After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

Chen Ping arrived at the municipal government office building early in the morning. As soon as he entered, he sensed that the way people around him were looking at him was a bit strange.

In the corridor, several early-arriving staff members saw him, immediately stopped talking, and looked him up and down.

"Is that him? The fifth-place finisher who managed to get in by luck..."

"I'm so lucky, none of the first four were interested."

"I heard that he scored fifteen points lower than the first place in the written test. If he had taken the test normally, he wouldn't have even gotten the interview."

Chen Pingfang acted as if he hadn't heard any of the murmurs. Having spent so many years working within the system in his previous life, he had seen this kind of scene countless times.

Following procedure, he went directly to the General Affairs Office.

Pushing open the door, I saw several people sitting inside. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline was sitting by the window, drinking tea with his legs crossed. This was Sun Zhigang, the head of the General Affairs Section.

"Section Chief Sun, I'm Chen Pingfang, here to report for duty today." Chen Pingfang walked over and handed over his admission notice.

Sun Zhigang glanced at it, didn't take it, and continued to slowly sip his tea: "Oh, you're here. Wait over there, I'll talk to you when I'm done."

Chen Ping glanced at the clock on the wall; it was exactly eight o'clock in the morning, the start of his workday.

He said nothing, sat down in the chair next to him, and the others in the office cast sympathetic glances at him.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Sun Zhigang finally put down his teacup, took out a file folder from the drawer, and casually tossed it on the table.

"Chen Pingfang, right?" Sun Zhigang leaned back in his chair, not even looking at him. "I've heard about your situation. Although you were accepted, you were ranked fifth after all. We'll have to see how capable you really are."

"According to the rules, newcomers have to start from the bottom." He sneered. "There's an old archive room on the third floor of the city government office. No one has taken care of it. It's full of old documents from the 1980s. It's dirty and messy. Go there and clean it up first, and get familiar with the archival work while you're at it."

"As for your position..." Sun Zhigang glanced around the office, "It's not available for now. We'll talk about it when you perform well."

Upon hearing this, the people working in the office stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

The old archives? Everyone knows that place; it's usually where people who have made mistakes or are ostracized are sent.

To treat a newcomer like this on their very first day is clearly a sign that someone is trying to sabotage them.

"Section Chief Wang's methods are really something..." someone thought to themselves.

They were all people working within the system, and they immediately realized that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

After listening, Chen Pingfang showed no expression on his face, but instead smiled.

"Section Chief Sun, if I may add something," he said slowly. "According to Article 13 of the 'Regulations on the Training and Management of Newly Recruited Personnel of Yunzhou Municipal Government Office,' newcomers must undergo a week of training, with someone from the department guiding them to familiarize themselves with the work before being assigned a position."

"You can skip all that and let me go to the old archives..." Chen Ping paused, his tone calm but his words clear, "Is this the organization's decision, or did someone ask you for help privately?"

The office fell silent immediately.

Several colleagues were stunned. This newcomer was incredibly bold! Daring to go against the section chief on his very first day of work?

Sun Zhigang's face changed instantly, and he slammed his hand on the table, standing up abruptly: "What did you say?!"

He never expected that this newcomer with no background would not only disobey orders, but also dare to talk back to him in front of everyone!

"Chen Pingfang, you've only just arrived and you already have no respect for your superiors, you're disobeying orders!" Sun Zhigang pointed at Chen Pingfang's nose and yelled, "I don't think you're suitable to work in the municipal government office at all! I'm calling the organization department right now to return your file, so you won't even pass your probation period!"

Chen Ping's colleagues were all worried for him.

This is terrible; we've completely offended Section Chief Sun.

Although Sun Zhigang is only a section chief, he has been working in the city government for more than ten years and has many connections. Offending him will not end well.

"He's still too young, what a pity..." Some people felt sorry for Chen Pingfang.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Sun Zhigang had already picked up the phone, ready to call the Organization Department.

At that very moment—

"Whose file do you want to return?"

A cool, clear female voice came from the doorway.

Everyone immediately turned to look, and saw Xiao Yuhan standing at the door in a black business suit, her short hair neatly styled, exuding the aura of a leader.

Sun Zhigang nearly dropped the phone, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead: "Mayor Xiao... Mayor Xiao? What's wrong...?"

Xiao Yuhan didn't even glance at him, her gaze falling directly on Chen Pingfang. She frowned slightly and said, "I told you to come and report, why did it take so long? Pack your things and come with me."

"Yes, Mayor Xiao." Chen Ping stood up, his expression calm.

"Mayor Xiao, this... this Chen Ping, let him go..." Sun Zhigang stammered, trying to explain.

Xiao Yuhan raised her hand to interrupt him, giving him a cold glance: "From today onwards, Chen Pingfang is my secretary, and he will be directly responsible to me. The General Affairs Department does not need to assign him any work."

Everyone in the office was stunned when he said that.

The deputy mayor's secretary?!

That's one of the most important locations in the city government office!

So many people would kill for this position, and this newcomer did it on his very first day...

Sun Zhigang's face turned pale instantly, and he froze on the spot.

He was just making things difficult for Chen Pingfang, and now he's become the vice mayor's confidant.

This time, I've really messed with the wrong person!

"Um... Mayor Xiao, I just wanted Comrade Chen to get some more exercise, I didn't mean anything else..." Large beads of sweat dripped down Sun Zhigang's forehead.

"Training?" Xiao Yuhan's lips curled into a cold smile. "Making new recruits sweep the old archives room, is this how your General Affairs Department trains them?"

"I...I..." Sun Zhigang couldn't speak.

Chen Ping picked up his file folder, turned to Sun Zhigang and smiled, "Thank you for your trouble, Section Chief Sun, but it seems I won't need to go to the archives for training for the time being."

After saying that, he followed Xiao Yuhan out of the office.

As soon as the door closed, the office erupted in discussion.

"My God, just who is this newcomer?!"

"Becoming the deputy mayor's secretary? That's a meteoric rise!"

"Section Chief Sun is in trouble now, she's humiliated her people right in front of Mayor Xiao..."

"I heard that Section Chief Wang ordered Section Chief Sun to do this. Now look what happened, he didn't get any benefits and just got himself into trouble!"

The news quickly spread throughout the entire city government building.

The newcomer who got in by chance was not only not suppressed, but instead became a close associate of the deputy mayor!

Wang Haocheng's carefully laid plans have now completely fallen through.

In the corridor, Xiao Yuhan slowed her pace, took out a document from her bag and handed it to Chen Pingfang, her expression serious: "What happened just now is nothing, the real battle is yet to come."

"The investment promotion conference has been postponed, but some people are already impatient." She paused. "The meeting starts in ten minutes. Are you prepared to deal with those people?"