Super Fusion

Chapter 40: Giving you a hand

"Hehe, in the General Affairs Section of the Economic and Trade Bureau." Seeing the hint of provocation in Li Hesong's eyes, Xu Yu didn't seem to care, simply smiling as she spoke.

Her words caused a visceral change in the expressions of several people at the table. He Ling and Tang Wanlin's eyes lit up, while Mo Biao and his companion were also shocked.

This kid was actually a civil servant? And the Economic and Trade Bureau was a powerful department!

Even if their salaries couldn't compare to theirs, their benefits and abilities were truly...

Even Li Hesong was momentarily stunned, but he quickly smiled and said, "Hehe, so you're from within the government. Not bad, not bad."

Even though he said "not bad," Li Hesong felt a sudden pang of unease. He hadn't expected that his words would not only fail to embarrass the young man, but would actually boost his prestige.

With a forced smile, Li Hesong suddenly added, "Hehe, civil servants these days are indeed enviable. However, I've heard that advancement within the system is very difficult. Xu Yu, although I'm not a local of Linzhou, I know some people who might be able to give you a hand."

The Comprehensive Section of the Economic and Trade Bureau? He and Zhang Yan were classmates, and Zhang Yan had only graduated two or three months ago.

At most, he was just a regular staff member. Therefore, Li Hesong's words sounded unusually generous, as if he genuinely wanted to casually promote Xu Yu. It was after these words that the group of people who had been looking at Xu Yu with strange expressions suddenly realized—yes, although she was a civil servant, their boss was definitely a big shot.

For one thing, their company had a considerable reputation throughout Linzhou, and that was only because the company hadn't been established for very long.

To be honest, Li Hesong wasn't from Linzhou or Huaijiang. He was the branch manager sent by a well-known southern conglomerate when they were expanding into the northern market. He was a rising star in Linzhou, with extensive connections and considerable influence even in official circles.

He certainly didn't need to take an ordinary civil servant seriously.

Xu Yu, upon hearing this, merely chuckled softly but said nothing more.

Having achieved his desired effect, Li Hesong finally smiled, looking at Zhang Yan with a hint of smugness. However, when he noticed Zhang Yan's continued composure, his expression changed slightly.

It seemed he had to strike while the iron was hot. Being a civil servant was an extremely desirable profession for ordinary people; perhaps only by having someone powerful intervene could he suppress Xu Yu.

The saying goes, "A higher rank can crush a lower one." Li Hesong believed that Xu Yu, a newcomer, would be completely flustered once he met mid- to high-ranking officials. If he displayed obsequiousness and sycophancy in front of Zhang Yan, he was confident he could lower her opinion of him.

However, what troubled Li Hesong was finding someone who could intimidate and frighten Xu Yu, causing him to lose face in front of Zhang Yan without revealing his true intentions.

Although he had built some connections in Linzhou, those officials with any real influence were not people he could easily invite to suppress Xu Yu.

Once these individuals reached a certain position, even if they weren't particularly shrewd, they were certainly capable. If it were discovered that he had invited them only to suppress his rival, his newly established network would crumble immediately, and he would only incur further hostility.

While hesitating, Li Hesong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he smiled, "You guys eat first, I'm going to the restroom."

He suddenly remembered that this was Dingsheng, a place frequented by the powerful and wealthy in the evenings. Even the very top figures were beyond his reach, but he figured that finding a mid-level manager would be enough to intimidate Xu Yu.

He could simply pretend to bump into them and then invite them to his friend's birthday party.

His act of getting up caused Xu Yu to frown slightly. Others might not have noticed the hint of surprise in his eyes, but Xu Yu, with his keen eyesight, could easily discern it and vaguely guessed what he was thinking. Xu Yu felt a pang of helplessness, but didn't say anything, simply smiling as he began to congratulate He Ling.

Not long after, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, accompanied by Li Hesong's hearty laughter, "Haha, it's a rare honor to have Director Shang and Secretary Yan grace us with their presence. My friend must be very pleased."

With the laughter, the door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and three figures appeared outside.

Leading the way was Li Hesong, who was stepping aside to guide the way. Behind him were a refined-looking young man in his thirties and a slightly overweight man with short hair. The two men nodded and chuckled at Li Hesong's beaming smile, but their expressions betrayed a hint of arrogance, as if they didn't truly care about him. Even with

their arrogance, Li Hesong was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to encounter such important people after just a short trip outside.

The young man was actually the secretary accompanying Mayor Jiang of Linzhou City. He had previously been responsible for receiving the CEO of the conglomerate behind Mayor Jiang, so they were acquaintances. The other slightly overweight man was Deputy Director Shang of the Chaolan District Public Security Bureau. To be honest, he didn't know Director Shang, but upon seeing Secretary Yan, he smiled and went up to chat, saying a friend was celebrating a birthday there and hoped Secretary Yan could do him the honor of joining in. When the other party nodded aloofly in agreement, Director Shang also happily joined in the fun.

His joining in was no small matter; it delighted Li Hesong. After all, either of these two was far more powerful than Xu Yu, a mere clerk. Wouldn't that terrify Xu Yu?

After a hearty laugh, Li Hesong stepped into the private room and said to He Ling, "He Ling, get up! This is Mayor Jiang's secretary, and Deputy Director Shang from the Chaolan Branch Bureau. They're here to celebrate your birthday."

At those words, almost everyone in the room simultaneously jumped to their feet, their gazes towards the two figures at the door filled with a mixture of awe and bewilderment.

After all, for ordinary people like them, seeing such powerful figures was truly astonishing.

But what surprised them even more was Li Hesong's influence. Although they knew that this Mr. Li had a wide network of connections, they couldn't imagine that a simple outing could bring back such influential figures.

Even though the two men in front of him didn't seem to value Li Hesong much, it was still enough to amaze them.

Seeing that almost everyone in the private room had jumped to their feet in surprise, Secretary Yan, standing at the door, nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly noticed that one of the men, though also standing, showed no sign of being flattered or respectful. He simply stood there casually, as if only out of basic politeness.

This startled him. What kind of powerful figure was this?

Following his gaze, Li Hesong also looked directly at him. What he most wanted to see was Xu Yu being humiliated, especially in front of Zhang Yan.

But upon seeing that the other person was expressionless, Li Hesong also paused, a strange feeling rising in his heart. Was Xu Yu stupid? Why wasn't he reacting?

Perhaps he was genuinely stunned by Secretary Yan and his companion's identities? After all, his calm demeanor, at first glance, did indeed appear "dumb."

Thinking of this, Li Hesong smiled again. "Secretary Yan, this is my friend Xu Yu. He just joined our Linzhou Economic and Trade Bureau this year. What, do you know him?"

"Xu Yu? Heh, no." Upon hearing this, Secretary Yan's expression suddenly changed, and his gaze towards Xu Yu became somewhat unfriendly. So he was just an ordinary civil servant? Yet this guy was ignoring him so much? It had made him suspicious and almost caused him to lose face in front of Shang Hanyi.

Seeing Secretary Yan's change in expression, Li Hesong immediately laughed. What he had said before about finding someone to help Xu Yu was obviously nonsense; seeing him suffer was the real intention. And now, the other party had actually offended the mayor's secretary, which was simply perfect.

However, neither Li Hesong nor Secretary Yan noticed that when he introduced Xu Yu from the Economic and Trade Bureau, Deputy Director Shang, who had originally just come to join in the fun, suddenly became extremely agitated, and his whole body trembled.