William Harris, originally a small fry in the countryside, was hit on the head with a brick while trying to break up a fight. Unexpectedly, this blow gave him the sudden ability to see the official aura of every person. Official aura comes in various colors, each representing a person's career development in officialdom. With this special ability, William Harris made progress through constant observation. Some say William Harris is just lucky, but more people believe he has truly mastered the essence of “a wise bird chooses the right tree to nest in.” As William Harris keeps advancing, he deeply feels the hardships of navigating officialdom, where there are invisible blades flashing and ruthless struggles that leave no trace of blood.

No matter how fierce the storm, William Harris has powerful trump cards. Every time there’s a shake-up or reshuffling, it becomes a huge opportunity for William Harris to move up.

From grassroots to high official, from having nothing to holding the power of life and death, from struggling even to date to ———

The myriad oddities of officialdom are gradually revealed in this book.

A different kind of officialdom novel!

------Chapter Content Begins-------

Main Text Chapter 1 Hit on the Head While Breaking Up a Fight

William Harris stared blankly at the director, but his heart was in utter turmoil. Could it be that the brick had messed up his brain?

The room was packed with men and women, all colleagues from the same office.

“Xiao Wang, you should focus on recovering. I’ll have Little Henry cover your work for now.” Seeing William Harris’s dazed look, the director of the Party and Government Comprehensive Office, David Carter, thought William Harris hadn’t fully come to his senses yet. He was there on behalf of the township to visit his subordinate.

There really wasn’t much to say. William Harris didn’t even know what he said—just the usual thanks to the leaders and colleagues for visiting. After all, it wasn’t a work injury or anything like that.

David Carter and the others chatted briefly and then left.

The few office colleagues who came with David Carter also left together amid words of concern as they exited the hospital. On the surface, everyone still seemed quite friendly, at least enough to give William Harris a sense of organizational care.

Since graduating from B University, William Harris had been assigned as a clerk in the township’s Party and Government Comprehensive Office, and he was always swamped with work. Because he was the most educated in the office, more tasks fell on him. By rights, he should have been promoted for his good work, but he’d been stuck in the same position for three years. He watched others get promoted, even several from his own office, while he remained unmoved, and his position was even at risk of being squeezed out. Last night, feeling frustrated, he went out for a walk and ended up in the hospital after trying to break up a fight.

He still couldn’t figure out why he went to break up that fight.

The back of his head still throbbed faintly. When he arrived at the hospital yesterday, he’d lost quite a bit of blood and was really worried something serious might have happened.

Shaking his head and closing his eyes tightly, William Harris felt that something really was wrong with him. Just now, he had clearly seen a faint aura above David Carter’s head and somehow knew it was official aura!

He rubbed his head for a while. Luckily, there were no other injuries, just a wound on the back of his head from the brick. The doctor said it wasn’t serious. Still, he didn’t have much faith in doctors these days—a simple cold could get you a huge bag of medicine. Now that he was seriously hurt, who knew what kind of mess they’d make of it!

Thinking about last night just made him more depressed. A used book seller and a sundry goods vendor got into a dispute over a spot to set up their stalls. He, being nosy, went to break up the fight, only to have the burly vendor smash a brick on the back of his head.

Damn it, all I did was try to break up a fight—why did I have to take a brick to the head! The more William Harris thought about it, the more frustrated he became.

He wasn’t anyone important, so only a few people came to visit. Lying quietly in the hospital bed, he gradually started to feel better.

Watching the pretty nurse hang up his IV bottle, William Harris looked at the young woman. There was no official aura data bar or anything above her head.

“Little Emily, how come I haven’t seen your boyfriend around lately?” William Harris was quite familiar with this nurse—they were from the same township and saw each other often. The nurse’s name was Emily Clark, a recent graduate from the health school, just assigned here. She was a sweet-looking girl, and her boyfriend was a section-level cadre in the county.

“Him? He’s been really busy lately. A few days ago, he went to the city with the leaders and said he’d be back today.” Whenever Emily Clark mentioned her boyfriend, she looked proud.

Damn it, all the good girls get snatched up by pigs! William Harris actually had feelings for Emily Clark, but women these days are tough—they don’t hesitate to choose a man who’s become a section chief. Of course, William Harris just thought about it; his ex was actually much prettier than her. Thinking of this, William Harris felt a bit down.

He closed his eyes, about to take a nap, when he heard someone outside calling for Emily Clark. Opening his eyes, he saw Emily Clark’s boyfriend, Eric Bennett, standing at the door, waving at her.

Sunlight streamed in from outside the door, and there stood Eric Bennett in the light—he really was quite impressive!