After waiting for more than half an hour, Director Wei, who went to coordinate with the airport, came back.

Director Wei is in his fifties, wearing a suit and tie, elegant and warm to others. The director is just a habitual name within the embassy. In fact, he is also a counselor, and a counselor of government affairs!

With so many functional departments of the embassy, ​​the political department he is in charge ranks first.

The Political Department is responsible for the political relationship between the two countries, the connections and exchanges between the governments, and the task of collecting, understanding and studying the political, social, economic and other aspects of the host country, and providing necessary materials and opinions for the government to formulate policies.

It can be said that the Political Department is the most important department of the embassy, ​​so each embassy abroad may not have a science and technology department, cultural department, education department or even military officer department, but without exception, there will be a political department.

In some embassies without ministers and ministerial counselors, the government counselor is the second in command of the embassy, ​​also known as the chief librarian, who assists the director in charge of the library and leads the entire library. When the ambassador leaves the country to take leave, report on his duties, and holds meetings, the government counselor serves as the temporary office and acts as an agent for all matters in the embassy.

The three requirements of "find people, speak well, and accomplish things" also apply to professional diplomats like Counselor Wei.

The Prime Minister will visit South Africa next month. After the special plane landed, the embassy staff and Chinese-funded institutions who came to the airport to welcome them must go to the airport security department to take photos before the special plane landed, and make temporary documents before passing through. There are many people who have to apply for the documents at that time, and these tasks must be coordinated in advance.

As planned, the special plane must stay at Johannesburg Airport for more than 40 hours. When the busy post-flight work such as refueling, maintenance, cleaning, etc. is completed immediately. In order to ensure the safety of the special plane, several flight attendants and a safety officer must be left on the plane, and comrades from the Central Guard Bureau will be responsible for security work. This will also be allowed by the airport.

It is a huge thing for the Prime Minister to visit the Embassy. All matters need to be considered. Counselor Wei is here to do these things. Today I will give you some gifts and invite them to dinner in two days.

As the head of the police liaison team, Han Bo is qualified to know these things and even has to participate in various preparations in the future. However, there are many people in the car and no secret matters can be said.

Counselor Wei changed his tone: "Comrade Xiaolei, although I met for the first time, I know a lot about your situation. A strong woman has seen the world and is very fluent in English. The museum needs talents like you. Even if I don't mention it now, Ambassador Chen will ask if you are interested in helping the Consular Department?"

"Counselor Wei, can I help?" Although Li Xiaolei didn't want to be idle, she was not mentally prepared to work in the embassy.

She is not a diplomat, and even her husband is not a professional diplomat, so it is normal not to understand these things.

Counselor Wei and Counselor Jiang looked at each other and explained with a smile: "Comrade Xiaolei, you can catch up with the good times and stay abroad with Counselor Han. On the issue of family life of overseas personnel, we first started to study in the Soviet Union. At that time, diplomats could take their wives to travel abroad. However, due to economic difficulties, this welfare was quickly cancelled, and overseas personnel could only leave their families and embark on the journey abroad alone.

When I first went abroad, I went to an embassy in Europe as a escort. I spent seven years alone, and I gave my children to my wife to take care of them. It took me two or three years to go back. The other comrades in the museum are the same, so diplomats from other countries call our Chinese embassy a ‘public’ embassy, ​​all of which are men, like a monk temple.”

"Not many people bring their families now." Counselor Jiang was a veteran and couldn't help but interrupt.

Counselor Wei nodded and continued: "The policy was slightly relaxed later. Those with first-class secretary or above positions can consider taking their wife. But there are still a few who take their wife. One is that the children are not taken care of, and the other is that if they go abroad, the wife will have to lose her job in China. Can she still find a job after returning to China for a few years? So only after retirement, the wife who has grown up is willing to go abroad with her husband. Most of them are as young as you are unwilling to do so."

"Counselor Wei, so what about the family members of our embassy?"

"not much."

Counselor Wei looked at Han Bo and his eyes turned to Li Xiaolei: "As the country's economic strength has increased and the policies have been relaxed, diplomats can take their wives with them when they go abroad. Because of work, children, etc., despite policies, few people are willing to go abroad together.

There are two situations when going abroad, one is within the staffing and the other is outside the staffing.

If you work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you will determine your work in the embassy based on your personal expertise. For example, our Ambassador Chen’s wife also works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After taking office with Ambassador Chen, Mrs. Chen was appointed as the first-class secretary. There are also some foreign language wives. The ministry will give a temporary staffing based on actual conditions, but the salary is not very high."

"The salary is fine, but does this symmetry meet the regulations?" Li Xiaolei really didn't want to be idle, so she looked back at her husband, and wanted to speak but stopped.

"Comrade Xiaolei, although our embassy is not small, the Political Department, the Military Officer Department, the Commercial Office, the Culture Department, the Science and Technology Department, the Education Department, and the Consular Department, each in charge of one position and each performs its own duties. However, there are many Chinese citizens in South Africa, and the exchanges between the two countries have increased, and the workload has increased. Comrades often hold multiple positions, and everyone must learn to "kill".

When the staff are most tight, the family members of the accompanying family have to go into battle. Some are cashiers, and some are in charge of the warehouse. Anyway, everyone has something to do. For example, when the leader comes to visit, the men, women, and young people in the museum are all in battle. There is still not enough staff, and they even have to ask for help from the neighboring embassies and consulates."

It is better to do something than to do nothing, and she is just a person who can't sit still.

Han Bo nodded slightly, Li Xiaolei understood it, and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll try it. It doesn't matter whether the salary is or not, it's mainly because there is something to do."

"It's definitely okay. To be honest, it's really useless to ask you to go to the Consular Department to help."

...

Talk and laugh, the construction site of the new museum has arrived, and the surrounding environment is indeed good.

It is important to take office. If you don’t have time to visit, you shake hands with your compatriots from Zhongcheng Group and say goodbye to your car and go to the embassy.

The new building is under construction. The current building is an old building that looks like a hotel. A flagpole stands in front of the door, a five-star red flag is flying on the flagpole, and a large national emblem is hung on it.

During the pursuit of fugitives and stolen assets, Han Bo was not surprised by this, because this is very distinctive as a Chinese embassy abroad. For a long time, Chinese embassies and consulates abroad have adopted the practice of life and office concentration in the same place, and it is more convenient to use buildings. Therefore, a considerable number of Chinese embassies abroad have purchased buildings - especially hotel buildings - as the buildings of the Chinese embassy.

The layout is similar and can be roughly divided into office areas, confidential areas, activity areas, and living areas.

The office area is the main office location of the embassy, ​​with a communication room (reception room) as the facade of the embassy, ​​and offices of various offices. The confidential area is the location of the embassy's confidential communication equipment, the translation room, and the storage place for confidential documents and materials. It is the core secrets and the embassy's nerve center. It is the most closely guarded place of embassies in various countries. As a police liaison officer, Han Bo cannot enter it casually.

Where activities are carried out in the event area, including reception rooms, banquet rooms and multi-purpose rooms.

The multi-purpose hall can be used to hold movies, hold large-scale dining parties, dance parties, various receptions, small exhibitions, etc. Correspondingly, there are auxiliary rooms such as workrooms, kitchens, and screening rooms.

Of all departments, the police liaison team is absolutely the smallest.

There are two people in total, only one office is needed.

The dormitory is upstairs, similar to the standard rooms in a hotel. It has all the air conditioners, color TVs and other electrical equipment. Although it is a little small, the living conditions are still good.

With the help of Liu Sanji, I settled down and walked around, visited the counselors of various departments in the museum one by one, one secretary, two secretary, three secretary, and several escorts who were "doing odd jobs" in various departments. The afternoon passed without realizing it.

If there are counselors who usually come to the museum, a small welcome ceremony will be held.

But now is not the usual thing. To welcome the arrival of the chief, I was so busy that I was overwhelmed. I didn’t come back until after dinner and was about to walk around the yard.

"Comrade Han Bo, welcome."

"Comrade Li Xiaolei, sorry, I would like to welcome you warmly as usual, but there were a lot of things."

When they arrived at the embassy, ​​the ambassador and the minister were the immediate superiors. Han Bo stood attentively and saluted with a serious attitude and respectful attitude. The two leaders were gentle and elegant, and were kind and kind. After shaking hands, they directly invited the two to a reception room on the first floor.

This is a new unit, and it is not an ordinary new unit.

Han Bo is full of confidence in China, but here he feels like a primary school student, more or less restrained. Li Xiaolei is also a little uncomfortable and can only sit aside and smile without saying a word.

Ambassador Chen personally poured water for the two of them. Minister Yang said that Han Bo did not smoke and walked to the window to smoke very gentlemanly.

"Comrade Han Bo, Comrade Xiaolei, don't be so restrained. When you arrive at the embassy, ​​it's like you're home. In fact, the embassy is a temporary family composed of people from all over the world. The members of the 'family' include professional diplomats like me and Mr. Yang, including civil servants of state organs, military officers and even chefs of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Everyone knows here and will break up here in the future..."

The leader talked and laughed like a family, without any airs, giving people the feeling that he was wearing suits and ties in the TV news, and he was in the house. He was extremely serious and did not match the number of professional terms such as concierge, visit, appointment, notes, negotiations, and protests.

Han Bo smiled, and Li Xiaolei was not as uncomfortable as before.

Since they arrived at the embassy, ​​they were the people in the embassy.

During this period of time, Ambassador Chen decided that it would be better to choose a day than a day. He used this time to talk to the two of them. He looked around and said meaningfully: "In the 1980s, people from foreign offices made up a rumor for us, saying, 'After entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, going abroad is like taking a walk'. It means that it is easy for people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to go abroad.

However, the taste of staying abroad is far less leisurely and casual than walking. Just imagine, if you are alone, far away from your relatives, stay in a foreign country for many years, work day and night, and your life is monotonous and boring, and after returning to China, even your children cannot recognize you as your father, let alone family education. How would you feel about such a "walking"?"

"At that time, the messenger went to the embassy every one or two months, and it was really a 'letter to pay ten thousand gold coins'!" Minister Yang added tacitly, and together with Ambassador Yang, he gave the two "in-house education" to the two.

"Some comrades' parents died and could only be shocked from the late letters, and they had to recite and mourn in their hearts. Many diplomats lamented that they owe their children, their wives, and their parents too much! Now, although they are allowed to take their wives and their children abroad, many embassies are still in the "monk temple" and their wives are unable to take their wives."

Ambassador Yang took a small sip of water and sighed with emotion: "I wonder if you have ever heard of the story of 'one person raising the national flag'. In 1990, Comrade Wu Zhonghua was ordered to go to Kiribati, the South Pacific island country alone to establish an embassy. On that most primitive island, there was only a simple road, no newspapers, radio, not to mention television, and only the stormy waves of the Pacific Ocean.

No one spoke Chinese to him, so he had to talk to himself in the mirror every day. The embassy was a grass-roofed bungalow without a courtyard wall. He overcame many difficulties and finally raised a flagpole in front of the embassy. Every morning he was alone solemnly raising the bright five-star red flag."

"I've heard of it."

Compared to the old seniors, he really caught up with a good time. Han Bo said sincerely: "He is indifferent to fame and fortune, can defend his hardships, and can endure loneliness, which writes a touching page of our Chinese diplomats' loyalty to the motherland."

Ambassador Yang nodded with satisfaction: "The term of office of a police liaison officer is only two to four years, but professional diplomats often spend half or even more of their time in embassies and consulates abroad after joining the work. Moreover, some diplomats may be sent to several different countries in their lives, and their decades of diplomatic careers may be spent in Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa respectively;

Our life trajectory is not drawn by ourselves. Most of a diplomat's life is to breathe the dry air of the Sahara Desert, or to waste many years of youth in the cracks of New York skyscrapers, or someone will have the opportunity to see different starry sky in the northern and southern hemispheres and hear different waves in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, which are completely arranged by his superiors according to work needs.

In a sense, the diplomatic cause we are engaged in is a silent selfless dedication, full of personal and family sacrifices. This spirit of dedication comes from infinite loyalty to the Party and the people!”

Mystery and legendary colors are just one aspect of the life of diplomats.

In fact, the lives of diplomats are like ordinary people, and they also have the ups and downs of life, but at this moment the leaders are talking about not only the ups and downs of life.

When selecting foreign personnel in the ministry, the first thing to consider is political reliability.
Chapter completed!