Chapter 430: The Gift

It was nearly eight in the morning. Lu Xuan had been waiting in the reception room of the Judiciary’s office building for over an hour.

He wasn’t waiting to be seen. As an Elder, he could request to see another Elder at any time during office hours, unlike a naturalized cadre who had to wait. He had come early and was hiding here to wait for a time when there were fewer people.

Lu Xuan had chosen a good position. From where he sat, he could clearly see the situation on the second floor of the office building. The easternmost room on the second floor was the office of Ma Jia, a current member of the Executive Committee, the head of the Judiciary, and the director of the Political Security Bureau. Through a row of large glass windows facing the street, Lu Xuan knew that Ma Jia had arrived at his office at eight o’clock sharp. Shortly after Ma Jia sat down, An Xi, the director of the Judiciary’s office, and several naturalized cadres entered Ma Jia’s office, seemingly to discuss something. It was probably the daily morning meeting. An Xi had just left a minute ago. Lu Xuan waited until An Xi was seated at his own desk before he quickly walked out of the reception room and headed for the office building.

With his status as an Elder, Lu Xuan had unimpeded access to Ma Jia’s office. An Xi’s office, the director of the Judiciary’s office, was right next to Ma Jia’s. As he passed An Xi’s office, the door was open, but An Xi, buried in his work, did not see Lu Xuan walk past quickly.

Although the man was a stranger, Ma Jia’s secretary could tell from Lu Xuan’s appearance and demeanor that he was an Elder. After checking Lu Xuan’s identification, the secretary was about to salute and greet him, but Lu Xuan quickly stopped her with a shushing gesture. Lu Xuan whispered, “Please announce that I wish to see Commissioner Ma.”

No naturalized secretary was allowed to block any Elder’s request for a meeting—this was an unwritten rule for all members of the Executive Committee. The secretary did not block him, but she did not lead him into Ma Jia’s office either.

“Please wait a moment,” she said, and then went out. A moment later, An Xi walked in.

“You are…” An Xi, who walked in, didn’t quite recognize him. Although they had spent some time together in the “basic labor team,” they hadn’t seen each other for several years.

This Elder stood tall and proud outside Ma Jia’s office, holding a file in his hand.

However, he was not an office director for nothing. In less than a minute, he had found the information in his mind.

“Old Lu? What are you doing here?” Ma Jia’s schedule for today clearly had no meeting with Lu Xuan. The sudden appearance of Lu Xuan was a surprise to An Xi. An Xi knew that Lu Xuan was a civil servant from the system, also a law major, and his diploma, like his own from a distance education program, was not highly regarded by the Law Society.

In the early days of the landing, people with a legal background were generally treated as basic labor. In that institution, which was practically a concentration camp for temporary workers, An Xi and Lu Xuan had spent almost a year together, doing countless different kinds of odd jobs. In An Xi’s memory, Lu Xuan’s performance at the time was similar to his own. He never picked and chose his work, and he could endure any hardship. Besides burying himself in work, he rarely chatted with other Elders.

At that time, the people from the law circle, having nothing to do, often gathered to discuss future legal issues on paper. But this Elder Lu never participated in such discussions, and he didn’t even seem interested in listening.

Over time, An Xi even began to doubt whether Lu Xuan knew anything about law besides being able to write the two characters for “law,” and he stopped paying attention to him. Later, when recruiting members for the Law Society, Elder Lu, who had no connection with the law circle, was naturally forgotten. In fact, even if someone had mentioned him, Ma Jia and the others might not have approved his admission. In their eyes, his certificate didn’t even count as a diploma, let alone a law degree.

Now, Lu Xuan’s sudden appearance here made An Xi feel very strange.

Facing this old friend who wasn’t very nostalgic, Lu Xuan appeared relaxed. He took the initiative to shake An Xi’s hand and smiled. “Director An, long time no see. You’re looking better and better.”

“Not at all, not at all. It’s all for the service of the Senate and the people. You’re a rare guest here. I heard you went to the Great Library later. I haven’t seen you around much…” The professional skills of an office director quickly kicked in.

“I’m doing some policy research and data compilation at the Great Library. I’m here to see Commissioner Ma today,” Lu Xuan said, seeing that he couldn’t get around this director. He decided to be frank. “Well? Does Commissioner Ma have time?”

“What are you talking about? We’re all Elders. Unless he’s in a meeting or on a business trip today, how could he not have time?” An Xi was very enthusiastic. “Come, come, come. I’ll take you in.” He took Lu Xuan’s hand and led him into Ma Jia’s office.

Ma Jia was a little confused by the tall Elder who had appeared before him. According to his schedule, he was supposed to be meeting with Ji Xin.

“Commissioner Ma, this is Elder Lu Xuan. We were all in the basic labor team together… uh… speaking of which, he’s also part of our law system…”

“Law system?” Hearing An Xi’s words, Ma Jia went through the members of the Law Society in his mind and had no impression of Lu Xuan at all. He listened to An Xi’s stammering introduction and roughly understood Lu Xuan’s situation.

What could someone from the Great Library want with him?

Although he was a little confused, he took the initiative to speak. “Hello, please sit down.” He stood up from behind his desk and shook hands with Lu Xuan, polite and dignified. Years of experience as an Executive Committee member had erased any trace of his former self as a junior clerk.

When Lu Xuan sat down in front of him, Ma Jia carefully observed this office director of the Great Library, whom he had almost no impression of. The man before him was about his own age, in his early thirties, with a slightly tanned complexion that seemed out of place for an office director. He had short hair, bright eyes, and was wearing a locally produced cotton shirt with no decorations, clean and tidy, no different from what Ma Jia was wearing. But his well-proportioned figure, proper sitting posture, and restrained smile gave him an air of competence.

“Commissioner Ma, hello. I am Lu Xuan from the Great Library’s office.” Through this re-introduction, Lu Xuan repositioned himself in front of this Executive Committee member of his own age.

Ma Jia nodded. “You wouldn’t come here for no reason. We are all comrades in the same Senate. Please speak.”

“A while ago, based on some of the problems that arose after the terrorist attack, our Great Library conducted a research project on clarifying departmental responsibilities and promoting the unification of powers and responsibilities. I am currently the only Elder in the Great Library with a legal background, so I undertook this project. Although I studied law, my first degree was from a technical secondary school, and my later associate’s and bachelor’s degrees were obtained through in-service education. In terms of law, I am at best at the level of vocational training. It was already very difficult for me to undertake this task. And according to our Great Library’s plan, this project is to be made into an issue of Policy Research and submitted to the Executive Committee. To ensure the rigor and feasibility of the project, after obtaining Director Yu’s consent, I have come to disturb Commissioner Ma today with this draft of the research report. The purpose is to ask Commissioner Ma to coordinate and invite a few experts from the Law Society to review the report. This report not only involves many legal professional issues, but according to our plan, the final implementation of this report must also rely on the experts of the Law Society.” With that, Lu Xuan presented the file he had brought to Ma Jia with both hands.

An Xi, who was listening on the side, was a little surprised when he heard Lu Xuan talk about the Great Library’s proposal in the direction of law, because proposals in the direction of law had always been a monopoly of the Law Society. What surprised him even more was Lu Xuan’s performance. His neither humble nor overbearing attitude, his simple and clear report without any dragging, all had a professional air. An Xi had been in the system for a few years before the transmigration. He had seen this kind of temperament in the secretaries of high-ranking officials from large agencies, but it was completely different from his memory of Lu Xuan.

Ma Jia nodded slightly, not showing the surprised expression Lu Xuan had expected. He opened the file and saw a handwritten report. The handwriting was free and easy, written in one go, without a single correction in the entire text, and not a single character he couldn’t recognize. Not to mention in this time, even before the transmigration, Ma Jia had rarely seen such a neat handwritten article.

It was clear that this was carefully written and then copied.

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Ma Jia said. “It must have taken a lot of effort.”

“This is the first time I’m reporting to Commissioner Ma in person. I dare not be careless.” Facing Ma Jia’s praise, Lu Xuan still showed a restrained politeness, even a somewhat overly sycophantic flattery.

“Hehehe,” Ma Jia laughed. “You’re too polite. We’re all comrades. Let’s not be so formal.”

Ten minutes later, Ma Jia had roughly read through the ten-page report. The content did not surprise him.

It was a very standard research report. The report was divided into several parts: the current situation of the division of functions and responsibilities of various departments, existing problems, the causes of the problems, and suggestions for rectification. The examples listed in the report covered all the administrative departments currently established by the Senate except for the military agencies, and were objective and comprehensive. The problems pointed out were also based on facts, true and fair. In the section on causes, a large part was devoted to arguing that such problems are common in all new regimes and are an inevitable part of all regimes’ maturation.

In Ma Jia’s opinion, this report was not very professional, let alone stunning. Not only was the information lacking, but there were also many errors in the application of legal principles. However, his thinking was completely correct. The administrative structure of the Senate was chaotic, with unclear powers and responsibilities, and urgently needed to be adjusted.