stjorthotic Chapter 63 Xueyun's Chance
Chapter 63 Xueyun's Chance
When Jeong Do-hoon entered his office on Monday, he noticed that there were discussions about him everywhere in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Li Xuhe, a senior colleague of Zheng Daoxun in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is 53 years old this year. He is half a rank higher than Zheng Daoxun and is the secretary of the Central Asian Section, in charge of strategic investment and economic exchanges with the five Central Asian countries.
The Asia Division was located upstairs, and Li Xu made a special detour to come over and chat with them:
"Secretary Do-hoon, I saw your interview yesterday. You are truly a promising young man..."
"Scribe Xu, you flatter me. I was just doing my duty."
"You are now a rising star in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and you also have the heavy responsibility of applying for the World Expo. Do a good job, and who knows, you might be able to become a formal level four or even level three civil servant in a few years."
Li Xuhe handed Zheng Daoxun a cigarette and pulled him into the stairwell to smoke.
Zheng Daoxun had dealt with him in his previous life. He had been in this position for a long time without moving, and if he couldn't get promoted, he would have to retire.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is full of shrewd people, most of whom understand what investment-oriented social networking is.
Zheng Daoxun took the cigarette, lit it, and chatted with him for a while about the situation in the five Central Asian countries.
Li Xuhe is indeed well-versed in this area, and he speaks of lithium mines in Central Asia with great familiarity.
But every few sentences, he would intentionally or unintentionally steer the conversation back to Zheng Daoxun—
"At your age, you're already involved in a project like the World Expo. When I was your age, I was still working at the consulate organizing documents for the counselor."
Zheng Daoxun didn't respond to that. He flicked his cigarette ash: "Senior Xuhe, what's Kazakhstan's attitude towards the World Expo? Although the five Central Asian countries don't have many votes, we should still try to win them over diplomatically."
"Don't worry about that," Li Xuhe pushed up his glasses. "I've been operating in Central Asia for so many years, the ambassadors will still give me face. I'll organize a gathering later."
He paused for a moment, then said, "But Daoxun, there's a question I'd like to ask you."
"Please speak, senior."
"The World Expo project is very important. At your age, it's not easy to be in the core circle of this project, is it?" He stubbed out his cigarette in the cigarette extinguisher on the wall of the stairwell and turned to look at Zheng Daoxun.
Everything was left unsaid; he wanted to find out about Zheng Daoxun's background.
Zheng Daoxun simply stubbed out his cigarette and gave Li Xuhe a slight smile.
"You don't need to answer me," Li Xuhe waved his hand. "I just want to say that you have a bright future and will definitely be able to join the senior civil service in the future, unlike an old guy like me who will have to retire if I don't start moving again."
"You flatter me, senior." Zheng Daoxun's tone remained calm.
Li Xuhe knew his limits and didn't press the matter further.
The "senior civil servant group" he mentioned is a special group in South Korea, mainly composed of civil servants at the first to third level in various departments.
Every five years there is an election, and the top leadership always changes. The newly elected president appoints political officials to various departments, but the executive bureaucracy, such as the senior civil service, remains constant.
It bears some resemblance to the British TV series "Yes, Minister".
In his previous life, when Zheng Daoxun was promoted to Consul General in his thirties, he had basically entered this organization. However, before he could properly study and research it, he was involved in a car accident in South America.
If there really is a hand supporting him from behind, the answer can probably be found here.
Li Xuhe wanted to use this group to move up a level and make some progress.
"Senior Xuhe, we really need to ask you for help with the tickets for the five Central Asian countries. Once we're done with the World Expo, I'll treat you to a meal and ask you about the situation in Central Asia."
Zheng Daoxun did not refuse; he would stop here, as he had no leverage to make any further promises.
Li Xuhe paused for a moment, then laughed and patted Zheng Daoxun on the shoulder:
"No problem, no problem. You go ahead with your work, I'll compile the contact information for the ambassadors and send it to you later."
The two walked out of the stairwell and returned to their respective office floors.
Jung Do-hoon returned to his seat and looked out the window. The Seoul sky was cut into irregular geometric shapes by the outlines of tall buildings.
He is destined to join the senior civil service, and he must hurry up and get in. This is not only to find out about his background, which is certain to exist but cannot be explained, but also to avoid risks.
What if the car accident in South America in his past life wasn't actually an accident? Jung Do-hoon needs to accumulate his strength as soon as possible to protect himself.
He doesn't have high expectations for the results of the World Expo. If he wants to climb higher, he still needs to prepare his own projects. Even if someone supports him later, he still needs to have a respectable record.
The Korean cultural exchange season we discussed with the Spanish ambassador on Saturday night was a great project.
As the third most spoken language in the world, Spanish can not only reach Western Europe and South America, but also help the K-pop industry to further develop in the United States, since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States.
Jung Do-hoon stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then called over his assistant, Park Ah-jeong.
Park Ah-jeong is only one year older than her. She has the typical look of a well-bred young lady and is quite good-looking. She graduated from the Department of Spanish Languages at Seoul National University.
"Secretary..." Park Ah-jeong approached his workstation somewhat nervously.
Which groups from our country have a fan base in the Spanish-speaking market?
"It should be nmixx, right? I remember they released a song with Spanish lyrics last year called 'DICE'."
Jung Do-hoon nodded slightly. He had just met NMIXX in an online interview yesterday afternoon. He casually typed "DICE" into his browser, and the search results led to the Spanish version of the live broadcast.
All I can say is that NMIXX's Spanish level in September 2022 was still quite average; they could only sing a mix of Korean and Spanish. However, judging from the comments section, the Spanish-speaking fans had a very positive response.
"Okay, you can go back to your seat now." Jung Do-hoon dismissed Park Ah-jung, took out his phone, and found Seol-yoon's contact information:
【Xueyun, how's your Spanish now?】
At that moment, in the practice room, Seol Yoon, who had just finished dance training and was preparing for her single comeback in July, was sitting on the floor when her phone vibrated.
Strange... who would message her at this time?
"Huh? Yoona, what's wrong?" Bae Jin-sol was startled by Seol-yoon's sudden movement and complained, patting her chest, "Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been electrocuted."
Xueyun took a deep breath, a surge of excitement welling up inside her. Her chance seemed to have arrived, but... she felt even more nervous and anxious.
Her Spanish is really just so-so; at most she can sing a few lines of lyrics, and she can't even hold a normal conversation.
By the standards of diplomat Zheng Daoxun, she was practically no different from someone who didn't speak Spanish.
She glanced at the concerned Pei Zhenlu, then quietly hid her phone.
"It's nothing, it's just... some fans want to hear me sing Spanish songs, but my Spanish isn't very good, so I don't know what to do."
"You have a Spanish class this afternoon, right? Just pay attention." Pei Zhenlu said "Oh," without giving it much thought, "I'm so tired..."
Xueyun quietly picked up her phone, moved to a corner where no one was around, and then replied to Zheng Daoxun:
[Recruiting Secretary Do-hoon, my Spanish is currently only at the beginner level, but I will work hard to learn!]
[Jung Do-hoon: Yes, don't be so formal. Study Spanish well; you'll need it later.]
"Use it?" What does that mean? Xueyun felt her heart pounding.
I need to learn Spanish; it's always good to learn another foreign language.
She suppressed her excitement and tentatively, cautiously, typed in the chat room:
Can I ask you some questions about Spanish?
[Jung Do-hoon: Okay.]
"Hey...Yoona, why are you laughing like an idiot?"