Henry Foster hurriedly reached out to take the cigarette, and casually called out the surname and title of the middle-aged man.

This Director Miller, Henry Foster could not fail to recognize.

Deputy Director of the Yan Hua Prefectural Committee Office, Henry Foster's former direct superior, and also the one who had actually wielded the knife to kick Henry Foster out of the Prefectural Committee Office and into the Regional Public Security Bureau.

In a certain sense, Director Miller was the greatest "enemy" of Henry Foster's life.

Because of that merciless "kick" from Director Miller, the once promising secretary of the Second Section in the Yan Hua Prefectural Committee Office ended up as an old hand in the Criminal Police Brigade of the Yuyang County Public Security Bureau, with no hope of ever turning things around.

However, Henry Foster didn't really hold much of a grudge against Director Miller. Although Director Miller had kicked him out of the committee office, he was merely following orders. The real reason for Henry Foster's demotion was the fall of Mason Parker.

Mason Parker, former Deputy Secretary of the Yan Hua Prefectural Committee in Qingshan Province, the third-ranking official in the committee. After graduating from Hongzhou Public Security School, Henry Foster was not assigned to a public security agency, but was instead specifically requested by Mason Parker to join the committee office, becoming the youngest staff member in the Second Section of the Secretariat. The older colleagues in the office were all very polite to this just-turned-twenty young colleague.

The reason was simple: Henry Foster's father, William Foster, was the Deputy County Magistrate of Yuyang County and a staunch confidant of Secretary Parker. Secretary Parker had specifically requested the second son of Magistrate Foster's family to join the Second Section of the Secretariat, clearly with the intention of grooming Henry Foster.

Although Henry Foster was young, his future was limitless.

Staff in government offices are always very pragmatic.

It was said that during the Great Turmoil, former Director Mason Parker of the Provincial Government Office was sent down to the cadre school in Fanzhuang, Yuyang County for re-education through labor, and at that time, William Foster was serving as the General Affairs Director at the Fanzhuang cadre school, taking good care of Mason Parker. After the turmoil ended and the country was set right again, Mason Parker was reinstated to his original post, and later transferred from the Provincial Government Office to become a member of the Yan Hua Prefectural Committee and the Organization Minister. Mason Parker then promoted William Foster to a county-level leadership position. Now, William Foster was already a standing member of the Yuyang County Party Committee and the Executive Deputy County Magistrate, and could be considered a notable figure in the entire Yan Hua region.

Recently, colleagues in the regional offices had been privately discussing that before long, Mason Parker would be appointed as the Commissioner of the Administrative Office, and William Foster might become the County Magistrate of Yuyang County.

With such deep ties between the Parker and Foster families, the future of Henry Foster was boundless.

"Xiao Fan, I didn't expect that even students from your public security school would have such a way with words. Among all the liberal arts graduates in our office, when it comes to writing skills, you, Little Henry, are the best. Haha, truly, heroes have always been young..."

Director Miller said this while smoking, laughing heartily, with a tone that was clearly exaggerated, and even carried a hint of flattery and ingratiation.

Those who have worked in government offices for a long time know that if you want to secure your position, the first priority is to build good relationships with those close to the leaders. These people, while not able to turn the clouds with a flip of the hand, have an influence on the leaders far beyond that of ordinary people. If they put in a good word for you or subtly undermine you in front of the leader, the results could be worlds apart.

Henry Foster smiled but said nothing.

This was just Henry Foster's stubborn streak—he truly disliked such insincere flattery. Although his writing skills were decent, to say he was the best in the committee office was far from the truth. Director Miller was over forty, his direct superior, a dignified deputy county-level official, yet he was making such disingenuous remarks to a young newcomer who had only just started working. Henry Foster found it quite amusing.

Seeing the faint smile on Henry Foster's face, a trace of anger flashed in Director Miller's eyes.

Youngster, what are you so arrogant about?

If it weren't for your father currying favor with Mason Parker back then, would you be acting so high and mighty in front of me?

Who do you think you are!

Fortunately, Director Miller was after all an "old hand" in the bureaucracy, with patience far beyond ordinary people. Though displeased inside, he didn't show it on his face, and continued to smile as he said, "Ah, Secretary Parker truly deserves to be called a great intellectual—not only is he a capable leader, but his writing is also top-notch. Among all the senior leaders who have published articles in the provincial newspaper and 'Horn' magazine over the years, he's the first from our Yan Hua region... Hehe, Little Henry, this time when you go to the provincial capital, you'd better think of a way to see if you can invite a reporter from the provincial newspaper to visit our region and report on some of the new developments in our economic growth over the past two years. I heard that Director Warren from the provincial newspaper is a classmate of Secretary Parker?"

This last sentence was spoken with a probing tone.

"Ah, ah, sure, sure, I'll give it a try..."

Henry Foster replied absentmindedly.

Henry Foster's obviously distracted manner made Director Miller quite uncomfortable, and his expression darkened slightly. He then turned his head to look forward, no longer speaking to Henry Foster.

Although Henry Foster was known for his bad temper, this time, Director Miller really was "wronging" Henry Foster.

How could Director Miller know that at this moment, Henry Foster's mind was in utter chaos, like a stormy sea, and he truly had no interest in making small talk.

The article...

The article!