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墨書 Inktalez
It had been six months since Lin Xiao joined the Provincial Organization Department, and this was the first time Zhao Chenghua had arranged to meet her. Hua Jie had invited her to a café, a high-end chain known for its coffee and light meals. If it were up to Lin Xiao, she would never have spent a dollar on a cup of coffee, but she felt obligated to accept Zhao Chenghua's invitation.
Looking back, working as Hua Jie’s secretary had been the most comfortable period of her career. Perhaps it was because women understood each other's struggles better; Hua Jie had shared everything with her. Although Hua Jie was strict and unrelenting in her critiques, Lin Xiao learned so much from her about being a competent secretary. Most importantly, Hua Jie had never made her feel belittled; she was never forced to drink at banquets, where many crude jokes were often filtered out.
Adhering to the principle that secretaries should never be late, Lin Xiao arrived at the café by six-thirty. She reserved a private room for four and sent the room number to Zhao Chenghua via text. The minimum consumption for the room made her wince; it was nearly a month's worth of living expenses, one-eleventh of her salary.
A waiter poured her a jug of lemon water, which she sipped half-heartedly, wary of needing to use the restroom when Hua Jie arrived. With time still on her hands, Lin Xiao took out a book she always carried and began to read.
At six-fifty, she heard the sound of the waiter greeting guests at the door and quickly put her book away, standing up in anticipation. When the door opened, she was momentarily taken aback. Li Hao stood there, equally surprised. Was this the Toronto private room? Upon hearing the waiter confirm it, he stepped inside. "Zhao is meeting you?" he asked.
Lin Xiao quickly affirmed his question. Both were at a loss for words but were thinking simultaneously about what Zhao Chenghua was up to. Almost instinctively, they both pulled out their phones. Lin Xiao texted Zhao Chenghua: "Li County Chief has arrived. I booked a room for four; should we switch to a larger one?" Meanwhile, Li Hao texted Zhao Chenghua: "Why is there an outsider?"
Neither received a reply. Lin Xiao felt uncertain about what to say; this was the first time she had seen Li Hao since leaving Yu Rao. She couldn’t just ask him how work was going—that would be something friends or leaders ask their subordinates—so she opted for silence but felt awkward not pulling out her book again.
Li Hao had initially wanted to ask her how work was going too but thought better of it since she wasn’t his superior anymore. Instead, he asked casually, "What are you reading?"
Lin Xiao still hadn’t shaken off the habit of answering every question when she was his secretary.
"Human History," a bestselling book written by a PhD in History from Oxford University, chronicles the development of humanity from the first signs of life a hundred thousand years ago to the intertwining of capitalism and technology.
Since it wasn't working hours, Li Hao, dressed in casual attire, appeared a bit less serious. "Are you reading the English version?"
"Yes." Lin Xiao hadn't expected such a workaholic like Li Hao to know about this book.
This book had only recently been translated into Chinese, and the copy Lin Xiao was reading was brought back by a friend from abroad. Several friends were clamoring to read it, so she found herself engrossed whenever she had free time.
"Your English is quite good?" Li Hao recalled that she had sung English songs before.
Unbeknownst to him, her former secretary possessed this talent. How many other hidden strengths did she have?
Lin Xiao thought to herself, "Of course it's good. During school, I worked as an English tour guide for three years to earn some living expenses."
In her sophomore year, while in the dormitory, she had heard that there were particularly many foreigners visiting the Jiangdong Provincial Museum, so she began to study English intensely, memorizing an entire travel handbook filled with vocabulary in just one semester.
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