Life in siheyuan era

Stepping into his new role, Zhou Zhiyuan needed to re-establish his image. As someone who gets things done, he had to cultivate a refined persona; the 'refined Zhou, the doer' was his designated character.

He had advantages in setting up this persona. His natural appearance and his acquired love of reading allowed him to be refined. He had also made preparations in his behavior. As a cultured individual, he would take notes in his diary during Deputy Director Li's speeches.

However, there was a problem to solve: looking down to write prevented him from observing the reactions of the others. Without seeing their reactions, he couldn't gauge their attitude towards Li Huaiyi.

He wanted to quickly understand two things: "What position does Li Huaiyi hold in their hearts? What are the character and phẩm chất of these people?"

This was the first task he assigned himself. Even while looking down to write, he had to find opportunities to glance up at Li Huaiyi, expressing an attitude of attentive listening. It was also perfectly natural to glance at Han Xue, who was sitting at the opposite table.

She was also looking down and writing, apparently as prepared as he was. Both were cultivating a cultured persona, both wanting to leave a good impression on their first day.

Han Xue's attitude made Zhou Zhiyuan feel pressured. He immediately lowered his head to write, determined to surpass her in his studious demeanor.

He still had an advantage in this regard. Li Huaiyi was sitting next to her, preventing her from expressing the same focused attentiveness that he could.

This was his winning strategy. He had to look up at Li Huaiyi again, using the opportunity of Li turning to look at Han Xue to quickly shift his gaze to Wan Chunfang.

He saw her turn to look out the window, as if admiring the scenery.

Retracting his gaze, he glanced at Wang Dagang beside him. Wang Dagang had his eyes lowered, looking preoccupied.

Thus, Zhou Zhiyuan knew their attitudes. He lowered his head and continued to write, but his mind was already planning his next steps. The three section chiefs were sitting behind him, and he still needed to find an opportunity.

Then, he discovered that he was quite popular. Li Huaiyi gave him an opportunity: "Xiao Zhou, refill my cup with water."

The opportunity had come. Zhou Zhiyuan got up and walked towards Wan Chunfang's desk. The thermos was on her desk, with Li Huaiyi's teacup next to it, still containing a little tea.

Li Huaiyi was very particular; he even brought his teacup to meetings. And for Zhou Zhiyuan, pouring water in front of such a particular leader was a good opportunity to cultivate a refined image.

He would seize the opportunity. He walked towards Wan Chunfang's desk with an affected gait, awkwardly reaching out with his left hand to unscrew the lid of the thermos and pull out the stopper. But then he saw Wan Chunfang turn to look at his hand, and when she saw him clumsily lifting the thermos with his left hand, she immediately leaned back in her chair.

Wan Chunfang became vigilant. But he put the thermos down again, reaching out with his right hand to take Li Huaiyi's cup, using his right thumb to hook the handle of the teacup. Then he clumsily unscrewed the lid with his left hand and gently placed it down, before awkwardly lifting the thermos again with his left hand.

Seeing him lift the thermos again, Wan Chunfang, sensing something was wrong, immediately turned her body sideways, pressing her legs against the wall.

Wan Chunfang was very alert. She knew what might happen from Zhou Zhiyuan's actions, but she would definitely not speak. She watched as a plume of steam evaporated on the table, then quickly stood up and said, "Director Li, excuse me."

Li Huaiyi was sitting between her and Han Xue. For Wan Chunfang to get out, Li Huaiyi would have to move his legs.

But he hadn't noticed what had just happened. Hearing Wan Chunfang interrupt his speech, he turned to look at her.

Zhou Zhiyuan hurriedly said, "I'll do it." Then he quickly turned around, seeing that Wang Dagang still had his eyelids lowered, Sun Qiang and Zhang Fugui were looking over, but Hu Biao's eyes were fixed in another direction.

Seeing him staring straight in that direction, Zhou Zhiyuan knew he was looking at Han Xue. He immediately glanced left and right, ostensibly looking for a rag, but actually observing Han Xue's reaction.

He saw Han Xue glance coldly at Hu Biao, then look at him, pointing to the washbasin stand by the door.

Seeing this action, Zhou Zhiyuan knew that Han Xue was observant. She knew that the rag was hanging on the lower shelf of the washbasin stand, indicating that she had carefully observed the room after entering.

Observation is a habit, and deliberately cultivating this habit suggests one possibility: "Does she want to be an investigator?"

Zhou Zhiyuan walked to the washbasin stand with this question in mind, squatting down to take the rag. His eyes scanned Hu Biao's feet, and seeing the shape of his feet, he knew that his ten toes were lightly gripping the ground.

"He really is a martial artist." Zhou Zhiyuan affirmed his earlier judgment.

There is a common understanding that to determine whether a person practices martial arts, the focus should be on their feet. Sitting on a stool with the toes lightly gripping the ground is a natural movement only seen in those who practice martial arts.

He was verifying the judgment he had made when he first met Hu Biao.

Hu Biao was burly, and his walking posture showed that his arms and legs were very powerful. His finger bones were thick, and his skin was rough but very elastic, and his handshake was extremely strong.

But the room was a bit chaotic at the time, and he had to help fetch stools, so he didn't have time to observe Hu Biao's standing posture. Powerful arms and legs could not prove that Hu Biao had definitely practiced martial arts.

But this observation allowed him to know that Hu Biao was definitely a martial artist. As the saying goes, "One day of not practicing, ten days of practice are wasted." Only those who persevere for a long time will have such movements.

Zhou Zhiyuan was certain. He picked up the rag and stood up, returning to Wan Chunfang's desk and bending down to wipe the table.

But Wan Chunfang immediately stood up and reached out her hand, saying, "Give me the rag."

Zhou Zhiyuan quickly said, "Let me do it." He wanted to continue wiping the table.

Wan Chunfang replied impolitely, "I'm afraid you'll get my clothes wet."

Zhou Zhiyuan assured her, "Absolutely not, I'll be careful."

He had already given his assurance, but Wan Chunfang still didn't believe him. "You can wipe the table, but I'll go out first and you can wipe it later."

After saying this, Wan Chunfang turned to Li Huaiyi again and said, "Director Li, excuse me."

Li Huaiyi angrily said, "Are you two done yet? Xiao Zhou, give the rag to Comrade Wan Chunfang."

His attitude was very upright, but his words made Li Huaiyi embarrassed.

At this time, everyone looked at him, even Wang Dagang looked up.

Seeing everyone looking over, Li Huaiyi said awkwardly, "I forgot about your left hand. Go back and sit down."

"Yes, Deputy Director Li..." Zhou Zhiyuan expressed his obedience, then added, "Please rest assured, Deputy Director Li, although I am disabled, my will is as firm as iron. If Deputy Director Li has any arrangements, please feel free to instruct me, and I will do my best to complete the task."

After speaking, he turned to look at Hu Biao, seeing him staring in that direction with a smile on his face. He immediately turned to look at Han Xue.

Han Xue was looking up at him, and when she saw him looking over, she quickly lowered her head, casually giving Hu Biao a cold glance.

Seeing her expression, Zhou Zhiyuan knew that Han Xue was supportive of his actions just now, but had a terrible impression of Hu Biao.

No wonder she had this impression. Hu Biao showed this expression from the first time they met, as if he was a lovesick fool.

Han Xue had a pretty face, coupled with a heroic spirit, which was indeed pleasing to the eye.

But Hu Biao's performance was too bad, unlike Li Huaiyi who only glanced occasionally, and unlike the two section chiefs, Sun and Zhang, who were done after a couple of glances.

He just stared straight at Han Xue, and even grinned, revealing a strange smile.

Zhou Zhiyuan categorized his smile as a strange one, a smile containing a foolish grin, a flattering smile, and an inexplicable smile.

"Sleazy." He included this strange smile in a category, returned to his seat and sat down, hearing Li Huaiyi's voice and continuing to take notes.

But Wan Chunfang interrupted his speech again, "Director Li, excuse me."

Li Huaiyi angrily said again, "What do you want to do now?"

He was interrupted twice by Wan Chunfang, and his anger gradually increased, but Wan Chunfang still had a reason, and said with confidence, "Wring the rag."

"You let Xiao Zhou..." Li Huaiyi replied casually, then stopped, glancing at Zhou Zhiyuan.

Zhou Zhiyuan immediately stood up and said, "I'll do it."

But Wan Chunfang looked at him and asked curiously, "You can wring a rag with one hand?"

Zhou Zhiyuan replied, "I can squeeze the water out of the rag tightly with one hand."

He had this ability, and he was telling the truth, but Wan Chunfang denied it. "It won't be clean."

"I can," he assured.

"I doubt it," Wan Chunfang said frankly.

"Please watch my performance," Zhou Zhiyuan continued to assure.

At this time, Han Xue stood up and interjected, "Give me the rag, Director Li, excuse me."

She also needed Li Huaiyi to move his legs to get out, but Li Huaiyi didn't want to move, looking at Wang Dagang, seeing him with his eyelids lowered, looking pensive, as if he was oblivious to external things.

Wang Dagang's state made Li Huaiyi withdraw his gaze and angrily said, "You go wring the rag." Then he moved his legs sideways to let Wan Chunfang out.

Li Huaiyi gave way, and Wan Chunfang walked out proudly, as if she had won a battle, walked to the washbasin stand, wrung out the rag, and returned to the table to wipe it.

Her figure blocked Li Huaiyi's line of sight, but did not affect the transmission of the speaking voice. Li Huaiyi was still able to talk eloquently at this time, "Comrades, the situation was very good at that time. We overcame the difficulties of the three years of natural disasters economically..."

Zhou Zhiyuan was familiar with this speech. That's what the newspaper said.

But he was not surprised. He was also familiar with Li Huaiyi's previous speeches. He could take notes in advance. When Li Huaiyi said the first sentence, he would write the last two parts of the sentence.

This sense of familiarity allowed him to write the closing remarks of the meeting. When Li Huaiyi said "Comrades", he had already written a paragraph: "Let us unite as one and make due contributions to continuously improving the sanitation environment of Xingyi Street."

Li Huaiyi finished this speech following the tip of his pen, and the meeting ended.