Chapter 235: The Entry Point
Cheng Yongxin recalled the meeting from a few days ago with a certain satisfaction:
As a staff member of the Great Library, she often frequented the Propaganda Department, the printing factory, and the public information center.
In the Commonwealth’s organizational structure, the Propaganda Department was broadly responsible for both cultural affairs and propaganda. Consequently, it was a sprawling organization with a large staff, occupying an area befitting a top-tier ministry.
The Propaganda Department compound housed three two-story red brick buildings and their associated courtyards. Naturalized citizen employees bustled in and out on business. Besides the department’s main offices, it also contained the headquarters for newspapers, magazines, theater troupes, and many other branches and subordinate organizations.
However, the core of the department was the “two periodicals and one newspaper.”
The “one newspaper,” serving as the medium to convey the Commonwealth’s policies and voice to the broad masses of naturalized citizens and natives, was of undeniable importance and authority.
Comrade Ding Ding, as the leading transmigrator on the propaganda front, had naturally seen his power and status rise. Although he rarely spoke in public, most of the commentary articles in the Lingao Times signed by “Special Commentator” and “Voice of the Transmigrators” were either written by him or drafted under his supervision. He was vaguely known as “Lingao’s Goebbels” and “Bairen’s Suslov.” He himself couldn’t help but feel a little conceited and became increasingly enthusiastic about his role in propaganda. Panpan, after having too much to drink at a Feiyun Club party, had once tearfully said that Ding Ding had “betrayed his ideals.” This was one of the reasons Cheng Yongxin had been keeping a “gentle watch” on the couple.
Since she often came to the Propaganda Department on business, the naturalized citizens here almost all knew her. After showing her pass once at the main gate, Cheng Yongxin proceeded unimpeded to Ding Ding’s office.
However, Ding Ding was not in his office. His secretary said that Chief Ding had gone to the newspaper’s editor-in-chief’s office, apparently for something urgent.
“Would you like to wait here for a moment?” Ding Ding’s secretary asked with a pleasant smile.
“No, I’ll go find him at the editor-in-chief’s office directly. I was heading there anyway.” Cheng Yongxin’s nose seemed to have caught a scent. Panpan was the executive deputy editor-in-chief of the Lingao Times.
The editor-in-chief’s office was not far from Ding Ding’s. Before she even reached the door, she heard Ding Ding’s voice.
“Panpan, don’t be like this. You can’t just drop all your work! This newspaper has to be published every day!”
“Work? Fine. I demand that you approve that article right now! And stop interfering with my authority to select content.” Panpan’s voice was sharp. Her Mandarin was fluent and her pronunciation perfect; without seeing her face, no one would know she was an American girl.
“Panpan! You know very well that this report can’t be published!” Ding Ding’s voice rose, and the impatience in his tone suggested the matter was not a small one.
“Have you no shred of basic humanity left?!” Panpan slammed the table, the force so great that her sharp, high-pitched voice pierced the door and windows, audible even in the hallway. “This is a human life, a life! What are you afraid of if the matter is still under investigation? What is the Commonwealth afraid of? A guilty conscience?!”
Cheng Yongxin’s nerves tingled with excitement. She slowed her steps and quietly entered the editor-in-chief’s office.
Ding Ding’s face was grim, and he was panting as he paced back and forth in the middle of the room. Panpan sat with her head down, silent. Several naturalized citizen editors who had come for instructions stood awkwardly to the side, unsure whether to stay or go.
“Panpan, we have to consider the public opinion. If this is reported, what will the naturalized citizens and natives think?”
“Why should I care what they think? Haven’t you always preferred they don’t think at all?!”
At these words, both of their faces changed color.
Ding Ding’s face turned ashen. After taking a few deep breaths, he turned to the naturalized citizens in the room and roared, “What are you standing there for? Get out!”
Panpan’s pretty face was deathly pale. She bit her lip and said nothing.
The atmosphere in the office turned icy. Several minutes passed before Panpan finally spoke, her voice low. “Right. To the Commonwealth, a human life is nothing. Everything is for the great cause of the Commonwealth. But I don’t want to do this anymore. I quit this editor-in-chief position.” Her voice had become very cold.
“Excuse me, am I interrupting?”
Panpan and Ding Ding snapped back to reality, their gazes simultaneously falling on the woman leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.
“No… you’re not interrupting. You are…”
From the woman’s posture and aura, Panpan could tell she was also a transmigrator, but she had no recollection of her.
“I’m Cheng Yongxin from the Great Library. We had an appointment to meet at nine. I don’t think I’m late.”
Panpan remembered: her secretary had indeed mentioned it when reporting the day’s schedule that morning.
“I’m sorry, I have some business here…” she said wearily, as if apologizing for her earlier argument with Ding Ding. “Please, what is it you need?”
But Ding Ding’s expression showed a trace of surprise.
“Cheng Yongxin?”
Although the memory was less than 72 hours old, she had already coated it with a layer of dramatic color. Ding Ding’s expression had indeed been somewhat surprised, but her memory had framed it as “shock.” And she naturally assumed that her “well-fitting blouse, tight jeans, shoulder-length hair curving smoothly, and collarbone clearly outlined by a simple silver chain” had left an extremely stunning impression on Comrade Ding Ding. After all, she had even changed her hairstyle today.
Just as she had come to believe her non-existent wedding was real, so too did she believe this: in reality, it had just been at a table in a small restaurant next to the university, where she had thrown a plastic cup of Coca-Cola at her ex-boyfriend who was hitting on a younger female student. Her ex-boyfriend had never met a third-rate actress, nor had he even met many of the “Beijing drifters” who had a semblance of a career in the entertainment circle.
“You’re much prettier without glasses,” Ding Ding complimented.
“Actually, your reaction just now was the best compliment.”
Panpan shot him a sidelong glance, clearly displeased with her boyfriend’s flirtatious reaction after being stunned. However, it did help to ease the tense and awkward atmosphere in the room. Ding Ding quickly made an excuse that he had other matters to attend to and returned to his office.
Panpan watched her boyfriend leave with a complicated expression, then sat back down in her chair. Although she had announced she was “quitting,” she still had a basic sense of professional ethics. It was highly irresponsible to leave a job without notice before a replacement was found, regardless of her personal feelings about it.
“I’m sorry, you probably saw all that,” Panpan forced a smile. “We were arguing.”
“It’s fine. Arguments help strengthen a relationship,” Cheng Yongxin smiled. “It’s better than keeping everything bottled up inside, don’t you think?”
“You’re right. I envy you for being single.”
Cheng Yongxin laughed. “Don’t say that. I wish someone would take a fancy to me. A life alone is very empty.”
When a person is mentally and physically exhausted, they are more likely to open up to someone who shows them kindness. The meeting that day went very well; the two hit it off immediately, feeling as if they had known each other for a long time. Since it was working hours, Panpan couldn’t chat for long, so Cheng Yongxin took the opportunity to invite her for a date at the café.
“I’ll definitely be there,” Panpan agreed readily.
In her plan, Panpan had always been her primary entry point, the one she privately assessed as the easiest to break through. But she had never found the right opportunity. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Cheng Yongxin was certain that Panpan would take her bait today. Once she was hooked, reeling in the big fish, Ding Ding, would be a piece of cake.
She took a mirror out of her bag and carefully examined her reflection. She had taken great care to prepare for today’s meeting.
There were three soft knocks on the door, and a moment later, it was pushed open.
“Chief, Chief Panpan is here,” the waitress announced.
It was clear that Panpan had also made an effort to dress up today. It had been a long time since she had a social event like this. The love of beauty is a universal human trait.
“You look beautiful.” Seeing that she had already arrived, Panpan greeted her warmly. “I’m not late, am I?”
“Safe on base,” Cheng Yongxin joked. “I’ve ordered the vanilla roasted lamb chops. I hope you like them.”
“I love them.” Panpan hung her bag on the wall and sat down opposite her. “A glass of ice water for me,” she told the waitress, then said, “You know, the General Office supplies so little red meat. Most of the week we eat fish and chicken. God!” She made a prayer gesture. “Unfortunately, neither of us can cook, so we can only eat at the cafeteria.”
The waitress soon brought borscht and vegetable salad, and the two began to eat.
The lamb came from the special supply ranch of the General Office in Changhua. The lambs there were carefully raised, feeding on seaside grass rich in minerals, which also included many herbs, resulting in rich fat and tender meat.
After the main course, the waitress brought out the signature dessert: fruit yogurt ice cream and hot coffee. Cheng Yongxin didn’t drink coffee and asked for a pot of black tea.
“What perfume are you wearing today?” Cheng Yongxin asked. “It’s a very pleasant scent.”
“I asked a female transmigrator from the Chemical Department to help me blend it,” Panpan said. “She’s very good at it.”
“That would be Chief Ge, right? It’s rare to see her.”
“Yes, and I see her even less often than you do.” Panpan looked Cheng Yongxin up and down. “You look very charming today.”