Gavin Grant wanted to scare Officer Foster, but it wasn't that easy. You should know that Officer Foster had been doing this kind of intimidating work for over a decade.

"Fine, very well. Keep resisting to the end if you want, but don't think we have no way to get to the bottom of this. Let me remind you here, you will bear all the consequences of lying to the organization!"

Henry Foster's completely indifferent attitude thoroughly infuriated Gavin Grant, who stared hard at Henry Foster and said coldly.

Henry Foster closed his mouth again.

Chapter 8: I’m Waiting for You

Henry Foster didn’t stay long in Gavin Grant’s office. A little after nine o’clock, he returned to his single dorm room.

The living conditions for the committee’s staff in the mid-1980s were still decent. Even a newly assigned college graduate like Henry Foster had a small single dorm room, rather than a shared one.

Henry Foster lived on the second floor of Dormitory No. 9.

An old-style corridor building.

Arriving at his door, Henry Foster took out his key to unlock it, when a few steps away, another dorm room door creaked open and a graceful figure appeared.

"Xiao Fan, you’re back?"

A crisp and elegant voice followed.

"Sister Gao?"

Henry Foster stopped unlocking his door and turned to greet the woman.

The woman Henry Foster called Miss Hall looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, tall and attractive, with shoulder-length hair permed in soft waves, looking very fashionable. Her surname was Gao, given name Jane, and she was the deputy section chief of the committee’s publicity department. It was said she had come from the provincial office for a stint, and after being neighbors with Henry Foster for over two months, they were fairly familiar with each other.

"It’s so late, you’re not resting yet?"

Henry Foster was just making polite conversation, but Jane Hall immediately replied, "I’m waiting for you!"

"Waiting for me? Is something up?"

"Yes! Come sit in my room for a bit."

Jane Hall promptly extended the invitation. This was in line with her usual style—don’t be fooled by her pretty looks and delicate, demure appearance; when it came to work, she was decisive and efficient. She was a well-known "talented woman" in the publicity department, with articles often published in provincial and other newspapers and magazines, and was a member of the Yan Hua District Writers’ Association—a remarkable honor at the time.

As far as Henry Foster knew, writers only became devalued and commonplace in the twenty-first century. In the mid-1980s, anyone who could get published in newspapers or magazines was highly capable and admired.

Henry Foster hesitated for a moment.

It was quite late, and a man and a woman alone in a room together wasn’t exactly proper.

Fortunately, there was a certain age gap between them. In the eyes of their colleagues, Jane Hall was a bona fide leader, sent from the province with a bright future, and no one would look down on her because of her gender or age. Henry Foster, on the other hand, was a genuine youngster, still wet behind the ears, so people wouldn’t read too much into it.

Henry Foster’s momentary hesitation didn’t escape Jane Hall’s notice. She couldn’t help but laugh, "What, are you still old-fashioned? You’re clever for your age!"

It seemed that not only in the eyes of others, but even in Jane Hall’s mind, she didn’t see Henry Foster as a peer.

Girls mature earlier anyway, and their psychological age is usually at least three years older than boys of the same age.

Henry Foster laughed and said, "Generally speaking, a reputation for being flirtatious doesn’t do much harm to a man."

Jane Hall glanced at him, a hint of surprise flashing across her face, but she said, "That’s not necessarily true. Times have changed—men and women are the same now. Especially in the office, a man’s reputation is important too."

It’s more than just important.

In the office, in official circles, a man’s reputation is even more crucial than a woman’s.

No one knows when it started, but people have a deep bias against female colleagues in the office—especially those who are young, beautiful, outgoing, and hold leadership positions. They always assume these women got their positions because they "have connections above." Over time, it became so common that no one was surprised anymore.

On the other hand, men who are highly capable and have great potential are often held to the standards of a "saint" or "perfect person." Even the slightest flaw can greatly damage their reputation in the eyes of the public.

Of course, most of the time, this isn’t a decisive factor, but it does affect a colleague’s prestige.

Jane Hall was exactly the outgoing type; otherwise, she wouldn’t have spoken so frankly with Henry Foster.

Henry Foster walked toward Jane Hall’s room.

In Henry Foster’s memory, he had a deep impression of Jane Hall. The reason was simple: before time rewound, Jane Hall had already become the mayor of Yanhua City after the county was upgraded. Not long ago, when she inspected the Yuyang County Public Security Bureau, she had even shaken hands with Henry Foster and, unusually, exchanged a few extra words.

More than twenty years had passed, and the former "neighbors" were now worlds apart—one high above, surrounded by admirers, the other just an ordinary person, waiting for a meeting with the leader.

But this didn’t affect Henry Foster’s respect for Jane Hall.