Chapter 241: Painstaking Efforts

The meeting with Cheng Yongxin and Salina far exceeded her expectations. Although it took a great deal of effort to arrange a date with this lady. Salina was well-known in the Senate, but her presence was low. She spent most of her working hours in the bases of the powerful departments, training or drafting various regulations, ordinances, and law enforcement procedures for them.

Cheng Yongxin didn’t know Salina, or even where she usually spent her time. However, she had already gained Panpan’s “friendship.” Panpan and Salina were both from the United States and were both women. They had a lot of contact, and through Panpan’s “introduction,” she quickly got to know Salina.

Salina’s Mandarin was already very fluent, but Cheng Yongxin still chatted with her in her excellent American English. She intuitively felt that whether it was Salina or Panpan, no matter how fluent their Chinese was, they would still have a natural affinity for their mother tongue and would be more likely to express their thoughts directly: many people can speak a foreign language fluently, but few can think in a foreign language.

Salina rarely met people who were willing to speak English with her. Even Panpan would not speak to her in English in public—to avoid being misunderstood as discussing some secret.

Cheng Yongxin realized that in this political group where Chinese-descended yellow males were dominant, and most of them had more or less Darwinian socialist and chauvinistic tendencies, and unhesitatingly bought and sold slaves and used slave labor, racial and gender discrimination were even openly displayed.

Although Salina now held a high position and a “transmigrator” seat, and was considered important in her work, she was always an “outsider.”

If Panpan had Ding Ding as a “graft,” making her one of the Senate’s “own people,” Salina’s relationship with Xue Ziliang, who was also an “outsider,” made it difficult for her to integrate into the group. Although Xue Ziliang was of Chinese descent, he was a thorough banana.

Salina had no power to resist this discrimination. Cheng Yongxin believed that to win over Salina, she first had to show “recognition” of her cultural background, not “friendship” or “respect.”

As expected, her little strategy was successful: Salina hit it off with her immediately, and they quickly established a friendship. Xue Ziliang had been on business trips very frequently in the past year, often for several months at a time. Although he was full of energy every time he returned, making love three or four times a night and even once in the early morning, causing the neighbors to have red eyes and swollen eyelids, it still made her life very lonely. The two of them quickly became close.

In turn, she promoted the relationship between Salina and Panpan. She carefully maintained this nascent group of girlfriends, subtly spreading dissatisfaction with the Senate’s “male chauvinism” and “dictatorial and totalitarian tendencies.” She believed that her two new girlfriends had similar ideas, and she was just playing the role of a catalyst.

Today’s date made her feel “as if blessed by the gods.” First, she met Su Wan and learned that this female forensic doctor in the powerful institutions had similar dissatisfaction with the Senate as she did, in other words, she had the potential to become a “fellow traveler” or even an “ally.” Second, as a forensic doctor, she had first-hand information about the murder of Lin Xiaoya, which Panpan was extremely dissatisfied with. Judging from Ding Ding’s eagerness to withdraw the report on this case, there was a big problem with it. The final published result was probably not the truth.

The truth must be in the hands of this forensic doctor Su—a forensic doctor is someone who can make the dead speak. If she could win her over, it meant she could grasp the first-hand truth. Then she could use this “truth” in the most advantageous way for herself according to the development of the situation.

It was just that the smell of garlic and onions from this forensic doctor Su was a bit hard for her to bear, and the smell of disinfectant on her body always brought strong unpleasant associations.

So much so that she still felt she could smell it on her way home.

Back in her dormitory, Cheng Yongxin quickly took a shower, changed her clothes, and put on some perfume before she felt better.

Unpleasant as it was, the contact with Su Wan was still very beneficial. Out of caution, she did not inquire about anything related to the Lin Xiaoya case, so as not to arouse the other party’s suspicion. However, from Su Wan’s sudden emotional outburst and subsequent conversation today, she guessed that there must be some inside story to this case.

She had to win her over as soon as possible and make her take the initiative to tell her the inside story of this case. There are no secrets between women. Even if it was unpleasant, she had to do it. Wasn’t her source of power women?

Sun Shangxiang made dinner. No matter how much Cheng Yongxin complained about the maid school, the teaching results were undeniable. The food was a hundred times more delicious than what she could make, and the variety was much richer.

The two of them ate together. At first, Sun Shangxiang was very nervous about eating at the same table as her master. She didn’t even dare to take food from the dishes. After a few days of this, and learning from other maids that this was the case in all the transmigrators’ homes, she gradually got used to it.

They chatted casually at the dinner table, especially about reading. Cheng Yongxin intentionally guided her to read some books and told her to ask if she didn’t understand anything. In addition to this “teaching,” she also asked about things at the maid school, especially what Sun Shangxiang’s classmates were thinking.

“What do you usually do at home?” Cheng Yongxin asked casually while eating.

Sun Shangxiang nervously stopped her chopsticks: “Grocery shopping… cleaning… cooking… and reading as you instructed…”

“You don’t have to stay at home doing housework all the time. I don’t have that much housework here,” Cheng Yongxin said. “You should go out more and interact with the maids from other transmigrators’ homes, make some friends. And your classmates from the maid school, you should also be close to them, don’t forget them.”

“Yes,” Sun Shangxiang didn’t understand what her master meant, but she didn’t dare to ask, so she just vaguely agreed.

“Be generous when you’re out, don’t be too stingy.” Cheng Yongxin took out a “Transmigrator Dependent Card” newly issued by Delong Bank. This card was similar to the Farm’s membership secondary card, a secondary card derived from the transmigrator’s main card, specifically for maids’ consumption. It was actually a credit card. It could be used to pay for small daily expenses directly in all stores in Lingao. A certain amount of cash could also be withdrawn from Delong’s counter, with the limit set by the transmigrator.

“When the maids have free time, you can have a meal together, have tea or something. If you need cash, just withdraw it from the account. You are my person, you have to keep up appearances.”

Sun Shangxiang went back to her new room to tidy up, while Cheng Yongxin took a glass of iced tea into the study.

“Zheng Zhilong has finally collapsed… he’s been around for a long time.”

She took out a black booklet recently produced by the Office of Truth. This was the “translation” work assigned to her.

To polish a modern Chinese article in simplified horizontal script into a classical vernacular article in traditional vertical script that could be directly copied by a scholar. If everything went smoothly, a certain passage produced on this desk would be spoken by a storyteller in the capital half a month later.

From this black material, the Senate’s next target was probably Guangdong. Cheng Yongxin found that the proportion of Guangzhou local officials in the black materials she had handled recently had increased significantly. According to the Executive Committee’s usual practice, this was the rhythm of going after Guangdong.

She put down the black material in her hand, took off the necklace from her neck. On the necklace hung a fine Han jade cicada pendant—she had bought it at a spoils auction. With her limited knowledge, this piece of jade would be worth at least tens of thousands of RMB in another time and space.

On the back of the pendant hung a small brass key.

Taking off the brass key, she opened the wooden door of the bookcase. Inside was an iron safe made in Lingao. She opened the safe, took out a red-covered notebook made locally, and began to write in it.

She carefully recorded the valuable materials she thought she had obtained from her meeting with Salina and Su Wan today.

Cheng Yongxin had had the habit of collecting materials since she aspired to be a screenwriter. Before D-Day, she had secretly recorded a lot of what she had seen and heard in the training camp. In fact, in this safe, there was still a script outline for “Spacetime Pioneers (tentative)” that she had written based on the daily activities of the transmigrators.

Since she was no longer prepared to live a quiet life in the Great Library, she began to consciously record those “materials that might be useful.” Her red-covered notebook had already accumulated a lot of material.

Many things, though not secrets, became things that the parties involved were unwilling to mention after the fact. They hoped that these things would be forgotten. At this time, these materials that were not secrets would have a sufficient effect.

Locking the safe, she began to work. She was completely immersed in her work, and it was not until she finished that she realized the clock had passed midnight. Closing her fountain pen, Cheng Yongxin got up and thought of going to the kitchen to make some black tea, but found that Sun Shangxiang, who should have been asleep, was quietly cleaning her kitchen.

“Shangxiang? Why aren’t you asleep?”

The girl immediately stood up and bowed slightly to her in a standard posture.

“You are still working, Chief. I was afraid you might need some snacks at night, so I kept the tea warm.”

Cheng Yongxin found that Sun Shangxiang’s expression was a little distorted, obviously trying hard to hold back a yawn.

“Then pour me a cup of tea. By the way, call the Lingao Daily tomorrow morning and make an appointment for me to have lunch with Chief Panpan.”

“Yes, Chief.”

Cheng Yongxin looked at the life secretary in front of her and suddenly sighed. Even though she had many complaints about the Qing Dynasty, she still hoped for a few more Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.