Power and Wealth

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

FORWARD continued.

Dong Xuebing eventually felt that using it second by second was too slow. Although he hadn't tried using FORWARD to execute multiple accumulated time commands simultaneously, since Reverse could, FORWARD shouldn't have a problem either. Immediately, Dong Xuebing used MENU to bring up the menu and check his remaining time. After calculating, he left a little and used almost all the accumulated time he had saved. It was a gamble, wanting to see things far into the future. If there was an opportunity, Dong Xuebing could prepare in advance. If there weren't any helpful information, then this use of FORWARD would be in vain. Of course, most of it would likely be useless. The opportunity for the deputy director's office wasn't so easily obtained. All Dong Xuebing could do was give it a try. As for being reluctant to use so much remaining time, that was certainly the case. But Dong Xuebing would be resigned to fate if he didn't try. He was a person who would not easily give up.

Three hours of FORWARD.

One minute of FORWARD equaled one day. Converted to FORWARD time, that was about six months, precisely the deadline Dong Xuebing planned for his promotion to Deputy Bureau Director within half a year. This was his entire remaining time.

Dong Xuebing put all his effort into this, using the time he had accumulated over more than half a year. Success or failure was dependent on this move.

FORWARD ended.

There was a subtle change in the mailbox outside the villa. The mailbox seemed to have been bumped accidentally one day within the past half year, leaving a scratch mark. When Dong Xuebing, filled with excitement, opened the mailbox, he found three newspapers inside. Clearly, more newspapers had been ordered at home. This was good because the more newspapers from the future, the more information Dong Xuebing could use and the more opportunities he could find.

Beijing Evening News.

Jinghua Times.

And one from People's Daily.

Dong Xuebing hugged the three newspapers to his chest, randomly pulled one out, and confirmed the date. Indeed, it was a newspaper from half a year later. He was sure of it. Dong Xuebing carefully put away the newspapers. He couldn't let anyone else see them; otherwise, his special ability would be exposed. He then quietly returned to the villa. The time spent outside had been long, and now it was ten o'clock.

Inside the house.

"Brother-in-law, where did you go?" Xie Hao asked.

Dong Xuebing casually replied, "Just went out for a breath of fresh air, took a stroll."

Xie Hao approached and said, "If you're free, why not teach me some kung fu?"

"Forget it. Go wherever it's cool. How many times have I taught you before? You've never learned." Dong Xuebing shooed him away. Xie Hao used to pester him to teach him various things, and Dong Xuebing had taught him before. But this guy was too dull, and he couldn't learn. Dong Xuebing later became too lazy to teach him. Besides, he had more important things to do now. It was pitch black outside, and the newspapers couldn't be read clearly. He needed to go back inside and carefully examine those few newspapers from half a year later to see if there was any hope for his promotion to Deputy Bureau Director.

"Mom, I'm going upstairs for a moment."

"It's almost midnight, and you're going to sleep again?"

"I know. I'll be down in a moment."

"Alright. I'll be making dumplings soon. Come down and eat."

"Got it. I'll lie down for a while and wake up. Mainly, I still have a headache from the alcohol."

Making up an excuse, Dong Xuebing informed Han Jing and the other elders, then went upstairs to the guest room where he had napped in the afternoon. He entered, closed the door firmly behind him, and even locked it from the inside.

Everything was ready.

He could finally read the newspapers.

Taking a deep breath, Dong Xuebing retrieved the three newspapers hidden in his embrace. He opened them one by one, starting with the Beijing Evening News.

The front page featured political news, which theoretically should have been helpful to Dong Xuebing, who was involved in the system. However, after scanning a few headlines, Dong Xuebing was disappointed. It was just news about leaders meeting foreign guests and negotiations, with no practical use. He continued flipping through the second, third, and fourth pages, carefully reading each news item.

There were stories about the table tennis world championships.

Reports of flooding in certain areas due to heavy rain.

An incident of a fight on a bus.

Dong Xuebing used to read the Beijing Evening News daily and knew it was full of such news. He wasn't surprised. He went through it meticulously from start to finish several times, finding nothing useful. Disappointed, he set this newspaper aside and picked up the Jinghua Times next. Similarly, he read every word from the front page to the last, not missing a single news item. Yet, just like the Beijing Evening News, the Jinghua Times didn't contain any helpful information. There were reports of an artist's death, diplomatic visits, and many news pieces duplicates of the Beijing Evening News, with different wording but the same content.

No gains at all.

Dong Xuebing's heart sank. He realized that this use of FORWARD might have been a waste. There wasn't even a mention of an earthquake or any other natural disaster that could have allowed him to step into the ranks of the Deputy Bureau Director.

There was one newspaper left.

Only the People's Daily remained.

Overall, it was a prominent newspaper in terms of distribution and influence. The People's Daily was China's largest newspaper, the most authoritative and influential national publication, often reflecting policy tendencies to a certain extent. This kind of newspaper naturally held great importance. However, it was also considered small in another sense. While it was widely distributed within government agencies, its circulation outside was minimal. It wasn't commonly found in newsstands; even if it was, only a few copies were available. Moreover, each issue of the People's Daily usually contained only one or two pages of content and cost one yuan, making its content significantly less than that of newspapers like the Jinghua Times. Therefore, few ordinary people would buy the People's Daily except for its internal circulation within government agencies. This was why it was considered small.

It was the last one.

Success or failure would soon be revealed.

Dong Xuebing felt anxious and regretful. After all, he had wasted so much remaining time. Taking this gamble, he didn't want it to be in vain.

Here we go.

Dong Xuebing flipped to the front page.

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

At first, Dong Xuebing didn't see anything of interest to him—mostly news that wouldn't significantly help his career. Even the more FORWARD-looking pieces of news didn't seem to offer any assistance in his pursuit of becoming a Deputy Bureau Director. Therefore, despite some potentially helpful information about future developments, Dong Xuebing concluded that they currently held no relevance for him. All he sought was the Deputy Bureau Director position, nothing more. It wasn't until he reached the last page that Dong Xuebing's expression suddenly changed.

There was a news article about an archaeological excavation of an ancient tomb. Initially, Dong Xuebing didn't think it would concern him and scanned it casually. However, as he was about to look away, something caught his eye—a few conspicuously bold words drew his attention back. Dong Xuebing immediately read through the entire article.

Ancient tomb excavation.

More precisely, the discovery of a very ancient tomb, with an archaeological team dispatched promptly to explore and excavate it. The timeliness of this report seemed a bit delayed. The discovery must have been made earlier if the excavation had already been underway and confirmed now. Perhaps it wasn't reported immediately after the discovery for fear of tomb robbers or mistaken findings. Or maybe there had been prior news reports, and the People's Daily merely reiterated the information. Dong Xuebing wasn't familiar with the societal environment half a year from now, so he couldn't be sure.

Discoveries of ancient tombs were not uncommon each year.

What made Dong Xuebing pay attention was the explicit mention in the report that despite being an ordinary county, the discovery of this ancient tomb held immense historical value. Consequently, upon confirming the historical significance of the tomb, the county had been directly approved for reform, elevating it from an ordinary county to a county-level city. This transformation wasn't just due to economic development or population reasons but predominantly because of the historical value of the tomb. This was the crucial opportunity—without such historical and cultural significance, the county would likely never have met the criteria for becoming a county-level city.

Dong Xuebing double-checked; indeed, the county had been elevated to a county-level city.

Seeing this, Dong Xuebing immediately felt excitement surge within him. A county-level city—what did that imply? Secretaries and county heads in ordinary counties held positions at the county level. However, the secretaries and mayors were all at the Deputy Bureau Director level in county-level cities. They might not match up to proper prefecture-level cities, but they represented a step up from the county level.

Deputy Bureau Director.

Wasn't this precisely what Dong Xuebing had been aiming for?