Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  One should not disturb her work, let alone do something that would encumber the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ruin the country’s dignity and interests.

  The difference was that Deng Wenchang seemed to be determined to chase these two people out from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  “They are not completely useless. But I do admit that they might not be suitable for their positions. I don’t have any good solutions. My only solution is to ignore them. In the future, no matter what Li Dawei asks me, I’ll ignore him and say that I don’t know anything.” Qiao Nan shrugged, expressing that she was not as ruthless as Deng Wenchang.

  To think that Deng Wenchang had initially thought that she was just a pretty face that had pulled on some strings to enter the department and that he would not need much effort to kick her out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  “The benevolence of women.” Deng Wenchang eyed Qiao Nan contemptuously before taking his leave happily. Deng Wenchang could take Qiao Nan’s words for what they were. If Qiao Nan was really determined, along with help from the Zhai family, he would never have been able to survive so long in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so peacefully.

  If Qiao Nan was not going to do it, then he would have to personally take care of Xu Xinming and Li Dawei. He did not believe that He Yi did not have anything to say about newbies like that. He was only afraid that He Yi would be willing to press on to see the success of these two people.

  What Deng Wenchang wanted to do was beyond Qiao Nan’s control. What Qiao Nan could control was her perseverance to the end. Ever since Qiao Nan said that to Deng Wenchang, Qiao Nan strengthened her resolve. As long as Li Dawei came asking Qiao Nan for information, she would refuse to respond. She either replied that she was too busy and had no time for him, or simply coldly rejected him by saying that she did not know either.

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  With such words and such an attitude, she had made it painfully obvious.

  Li Dawei was also one who cared about his dignity. He had not expected Qiao Nan to suddenly become so cold toward him after a whole year. Moreover, it was the kind of coldness where there was not even a sliver of warmness. She completely refused him. Li Dawei’s face darkened and he could not help but scold Qiao Nan in his heart. What was there to be proud of?

  No matter how amazing or powerful Qiao Nan was, she was still nothing but a woman. She would never be the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  He would wait for Minister He Yi to step down from his position. And then, when the new minister took over, he would forge a good relationship with the new minister. When that time came, he would show Qiao Nan what he was worth!

  If he was not a newbie, Li Dawei would not even be willing to take on such tasks. He would be more than willing to throw them into the hands of Qiao Nan in the name of giving a newbie more opportunities to practice. If anything went wrong, Qiao Nan would take the blame. But if she did well, that was all because he had taught her well. Without his guidance, how would Qiao Nan be able to perform so well?

  It was such a pity that Li Dawei entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a few years after Qiao Nan.

  Li Dawei could only dream of such a wonderful work-life from time to time. In reality, even if he had never addressed Qiao Nan, neither had he put up a haughty or arrogant attitude in front of Qiao Nan. Otherwise, Qiao Nan would not even have to do anything. With so many seniors in the department, just one word from each senior would harass Li Dawei so much that he would not dare to go to work for a few days.

  Qiao Nan’s reply was that she did not know. But when Xu Xinming went to ask Deng Wenchang for help, Deng Wenchang was much more impatient. “Why do you always have problems? Did you not learn properly while you were in school? Or did your teachers and professors not teach you well? If that’s the case, I have two suggestions for you. If the problem is you, then please go back and learn. Don’t be like a primary school student who simply goes to the teacher for help when you encounter a problem. You don’t even want to solve it by yourself. Of course, if the problem lies with your teacher, then shall I recommend some reliable and more knowledgeable teachers to you?”

  Deng Wenchang was already thirty years old but was still childless. However, when faced with Xu Xinming, he felt as though he was taking care of his son.

  If he were to have any children in the future, and if they were going to be anything like Xu Xinming, Deng Wenchang would rather be childless for the rest of his life. He would much rather be like those westerners who worked their whole lives and not have children. Anyway, there were too many people in China. The state restricted childbirth and advocated the idea of giving birth to only one child.

  Even if it was just responding actively to the national policy, it would be better not to have this child if possible—or as late as possible.

  Otherwise, if he had a child like Xu Xinming, Deng Wenchang would probably want to kill himself.

  In any case, with Deng Wenchang and Qiao Nan putting up their fronts and attitudes, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei no longer had the cheek to turn to these two ‘elders’ for help just as when they were newbies in the past.

  Seeing this situation, many seniors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sniggered. This should have been the way since a long time ago. If it were them, they would have long ignored these lazy youngsters. There was a difference between newbies as well. Even if Deng Wenchang thought highly about himself, other than Qiao Nan whom he could not match up to, he was miles ahead of Xu Xinming and Li Dawei!

  Under such circumstances, people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs really had no need to pay any attention to Xu Xinming or Li Dawei. With tempers like those two, there was only one word to describe them wanting to be a part of the family: impossible.

  But there was no way to teach this. Qiao Nan had to stand up on her own. As such, when Qiao Nan finally strengthened her resolve, there was not a single person in the office who felt that Qiao Nan was being a hard-hearted senior. Rather, they felt that Qiao Nan had been too kindhearted to have put up with her juniors up until today.

  Unlike Deng Wenchang, who had been frustrated for a long time. If Qiao Nan had not continued to put up with her juniors, Deng Wenchang would have started ignoring Xu Xinming long ago.

  As a newbie in the same batch, Deng Wenchang had waited for a long time, expecting Qiao Nan to say something about the situation so that he would not seem mean and harsh to the newbies.

  Once Deng Wenchang and Qiao Nan hardened their attitudes, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei had no other choice. The duo could only come together to think of a solution. After all, it would be impossible for either of them to stay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, much less progress in their careers if they performed poorly.

  “Hello, I’m the mother of Zhai Yi, Zhai Xin, and Zhai Yu. I’ll be a little late today. Can you please ask Teacher Yu to look after my three children for half an hour? I will rush down to the school and pick up my children within an hour after school ends.” As she had a lot on her plate, it was inevitable that she would be bound up with work.

  At such a time, everyone in the department was usually busy at the same time and no one could leave first.

  Even though He Yi knew that Qiao Nan needed to pick her children up and offered to take over part of Qiao Nan’s work to allow her to leave earlier, Qiao Nan herself refused!