“Perhaps, that would have been easier.”

  Ding Jiayi had not said those words for nothing.

  Since Ding Jiayi was nobody, she had no choice but to look for the underlings. Zhai Sheng held a high position, and as such, his phone call would naturally be made to those in high positions as well. There was no way he would have gone to someone at a level as low as the person whom Ding Jiayi had found.

  “Don’t worry. You did do quite a lot for my elder daughter. I wanted to save my son-in-law some trouble, but unfortunately, it seems like my son-in-law will have to deal with this matter himself. We’ll hold a banquet once my elder daughter becomes a civil servant. Do remember to turn up for it then. Even if you don’t get the chance to sit at the same table as my son-in-law, you might get the chance to talk to him, at the very least. Since there will be quite a few people with higher positions than you, please don’t mind me if I’m not able to host you well.”

  If he could not handle this matter, Ding Jiayi would simply find someone else to do it. Then, his dream of being specially introduced to Zhai Sheng and sitting at the same table as Zhai Sheng would never be fulfilled. How one was treated was all dependent on one’s ability and how much work one had done.

  It was only natural for one to get more in return if they did more work. But if someone else were to settle the important matters, one should have the good conscience to stand aside and not fantasize about unrealistic and impossible situations.

  Ding Jiayi had greatly reduced her earlier promise, causing that person, who had already fallen deep into his dream, to feel uncomfortable. “Auntie Ding, that’s…… It’s not that I don’t want to do it. It’s just that it’s impossible for me to do it given the situation now. I’m really……”

  \r \r \r

  He was reluctant to give up the chance to dine with Chief Zhai, but there was no way he would be able to get this matter done alone. It was not as if he had the final say in this department. Once he did something, everyone else in the department would surely find out about it.

  There was no way he would be able to claim all credit himself this time. The only difference was that in this case, he would still get greater credit as compared to anyone else.

  He had been forced into a corner by Ding Jiayi. He had already given up so much for Ding Jiayi. At the very least, he had managed to help Qiao Zijin pass the written examination by his own effort. Why was it that his services were now being discounted just because he had not managed to settle the situation for the lackey of the chief’s wife? That was unfair! What logic was it that a childhood friend was closer than a biological sister?

  He refused to give up, but he knew he would never be able to settle the matter alone. Left with no other choice, he could only report the matter to his superior to see if there was any other way of solving the problem. Anyway, this was not his personal problem but the sister of the chief’s wife’s. He did not need his boss to care about him. He only needed his boss to care about the chief.

  After receiving Zhai Sheng’s call, the department head was faced with a difficult choice. The department head felt that there was no way they could go ahead with this. Since Qiao Zijin’s matter had already passed, there was no point in pursuing it anymore. However, they could not possibly accede to the Qiao family’s requests once again. That would only make a joke out of their department.

  If they were to go through with it, all of them might very well lose their positions. Yet, if they did not do it, Chief Zhai might just get angry and find an excuse to fire all of them. Either way, their positions were at risk of being cut!

  Just as the department head was about to lose his mind, Zhai Sheng’s call had saved him from the fire. Upon hearing that Zhai Sheng intended to resolve this matter fairly, the department head immediately understood his intentions. People were also using made-up directives to order people around, but the Qiao family was even more impressive. They were using fake edicts to order people around!

  That was to say that the news reports regarding the Qiao family last year were quite reliable. The chief’s wife had suffered at the hands of the Qiao family and had finally been able to escape from that sea of misery after her blissful marriage. Although she had not completely severed all ties with her family, there was no way her relationship with her family would be like that of other daughters with their families.

  With such a clear directive from Zhai Sheng, the other party did not bother being softhearted toward the Qiao family. Zhai Sheng had already made his stand clear. If anyone wanted to become a civil servant, they had better rely on their own abilities to do so. It did not matter whom one had as a relative. How much knowledge one had was more important.

  As for people like Qiao Zijin who tried to enter through backdoors, there was no space for them at all, no matter how good their results were. If they were to accept such people, they would only be raising more leeches in the country.

  Of course, even though Qiao Zijin’s name had appeared on the list, there was no longer the need for her to turn up for the interview. As such, that person who had been kicked out because of Qiao Zijin would naturally be invited. But there was a slight problem.

  It was because of Qiao Zijin that that neighbor’s daughter had been kicked off the list, and it just so happened that that neighbor’s daughter intended to walk down the same path as Qiao Zijin and had asked Ding Jiayi to help her in through a backdoor.

  In the face of such a situation, Zhai Sheng made his decision after a moment of consideration. They would allow that neighbor’s daughter to attend the interviews this time, but this was not going to set precedence for the future.

  Although that young lady had indeed done some underhanded things because she had not been shortlisted, she had still passed the test based on her own abilities. If Qiao Zijin had not come into the picture, that young lady would never have needed to do all those things that followed after the results had been announced.

  Based on this, they would overlook the fact that that young lady had asked the Qiao family for such a favor. Just like the written examination, they would judge the candidates based on their abilities during the interview.

  With Zhai Sheng’s instructions, the recruitment department immediately got down to work and made several calls to inform the relevant parties.

  The neighbor’s daughter was dumbfounded when she received the call, informing her that she had been accepted for the interview.

  “What’s wrong? Who called you? Why have you become like this after that call?” Seeing that her daughter was stunned, the neighbor could not help but wonder what had happened.

  That young lady blinked blankly and pinched her face to see if she was dreaming. “That call was to inform me that I’ve been accepted for the civil service entrance interview. The time and place…… Yes, yes. Hurry and get me a pen and some paper. Otherwise, I might just forget them later.” The young lady rambled on anxiously.

  Upon hearing that, the young lady’s father immediately got the pen and paper ready for her.