozen bones lie by the road.'”
Cao Weida rolled his eyes: “Hey hey hey, come on now. You wouldn’t be taking a veiled shot at me here, would you?”
“No way, just a spur-of-the-moment feeling.” Zheng Chaoyang looked at the chicken soup before him, his face pained, somewhat sadly saying:
“This Songhua chicken is premium stuff. Back at the base area, wounded fighters could only gnaw on steamed cornbread buns.”
“Just this one Songhua chicken could cover a month’s worth of food for our fighters.”
“If we could save this money, their lives would be much better, and the wounded could get some extra nutrition.”
Cao Weida fell silent at once. He knew revolutionary martyrs lived harsh lives, but he only understood it superficially through writing, TV series, movies, and such.
Before transmigrating, though not wealthy, he often got tired of meat, and during holidays, he wished for more vegetables.
After transmigrating here, he sold off the property of the man he replaced, came to Beiping seeking a way out, and luckily encountered Duomen, then joined the police station.
The hardest time was probably just the first one or two months, but even then, though no fish or meat, he always had enough to eat.
So, hearing this, he could say he understood, but claiming to feel it personally would be pretentious.
He patted his shoulder and said gravely: “Even the harshest days will pass eventually.”
“The international situation is looking great now. Once we defeat the little devils, us common people’s lives will get better.”
He didn’t say things like “you’ll definitely win in the end,” because it was too sentimental and unnecessary.
In a joking tone, he said: “Besides, this Songhua chicken was sent by Liang Xinyuan. If we don’t eat it, it’ll go to his belly—that’d be a loss!”
“Anyway, it’s just wasting puppet government money—not eating it would be a waste.”
“True enough.” Zheng Chaoyang couldn’t help laughing. “I’m being too sentimental, overthinking useless stuff. This good stuff isn’t available every day; I should eat more.”
“Who knows when I might have to return to the troops—may not get to eat it then.”
They finished the chicken, and the other two didn’t come to “report work.” Cao Weida had a pretty good idea—they probably weren’t coming.
He wiped his hands with hemp paper and said to Zheng Chaoyang, who was clearing the leftovers: “Notify those two to come to my office at two in the afternoon.”
If he didn’t give them a taste of their own medicine, they’d really think this Director was just for show?
Fine, since you won’t drink the toast, you’ll have to drink the penalty!
Get ready for some tight shoes!
At two in the afternoon, Supervision Office Section Chief Guang Yuhua headed to Cao Weida’s office.
On the way, he encountered Communications Group Deputy Group Leader Wen Yongwang, who was also coming. They glanced around, then exchanged looks, both seeing ‘just as expected’ in each other’s eyes.
Guang Yuhua looked worried and spoke first:
“Our new Director isn’t some pushover. Us so openly not giving him face—looks like he’s preparing to give us tight shoes.”
Wen Yongwang naturally knew this too but didn’t care much, snorting:
“So what? At worst, just more work. He’s not going to kill us, is he?”
“Cao Weida is way too arrogant. Coming in and taking aim at Director Ji to establish authority—that’s slapping the face of the big shot behind Director Ji!”
“Thinks having the little devils backing him means he can do whatever he wants?! Just a bootlicker. As a Chinese person, fawning over the Japanese all day—utterly stupid!”
“Those Japanese— which ones ever truly cared about us Chinese? We’re just chess pieces they can discard anytime!”
He didn’t use the ugly word ‘dog,’ since they were also working for the Japanese now—talking too harshly would implicate themselves.
With a cold smile, he said: “The more arrogant he is now, the more miserable he’ll be later!”
“When the little devils decide he’s no longer useful and kick him aside with one foot, then he’ll know what regret means!”
“We’ll just wait and see—the one laughing last is the winner!”
