Chapter 1267 Lack of Trust
Liu Shang was not a good drinker. After sharing a bottle of Sanya special brew with Jiang Han, his mind was already a little confused. Jiang Han originally wanted to order a second bottle, but Liu Shang quickly raised his hand to stop him and asked the waiter to give him a cup of hot tea to wake him up. Jiang Han originally wanted to persuade him to drink a few more drinks, but Liu Shang said that he had to meet Chang Degao the next day, and the business could not be delayed, so Jiang Han did not dare to force him any more.
Even so, Liu Shang was still top-heavy when he left the restaurant and had not yet fully recovered. Jiang Han didn't have much reaction. He helped him out of the restaurant, called a rickshaw, paid for him, and asked the driver to take him back to his residence. At the end, Jiang Han stuffed an envelope into his hand: "Mr. Liu, please don't refuse this small gift."
Before Liu Shang could react, Jiang Han asked the driver to set off. All the way back to his residence, several other people who were still living in the same hospital with him were still enjoying the cool in the patio, and they all greeted him when he came back. However, Liao Yuan and his subordinates did not know Liu Shang's true identity, and they did not pay much attention to his comings and goings.
Liu Shang returned to the room and lit the candles, then took out the envelope Jiang Han had just given and opened it. There were three Haihan circulation coupons with a face value of ten yuan, which was equivalent to two months' wages for him to work as a storyteller in the teahouse. Liu Shang could naturally understand Jiang Han's gesture of goodwill. They expected him to maintain this network of connections after entering the yamen. However, Liu Shang is not a person who is short of money, and Jiang Han's actions will not have any impact. Whether this personal relationship should be maintained in the future depends on whether it is necessary.
Liu Shang put the money away and took a few sips of the cold water he had put on the table in the morning. Just as he was about to turn on the lamp and go to bed, he heard someone knocking on the door: "Mr. Liu, are you asleep?"
Liu Shang woke up halfway when he heard that he was dozing off. From the voice of his voice, he could tell that the person knocking on the door was Liao Yuan. Logically speaking, he should be on duty at the store at night. But at this time, he suddenly came back to look for him. Could there be some emergency? ?
Liu Shang quickly put on the clothes he had half taken off. When he opened the door, he saw that it was Liao Yuan. He immediately lowered his voice and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Liao Yuan coughed dryly and said: "Boss Liu gave out fresh fruit as a bonus today. I brought some back for the brothers to try. I also brought a portion to Mr. Liu by the way."
Liu Shang knew from his expression that he had something to say, so he thanked him first and invited him to sit inside the room.
After the two sat down in the room, Liao Yuan revealed his true purpose: "I heard that someone went to the teahouse to meet you today. Is he from the government?"
Liu Shangqi said: "It is indeed true, but how did you know?"
When he met with Chang Degao in the afternoon, only Jiang Han accompanied him throughout the whole process. Not even the waiter in the shop came to the backyard. After he came back, he did not reveal today's experience to the people who lived with him. Where did Liao Yuan hear this? The news?
Liao Yuan sighed and said: "In the afternoon, someone saw an official from the Propaganda Department going to Xinlong Teahouse and leaving quietly until dinner time. Moreover, you were called to the back hall after you finished speaking, so I think that person should be I went to find you and sneaked back to ask you at night.”
"You...are spying on me?" After hearing these words, the remaining drunkenness in Liu Shang's mind evaporated instantly. No, Liao Yuan was not just monitoring himself, he should have also put the entire teahouse under surveillance.
Although Liu Shang and Liao Yuan are from the same camp, they have no superior-subordinate relationship, and their operational tasks in Sanya are also different. Liu Shang had previously advised Liao Yuan to change his profession so that he could more easily reach the upper class of society, but his starting point was just to provide advice, and the humility shown by Liao Yuan was not due to the subordinates' obedience to their superiors. .
In the final analysis, they are just colleagues who were sent to Sanya to perform tasks. Each has its own development direction. Strictly speaking, they are not even a partnership. However, Liu Shang sensed that Liao Yuan might be consciously monitoring him in private. The daily movements are inevitably still shocking in my heart. He didn't expect that his colleagues would already be on guard against him as soon as he had a clue about the mission here.
The expression on Liao Yuan's face did not change, and he responded calmly: "Mr. Liu, you do your thing and I do mine. That's all. Don't have any misunderstandings. Besides, I'm not talking to you right now." Report? ”
Liu Shang took a deep breath and suppressed his anger back into his chest. He also knew that what Liao Yuan said was not wrong. He didn't know whether the other party's mission included monitoring him, and he had no right to ask the other party not to do so. Do. However, it seemed a bit over the line for Liao Yuan to come back to inquire about this matter so anxiously. After all, his mission was carried out in a single line. No one told him when he came that Liao Yuan could directly inquire about the progress of his mission.
Liu Shang nodded slowly and said: "The progress of my mission cannot be disclosed to the second person at will, just like the errand you are doing right now cannot be disclosed to me easily."
Liao Yuan was not angry when he encountered this soft nail, and said calmly: "That's true, but my task is to ensure the safety of other people lurking in the local area, and to monitor the teahouse, and for Mr. Liu's sake." Safety. Someone has to do this thankless job.”
Liu Shang was secretly surprised. If Liao Yuan had not told lies, he could be sure of at least two things now. One was that Liao Yuan was indeed tasked with monitoring him, and the other was that there might be more than just the two groups of accomplices lurking in the local area. Both of these pieces of information were unknown to him before he set out for Sanya. It seemed that his status and role in this plan were far less important than he had expected.
Liu Shang believed that he was much smarter than ordinary people, eloquent and had a photographic memory. After taking over the task of lurking in Sanya, he felt that he should be the central figure in the entire plan and should serve as a front-line commander in the future. This Liao Yuan is a martial artist with no brains. In his opinion, he can only do a low-level job of looking after homes and nursing homes. In the future, he will probably only be able to act as his own pawn to complete some tasks that require the use of violence. But now it seems that the situation seems to be quite different from what I imagined.
Liao Yuan was not a reckless man, at least Liu Shangke had not noticed that he was secretly spying on him before this. Although Liao Yuan now claims that this kind of surveillance is for "protection" purposes, this kind of protection that kept Liu Shang completely unaware of it in itself is a manifestation of a lack of trust in him.
Liu Shang's two hands placed under the table slowly clenched into fists, but his face still responded very calmly: "So that's it, I misunderstood Brother Liao. As you expected, there is indeed a government official today." People have been to the teahouse and have met with me." Liu Shang stopped abruptly after speaking, and seemed to have no intention of further extending the topic. Liao Yuan had no choice but to take the initiative to ask again: "Then the other party came to invite Mr. Liu to join?"
Liu Shang did not answer his question, but nodded slightly in response.
"Is the matter settled?" Liao Yuan continued to ask relentlessly.
"Whether it's successful or not, I won't know the result until I meet with him at the Port District Management Committee tomorrow." Liu Shang finally gave an uncertain answer.
Liao Yuan was naturally not happy to be dealt with by Liu Shang in such a weird way. If he hadn't been on a mission, he would have wanted to give this poor, self-righteous scholar some color. Liao Yuan slowly stood up and said: "In that case, let's wait until Mr. Liu finishes his work tomorrow and then contact us!"
Liu Shang didn't even stand up. He just cupped his hands and said, "It's getting late, so Liu will send you off far away."
No matter how good-tempered Liao Yuan was, he couldn't help but snort when he saw Liu Shang's attitude, turned around and walked out of Liu Shang's house. Liu Shang closed the door and turned on the light, took off his clothes and went to bed, but his mind kept thinking about the conversation with Chang Degao in the afternoon and the conversation with Liao Yuan just now. The issue Liu Shang was thinking about was not Liao Yuan's attitude, but Liao Yuan's purpose of secretly monitoring Xinlong Tea House, and the position and role of himself and Liao Yuan in the entire plan.
In addition to monitoring his own movements, does Liao Yuan also have other tasks that he is not aware of? For example, when his action fails or even his identity is exposed, he will promptly cut off this line to prevent Haihan from uprooting the lurking personnel. Liu Shang couldn't help but shudder when he thought of such a possibility. He also knew that his organization had spent a lot of effort on this latent plan and would never allow one link to go wrong and implicate the entire plan.
When Liu Shang came to Sanya, he also thought that he and Liao Yuan would be assigned together. Perhaps the superiors wanted to arrange for them to accept his command in the future, but now it seems that this is not the case. In addition to lurking in Sanya, the mission of Liao Yuan and others is to monitor other lurkers, including themselves, and understand the progress of each person's mission. It seems that Liao Yuan is more like a superior sitting in the rear, while he has become a subordinate charging forward.
If this situation is true, it is definitely not a good thing for Liu Shang. This is not just a matter of who gets on and who gets off, but directly poses a great threat to his safety. Originally, Liu Shang thought that only Liao Yuan knew his true identity. As long as nothing happened to Liao Yuan, the possibility of him being implicated was basically zero. But now it seems that Liao Yuan may have connections with other lurking personnel. If something happens to others, , it is very likely that the carrot will be pulled out and the mud will be pulled out, which will involve Liao Yuan and himself, and the risk of exposure will also be greatly increased.
And if Liu Shang's cooperation with Liao Yuan is not smooth enough, then Liao Yuan may one day quietly get rid of him in the name of "security". This kind of thing is not news in the organization. Colleagues fight against each other or even silence each other for self-protection or profit. This is an unspoken rule accepted by most people in this industry, and even Liu Shang himself is no exception. If necessary, he will also try to get rid of hidden dangers that may threaten his safety, even if the hidden danger is an accomplice like Liao Yuan.
Thinking of this, Liu Shang also regretted his previous harsh attitude towards Liao Yuan. Offending Liao Yuan at this time would actually not be good for his future situation. At least he must first gain a place in the Haihan government and improve his social status, and then slowly seek to occupy a more important position in this latent plan. When I look back, I have to find a suitable time to ease the little unhappiness with Liao Yuan.
As for the possibility of entering the Propaganda Department, Liu Shang thinks that it is more than 80%. In his brief conversation with Chang Degao today, he could clearly feel that the other party's invitation was not a dispensable temptation, but a sincere desire to win over him. As long as there are no big mistakes in tomorrow's interview, this matter should be finalized soon. And when he came back, Jiang Han stuffed himself a generous red envelope. This was probably because he had already received some definite information from Chang Degao. As soon as he let go, the matter was mostly settled, and he Only then can I be sure to send out this red envelope in advance.
After Liu Shang thought about the cause and effect, he fell asleep. He was quite tired after drinking the night before, but then he was stimulated by Liao Yuan's visit and started thinking again. He actually woke up after sleeping for three to three hours.
When Liu Shang opened his eyes and looked at the sun outside the window, he immediately screamed, got up quickly, got dressed and washed, and hurried out the door without even bothering to have breakfast. Chang Degao told him yesterday to report to the Port District Management Committee this morning. At this time, the Management Committee had already started work. The later he showed up, the more his attitude would appear to be uncorrect.
Liu Shang came out of the yard and saw a rickshaw not far away. He was about to hail it over, but after a second thought he gave up the idea and trotted all the way to the location of the Port Management Committee.
By the time Liu Shang reached his destination, he was already out of breath and sweating profusely. He stopped to adjust his breathing before walking towards the entrance of the administrative committee office building.
The office building of the Sanya Administrative Committee is a door-shaped three-story brick and stone structure building. In the middle is a patio courtyard surrounded by three-sided buildings and a south-facing gate. There is a pond, rockery and flower bed in the middle. The office environment is quite good. That's right, it doesn't have the heaviness of the yamen that Liu Shang had seen in the past. There was a guard on duty at the gate of the Administrative Committee, and Liu Shang first registered his identity before being allowed in.
Liu Shang asked the guard about the location of the Propaganda Department's office. After entering the office building, he followed the stairs to the second floor, and then found the Propaganda Department by following the name hanging at the door. The door of the office was open, and there were four desks in the room. Liu Shang looked around the door and saw Chang Degao sitting behind one of the desks. However, Chang Degao was looking at the documents spread out on the table and did not notice Liu Shang's appearance.
Liu Shang saw a note on the door saying "Knock on the door if you have something to do", so he knocked on the door gently. Several people in the room raised their heads and looked at the door. Now Chang Degao saw him at a glance and waved for him to enter the house.
(End of chapter)