Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 216 Before the New Year
The end of the year was approaching, and on the second to last day before the holiday, Lin Yun got off work from the Yi Ce Bureau and returned home at nearly nine o'clock.

Not only because he had a meeting with government officials that afternoon, but also because he was able to show up at the base in the guise of Delphinium after get off work, which had almost become a regular part of his routine in recent times.

Normally, he might just stay in the house at the base, but today was different—Lin Xiaolu went home.

At most once a week, and at least once every half a month, Lin Xiaolu would often go home to replace the spare clothes and daily necessities, take away some things that she would need next, and take some things that she would not use home, and tidy up her room by the way.

This was a very natural thing for her and she didn't need to consider any complicated internal factors, but for Lin Yun, whether to go home required multiple considerations.

In the first two months after moving into the secret base, his schedule was highly consistent with Lin Xiaolu's. Basically, whenever Lin Xiaolu went home, he would find an excuse to leave the base - Xia Liang already knew the truth, and Bai Jingxuan didn't care about it at all. As long as he made sure that he was there when Lin Xiaolu went home, he could alleviate the identity conflict to a certain extent.

But as time went by, especially after the Full Moon Festival, Lin Xiaolu discovered that her father was not an ordinary person in the full sense of the word. Later, she even learned that Lin Yun was the director of the Strategy Bureau. So one night, she asked her father a thought-provoking question:

——"You don't have to work overtime or socialize at night recently?"

Lin Yun can actually give a definite answer, which is "definitely not necessary", but it is difficult for him to explain the logic behind it in a few words that his daughter can understand and accept.

After all, this was due to both his personal reasons and reasons at the Fangting City level.

Objectively speaking, he does have a lot of things to do, whether it is the various decision-making tasks within the Strategy Bureau, or the communication with certain government officials, or even intervening in the political affairs of Fangting City. If Lin Yun is willing to spend time on these things, he can be so busy that he can't go home every night.

But the fact is that Lin Yun is unwilling to waste time on trivial matters.

His attitude towards the work of the Strategy Bureau was very simple, that is, "eliminating the unstable forces in Fangting City." Apart from this purpose, he was not very interested in a series of things such as deeply participating in the policy formulation of Fangting City and the power game among the top leaders of Fangting City.

This is both a personal interest and a matter of assessing the situation.

Although Lin Yun was born and raised in Fangting City, he has never had any political performance in the past 30 years of his life. He has no qualifications and no experience. Although he is now the director of Fangting City, he is still an "outsider" to the government officials of Fangting City.

If he was just a simple outsider, it would be fine, but he was not. Anyone who tried to understand Lin Yun's identity and background, even if they could not investigate Anya or Lin Xiaolu, could still understand the shocking fact that "he was directly assigned by the Tiandu City Headquarters, and there was suspected to be the will of the magic kingdom behind him."

"How to deal with the relationship with the new director of the Special Policy Bureau" has become a major problem for the current Fangting Municipal Government.

The relationship between the Strategy Bureau and the city government is not one of superiors and subordinates, but two sides of the same coin.

The Bureau of Special Policies is responsible for managing magicians and other people who possess extraordinary powers, and for connecting with overly powerful entities such as magical girls and magical kingdoms. The government is responsible for protecting the lives of ordinary people and maintaining facilities and social operations in the city.

In most cities, the relationship between the Bureau of Special Policies and other government departments is in a state of being close but not close. Most of the time, each department performs its own duties, but there are also many areas that require cooperation.

A typical and sensitive topic is the activity funds of the Strategy Bureau, which needs to get money from the government. As long as money is involved, there will be countless interested parties involved.

Normally, when a city's Strategy Bureau asks the government for money, it means that some dirty deals between adults have begun: how much money to give, in what form, and when to give it. There are quite a lot of things that need to be haggled over between the Strategy Bureau and the government, and people on both sides can use this as an excuse to gain more benefits for the public or for private. A large amount of money flows into the pockets of certain officials in the name of "Strategy Bureau activities."

These things were also one of the unspoken rules in Fangting City in the past, even when Moss was in office. After all, although none of the dirty deeds done by Black Cinder Dawn were done by humans, they still required money and a lot of resources.

But when Lin Yun came on stage, this rule was immediately broken.

It’s not that Lin Yun didn’t realize it or didn’t understand the rules, but that he was simply too lazy to care.

He did not think it was necessary to come up with various names just to get money from the government. He preferred to take as much as he needed. He would not deliberately keep the Strategy Bureau simple, but he would not ask for resources beyond normal expenses.

In this regard, Fangting city government officials felt both happy and worried.

The good news is that the expenses on the books have been greatly reduced. Compared with the previous years when the Yi Ce Bureau always asked for a huge share, the Yi Ce Bureau led by Lin Yun is simply noble. The bad news is that many people have lost the opportunity to make money, and at the same time, they have lost the opportunity to bring Lin Yun into the group.

The new director of the Strategy Bureau was so incorruptible and impartial that they didn't know how to win him over. If they couldn't win him over as one of their own, he would be an outsider after all, and if he was an outsider, there was no way to discuss many things in depth.

What troubled them most was that this new director was difficult to win over and court, and it was even more absurd to exclude and suppress him - after all, he was directly appointed by the country, and God knew how deep the relationship could reach. What if there was a person in power from the country above him, who could make Fangting City no longer protected by the magical girl with just a few words? That would be the end of them.

They also know that this is actually a kind of happy trouble.

Because many small cities' Strategy Bureaus, let alone being directly assigned by the country, most of the Strategy Bureau members may not be able to go to the magic country in their lifetime, let alone ask the country for anything. Many times, they can only quietly clean up the mess when facing the residual beasts, or hope that the magic girl in their city can produce a powerful figure.

Fangting City has actually been such a city for nearly a hundred years. In the past, Fangting was relatively remote in geographical location and the city was not large in scale. It was often invisible in the eyes of the country. The frequent beast disasters made people panic.

Twenty years ago, Fangting City produced a group of talented magical girls. Not only could they easily solve the local beast disaster in Fangting City, their military power even extended across the wasteland and covered several surrounding cities, making Fangting City one of the most stable cities in the southern part of Donghua Prefecture.

After the reputation spread, naturally many people came here to settle down in Fangting City, which directly led to the rapid development and expansion of Fangting City in the past decade. The economic development zone in the new urban area was also completed as a result.

Twenty years ago, Fangting City was just an unknown small town, but twenty years later it has developed considerably. Although there is still a big gap between it and traditional big cities, it is already a leader among small towns.

This trend stagnated at the beginning of this year, because the magical girls in Fangting City seemed to be in a period of transition, and the incidence of beast disasters became increasingly high, which shook the people's hearts.

But then, as the new generation of magical girls gradually became active, the old generation of magical girls also showed up on the Full Moon Festival and killed a giant beast that invaded the city in a high-profile manner. The residents of Fangting City have regained their confidence in "safety".

A considerable part of Fangting City's current stability is based on the protection provided by the magic kingdom. As a result, when facing Lin Yun, the city government officials can neither be too enthusiastic nor too negligent. They are stuck in the middle and feel very uncomfortable.

Lin Yun is actually very clear about this.

But for him now, this state is the best.

Once he was to lead the Strategy Bureau to establish deeper cooperation with the government, he would inevitably have to communicate more closely with all parties, and the resulting large number of meetings, receptions, and entertainments... just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

He was very sure that he did not have time to maintain personal relationships with these government officials, so naturally there was no need to do those face-saving projects. He just had to do his own job well.

As for the work content at the Strategy Bureau, not to mention that Hong Siyu could already help him share a lot of the burden, there was no need for him to work overtime until late at night for the work he had not finished. He could continue working on it when he returned to the base or home.

This is why Lin Yun can go home frequently today without having to work until late at night like in the past.

However, the above background and game, there is no way to tell Lin Xiaolu. Maybe when Lin Xiaolu grows up, she will have to face these things, but Lin Yun does not want her to be exposed to these things now. "I am the director now. As long as I don't want to work overtime, no one can ask me to work overtime." This is the answer he finally gave.

But always using this excuse was still a bit far-fetched. More importantly, he was worried that if he was there every time his daughter came home, people would feel that there was something fishy going on, which would arouse unnecessary suspicion.

So, sometimes, even if Lin Xiaolu went home, he would choose to continue staying in the base as Cuiqiao, creating the illusion that "Lin Yun is busy with work."

But today is different. It is the end of the year and the new year is about to begin. When Lin Xiaolu returns home this time, he must meet his daughter as a father.

Not for anything else, just to ask for leave.

After all, it is New Year, and it is a time for family reunions. Considering that he had spent the previous Full Moon Festival with his team members as Lin Yun, and this time with the addition of the Bai'an City team, Cuiqiao's identity is undoubtedly more suitable.

Therefore, Lin Yun as such will have to be absent.

He had already thought of an excuse. It just so happened that he had made a regulation for the Fangting City Special Policy Bureau to stay on duty during holidays a while ago. He said that as the director, he would stay in the Special Policy Bureau to take charge. It sounded very reasonable.

Unfortunately, when he and Lin Xiaolu were having dinner together at the table, thinking about when to bring up this topic, Lin Xiaolu spoke first:

"……dad."

Just one word made Lin Yun raise his head in surprise.

Now that the relationship between father and daughter has gradually eased, although it is not uncommon for Lin Xiaolu to talk to him, because of the previous cold war, the number of times she has called him solemnly like this can be counted on one hand.

In his memory, almost every time Lin Xiaolu used this title as an opening remark, she would follow up with a very remarkable speech.

And this time, his daughter did not disappoint him.

"New Year's Eve is the day after tomorrow, and I want to go home to celebrate." Lin Xiaolu put down the chopsticks in her hand and said in a deep voice.

"Oh, you're planning on... going home?"

Fortunately, Lin Yun had prepared himself mentally, so he didn't show too much surprise. He just acted like he had no opinion on it and asked calmly, "Is it the same as the previous Full Moon Festival? Or are you calling all your teammates over?"

"Well, I want to invite everyone, is that okay?"

Lin Xiaolu nodded: "There may be more people this time than last time."

"People from Bai'an City? Then our house might be a little small."

Lin Yun remained calm: "Besides, if we want to seat so many people, we may have to change the table we are eating at now."

Hearing this, Lin Xiaolu looked down at the dining table below her and immediately looked embarrassed.

"...How about changing tables?" she suggested in a low voice.

"Changing the table just for the holidays?"

Lin Yun raised his eyebrows: "Do you think we are such a wealthy family?"

"Aren't you the director..." Lin Xiaolu muttered, "You are such a high-ranking official, it should be okay for you to change the table at home, right?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that my father is an honest official and he does not abuse his power."

Lin Yun put some food into his bowl and said, "Besides, this table was bought by your mother. We definitely can't change it. If we really buy a new table, it will just be left on the balcony gathering dust. Forget it. You might as well go to your base to celebrate the New Year."

When Lin Xiaolu heard that the table was bought by Anya, she fell silent for a moment. After a while, she spoke again:

"Then you'll go to our side?"

"I can't go." Lin Yun shook his head and smiled: "I was just about to tell you that Dad will be on duty at the Strategy Bureau during the New Year this year, so I may not be able to spend the New Year with you. I'm sorry."

"On duty?" Lin Xiaolu was speechless.

"Yes, after all, such a big incident happened before the Full Moon Festival, largely because the Strategy Bureau was slow to react, so someone has to be on duty starting from the New Year this year." Lin Yun replied pretending to be "helpless".

"In the Yi Ce Bureau?" Lin Xiaolu asked.

"Yes, in the Yi Ce Bureau." Lin Yun replied.

"Then I'll go to your office."

"You're coming to my office..."

Lin Yun repeated this sentence again, and his brain gradually realized what his daughter was saying: "...Ah? Come to my office?"

"Well, I'll go to your office to celebrate the New Year with you." Lin Xiaolu drooped her eyelids and looked at Lin Yun with displeasure, as if to say, "If you find another excuse, I'm going to make trouble with you."

"Why?" Lin Yun rarely felt confused during the conversation with his daughter.

"You are my father and I am your daughter."

Lin Xiaolu emphasized the pronunciation of each word:

"Isn't it natural to celebrate the New Year together?"

(End of this chapter)