Chapter 428: The Memorandum

“A house full of women is never peaceful,” Lu Xuan sighed. “I came home this weekend to relax, but the two women started fighting over some trivial matter again. Liu Hui, trained by the General Office, really lived up to her reputation as a life secretary. She went head-to-head with my wife. I got angry and slapped her a couple of times. Guess what she said?”

Seeing that Yu E’shui wasn’t very interested, Lu Xuan continued on his own, “She said the other Elders’ life secretaries look down on her, saying she’s with an idle Elder who just loafs around in the Great Library all day, doing nothing but ‘buying soy sauce’! …Idle… and ‘buying soy sauce’?!! Who the hell taught them that?”

Yu E’shui’s expression changed. “I am most opposed to this kind of talk that belittles our Great Library and those who work in the humanities! To say that we are just loafing around, that without the retrieval and compilation work of the Great Library, their low-level industrial replication would be so simple? Such important work is ‘buying soy sauce’? Nonsense! Old Lu, don’t take it to heart. I know your work best. Although the tasks are scattered and small, they are all fundamental jobs that only an Elder can do. This fundamental work is not eye-catching, but tall buildings are built on this foundation.”

Yu E’shui was a little agitated, repeating the phrase “fundamental work” several times. He always got a little worked up whenever he heard someone say the Great Library was for “buying soy sauce.”

“A few life secretaries dare to gossip like this. It seems this group really needs to be disciplined. I’ll go talk to Xiao Zishan one of these days, issue a disciplinary notice to their Elders, and have the Elders punish them severely…”

Lu Xuan had intended to vent his grievances, but he hadn’t expected Director Yu to get worked up first. He thought to himself: how to punish them severely? By trying a few more positions in bed? These useless Elders had no concept of family law. They treated their life secretaries like girlfriends all day long!

“But then again, I’ve told you about the matter of the Lu Family Manor before. So many Elders are working hard, working overtime all the time, even sleeping in their offices and workshops. But you, you took someone’s daughter, live in their manor. No matter how low-key you are, it won’t work. It’s not good for your image at all. Why don’t you move into the Great Library’s dormitory?”

“To be honest, I feel I’ve been wronged. Since I inherited this manor, the common people look at me as if I’m a live-in son-in-law. I’m an Elder, after all,” Lu Xuan argued defiantly. “Why did I go through all the trouble to transmigrate? Isn’t it to find a few more girls, to find a more comfortable position? Old Xun can marry a native and get a large dowry, Wu Nanhai can run a ‘livestock’ manor. What’s wrong with me inheriting a manor? This was a proper marriage.”

Seeing him naming names and getting more and more out of line, Yu E’shui quickly stopped him. “Alright, alright, don’t get sidetracked. I completely understand your personal feelings. But…”

Before he could finish, Lu Xuan became even more agitated. He stood up, grabbed Yu E’shui, and poured out his heart with great emotion. “Others may not know me, but Director, you know me, right? For so many years, when has Lu Xuan ever refused an assignment from the organization? I’ve never shirked hard work, tiring work, or the work that others have picked over. You trusted me to be the office director in charge of the agency’s finances. Every penny of public funds I’ve handled is crystal clear. Director, can you bear to see them trample on me like this…”

Yu E’shui’s hand was being squeezed so hard by Lu Xuan that it hurt. He quickly changed his tune. “I know, I know. You’ve always been hardworking and resilient. You’re a good man… Let go of my hand first… Let’s sit down and talk, sit down and talk…”

Lu Xuan saw that Yu E’shui’s face was a little distorted. Only then did he let go and sit back in his chair. He looked at Yu E’shui, his eyes red, and murmured, “I know, they all look down on me. I don’t blame them. Who asked me to be incompetent? I only remember the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, I haven’t learned higher mathematics, I can’t remember a single physical law or chemical formula, let alone steelmaking, shipbuilding, medicine, or saving lives. But I’m not lazy, I accept my fate, I’m willing to do any work. Who in the entire Senate has more part-time jobs than me? I’ve done everything I can. I’m a man of 1.82 meters, I don’t want to be a burden, I don’t want to be a drag…”

Yu E’shui nodded and waved his hand repeatedly. “Alright, alright, let’s be fair. Who has trampled on you? Besides a few clueless life secretaries, which Elder has said such things? I understand you have your thoughts, but you must pay attention to unity when you speak.”

But Lu Xuan’s words had touched a nerve with Yu E’shui. After all, Lu Xuan was his number one general. He comforted him, “I know the position of office director at the Great Library has buried your talents. Hasn’t the Organization Department approached you several times to be a county office director? Is it because the conditions are too harsh that you didn’t go? I recently heard that Liu Xiang of the Qiongshan County Office might be transferred. The position at the Qiongshan County Office will be vacant. Why don’t I recommend you to the Executive Committee to go to the Qiongshan County Office? It’s a large county, with a good foundation. The conditions should be good.”

Lu Xuan shook his head. “I’m not complaining that the conditions at the county office are harsh. Besides, do you think I’m the kind of person who can’t endure hardship?”

Yu E’shui thought about it. That was true. Although Lu Xuan had been in Lingao for the past few years, he had done a lot of miscellaneous work. There was really nothing to envy. Being a county office director was at least being a local official—don’t look at how those county office directors gnashed their teeth when they came back to report on their work, as if they had suffered great hardships and endured great injustices. But when they were really asked to be transferred back, they all vowed to “serve the Senate and the people.”

Just as he was wondering what the purpose of this drama was, Lu Xuan himself spoke up. “I have another reason for staying in Lingao. The Senate is a big enterprise now. The original extensive and overly flat management model certainly can’t adapt to the rapid development. It’s imperative to speed up the regularization of the administrative agencies. After the terrorist attack, didn’t many people complain that our current agencies and departments have unclear responsibilities and chaotic functions? They don’t do what they should, but they meddle everywhere. When something happens, there’s no department in charge, and in the end, the blame falls on the Executive Committee. They just stopped short of saying what made a child pick up a gun.”

Yu E’shui was amused by Lu Xuan’s teasing, but Lu Xuan continued with a straight face, “This is actually a typical manifestation of unclear departmental functions and inconsistent responsibilities. Before the transmigration, I had been in the system for more than ten years. I have some understanding of the organizational methods and operating procedures of administrative departments. So I want to do some work in this area. To put it grandly, it’s to fill in the gaps for the Executive Committee and add bricks and tiles to the Senate. To put it modestly, the process of regularizing the administrative departments is actually a process of bureaucratization. Once the departmental relationships are sorted out, new positions will naturally emerge. There might be a suitable position for a jack-of-all-trades cadre like me. Then I won’t be seen as just ‘buying soy sauce’ even by the life secretaries.”

Lu Xuan’s words were reasonable, and Yu E’shui was not surprised. He asked, “What’s your specific idea?”

“I want to conduct a survey on the current functional distribution of various departments, and then, based on the survey, come up with a proposal to streamline the functions of various departments and promote the unification of their responsibilities and powers.”

Yu E’shui was not very familiar with administrative work. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what Lu Xuan was up to, but he didn’t want to show his ignorance. He said perfunctorily, “Proposals are the right of every Elder. Besides, our Great Library is also the main policy inquiry body of the Senate. As a member of the Great Library, it is your duty to provide policy reference for the Senate. You can issue a relevant memorandum—isn’t our work at the Great Library to provide decision-making reference and basis for the Executive Committee?”

“Departmental administrative functions are actually a matter of administrative law. Director, you know my half-baked legal knowledge is probably not up to the task. So I want to invite the Elders from the Law Society to do it together…”

Yu E’shui’s expression immediately became cautious. He didn’t like the Law Society very much.

However, for this kind of policy proposal and compilation, the librarians had a great deal of freedom in their research. In theory, he couldn’t object.

“That’s no problem,” he finally said, but his face was not happy.

“I don’t plan to post the proposal online after it’s done.”

“You mean not through the channel of personal military and political proposals by Elders?” Yu E’shui nodded. “That’s good. Once it’s posted on the BBS for discussion, it will be a mess. Just issue a memorandum.”

Lu Xuan’s professional smile appeared again. “My meaning is, after the proposal is done, I’ll ask you to review it. If you think it’s good, we’ll submit it to the Executive Committee as a policy reference in the name of the Great Library. If not, just treat it as me messing around.”

“So, you’ve been beating around the bush with me for so long, your real purpose is to use the name of the Great Library to send it directly to the Executive Committee to gain credit?” Yu E’shui began to understand his meaning. Neither the channel of Elder military and political proposals nor the method of a Great Library staff memorandum was as powerful as the reference materials compiled by the Great Library. The latter would most likely be formally discussed at the Executive Committee meetings, and some sensitive and hot topics would even be distributed to the Elders.