Official Career

Official Career is a long-form political fiction series by the web novelist Mengru Honghuang. Serialized on the 17K Novel Network starting in 2010 and completed over more than three years, it runs to roughly 2,961 chapters and over nine million Chinese characters, making it one of the most substantial and influential works in the Chinese web-fiction genre of officialdom narratives. The protagonist, Liu Fei, a Peking University graduate, is brash and unconventional yet possesses firm bottom lines. During his university years, a mysterious stranger delivers a letter informing him that his parents are still alive but cannot acknowledge him, on the condition that he rise to the rank of deputy department head. Spurred by this, Liu Fei vows, "I will become an official," and enters the system by passing the civil service exam. Early in his career, he is banished to a subordinate agency after stumbling upon an affair between his superior and a female secretary, and faces repeated suppression and marginalization. A turning point comes when the father of Xu Jiaojiao, a young woman pursuing him, turns out to be the provincial party secretary. From there, Liu Fei starts as the provincial governor's secretary and subsequently serves as county chief, county party secretary, and vice mayor, repeatedly maneuvering against officials of every stripe and corrupt forces in scenarios involving standing committee votes, bidding candidate selection, and emergency responses, often deploying stratagems such as the "beauty trap" and "sowing discord" to defuse crises. Anchored in the ethos "An official who does not stand up for the people might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes," the novel portrays its protagonist as a chivalrous "official knight," emphasizing putting the people first and, in office, benefiting the region one serves. Through his growth from secretary to principal official, it reveals the complexities of power operations and the protagonist's transformation within them. The work is divided into multiple volumes, including Prelude to an Official Career, Striving at the Grassroots, and The Governor's Secretary, and concludes with the final chapter, "The Path of Office: The People First."