He Yi rolled his eyes at Qiao Nan. “Da Bao’s such a great kid. Why are you complaining? Others don’t have someone like him even if they want to. You should be content.” It was estimated that he would only have one grandchild in the future. Regardless if it was a grandson or granddaughter, as long as he or she was half as sensible as Da Bao, he wouldn’t have to worry about the He family’s future.

  Qiao Nan laughed bitterly. Was she complaining about Da Bao? She was obviously feeling heartache for Da Bao, who was taught to grow prematurely by the elders in the family. Da Bao wasn’t as playful and mischievous as Er Bao and San Bao.

  Qiao Nan and He Yi had a harmonious relationship. People in the office were long used to this. Their relationship with Qiao Nan, a junior, was pretty good as well.

  Four years had passed. Qiao Nan and Deng Wenchang were no longer considered newbies in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Last year, the ministry accepted two more people. In terms of hierarchy, these two were considered newbies. However, among these ‘newbies’, the youngest one was already one year older than Qiao Nan.

  In the department, Qiao Nan was their senior. However, in terms of age, Qiao Nan had to call them her elders.

  The scene that the old people were already used to didn’t mean that the young people would be accepting of it. Deng Wenchang belonged to the type that could not accept such a scene. Perhaps similarly afflicted people pitied each other. The two newbies didn’t have a bad relationship with Qiao Nan, but they had a better relationship with Deng Wenchang.

  “Take a look at my document and see if there are any issues.” Xu Xinming handed over the document he had organized to Deng Wenchang, wanting him to help see if there were any issues. After Deng Wenchang said that everything was good, he would hand the document over to the minister.

  \r \r \r

  Deng Wenchang’s pen paused and he looked at Xu Xinming. “Is this document urgent?”

  “It’s…… still alright,” Xu Xinming replied in embarrassment. If he completed it earlier, he could hand it over earlier and try to impress the minister. If he handed it over later, there wouldn’t be any major issues. However, what if the minister misunderstood that he was incapable or lazy?

  After getting his answer, Deng Wenchang pushed his spectacles. “If it’s not urgent, put it aside first. When I’m done with the things on my hand, I’ll help you take a look again. Of course, if it’s really urgent, you can hand the document directly over to the minister. The minister takes care of newbies well. After all, there is one obvious example in the department. Everyone can see that. The minister is biased toward newbies. What is there for you to worry about?”

  Deng Wenchang was quite unwilling to help these ‘newbies’ suck up. Regardless if it was Xu Xinming or Li Dawei, both of them paled in comparison to him and Qiao Nan back then.

  Qiao Nan had always maintained a record of zero errors. Even if Deng Wenchang had some mistakes, they were minor. However, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei made more mistakes than Qiao Nan and Deng Wenchang back then. It was precisely because of this that He Yi didn’t dare to pass anything too important to Xu Xinming and Li Dawei.

  Sensing He Yi’s attitude toward them, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei wanted to stay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs more. They even hoped to be promoted in the future. As such, He Yi’s impression of them became more crucial.

  After a poor performance once, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei let go of the arrogance in their hearts and ignored the fact that Qiao Nan and Deng Wenchang were younger than them. They had entered the ministry first and were considered to be veterans. It was normal for Qiao Nan and Deng Wenchang to perform better than them since they had more years of experience.

  If he was allowed to stay in the ministry for a few years, he promised that four years later, his performance would definitely not be worse than Qiao Nan’s and Deng Wenchang’s today.

  It was common for newbies to ask their seniors wherever they were. As such, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei didn’t feel any psychological pressure or burden when they asked Qiao Nan and Deng Wenchang for help.

  Once or twice, Deng Wenchang felt that these two newbies were similar to himself. They looked down on Qiao Nan a little and felt that she wasn’t suited to stay in the ministry. As such, he had helped them. To give directions to Xu Xinming and Li Dawei as a senior, Deng Wenchang felt pretty good in his heart as well.

  After Xu Xinming and Li Dawei joined them, Deng Wenchang, who had been suppressed by Qiao Nan all along, had such a thought for the first time: Indeed, it wasn’t that his performance was poor. It was that Qiao Nan was too perverted.

  The reality proved that the first-day performance of these two newbies, who were older than him, was far worse than his five or six years ago.

  One should know that after he joined the ministry for a year, he had begun to deal with these issues independently. There wasn’t a need for him to consult the elders in the department. He handed the documents over to the ministry with great confidence. Out of ten times, he had committed at most one or two minor mistakes. They weren’t big issues.

  Looking at Xu Xinming and Li Dawei in front of him again, Deng Wenchang’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “Xu Xinming, do you still remember the comments I made previously? As the saying goes, the more you read, the more you learn. This is still quite practical.” If you know that you’re not as capable or don’t have as much knowledge, which resulted in a lacking performance, then work harder and try to catch up!

  To make up for the lack of professional knowledge, one should ask their elder to impart more experience to them.

  If one knew that they were incapable, they should work even harder. In the current society, age did not equate to ability. Seeing that Xu Xinming and Li Dawei weren’t as capable but weren’t hardworking either, Deng Wenchang couldn’t help but feel irritated.

  Xu Xinming and Li Dawei’s appearance could only make Deng Wenchang happy for a short while as he became an outstanding person among the newbies. However, after interacting more with Xu Xinming and Li Dawei, his initial sense of superiority gradually faded. When he saw Xu Xinming again today, Deng Wenchang actually developed the mindset that instead of having colleagues like Xu Xinming and Li Dawei, he’d rather work with Qiao Nan.

  After having such a mindset, Deng Wenchang’s relationship with the newbies was naturally not as good as before. Furthermore, He Yi valued the relationship he had with Qiao Nan, so even if Xu Xinming and Li Dawei didn’t like Qiao Nan in private and stood by Deng Wenchang’s side, their attitude toward Qiao Nan in public was still pretty friendly.

  Although Deng Wenchang wasn’t someone who was offended by unreasonable things, it was obvious that Xu Xinming and Li Dawei were trying their best to please both parties. He wasn’t used to this and was more unwilling to help Xu Xinming. “What’s your decision? Are you going to hand it over to the minister now, or let me take a look first after I’m free?”

  After all, Xu Xinming was a newbie and wasn’t thick-skinned. After sensing that Deng Wenchang’s words and attitude weren’t good, he blushed angrily and took the document back. “Since you’re so busy, how would I disturb you? I’ll hand this over to the minister directly for him to take a look.”