Chapter 1574: Chapter 1574: Trembling Wolf (Part 2)
Feng Jun never expected to encounter workplace intrigue and the drama of an aide plotting against their superior, even in Australia.
But upon further reflection, he came to terms with it. Didn’t Harvey from Mai Nation also resort to being Patricia’s enforcer due to the competition for vice chairman, only to end up “taking a bullet to the brain”?
Wherever there’s profit, there inevitably will be strife. As Lin Heihu used to say — it won’t change even after three thousand years.
That evening, he hurried to Sydney. As for Simonni’s residence, Beauty Lin’s intelligence had already marked it out.
Simonni was known for being stubborn and self-opinionated. He had been married but was now divorced. His ex-wife and the two kids lived elsewhere, while he lived alone in an apartment not far from the immigration office.
That morning, just as he stepped out of his apartment, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way. A large pit had appeared out of nowhere, and he fell into it. Soon enough, Twitter had a post saying, “A sinkhole has appeared in Sydney, three meters in diameter and over ten meters deep.”
As for a person having fallen into the sinkhole, many mentioned it, but few spoke about the identity and injuries of the person.
Feng Jun had caused quite a commotion this time. On one hand, he wanted to give others a warning, and on the other, the conditions were just too perfect.
Originally, he planned to orchestrate something falling from a height, but given there was a potential sinkhole right at the apartment entrance, why not make use of it?
Simonni passed out on the spot and was rushed to the hospital, where it was discovered that one of his legs was broken.
He woke up half a day later but had already forgotten everything. The doctors assumed it was temporary amnesia, but half a day later, they believed he had lost his cognitive abilities.
As for whether he could recover, when he could recover, and to what extent he could recover, no one dared speculate.
Naturally, Pinat took over the American business direction — if it were a direction like Africa, the process might be slower, but America, with Mai Nation as the sole superpower, demands focus.
Less than three hours after Pinat took over Simonni’s duties, Sofia called, inquiring about the status of her immigration paperwork.
Pinat, worried about eavesdropping, didn’t dare say much over the phone, only telling her to wait a moment and that he’d expedite it.
For someone from Mai Nation to settle in Australia, the process is quite straightforward with minimal checks. Besides, the Jansen Family, being somewhat prestigious, adds face to Australia by settling there.
However, even though Pinat wanted to push this matter through, the people specifically handling the task subtly hinted that Director Wolf had halted the process — perhaps you should consult with the director?
“I’m the one currently handling the Americas, not Director Wolf!” Pinat replied without hesitation, “You are the specific person in charge, so you can directly voice any objections.”
In fact, there are no issues with Sofia’s immigration application; her qualifications meet all requirements.
Yet the person in charge still clumsily offered his opinion, “The government of Mai Nation has notified us!”
Pinat’s face immediately turned dark, “Is your salary being paid by taxpayers of Mai Nation? Mine isn’t!”
Shady dealings truly cannot be exposed to the light of day.
The subordinate’s hurdle was passed, but Pinat still had to face the challenge from his superiors — although he had full responsibility for this department, he nevertheless had to accept supervision from higher levels.
During the approval process, in Sofia’s column on the director’s office form, a question mark was marked, signifying that the matter should be reconsidered — the act of a clerical officer, yet representing Director Wolf’s intention.
Director Wolf indeed harbored concerns about Sofia, and being a competent bureaucrat, he wouldn’t explicitly oppose but just hoped someone else would take the fall.
However, with so many immigration applications each year, his special mark of a question mark for Sofia already indicated his stance — Pinat, you have to grasp what’s going on.
Yet Pinat showed a remarkably lack of foresight. He directly used the office automation software to raise an objection — I see no issue with Sofia’s application, so why the question mark evaluation?
The office automation software is a platform, quite convenient, making many processes transparent. Pinat’s objection wasn’t visible to just Director Wolf; anyone logging into the office software could see it.
In other words, their interaction was under the scrutiny of the entire immigration bureau staff — naturally, this supervision was hierarchical, with more sensitive content monitored by only a select few.
Director Wolf found the objection submitted on the office platform and couldn’t help but burst into anger, directly calling Pinat, “Get over here, immediately! Right now!”
Pinat was not to be outdone, he went over directly, only to receive a shower of spittle from his superior.
Without arguing back, he quietly listened and then simply replied, “Then you should just reject it… I can’t find any problem.”
“Have you never worked with ears at your job?” Director Wolf was livid, “Previously, I merely thought you lacked steadiness, which is why I didn’t let you take charge, but now it seems you’re simply foolish. If Simonni hadn’t had an accident, you wouldn’t…”
“I don’t want to encounter an accident like Simonni’s!” Pinat interrupted his superior without hesitation, “That’s why Sofia’s naturalization application must go through!”
“You simply…” Wolf was about to erupt, but then he caught on, “What do you mean by that? What do you know?”
“I know nothing,” Pinat replied straightforwardly, “but… do you think Sydney will frequently experience sinkholes?”
Wolf’s eyes shifted slightly, “Are you saying… it was Sofia who did it?”
As he spoke these words, he felt a bit uneasy inside; he had heard of Sofia’s exceptional reputation.
Otherwise, he would have personally stepped in to reject Sofia’s application—no need to rely on others.
“I didn’t say anything,” Pinat was not about to take the fall, “I am simply exercising the rights given to me by the Immigration Bureau. If you, Director, think there’s a problem with Sofia, you can refrain from telling me the reason.”
Director Wolf smiled and nodded, “It should be like this in the first place.”
He couldn’t possibly explain the reason—just take the fall for me quietly.
But Pinat’s next words left him dumbfounded, “Then I’ll just tell Sofia that you, Director, disapprove of her naturalization… it really was your intention.”
Immediately, Director Wolf’s anger surged; he almost wanted to retort, then go ahead and find Sofia.
However, he knew very well in his heart that he… really didn’t dare to go head-to-head. What happened in Amstan that day had spread wildly in the high ranks, and the Director had some acquaintances in the FBI of Mai Nation.
Thus, he widened his eyes, “Did I have such an intention? I just hope you are cautious!”
“I was already very cautious,” Pinat answered without hesitation, “and found no problems!”
“You are…” Wolf wanted to say, do you know you’re causing me trouble?
But he couldn’t say this outright; ultimately, he could only hint, “Aren’t you really concerned about the pressure from Mai Nation?”
Pinat snorted lightly; you could sense his indifference even over the phone, “Boss, it’s Australia that’s paying me.”
Yet, this nonchalant attitude of his stung Wolf—was he truly unafraid of authority?
The Director could not tolerate his subordinate being insubordinate; he remarked with disdain, “So, have you heard of any Australians being harmed by that woman? Is this how you protect the taxpayers of Australia?”
Everyone was using sophistry, but Wolf was the superior, and Pinat knew it was pointless to continue opposing, so he straightforwardly stated, “Anyway, I approved this case. How you think, Director, is your business.”
Director Wolf retorted, “Then I have objections. If you want to approve, go ahead… what do you take me as a Director for?”
He wasn’t a common ruffian; there were deeper reasons behind his words.
He would rather provoke Sofia than the government of Mai Nation—his wife and children were all in Mai Nation!
Simonni and Wolf were both single, but fundamentally different.
Simonni was divorced; his wife was concerned that his obsessive character might affect the child, so she took away custody, and he only needed to pay child support each month.
Wolf, however, had a harmonious family, and a prosperous family brings peace; most of his family had even immigrated to Mai Nation.
Normally, being the Director of the Australian Immigration Bureau, his family developing in Australia should have sufficed, but unfortunately, the Immigration Director wasn’t very confident about Australia’s future, or rather—he felt that immigrating to Mai Nation might be better.
If given a choice, in fact, most of the elites in Western National Security would prefer Mai Nation.
Without a word, Pinat turned and walked out, and Wolf didn’t stop him, just watched him coldly.
Soon, Sofia got the news that Pinat had tried, but Wolf objected.
So she turned to Avril: Now it’s stuck with Director Wolf, if he doesn’t get sensible, then don’t blame me.
Avril could guess that what happened to Simonni was probably Sofia’s doing, even if she always shook her head with a smile, denying involvement; however, Avril didn’t believe her at all—if not you, who else could cause such a big stir?
Now she was going to deal with Director Wolf, and Avril had no objections—she had invested in this land too!
So she expressed: For my sake, take it a bit easy.
The next day, Wolf received a call from his wife, saying that both a son and a daughter encountered similar incidents—a branch broke off and fell from the sky while they were outside, almost hitting the two of them.
The Director’s wife didn’t think much of it; Mai Nation had just experienced an Arctic cold wave, and branches breaking off from too much snow was very normal, as rare as it was that both children encountered such a thing, she relayed it as a little anecdote to her husband.
Wolf’s face changed upon hearing this; he carefully asked his wife for details for half a day, which made his wife quite puzzled, “I don’t know much more, I was just telling you a joke, what do you mean by this?”
The Director found an excuse and hung up the phone, then his fingers unconsciously tapped the table, his gaze somewhat vacant.