Chapter 45: The Incompetent Secretary

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, half a month has passed. Liu Fei's injuries have fully recovered, and he is preparing to go to the provincial government tomorrow for his new appointment.

  At night, in the Beijing Hotel, Liu Fei looked at a stack of documents in his hand. These documents were all obtained by Liu Fei through Xu Jiaojiao and were about the provincial government and Vice Governor Jiang Zhengyuan.

  Currently, the situation in Hebei Province is quite subtle. Governor Cui Yuansheng is already 65 years old this year and will retire next year when the People's Congress meets. Once he retires, the position of governor will be vacant. Many people are paying attention to this position, and the one closest to it is undoubtedly Executive Vice Governor Ma Ao Wen. However, others also have a chance, as this position is highly sensitive and no one can confirm who will take it until the last moment.

  Liu Fei's superior, Vice Governor Jiang Zhengyuan, ranks third in the provincial government hierarchy, after the governor and the executive vice governor, overseeing the Department of Agriculture, Department of Industry and Information Technology, Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Transportation Bureau, Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, Provincial Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau, and Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau.

  The information wasn't much, but it was clear at a glance. After reading the materials, Liu Fei called Xu Jiaojiao to thank her and invited her to have dinner together tomorrow night.

  Xu Jiaojiao readily agreed, feeling delighted in her heart. During the time Liu Fei was bedridden, most of the time it was Xie Yuxin who took care of him, which made Xu Jiaojiao very worried. She had already discovered that Xie Yuxin had a crush on Liu Fei, just by looking at her eyes and actions. Almost every night during this period, Xie Yuxin stayed in the hospital with Liu Fei, while Xu Jiaojiao wanted to come over too, but unfortunately, there was only one accompanying bed in the ward, and her family was also quite strict, so she could only visit Liu Fei during the day and had to go back home at night.

  The next day, Liu Fei arrived at the gate of the provincial government compound before 7:40. After registration, he came to the office door of Director Wang of the Provincial Government Office with his transfer documents. He had made an appointment with Director Wang yesterday and was here to report today.

  It's just 7:50. Five minutes later, a middle-aged man with a medium build and a Chinese character face walked out from the staircase, saw Liu Fei holding files, smiled and stretched out his hand to ask, "Are you Liu Fei? I am Wang Liqun."

  Liu Fei quickly stretched out his hand and shook hands with Wang Liqun, smiling and saying: "Director Wang, hello. I'm Liu Fei. Please take care of me in the future."

  Wang Ligun nodded and opened the door of the house, Liu Fei followed him into the office.

  This is a very tidy office. After Liu Fei finished, Wang Liqun smiled and said: "Liu Fei, I've seen your file, you don't seem to have any experience as a secretary, do you?"

  Liu Fei heard Wang Liqun say this, and his heart skipped a beat. He was thinking about what he meant by asking this question, but he quickly replied: "Yes, I used to work at the Provincial Public Security Department and Qiaoxi District Branch for 156 days."

  Hearing Liu Fei's prompt response, even the number of working days was stated so clearly, Wang Liqun was taken aback for a moment, then nodded his head in satisfaction and said: "Not bad, not bad!"

  Liu Fei didn't understand what Director Wang was saying either, but he knew that at this moment, he shouldn't say anything more, lest he slip up.

  Director Wang looked at Liu Fei with interest for a few moments before continuing: "Alright, let me introduce you to the main tasks of being a secretary."

  Liu Fei nodded vigorously and put on a serious expression, pulling out a notebook from his file bag and placing it flat on his knee. He then took out a pen and smiled at Director Wang, indicating that he was ready.

  Director Wang nodded again, adding another point to Liu Fei in his mind. He thought to himself that although this young man had never been a secretary before, he seemed to have a good sense of procedure. But he couldn't help but wonder why Governor Jiang had chosen him as his secretary instead of one of the more experienced secretaries.

  However, Director Wang quickly adjusted his train of thought and began to lecture Liu Fei: "Our provincial leaders are in charge of many things, with many threads to manage. There are countless meetings at all levels, and they need to receive a lot of information, reports, and summaries. They also have to give important speeches at conferences, and the newspapers, radio, and television stations need to report on them. If the leader had to handle everything alone, even if they had three heads and six arms or didn't sleep day and night, it would still be impossible.

  Therefore, having a capable and efficient secretary is essential. This is like when a man chooses a wife - not only should he get happiness and benefits from the marriage, but it also reflects his taste, dignity, and face. A leader's choice of secretary is equally important and cannot be taken lightly.

  Comrade Liu, you must remember several key points: answering phone calls is the first test for a secretary. A qualified secretary must know how to answer the phone, what calls can be answered, and what calls cannot be answered. If they fail this test, it will make the leader very uncomfortable."

  Liu Fei raised his hand, and Director Wang nodded: "Little Liu, do you have any questions?"

  Liu Fei nodded and said: "Director Wang, what can be considered as qualified for answering phone calls?"

  Director Wang's eyes showed a look of appreciation, and he smiled: "This question is well raised. If you want to pass the test of answering the phone and satisfy your leader, then you must do one thing: when the phone comes, you can distinguish who is calling and what number it is in the first time. You have just taken over this position, and many people's voices and numbers are not clear to you, so you must ask clearly who the other party is, and then ask Governor Jiang if it is convenient for him to answer the phone. Be careful, never cut off the call casually and give it to your leader, beware!"

  Liu Fei remembered this first one in his heart and also recorded it on his notebook.

  "Next, you need to pass the second test, which is writing a draft," said Director Wang. "As I mentioned earlier, leaders have many meetings to attend, and attending meetings requires having a speech script. As a qualified secretary, you must be able to write a satisfactory draft for the leader in the shortest time possible. This is very important and is a basic skill for a secretary; otherwise, this secretary will be useless!"

  At this point, Liu Fei's heart was like being hit by a big iron hammer, it hurt so much that beads of sweat as big as beans kept dripping down his forehead. From childhood to adulthood, his worst subject had always been Chinese language and literature, and writing essays was the thing he feared most. But now, not only did he have to write an article, but also one that would satisfy the provincial governor - it was simply a mission impossible! However, Liu Fei was quite bold and raised his hand again.

  Director Wang was stunned, he felt that he had already made it very clear just now, how could this young man still have questions, so he smiled at him and gestured for him to speak.

  Liu Fei awkwardly said: "Director Wang, I won't write the script!"

  Director Wang's current expression is as if he had just seen a fat pig grow wings, staring at Liu Fei in shock. The astonishment in his heart was beyond words: "What on earth is this young man's background? Why did Deputy Governor Jiang choose such a young man who doesn't even know the basics of being a secretary to be his secretary?"