On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Chen Xing officially went back to work. It was the first day of work in the New Year. Undoubtedly, many people had not recovered from the mood of the New Year. Many of them looked tired and lazy. Whether it was physically or mentally, it was impossible to adjust from the state of the New Year holiday to the state of normal work without a few days of adjustment. Even Chen Xing felt like he was still resting. Sitting in the office, he could not concentrate for a while.
Chen Xing took the flight back to the capital yesterday afternoon. The night before yesterday, he fooled around with He Li and Chu Rong for a whole night. When Chen Xing woke up yesterday morning, he almost had a backache. During the New Year, besides being busy every day, he and Zhang Ningning spent almost every night having fun. Although Chen Xing's body was made of iron, he still couldn't bear it.
The night before yesterday, Chu Rong and He Li knew that he would return to the capital the next day. They wanted to squeeze him dry. As a result, Chen Xing really had a backache when he woke up yesterday. After a night of rest, he felt better today.
Wang Zhen didn't even give me a call. Could it be that she was too embarrassed to face me, so she didn't even bother to thank me? Chen Xing sat in the office, unable to concentrate on his work. His mind was thinking about all kinds of things. Yesterday, he called Zhao Bin to confirm that Wang Zhen's husband, Chen Shan, had left the Commission for Discipline Inspection the night before yesterday. Theoretically, Wang Zhen should have seen her husband the night before yesterday. Since yesterday night, Chen Xing didn't see Wang Zhen call him, which made Chen Xing feel strange.
Chen Xing was in a daze when he heard some noises from Chen Danying's office next door. It was the sound of high heels stepping on the floor. Then he heard knocks on his door. Chen Xing shouted to come in. As expected, it was Chen Danying who came in.
Ah, Deputy Director-General Chen, I haven't seen you for a year and you seem to have put on some weight. Chen Danying looked at Chen Xing in surprise. She didn't see Chen Xing when she came over in the morning. This was the first time they met each other since the New Year.
Deputy Director-General Chen, don't scare me, or else my beer belly will come out. Chen Xing said half-jokingly as he stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation.
I'm not lying to you. Otherwise, you can look in the mirror and see that your face is round. Chen Danying chuckled, walked to the sofa, and sat down. At the same time, she handed a document to Chen Xing. Deputy Director Chen, this is the list of undergraduate teaching projects of our Ministry this year. All the universities that have received funding from the Ministry this year are on the list.
The list of projects for this year is out? How come I didn't know about this? Chen Xing looked at Chen Danying in confusion and took the list. It was only the first day of work and the list of projects for this year's funding was out. It would be strange if Chen Xing didn't find it strange. As a deputy director-general, he had never heard of this.
Deputy Director Chen, I haven't heard of it before. But at the end of last year, you asked for leave in advance and didn't come to work. The list was made by the Ministry after the examination of the Department of Higher Education. I worked overtime until the night of the New Year's Eve and went home. Unlike you, Deputy Director Chen, who enjoyed the New Year's Eve a few days in advance. Chen Danying smiled and rolled her eyes at Chen Xing. The beauty mole at the corner of her mouth added a touch of charm to her.
Oh, that's it. Chen Xing nodded. Three days before the New Year's Eve, he asked for leave in advance from Deputy Director Li Huaiyuan. Li Huaiyuan also knew that his wedding day was set on the eve of the New Year's Eve, so he readily agreed. Li Huaiyuan attended Chen Xing's wedding on the night of the New Year's Eve, and his face was full of joy. That night, it was Li Huaiyuan's first time that he was lucky enough to sit at the same table with Old Master Zhang. In the past, when he visited Old Master Zhang on New Year's Eve, it was already a joyful thing to be received by Old Master Zhang. This time, it was thanks to Chen Xing that he was able to sit at the same table with Old Master Zhang, even though Old Master Zhang only came for a short while.
After responding to Chen Danying, Chen Xing focused on looking at the list. After all, this was part of the work that he was in charge of. It was impossible for him not to care about it at all.
Deputy Director Chen asked for leave a few days in advance. Could it be that he went back to his hometown to spend his honeymoon with his wife? Chen Danying looked at Chen Xing with a smile. She didn't know that Chen Xing was getting married on New Year's Eve. Chen Xing didn't invite her because she wasn't qualified.
Sort of. Chen Xing smiled and replied casually. He quickly browsed through the list. From this list, the engineering schools that the Ministry wanted to sponsor were all key undergraduate colleges. They were either from Project 211 or Project 985. Even Chen Xing's alma mater, Haicheng University, was on the list. Chen Xing couldn't help but nod happily. His alma mater was also one of the two best universities in Jianghai Province. It was a key construction institution of the state, so it wasn't strange for it to be on the list.
Huh? Chen Xing's gaze paused for a moment. One of the schools had attracted Chen Xing's attention. In this list that was full of key universities, Wancheng College was considered an unusual existence. Chen Xing glanced at the funding at the back. 10 million. Chen Xing looked up at Chen Danying and smiled. Deputy Director Chen, I remember that Wancheng College was the school that invited us to dinner before the New Year's Eve, right?
That's right. I went with Deputy Director Chen. These local universities that want to participate in the undergraduate assessment are all the same. Hehe, they always rush to the capital to do public relations before the New Year's Eve. Chen Danying smiled and nodded.
If I remember correctly, Deputy Director Chen's brother is the executive vice president of this school, right? Chen Xing seemed to ask casually, but in fact, these were things that didn't need to be asked. It wasn't long ago, so Chen Xing still remembered it clearly. However, Chen Xing obviously couldn't directly say that he suspected that Chen Danying was using public relations for personal gain and taking special care of her brother's school.
If Deputy Director Chen remembers wrongly, then I'll have to suspect that Deputy Director Chen has a bad memory. Chen Danying smiled indifferently. How could she not hear the doubt in Chen Xing's voice? However, she didn't say it clearly. Deputy Director Chen, don't just focus on Wancheng College. If you look further, there are several other ordinary universities like Wancheng College. Some of them are even a little worse. However, these schools have passed the Ministry's serious assessment and met the funding standards. Otherwise, the Ministry wouldn't have approved it.
Do you think I'm a newbie just because I'm new here? Chen Xing glanced at Chen Danying. He didn't say this out loud, but he obviously scoffed at Chen Danying's words. Although Chen Xing had been in the Ministry for less than a month and was still in the process of familiarizing himself with the work of the Ministry of Higher Education, it didn't mean that Chen Xing didn't understand some rules. The Ministry of Higher Education could only be responsible for the management and evaluation of universities affiliated to the Ministry and local universities. The Ministry of Higher Education was responsible for the funding list. Once it was submitted by the Ministry, the Ministry would basically approve it and rarely change it. Chen Danying obviously thought that he was a newbie and easier to fool.
Well, since it's a list approved by the Ministry, there's nothing for me to nitpick about. Chen Xing nodded with a smile. This was a list that had already been submitted to the Ministry for approval. He wasn't around for a few days before the New Year, so there was nothing Chen Xing could do to change this established fact. Moreover, he didn't intend to specifically target anyone. Chen Danying made it sound so dignified, so he should just let her be. It wasn't worth it to make enemies over this kind of thing. Even Director Wu Bin didn't say anything, so why should he stick his neck out? He didn't believe that Wu Bin didn't know that Chen Danying's brother was the Executive Vice President of Wancheng College.
Actually, I should have shown it to Deputy Director-General Chen before reporting it to the Ministry, but Deputy Director-General Chen wasn't around, so … Chen Danying shrugged with a smile. Both of them understood what she meant. She wasn't purposely bypassing Chen Xing.
This was the disadvantage of asking for leave. Look, he missed out on the Ministry's work. Chen Xing laughed self-deprecatingly. Right, I remember that the undergraduate evaluation of Wancheng College is in March?
Yes, it's next month. Chen Danying paused for a moment and then said.
Okay, I'll be there when the time comes. This is my first time participating in the evaluation of undergraduate teaching, so I have to go and take a look in person. Only then can I have more experience and do a better job in the future. Chen Xing smiled.
It would be best if Deputy Director Chen could go in person. Chen Danying glanced at Chen Xing. She wasn't sure what he meant by that. Now that she was done with her business, she didn't plan to stay any longer. She stood up and bade farewell. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. Deputy Director Chen, please continue with your work.
After seeing Chen Danying off, Chen Xing stood there for a while and stared at Chen Danying's back. Chen Xing didn't know what Chen Xing was thinking. After standing there for a while, Chen Xing turned around and walked back to his office chair. He hadn't started to read the documents today, so it was time to get into work mode. He asked for leave a few days before the New Year, so there were a lot of backlog of documents that hadn't been read. They were all sent to him in the morning.
Picking up the top document, just as Chen Xing was about to open the folder, he saw a small corner of an envelope fall out of the folder. Puzzled, Chen Xing took it out and found it was sandwiched in the middle of the document. It was an anonymous envelope. Chen Xing opened it and saw that there was a letter inside. Puzzled, he read it, and Chen Xing's expression couldn't help but change.
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