So, quite quickly, some rather peculiar scenes began to emerge on the 1st, 2nd, and 9th floors of the Investigation Bureau Office Building...
For example, on the 1st floor, Eagle and Ah-Kun walked arm in arm to the Special Service Department's training ground.
Once they reached the training ground, the two didn't speak and just kept circling around Brother Ted and Fang Ming's squad.
It wasn't until Fang Ming was utterly confused and Brother Ted was about to punch someone with his sandbag-sized fists that Ah-Kun, with a big smile, gave a hint, "Captain Fang, Brother Ted, free to come to our promotion party tonight?"
Hearing Ah-Kun's words, Brother Ted, Fang Ming, and the members of their Special Task Squad suddenly noticed that the single golden star on the epaulettes of Eagle and Ah-Kun had turned into two!
Fang Ming was still okay, but Brother Ted's eyes really widened as he asked in disbelief, "How did you guys get promoted?"
Hearing Brother Ted's question, the somewhat reserved Eagle was alright, just smiling slightly, while Ah-Kun got a bit cocky, "How else could we be promoted? Of course, Brother Tu applied for us!"
"See, that's why you have to stick with Brother Tu for a future!"
Brother Ted didn't say anything upon hearing this, but his gaze kept darting towards Fang Ming.
He glanced once, glanced again, and then another glance...
Until he had Fang Ming thoroughly perplexed, he finally stopped.
However, by this time, their conversation had already caught the attention of the other members of the Special Service Department. It wasn't long before the news of the collective promotions under Qiu Tu spread throughout the entire Special Service Department, becoming its latest gossip...
And like Eagle and Ah-Kun, others such as Cao Dabiao, Song Qing, Ding Xiaoliu, Zhu Huoyan, and Li Xian went to either the 2nd floor's Public Security Bureau or the 9th floor's Political Department.
Their objective was quite straightforward: catch a colleague and start bragging.
Honest folk like Zhu Huoyan and Li Xian were alright, just chatting with colleagues and patiently waiting for them to notice the change on their epaulettes. Hmm... If they didn't notice, they wouldn't let them go...
For social butterflies like the young lady Song Qing, they were much more direct.
She bounced around the offices of the Interrogation Section, grabbing anyone she saw and pointing at her own epaulettes to ask, "What is this?"
"Two golden stars! Ever seen them before?"
However, the most ruthless had to be Cao Dabiao. Unlike Zhu Huoyan and Li Xian's steadiness or Song Qing's exuberance, he was... incredibly smug.
After leaving the investigation team, he went straight to the Action Division and, with hands behind his back, put on the air of a senior officer, inspecting everyone he recognized.
Only after they looked at him with bewilderment would he gaze back gravely, imitating the tone of Qiu Tu when speaking or asking questions, and casually ask, "How did you know I've been promoted to Deputy Staff Head?"
His questioned colleagues were truly puzzled: ??
But after all, it was a happy occasion, and with Cao Dabiao promoted to Deputy Staff Head, they really did need to suck up to him, so they could only offer one flattering comment after another against their will.
And at such moments, Cao Dabiao would just smile, nod slightly, with the unfazed composure of an officer.
However, perhaps because his eyes always betrayed his pride, it did give off a bit of an upstart vibe...
In this way, through a wave of bragging by Qiu Tu's confidants, it didn't take long for pretty much the entire Investigation Bureau to be aware of the news of the mass promotions within Qiu Tu's team.
This news truly made most of the investigators envious.
After all, aside from basic needs, isn't one's life goal to get promoted and receive a raise, reaching the peak of life?
Working under Qiu Tu, one would not only be protected in times of trouble but also be promoted immediately after making an accomplishment.
This was indeed better than what 99% of supervisors offered.
While many still found it incomprehensible why Yan Chen had blocked Qiu Tu's promotional path one moment and then promoted all his subordinates the next,
They couldn't deny the fact: following Qiu Tu really did lead to promotions and raises!
Thus, in an instant, Qiu Tu's influence, which had just been suppressed by Yan Chen, bounced back vigorously, even more exaggeratedly than before...
At this time, apart from the average investigators, the section heads and division chiefs of the Investigation Bureau were also a bit puzzled.
Although they knew more secrets and information than the average investigators, it didn't help them better analyze the situation.
On the contrary, it made them even less able to understand Qiu Tu's maneuvers than the average investigators.
After finding out from the Organizational Department that the list of promotions had been decided yesterday, they knew that this sizable wave of promotions wasn't orchestrated by Yan Chen.
Yan Chen was still very cold towards Qiu Tu.
So it became odder. According to normal logic, after having upset the Bureau Chief Yan Chen, Qiu Tu should have tried to ingratiate himself with Yan Chen to regain his favor.
So why... was he now challenging Yan Chen to a contest?
A section head against the Bureau Chief? Was it he who was crazy, or had the world gone mad?
This strange turn of events left most of the section heads and division chiefs confused.
And with recent events piling up, even the Diciplinary Department had come, so for a while, they all shrank back, hiding and watching cautiously...
So, with just a couple of simple tricks, Qiu Tu had stabilized the morale that was on the verge of dispersal and salvaged his influence within the Investigation Bureau that was about to collapse...
After striking back at Yan Chen, Qiu Tu didn't continue to confine himself to this game of politics. His heart returned to focusing on his cases.