Chapter 46: Coming to the Fore 1

A thick stack of documents was placed on Li Yifei's brand-new desk. The edges of the pages were slightly curled, emitting a distinct mixed scent of printer ink and aged filing cabinets.

This weight was enough to intimidate any newly recruited young man. Yet, Li Yifei's face remained completely unruffled, as calm as if he were simply receiving a morning newspaper.

His slender fingers lightly stroked the edge of the stack, as if soothing the restless pages, and then he immediately began a sorting process that felt almost instinctive.

Categorization, sequencing, coding, partitioning... The movements were smooth and precise. This was a deeply ingrained habit forged from years of bitter study and rigorous research: reducing complex and massive amounts of information into manageable, operational units.

No matter how complicated a task was, once dismantled into clear steps, it was like streams returning to the sea, eventually converging into a vast ocean. He knew deeply that in this central ministry where documents were as boundless as the sea, clear organization was the primary rule for survival.

Looking around this spacious and brightly lit open-plan office, sunlight streamed through the huge glass windows onto rows of desks.

Although it was already 2012, true digitization and paperless office environments were still far from widespread within core institutions like the central ministries. Many workflows still relied heavily on the physical circulation and signing of paper documents.

Quite a few colleagues, especially senior staff members like Sister Liu, regarded the desktop computer sitting at the corner of their desks more as an advanced typewriter or an occasional query terminal, rather than a powerful tool to enhance efficiency.

Slow startup times, lagging systems, and unfamiliar software made them much more willing to rely on the signing pen and thick notebooks in their hands. The dim, eerie glow of the computer screen was often just a background, casting its light against figures bent over their desks in hasty writing.

They had no way of knowing the kind of power that the new, quiet colleague sitting before them could unleash with his fingertips dancing across the keyboard. Ever since his high school days, Li Yifei had been acutely aware of the surging tide of information and had consciously delved into the core domains of computer technology.

Operating system internals, data structures, algorithm optimization, network protocols... These things, which appeared like heavenly scripts to ordinary people, were as natural to him as breathing.

When it came to pure computer skills, at this particular historical juncture, he could easily rank among the absolute elite. However, this earth-shattering "inner strength" was deeply concealed beneath his modest and gentle exterior, much like a sharp sword resting within its scabbard.

The documents were quickly sorted into immaculate order. Li Yifei's gaze fell upon a slightly dust-covered scanner in the corner of the office—a symbol of modern office automation, yet it looked rather solitary here. A subtle stir arose in his heart, and an idea clearly took shape.

His fingertips danced lightly across the keyboard, much like a pianist striking the opening notes of a prelude. Lines of code emerged on the screen as smoothly as flowing clouds and running water, and a concise, highly efficient mini-program framework was rapidly constructed.

For him, writing a tool to process scanned documents, perform preliminary text recognition, and conduct structural analysis was no more difficult than cooking a familiar home-cooked dish.

The sound of keystrokes was crisp and rhythmic, appearing somewhat abrupt in the slightly subdued office, drawing a few curious glances.

The program was completed. Li Yifei stood up, picked up the stack of sorted materials, and walked toward the long-neglected scanner.

He gently wiped away the surface dust with a tissue, lifted the cover, and steadily fed the documents into the input tray page by page. The scanner emitted a low hum, and a green beam slid smoothly across, transforming the ink on the paper into an invisible digital torrent. This somewhat unfamiliar operational process seemed quite out of the ordinary in the office.

"Hey, Section Chief Li?" Liu Xiaoyun, known as Sister Liu, who sat closest to the door, was the first one unable to hold back her curiosity. She leaned over, speaking in a voice that was not too loud yet clear enough for those nearby to hear, "What are you... messing around with that chunk of iron for? It's been nearly a year since we claimed it, and no one has ever used it properly. It just takes up space." A good-natured perplexity and a hint of amusement hung on her face.

Without stopping his hands, Li Yifei looked up, a gentle, harmless, and slightly nerdy smile blooming on his face, his eyes clear: "Sister Liu, I just noticed our equipment is quite complete, and it would be a shame to leave it sitting here unused. Since I was organizing documents today, I figured I'd try out its functions first and get familiar with the operations. Just in case the department really needs to use scanning and archiving in the future, I won't be caught completely off guard. Don't you agree?"

His tone was natural and sincere, and his smile possessed a strong affinity, involuntarily arousing trust and making people feel that this young man was simply enthusiastic about learning and trying something new.

The other ears in the office quietly perked up. Xiao Zhao and Xiao Sun further inside also paused their keystrokes, casting their gazes in this direction.

Hearing Li Yifei's explanation, expressions of understanding washed over everyone's faces, mixed with a hint of knowing indulgence that "young people just love to tinker."

Wang Heng lifted his head from the pile of documents, glanced over through his glasses without saying a word, and then lowered his head again, though his brow twitched imperceptibly. Moments later, everyone immersed themselves back into their respective mountains of documents and seas of meetings, with the sounds of typing and page-turning returning as the primary melody.

Scanning completed, Li Yifei returned to his seat. On the screen, the interface of the mini-program he wrote was simple to the point of plainness. He skillfully imported the scanned electronic document package.

The program began to run quietly, performing OCR conversion, paragraph analysis, and keyword extraction in the background.

Its core task was to act like a precise surgical scalpel, excising the massive amounts of redundant diplomatic jargon, repetitive background descriptions, and elaborate formatting decorations within the documents, cutting straight to the core policy points, key data, main conclusions, and pending items. This was a process of information purification.

Soon, the processed results were rendered. The thick documents that would have otherwise consumed a vast amount of time to read page by page and excerpt manually were condensed into an electronic summary with a clear structure and prominent key points.

What was even more striking was that for the various data indicators involved in the documents—growth rates, investment amounts, proportional changes—the program automatically extracted and generated intuitive bar charts and line graphs. The cold numbers instantly acquired a visual form, making trends, comparisons, and outliers clear at a glance.

Without pausing, Li Yifei immediately plunged into the next phase. Based on this refined summary and visual charts, he opened presentation software.

His fingertips switched fluidly between the keyboard and mouse, rapidly constructing a mind-map-style framework. Key data and charts were precisely embedded, supplemented by concise and powerful explanatory text.

A preliminary PowerPoint draft characterized by clear logic, prominent highlights, and highly efficient visual communication took rapid shape in his hands. Concurrently, a matching written summary report was also compiled and completed, featuring a rigorous structure, solid data, and definitive conclusions, sorting out the complex information with crystal-clear organization.

Time slipped away quietly in a state of supreme concentration. The sunlight outside the window shifted from bright to soft, gradually tinged with a golden glow. When the hands of the clock on the wall quietly glided to five o'clock in the afternoon, the door to the Director's office opened.

Director Zhang Aigao strode out carrying a briefcase, his steps driven by a sense of urgency, bearing a trace of imperceptible fatigue on his face. His gaze swept across the large office without pausing, leading him straight to the elevator lobby.

For an official of his rank, the end of the workday usually marked only the beginning of another "battlefield"—various reports, coordination meetings, and social engagements.

"The Director has left," Sister Liu lowered her voice, muttering to Xiao Zhou beside her with a tacit sense of relaxation.

Almost at the exact moment the Director's figure vanished, Wang Heng, who had been burying his head in documents all along, raised his head. He took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, surveyed the room, and announced in a subdued yet clear voice, "Comrades whose work at hand has reached a stage can prepare to head home. Those who haven't finished, wrap things up quickly and don't drag it out too long."

As if hearing a command, the atmosphere in the office instantly loosened up. The prompts of shutting down computers, the rustling sounds of packing up files, and the gentle shifting of chairs intertwined.

Li Yifei likewise saved all documents, closed his computer, and tidied his desktop. He followed the flow of departing colleagues, quietly walking out of this solemn building that bore the economic lifeline of the republic.

The early spring evening wind carried a slight chill, brushing against his cheeks. Li Yifei stood beneath the towering steps of the National Development and Reform Commission, turning back for a final glance.

The outline of the building appeared even more majestic and profound in the twilight. He exhaled softly, the white mist dissipating into the chilly air. The first day of work had ended calmly and without ripples.

There were no raging waves, no public acclaim—only the hum of that scanner, the tapping of the keyboard, and a PowerPoint presentation and report born quietly in an unknown corner, condensed with efficiency and insight, much like a seed planted in the earth.

Li Yifei merged into the bustling evening rush hour crowd on Chang'an Avenue. His figure was soon swallowed by the twilight and the city lights.