stjorthotic Chapter 9 City Planning Bureau
Chapter 9 City Planning Bureau
14:00 PM.
Jiang Yu arrived at the Binhai Municipal Government Service Center half an hour early.
To be honest, he had no liking for places like this.
Last time I came to renew my ID card, it took me two hours to get it done.
He was so angry that he cursed the group of bastards for their inefficiency.
They all sat there with sullen faces, looking like someone owed them money.
As a result, he came here for an interview today.
Indeed, people always end up becoming the kind of person they hate.
"What exactly does the city planning bureau do?"
"Since the job posting is for the Inspection Department..."
"It must be the kind of job that involves patrolling around."
"That sounds pretty sophisticated..."
"Patrol, patrol..."
"Could it be a security guard?"
Jiang Yu walked into the hall while imagining what was going on in his mind.
The hall was bustling with people, and there were queues at each of the windows.
A floor guide was posted on the wall:
Floors 1-2: Comprehensive Service Hall
3rd Floor: Binhai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau
5th Floor: Binhai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau
……
21st Floor: Meeting Room/Multi-functional Hall
25th Floor: Binhai City Urban Planning Bureau
Jiang Yu stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 25th floor.
The elevator doors closed…
The numbers jumped one by one.
"bite--"
We've reached the 25rd floor.
The elevator doors opened…
The decor on this floor is completely different from that on the ground floor.
Downstairs is the standard white-walled, gray-floored government service hall with neatly arranged windows.
And this layer…
The decor is grand and upscale, with a red carpet underfoot, making it look like a high-end hotel.
Jiang Yu stepped out of the elevator…
A metal plaque hangs on the wall opposite the elevator.
The signboard bears the neat inscription: "Binhai City Urban Planning Bureau".
Jiang Yu walked forward down the corridor...
Every few meters, there is a hemispherical surveillance camera on the ceiling.
The red indicator lights are flashing very frequently.
He walked about thirty meters...
A wooden reception desk appeared at the end of the corridor.
There was an old man sitting behind the reception desk?
The old man was wearing a dark blue security guard uniform, the cuffs of which were worn and faded.
He was wearing reading glasses with dark brown plastic frames.
The temples of the glasses have developed a patina and look shiny.
He was holding a crumpled newspaper in his hand, reading it with great interest.
In this day and age, do people still read newspapers?
Good quality.
The strangest thing is that in such a large unit, the only receptionist is an old man wearing reading glasses and reading a newspaper...
What a strange art style.
Jiang Yu was internally ranting, but maintained a polite smile on his face.
"Hello, I'm here for an interview."
The old man did not respond immediately.
He slowly folded the newspaper neatly, making it square, and placed it under the water glass.
It's called a water cup, but it's actually one of those old-fashioned enamel mugs.
It has a white background with red lettering that prominently reads "Long Live the People".
Much of the white porcelain on the cup's surface had been worn away, revealing the dark iron sheet underneath.
The old man's cloudy eyes peered at Jiang Yu through his worn-out reading glasses, which had a patina on the temples.
Then he spoke in a hoarse voice as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat.
"Did you bring the documents?"
"I brought it."
Jiang Yu took the documents out of his bag and handed them over.
The old man took it and flipped through two pages.
He moved slowly, turning the pages one by one, as if checking something.
Two minutes later…
He returned the documents to Jiang Yu, then took out a visitor card and a form from the drawer.
"Take this, go inside, and go through the third door on the left. That's the meeting room. Fill out the form and put it on the table inside. Just wait."
"OK, thanks."
Jiang Yu took the items and turned to walk inside.
The third door on the left.
The door is a dark brown solid wood door.
A small bronze plaque hangs above it: "Reception Room".
The door wasn't closed completely; it was left a crack.
Light and rustling sounds emanated from inside.
Jiang Yu pushed the door open and went in…
He couldn't help but pause in surprise.
This reception room is ridiculously large, at least 500 square meters.
It's even more spacious than the lecture halls back in college.
Moreover, the reception room was almost full of people.
Then look at how those people look...
How to describe it...
They are oddly shaped and each has its own unique characteristics.
Jiang Yu felt like he wasn't at a job interview for a public institution.
It felt more like arriving at a train station waiting room in a suburban area.
There was also a blond guy and a young, spirited girl among them.
The blond-haired man had many piercings in his ears and lips.
The young woman sported short, blue-purple gradient hair and heavy eyeliner that almost reached her temples.
The two socks were different colors, one green and one purple, and they were pulled up really high, as if they were going to play soccer.
Two seats away from her sat a bald, tattooed man.
The older brother wore a large gold chain and a black vest, with tattoos covering his entire right arm, extending from his wrist all the way to his neck.
You can vaguely make out a green dragon entwined around a peony flower; the pattern is quite abstract.
A long-haired girl was sitting next to the tattooed man.
The girl was wearing a red and black plaid shirt, loose jeans, and canvas shoes.
The shoelaces were tied loosely, and the heels were flattened; I wore them as slippers.
She lowered her head, her long, black hair completely obscuring her face, making her look like a weeping willow.
Then she puffed out her little mouth and kept blowing on her hair.
call--
Her hair was blown up, revealing a delicate yet pale face.
Then the hair fell back down and covered the area again.
call--
It blew up again, then fell back down...
The breathing rhythm is very regular.
In addition, her eyes were always lowered, as if she were asleep.
……
Aside from these few particularly eye-catching individuals, the other people in the room also had a rather peculiar style.
Jiang Yu looked completely bewildered.
This is really strange, damn it...
How did that old man reading the newspaper at the entrance let this group of people in?
Is this city planning bureau... really reliable?
Is it okay to dye your hair, get piercings, and get tattoos?
And most importantly...
Are all these people here to interview for the same position?
Are they all his competitors?
Wow, they're all here pretty early.
Upon seeing someone push the door open and enter, all the hundreds of people in the reception room looked up at Jiang Yu.
Upon discovering that the person who arrived was another interviewee, everyone lowered their heads and went about their own business.
Jiang Yu looked around...
There weren't many empty seats left in the meeting room.
There were two empty seats between the bald, tattooed man and the young, energetic woman, but he didn't want to go and sit down.
I looked for a long time...
Jiang Yu chose to sit next to the man in the suit in the last row.
He was probably in his early thirties, with a square face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and his hair was neatly combed. He was wearing a dark brown suit that looked very expensive.
A silver Apple computer sat on his lap, its screen reflecting his furrowed brow and focused expression.
With his right hand on the touchpad, his fingers slightly bent, he would occasionally swipe and then tap a certain area.
It looks like he's watching the market.
The man in the suit has a certain air of a successful person in his attire.
It's highly likely that he was laid off from a major company and is now seeking a stable government job, then using the interview time to speculate on stocks or something.
He seemed to be the only normal person in the room.
Jiang Yu walked through rows of seats, sat down next to the man in the suit, and began filling out the form.
It's basically just a sign-in sheet where you fill in your name, phone number, and so on.
After filling out the form, he got up and walked to the table at the front of the meeting room.
Instead of putting his form on top, he tucked it into the middle of the stack of forms.
Back in my seat...
The man in the suit remained focused on the screen with a furrowed brow, not uttering a single word to Jiang Yu from beginning to end.
Jiang Yu was curious about what the other person was doing.
Are they discussing some big business deal?
He glanced to the side instinctively…
My older brother is playing Minesweeper.
"..."
Jiang Yu withdrew his gaze and began to observe his surroundings.
Old photos of Binhai City are hung on the walls on both sides of the reception room.
Docks, stadiums, old town...
Each photo has a small label indicating the time and location where it was taken.
Jiang Yu's gaze lingered on a photograph for a moment.
The photo shows a bridge standing on the sea.
The bridge is a gray reinforced concrete structure, with sturdy piers anchored in the sea…
Several fishing boats can be vaguely seen on the sea in the distance.
The bridge is very wide, with at least four lanes in both directions, and is paved with black asphalt.
It appears that the bridge has just been completed, as some construction materials are still scattered on the bridge surface.
The workers stood on the bridge waving and cheering, their faces beaming with simple smiles.
The label below the photo reads: "Binliao Cross-Sea Bridge, taken in 1998".
Jiang Yu frowned.
A cross-sea bridge?
Where is the cross-sea bridge in Binhai?
I had indeed heard about this plan before, to build a bridge between Binhai and Liaolian across the sea, so that people would no longer have to take a detour to get from the peninsula to Liaolian.
However, this plan was never implemented.
There is a lot of discussion about this online.
Netizens from Liaoning, Lianyungang and Binhai complain every day that going to the other side requires either taking a long detour via the highway or taking a ferry that sways on the sea for several hours, and ferry tickets are hard to come by during holidays.
But how come it was built in 1998?
Although Jiang Yu doesn't own a car, he doesn't care about things like gas prices, highways, or road conditions.
But he often sees people complaining about the cross-sea bridge online.
If such a bridge really existed, no one would complain anymore.
Could it be…
The cross-sea bridge was actually built a long time ago, but it has never been put into use.
That's unlikely...
Such a large project, even if it's not yet in use, is bound to generate some buzz online.
Just as Jiang Yu was finding it unbelievable…
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
Boom, boom, boom…
That was the sound of high heels on the carpet.
It was a bit dull, but the rhythm was steady.
As the heavy footsteps approached, the door to the reception room was pushed open…
A woman walked in.