Striving for Science C51

In the end, Old Zhao didn't finish the remaining few pots of mushrooms. He was able to escape because it was almost noon, and Shen Chang'an needed to eat lunch after waking up.

Dao Nian sat in his chair, seeing Shen Chang'an lingering at the entrance of the stairs. He put down the book in his hand and said, "Come over, it's time to eat."

Shen Chang'an quickly glanced around, making sure no one was laughing at him before casually walking over to sit beside Dao Nian. "Is Uncle Zhao cooking again today?" He was worried that Uncle Zhao's body wouldn't be able to handle it after eating the poisonous mushrooms. He stood up, "I'll go to the kitchen and help."

"No need, just sit down." Dao Nian pulled him back, "You guys ate poisonous mushrooms and developed a revolutionary friendship?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He couldn't respond to that.

However, ever since he moved into Dao Nian's place, Dao Nian had been talking more and more each day. He remembered that when they first met, Dao Nian spoke one or two words at a time, and he had to guess the meaning. Now, he even knew how to be sarcastic. This was truly a historical advancement.

Friendship truly makes you progress.

At lunchtime, Shen Chang'an noticed that there wasn't a single dish related to mushrooms on the table. He turned to Old Zhao, who was serving the dishes, and said, "Uncle Zhao, are you so scared after being bitten by a snake that you're afraid of the rope for ten years? You're not even going to make any mushroom dishes?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Chang'an saw Uncle Zhao put down his bowl, covered his mouth, and rushed out.

"Uncle Zhao, should we take him to the doctor?" Shen Chang'an noticed that Uncle Zhao's face was pale. "I'm worried that the toxins haven't completely cleared from his body.

It's fine." Dao Nian glanced around, "Shen Tu will take care of him."

"That's good." Shen Chang'an felt a little guilty. If it wasn't for his craving for midnight snacks last night, Uncle Zhao wouldn't have eaten with him, and naturally wouldn't have gotten food poisoning.

On second thought, if they hadn't eaten last night, the dish might have been made and served at lunch today, and everyone working here would have been poisoned.

So, this was a good deed that sacrificed the two of them to benefit everyone else.

After lunch, Shen Chang'an was forced by Dao Nian to drink a bowl of "poison-fighting poison" water, then he was sent to bed to sleep. He thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but after Dao Nian patted him a few times, he fell asleep again.

Before falling into a hazy sleep, a strange thought flashed through Shen Chang'an's mind. He was a man in his twenties, yet he needed a friend to coax him to sleep, and he could fall asleep so easily. Was it because his inner child hadn't grown up yet?

After dinner that night, they repeated the same routine as lunch. Shen Chang'an was almost certain that his inner child was a Peter Pan who didn't want to grow up.

***

The next morning, shortly after arriving at the office, Shen Chang'an was called into Director Du's office.

"This." Director Du placed a work transfer notice in Shen Chang'an's hand, "I'm giving you the choice."

This notice, stamped with a red seal, was something many people dreamed of.

Shen Chang'an placed the notice on Director Du's desk. "Director Du, what I said on Saturday is still my thoughts today. Director Du, I don't have big ambitions, and I'm stubborn. Once I make up my mind, I won't change it."

"You young people." Director Du looked at the notice on his desk, and after a while, he smiled. "Being impulsive is your right as young people. If you insist on staying in our department, as your leader, I'm very happy."

"Thank you." Shen Chang'an smiled, "I'm also very happy to be able to stay here and work."

As he left Director Du's office, Shen Chang'an saw several colleagues staring at him. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Chang'an." Ding Yang stood up and patted Shen Chang'an on the shoulder. "Although you'll be going back to the capital for development, remember to come back and visit us in Wuming City when you have free time."

"I was actually planning to have you pretend to be my boyfriend this Spring Festival to deal with my parents' nagging about marriage, but I didn't expect you to be leaving before then." Chen Panpan felt a little reluctant, "Without you, our department might really become a retirement home."

"What do you mean, are Xu Ze and I not men?" Ding Yang chimed in, "If Chang'an can't do it, Xu Ze and I can help you out."

Chen Panpan glanced at him, smiling silently.

"What's that look for?"

"Nothing, I'm just worried that if I bring you back, my family will think I have bad taste." Chen Panpan teased Ding Yang, then turned to Shen Chang'an, "Chang'an, when are you leaving?"

"Who said I'm leaving?" Shen Chang'an laughed, "Who did you hear that from?"

Ding Yang and Chen Panpan pointed at Xu Ze in unison: "He said it, he said the capital city transferred you to the security department."

"It's true, but I declined."

"Declined?!" Chen Panpan and Ding Yang exclaimed in surprise, even Xu Ze couldn't help but look at Shen Chang'an a few more times, as if looking at a strange and eccentric person with a slightly abnormal mind.

"Why decline, such a good opportunity, you..." Ding Yang was both anxious and angry, "Although we'll miss you, water flows downhill, people climb higher, you're an idiot to refuse such a good thing!"

"So, you're eager for me to leave?" Shen Chang'an smiled and walked to his desk to sit down, "Then I might disappoint you, I have no intention of changing jobs. Of course, I also have no intention of pretending to be Panpan's boyfriend."

"You... really not going?" Xu Ze looked at Shen Chang'an, wanting to say something but stopping himself. After a long pause, he pushed his glasses up his nose, "Ding Yang rarely said something right, you really are an idiot."

"Isn't this a case of 'birds of a feather flock together'?" Shen Chang'an pulled out a file, opened his computer and started recording information, "Be patient with me, everyone."

"It's 'a rotten apple spoils the barrel'!" Ding Yang pretended to punch him, the oppressive atmosphere of farewell in the entire office disappeared without a trace in the laughter.

***

In the capital city's security department, several leaders were arguing endlessly about the exceptional recruitment of Shen Chang'an.

"I don't care what standards your special operations department uses to recruit employees, but since you're going to make him a formal employee of the entire security department, I have to say something." 

Leader Wang said, "His academic qualifications are excellent, but based on his resume, he's not qualified to work here. My personal suggestion is to transfer him to a provincial department position first, observe him for a year or two, and then consider transferring him to headquarters."

"Director Wang, I understand what you mean, but this Shen Chang'an is no ordinary person." Leader Zhao said, "The incident of the plague ghost entering the human world a while back, everyone here probably knows about it. To catch this plague ghost, our special department sent out so many people, even some reclusive masters were invited, but in the end, it wasn't someone we arranged who caught the plague ghost, but Shen Chang'an."

"That doesn't prove Shen Chang'an is that great, it just shows your special department's incompetence." Leader Wang said directly, "This is a new era, how much can supernatural methods help the people? It's better to vigorously develop science and agriculture, which can provide the people with a more prosperous and stable life."

"Director Wang means that in the future, we can solve any problem with scientific methods, and there's no need for our special department?" Leader Zhao sneered, "Since Director Wang looks down on us so much, there's no point in discussing this. Why don't we report to the leader and split our two teams into two departments, so we can avoid each other."

"Director Wang, Director Zhao, let's talk calmly, we're all colleagues, don't get angry." 

Seeing the two of them getting heated, others quickly stepped in to mediate, "It's just a new colleague, how about this, we'll transfer him here first, then set a six-month observation period. If this young comrade is suitable for this position, we'll make him permanent, if not, we can transfer him to another department, it's not a big deal, right?"

"Leaders, Wuming City has replied." The secretary knocked on the door and entered, pretending not to see the tension in the conference room, and continued, "The leader in Wuming City said that Shen Chang'an is worried about his lack of work experience and is not qualified for the security department, so he declined the job transfer request."

Everyone fell silent.

So they argued for so long, and he'd rather stay in a small city than come to their department?

"Heh," Leader Zhao stood up and sneered at Leader Wang, "Alright, he knows your security department is out of his league, and he's wisely chosen not to come. Are you satisfied?"

Leader Wang frowned: "What's wrong with young people these days? They don't even obey the organization's arrangements?"

"You're the one who disdains others for their lack of ability, and now you're the one complaining that they're not coming. No wonder you're so fat," Leader Zhao said without turning back as he walked out of the meeting.

"What do you mean by that? Explain yourself."

"People gain weight, their faces look bigger, right?" Zhao He usually had a good temper. Although his cultivation was mediocre, he had led a group of cultivators from the metaphysics world to handle many things that couldn't be made public for the people over the years. His biggest taboo was disliking people saying bad things about the staff of their special department. Anyone who violated this taboo would not be able to get any advantage from him.

Although Shen Chang'an hadn't officially joined their department yet, in Zhao He's mind, he was already considered one of their own.

"Zhao He!" Leader Wang slammed his fist on the table. "Don't push your luck!"

Zhao He rolled his eyes in response.

“Send a notice to Shen Chang'an immediately, telling him to come to the Imperial Capital. I want to see…”

"Director Wang," one of the leaders who was trying to mediate the situation, a leader wearing a military uniform, spoke up, "Shen Chang'an's father died for his country, and his mother also died from overwork while saving patients. I hope you will consider this matter carefully."

Leader Wang was stunned.

"You should still remember that more than ten years ago, we cracked a major transnational case. At that time, in order to ensure the safety of the people in the border areas, we recalled some retired special forces soldiers who were familiar with the local area. Shen Chang'an's father was among them." The leader in the military uniform's eyes were a little red. 

"The person who risked his life to send the signal back was Shen Chang'an's father. When our people found the remains of Martyr Shen, his body was incomplete, and the flesh on his body had been eaten by birds, leaving only scraps. To make him look presentable for burial, the mortician spent a long time."

"We're not young anymore. When we speak and act, we shouldn't let the spirits of the martyrs in heaven feel cold."

Leader Wang swallowed hard. Of course, he remembered who the most tragic martyr was in that case back then.

Shen Kang.

He never imagined that Shen Chang'an would be Shen Kang's son. It seems the military took many measures to ensure the safety of Shen Kang's descendants.

"It's just that I'm too impatient." Leader Wang's voice softened. "But we still need to find a way to get this kid back to the Imperial Capital, whether he wants to come to our security department or not. At least we need to make him understand what kind of abilities he actually has."

"Didn't you just think he wasn't capable enough?"

Leader Wang blushed slightly. He had always been at odds with Zhao He, and when he thought about it, he was indeed wrong.

Seeing that he wasn't saying anything, everyone knew he had backed down. They gathered together and discussed the matter. Someone who could capture a plague ghost was definitely not ordinary. Whether he wanted to work for the security department was his own choice, but they absolutely couldn't let him be exploited by bad people.

***

"I have to go to the Imperial Capital again?" Shen Chang'an was having dinner with Dao Nian when he received the notification from Director Du. "To report on work?"

A clerk from a small city going to the Imperial Capital's security department to report on work? That was as absurd as a constable from a county courthouse going to the Court of Judicial Affairs to report on the county's grain production in ancient times.

"Chang'an, you should have heard that our Civil Service Department is under the Security Department. Actually, it's not a rumor, it's true." Director Du said earnestly. "Don't worry about the round-trip airfare, the department will cover all expenses. Just go with peace of mind."

"Sigh…"

Listening to the busy tone on his phone, Shen Chang'an turned to look at Dao Nian sitting beside him, unconsciously saying, "Dao Nian, do you want to go to the Imperial Capital for a few days?"

No, why does he have to bring Dao Nian with him when he goes to the Imperial Capital?