Arranged marriage, love blossoms; a fiercely devoted soldier dotes on her alone.

"Heh, Vice Mayor Qi, you're overthinking it. You're a vice-ministerial level leader; what right do I have to warn you!"

Xiao Zhan smiled calmly and said.

Qi Jingtian blushed and said, "Xiao Zhan, if you dare to say it, you should dare to admit it. You're making fun of me, and I'm not stupid, how could I not understand? I already said that if it weren't for the big shot above calling me, I wouldn't have bothered to get involved in this mess."

Xiao Zhan didn't want to talk to Qi Jingtian because Qi Jingtian kept mentioning "big shots" after arriving, clearly trying to use those big shots to intimidate him.

Qi Jingtian became even angrier when Xiao Zhan ignored him, and said, "Xiao Zhan, what kind of attitude is this? You killed so many people, and I came to clean up your mess, but instead of thanking me, you scoff at my arrival. Don't think that just because someone is protecting you, I can't do anything to you."

Xiao Zhan walked to the window and gently pushed it open. A gust of cold wind immediately rushed in, greatly reducing the stench of blood in the air.

At this time, the warm winter sun had begun to set, and the sky gradually darkened.

In Beijing during winter, it gets dark as early as 5 p.m.

Xiao Zhan gazed at a ginkgo tree in the courtyard and muttered to himself, "A fisherman was about to go out to sea to fish. When he pushed his boat into the water, he accidentally crushed a few crabs on the beach. A young monk saw this and asked the Zen master, 'Master, whose fault is this? Is it the crabs' fault or the fisherman's fault?' The Zen master said, 'It's your fault.' The monk scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, 'I didn't do anything, so what fault could I have?' The Zen master sneered, 'The fisherman pushes his boat into the sea to fish to support his family, and the crabs burrow into the sand to hide. Everyone is doing their best to survive. Only you are fabricating stories and forcibly dividing right and wrong. Everything has its own destiny; there is no absolute good or evil. This world is never short of right and wrong, only short of people who shut up.'"

After Xiao Zhan finished speaking, he turned away, closed the window, and said to Xia Keke, "Director Xia, let's go. Since someone has come to take over here, why should we stay and listen to being lectured?"

After speaking, Xiao Zhan strode downstairs and left...

He didn't glance at Qi Jingtian again during the process.

Shen Jun quickly followed...

Qi Jingtian's full chest heaved with anger, appearing even more imposing now, her breasts already tightly bound by her uniform. Gritting her teeth, she shouted at Xiao Zhan's retreating back, "Xiao Zhan, don't think I can't see through your veiled insults! What makes you so great, daring to be so arrogant? I'm a vice-ministerial level cadre, Xiao Zhan, you stop right there!"

Xia Keke originally wanted to say hello to Qi Jingtian and then leave with Xiao Zhan, but she heard Qi Jingtian say this.

So he couldn't help but say, "Director Qi, I also think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Xiao Zhan is serving the country and carrying out a top-secret mission. With your status, you should know something about it, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I don't know if there's any misunderstanding between you and Xiao Zhan, or what your personal opinion of him is? I'll arrange for everyone to sit down and talk about it another day."

Qi Jingtian watched Xiao Zhan's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, then turned to Xia Keke and said, "In officialdom, character determines destiny, temperament determines pattern, details determine success or failure, and attitude determines everything."

"Xiao Zhan, what kind of attitude is this?"

Xia Keke couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Director Qi, I have a different opinion. The officialdom is essentially a place for resource exchange and the exercise of power. Some people may seem mediocre in their work, but they possess powerful background resources, information channels, or interpersonal networks. This ability to integrate resources is more scarce than mere execution ability at certain stages."

"Furthermore, I believe that the cost of trust is higher than the cost of ability. When superiors promote subordinates, their primary considerations are safety and controllability. A person with extremely high ability but who is uncontrollable or even threatens the authority of their superiors is often not as valued as a person with average ability but who is absolutely loyal and obedient."

"I personally believe that loyalty and reliability are more important implicit abilities than talent."

Qi Jingtian sneered, "In my opinion, no matter how powerful your background is, if you are completely unable to perform your duties and cause major mistakes or negative impacts, you will still be held accountable or eliminated. Your ability determines whether you can keep your position."

Xia Keke continued, "In crisis management and the resolution of complex conflicts, truly capable people can come up with solutions. This firefighting ability is key to establishing authority. Without this skill, relying solely on relationships can only maintain the status quo temporarily, not in the long run."

Qi Jingtian: "The core competencies of true masters of officialdom lie in their political stance, overall perspective, and strategic thinking. They must be able to understand policy trends and balance the interests of all parties. This high-level ability is far more important than the micro-level skills of writing reports or handling technical matters."

Xia Keke blinked and said, "I have a different opinion from Director Qi. In this era where dignity is not based on strength, according to your logic, when a leader decides to promote you, it's not because of your diligence and hard work, but because you have a good attitude."

"I personally think that's the greatest tragedy."

"Hehe, Director Qi, I'm sorry, I haven't finished my task yet!"

"goodbye!"

Xia Keke gave a perfunctory greeting and turned to leave.

Zhang Guoqiang quickly followed...

As Qi Jingtian watched Xia Keke leave, his gloomy face instantly brightened, and he seemed less angry.

She then took out her phone and made a call.

"Beep beep beep".

A man answered the phone and said, "Qi Jingtian, why are you only calling now? Is everything settled?"

Qi Jingtian said calmly, "Xiao Zhan left because I angered him, and Xia Keke left with him. I've completely offended Xiao Zhan this time."

The man said, "You and Xiao Zhan are bound to clash sooner or later, so what's the harm in offending him now? When can we leave?"

Qi Jingtian: "Not now. Wait for me to inform you. Xiao Zhan and Xia Keke haven't left yet."

"Do you dare to come out and see him?"

The man ignored Qi Jingtian's question and instead asked, "Where are my men?"

Qi Jingtian glanced back at the corpses in body bags on the ground and said coldly, "They all died in battle without exception, but as far as I know, the abbot was the last one whose throat was slit by Xiao Zhan. As for what he said to Xiao Zhan before he died, only Xiao Zhan knows. You can use your imagination."

Qi Jingtian could clearly hear the man's teeth grinding together on the phone, indicating that he was extremely angry.

On the other end of the phone, the man gritted his teeth and spat out a sentence: "Xiao Zhan, I will never let you live under the same sky."

"Clatter."

Qi Jingtian hung up the phone.

She couldn't be bothered to listen to such people spouting nonsense.

If you were really capable, you would have killed Xiao Zhan long ago.

If he were truly capable, would he have sent me to rescue him personally?

at the same time,

Xiao Zhan could clearly hear Qi Jingtian's voice on the phone through his earpiece. Of course, he couldn't hear what the other end of the line was saying because his micro-nano eavesdropping device was placed on the windowsill. Just a moment ago, when he opened the window, he had stuck the rice-grain-sized eavesdropping device under the windowsill.

At this moment, Xia Keke walked over and said, "Xiao Zhan, don't you think Qi Jingtian did this on purpose?"