I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

In the morning, Chen Dapeng walked into the provincial discipline inspection commission building.

I saw a few people gathered in front of the notice board in the lobby on the first floor.

He slowed his pace and glanced through the crowd. A new piece of paper had been posted on the bulletin board, in the format of an official document.

The heading read, "Notice Regarding the Open Selection of Civil Servants by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection."

He stood at the back of the crowd and read the notice from beginning to end—

The registration requirements, exam dates, and exam subjects are all clearly listed.

He didn't push his way to the front to take a closer look. Instead, he turned around, walked through the lobby, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for the floor where the task force was located.

After returning to the office.

He sat down in the chair, turned on his computer, and opened his browser.

I entered "Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection open selection" into the search bar and found the electronic version of the announcement.

He opened the document, read through the registration requirements section again, and confirmed that he met all the basic requirements.

He glanced at the schedule.

The exam will be held in two weeks.

He picked up his phone, walked out of the office, crossed the corridor, and dialed He Ying's number in the stairwell.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Sister Ying, the selection announcement from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection has been released."

"I saw it."

He Ying's voice came from the other end of the phone, with a hint of laughter.

Have you registered?

Chen Dapeng was stunned for two seconds: "Sister Ying, you found out so quickly? I just saw the announcement posted."

He Ying smiled.

"Of course, someone told me."

"Who?"

"Director Hu."

Chen Dapeng smiled:

"I'm about to fill out the application form. I've checked the requirements, and I meet them all. Sister Ying, I'd like to apply."

"Go ahead and report it," He Ying said confidently. "Just make sure you're ready."

Chen Dapeng stood there holding the phone for a while, and heard her voice coming from the receiver, softer than before:

Are you nervous?

"A little."

He told the truth.

That means you took it seriously.

He Ying paused for a moment.

"Prepare whatever materials you need in advance. The exam is still a while away, no rush."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone.

He stood in the stairwell for a few more moments, then put away his phone and went back to his office to sit down.

He made a list of the materials required for registration—

Copies of ID card, academic degree certificate, employment document, annual performance appraisal form, and employer's consent to apply for the position.

After listing everything, he saved the document but didn't immediately start preparing. Instead, he continued organizing the materials about Liu Guixiang's account book.

……

After get off work, he didn't go straight home, but went to the largest bookstore in the provincial capital first.

I stood in front of the political and legal bookshelf for almost half an hour, picking out a few reference books related to the selection exam, and also a compilation of past exam questions from the last three years.

The cashier glanced at him when he paid the bill.

Perhaps they thought the stack of books in his hand was a bit too much, but he didn't explain further. He scanned the code to pay and walked out of the bookstore with the books in his arms.

Back at his lodgings, he put the books on the table, opened the first one, and read a few pages.

But when I encounter something I don't understand, I'll stop and think about it for a while.

Or highlight the key points.

Write a few words in the blank space next to it as a mark.

He read for nearly two hours until his eyes started to ache before closing the book and standing up to stretch his shoulders.

Then I washed my face, and when I came back, my phone screen was lit up.

Lin Chen sent a message:

"Are you free this weekend? It's been a long time since we got together."

Chen Dapeng picked up his phone and replied, "I need to study for exams this weekend, let's meet up another time."

Lin Chen's reply popped up quickly:

"Preparing for an exam? What will be on the exam?"

"Selection by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection"

Lin Chen sent a "Go for it!" emoji, followed by a sentence:

"Then study hard, and we'll get together again when you pass the exam."

He didn't say anything more, and Chen Dapeng didn't reply either. He put his phone on silent and placed it on the bedside table.

I went back to my desk and flipped through a few more pages of the book until after 11 p.m. before turning off the lights and going to bed.

……

On Saturday morning, He Ying arrived in the provincial capital.

Chen Dapeng picked her up at the high-speed rail station, and the two returned to their residence together.

After entering the room, He Ying saw the several open reference books on the table, walked over, flipped to the publication date on the title page, then closed the books and placed them aside.

"Have you been studying these past few days?"

"I watch it for two or three hours every night."

Have you done any practice tests?

"I've just started looking at it, and I haven't gotten to the real exam questions yet."

He Ying didn't ask any more questions and walked to the water dispenser.

She poured herself a glass of water and then poured one for Chen Dapeng, placing it beside him.

Then, she sat down on the sofa, picked up the past exam paper compilation on his desk, flipped through a few pages, paused on a certain page to look at it for a while, and then put it down.

"Go through the theoretical knowledge first, then start doing past exam papers. Analyze each past exam paper as you go; this is more effective than doing multiple papers at once."

Chen Dapeng sat down next to her.

The suggestion to "do one set of past exam papers and analyze it" sounds simple, but he knows it's not easy to do.

He nodded. "I'll do it in this order. Ying-jie, are you free this afternoon?"

"Nothing special, just came to see you."

"Then you can supervise my revision, I'm afraid I'll get distracted."

He Ying smiled and said, "Okay."

In the afternoon, Chen Dapeng sat at the table and continued reading the reference book.

He Ying sat on the sofa with a book she had brought with her in front of her. She read it quietly, occasionally turning a page.

The living room was quiet, with only the sound of turning pages and the occasional scribbling of a pen on paper.

Chen Dapeng would occasionally look up at her, but seeing that she was looking down at her book, he would look back and continue working on his problems.

He Ying neither urged him nor interrupted him.

I just sat there, turning the pages a little more gently than usual.

In the evening, Chen Dapeng did a set of practice questions, and after finishing, he checked his answers against the prompts and corrected them.

He marked the wrong answers and wrote annotations next to them.

He Ying stood up from the sofa, walked over, and bent down to look at the annotations on his test paper:

"Can you tell why something is wrong when it's made a mistake?"

"Some of them are because they don't remember the concepts well, and some are because they are not familiar with the question types."

"Then we'll supplement it in a targeted manner."

He Ying straightened up:

What would you like to eat for dinner?

Chen Dapeng looked up at her and said, "Let's order takeout, don't cook."

"That's fine too."

He Ying picked up her phone, browsed the food delivery app, and ordered two simple meals.

Then he put his phone on the table, walked back to the sofa, and sat down.

Chen Dapeng continued to look at the analysis of the wrong question.

The living room lights cast shadows on two people, one sitting at the table and the other on the sofa.

They each went about their own business quietly.

There were occasional exchanges of one or two words, but most of the time there was long silence.

That silence didn't make him feel awkward; on the contrary, it made Chen Dapeng feel at ease.

He knew she was there; he didn't need to do or say anything special.

Just being in the same room was enough to allow him to concentrate.

He looked down at the next question and didn't look up again.

He Ying would steal glances at him every now and then, a smile playing on her lips, silently thinking to herself:

"Some people are really serious; they're going all out for that goal..."