Chapter 1436 - Entry Point
Cheng Yongxin recalled the encounter from a few days prior with some delight.
As a Great Library staff member, the Propaganda Department, the printing plant, and the Public Intelligence Center were places she visited frequently.
In the Council of Elders' organizational structure, the Propaganda Department roughly served as the body managing both cultural undertakings and propaganda. Consequently, the organization was complex and personnel numerous. The area it occupied rivaled that of any top-tier major ministry.
Three two-story red brick buildings stood in the Propaganda Department compound, along with auxiliary courtyards. Naturalized citizen staff members came and went in a continuous stream. Besides the Department's own offices, many branches and subordinate organizations were housed here: the newspaper office, the magazine office, the troupe, and the mass culture society.
Yet the core of this place remained the "two journals and one newspaper."
The "one newspaper" served as the organ conveying the Council of Elders' policies and discourse to the broad masses of naturalized citizens and indigenous people—its importance and authority self-evident.
As the leading Elder on the propaganda front, Comrade Dingding's power and status had naturally risen with the tide. Though he rarely spoke in public, the commentary articles signed "Special Commentator" and "Voice of the Origin" in the Lingao Times were mostly written or drafted by him. He was vaguely known as "The Goebbels of Lingao" and "The Suslov of Bairen." He couldn't help feeling somewhat elated himself, working with increasing vigor at his propaganda post.
Panpan had once drunk too much at a Feiyun Club cocktail party and cried while saying Dingding had "betrayed his ideals." This was one reason Cheng Yongxin had always been "watching gently" over this couple.
Since she came to the Propaganda Department often on business, the naturalized citizens there nearly all knew her. Beyond showing her pass once to the sentry at the compound gate, Cheng Yongxin had unimpeded access all the way to Dingding's office.
But Dingding wasn't there. The secretary mentioned that Chief Ding had gone to the Times editorial office—apparently something urgent.
"Would you like to wait here for a while?" The secretary smiled warmly.
"No, I'll go directly to the editorial office to find him. I was heading there anyway." Cheng Yongxin seemed to catch a scent of something—Panpan was the Executive Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Lingao Times.
The editorial office wasn't far from Dingding's. Before she reached the door, she heard his voice.
"Panpan, don't be like this—you can't just drop all the work! This newspaper has to be published every day!"
"Work?" Panpan's voice was sharp, her Mandarin extremely fluent and precise. Without seeing her face, no one would know she was an American girl. "Fine—I demand that you approve that manuscript immediately! And stop interfering with my right to select manuscripts!"
"Panpan! You know very well that report cannot be published!" Dingding's voice rose involuntarily. Judging from his level of impatience, this was no small matter.
"Do you have a shred of humanity left?!" Panpan slammed the table and shot to her feet—the impact audible in the hallway. Her sharp, high-pitched voice pierced through doors and windows. "This is a human life! A human life! Since the matter is still under investigation, what are you afraid of? What is the Council of Elders afraid of? A guilty conscience?!"
Cheng Yongxin felt her nerves quicken. She slowed her steps and walked softly through the main door of the editorial office.
Dingding looked grim, panting as he paced the floor. Panpan sat with her head lowered, saying nothing. The few naturalized editors who had come to ask for instructions didn't know where to put their hands and feet—leaving wasn't right, staying wasn't right. They stood awkwardly to one side.
"Panpan, we must pay attention to the influence of public opinion. Once this matter is reported, how will you have the naturalized citizens and natives think?"
"Why should I care what they think? Haven't you always wished for them not to think?!"
As soon as these words left her mouth, both their expressions transformed.
Dingding's face turned ashen. After several panting breaths, he turned to the naturalized citizens in the room and roared: "What are you staring for? Everyone get out!"
Panpan's pretty face had gone pale. She bit her lip without a word.
The atmosphere in the office turned frigid. Several minutes passed before Panpan spoke, her voice low:
"Right—to the Council of Elders, a human life is nothing. Everything is for the great cause of the Council. But I don't want to do this anymore. I quit as editor-in-chief." Her voice turned ice-cold.
"Sorry—did I disturb you?"
Panpan and Dingding snapped back to reality simultaneously, looking at the woman leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed.
"No, you didn't disturb us. You are...?"
From the other's posture and demeanor, she was clearly an Elder, but Panpan had no recollection of her at all.
"I'm Cheng Yongxin from the Great Library. We have an appointment at nine o'clock—I believe I'm not late."
Panpan recalled: her secretary had indeed mentioned it when reporting the day's schedule that morning.
"I'm sorry—I have something going on here..." She sounded somewhat weary, seemingly apologetic for the quarrel. "Please tell me—what specific matter is it?"
But Dingding's expression showed a trace of surprise.
"Cheng Yongxin?"
Though fewer than seventy-two hours had passed, she had already painted a layer of dramatic color over her memory. Dingding's expression might indeed be described as somewhat surprised—but her recollection defined this surprise as "shock." And she took it for granted that her appearance at the time—"fitted short shirt plus tight jeans, shoulder-length hair falling smoothly in an arc, collarbone clearly outlined by a simple silver chain"—had left an extraordinarily striking impression on Comrade Dingding. After all, she had even changed her hairstyle today.
Just as she had treated her non-existent wedding as real: in actuality, it had merely been splashing a plastic cup of Coca-Cola on her ex-boyfriend—who was hitting on a junior female student at a small restaurant near the university. Her ex had never met a third-tier actress, nor had he encountered many Beijing drifter girls who were doing even moderately well in the industry.
"You look much prettier without glasses," Dingding complimented.
"Actually, your reaction just now was the best compliment."
Panpan shot him a sidelong glance, rather displeased by her boyfriend's flirtatious response after being stunned by beauty. Yet this also loosened the cold and awkward atmosphere considerably. Dingding hurriedly made an excuse about still having things to do and returned to his office.
Panpan watched her boyfriend leave with a complicated expression, then settled back into her chair. Though she had announced "I quit," she still possessed basic professional ethics. No matter her complaints about the job, leaving without permission before someone took over remained deeply irresponsible.
"I'm sorry—I'm afraid you saw that." Panpan managed to squeeze out a smile. "We were arguing."
"It doesn't matter. Arguments can be good for enhancing feelings." Cheng Yongxin smiled. "Better than keeping everything bottled up inside. Don't you think?"
"True. I envy you being single."
Cheng Yongxin laughed. "Don't say that—I wish someone would take a fancy to me. Living alone is quite empty."
When a person is physically and mentally exhausted, opening one's heart to someone who shows kindness comes easily. The meeting that day went very well; the two chatted congenially, as if wishing they had met sooner. Because it was working hours, Panpan couldn't linger long, so Cheng Yongxin took the opportunity to propose a date at the café.
"I will definitely come." Panpan agreed without hesitation.
In her plan, Panpan had always been her primary entry point—the person she privately assessed as the easiest to make a breakthrough with. But until now, she had never found a suitable opportunity. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Cheng Yongxin was certain that Panpan would swallow the bait today. Once she took it, catching the big fish Dingding would be as easy as turning over a hand.
She withdrew a mirror from her bag and carefully examined her reflection. She had groomed herself meticulously for today's meeting.
A gentle knock came at the door—three taps—then it was pushed open.
"Chief, Chief Panpan is here," the waitress announced.
Panpan had evidently dressed up as well—she hadn't had such a social outing in a long time. Everyone loves beauty.
"You really are beautiful." Seeing her arrive, Panpan greeted her warmly. "I'm not late, am I?"
"Safe!" Cheng Yongxin cracked a joke. "I reserved the vanilla roasted lamb chops—you won't mind, will you?"
"I love them." Panpan hung her bag on the wall and took a seat opposite. "Bring me a glass of ice water," she told the waitress, then continued: "You know, the General Affairs Office supplies too little red meat. Most of the week we eat fish and chicken. God!" She made a praying gesture. "Unfortunately, neither of us can cook, so we can only eat in the cafeteria."
The waitress soon served borscht and vegetable salad, and the two began to eat.
The lamb came from the General Affairs Office's special supply pasture in Changhua. The animals were raised with care, grazing on mineral-rich seaside pasture grass that included many herbs. The result was meat rich in fat and tender on the tongue.
After the main course, the waitress brought the café's signature dessert: fruit yogurt ice cream and hot coffee. Cheng Yongxin didn't drink coffee, so she asked for a pot of black tea instead.
"What perfume are you wearing today?" Cheng Yongxin asked. "A very nice scent."
"I had a female Elder from the Chemical Industry Ministry help blend it," Panpan said. "She's very good at this."
"That must be Elder Ge. I rarely see her."
"Yes—compared to you, I have even fewer chances." Panpan looked Cheng Yongxin up and down. "You look very charming today."
Cheng Yongxin had dressed carefully: a white shirt, a light-colored floral skirt of layered tulle, and strappy sandals—all stock from another time-space. Clothing produced by modern industry like this could not be replicated here, and in the hearts of the Elders, such items were rare treasures. Worn on her, the allure radiated was enough to shatter a whole cohort of life secretaries who possessed nothing but their looks.