Charles had pushed these old colleagues to the back of his mind; his chances of intersecting with them were diminishing.
Although just a few months ago he was merely a first-level clerk, eagerly waiting for a promotion, he had now become a twenty-eighth class, second level Clerk Chief—a position almost unattainable for his former colleagues in their entire lifetimes.
Although in the realm of clerks, there was a chance for promotion every three years, various things always came up to interrupt the process. Especially, advancing from a clerk to Clerk Chief was exceedingly difficult; his old colleagues had worked hard for over twenty years, and it was a feat for them to even rise to the position of a first level Clerk Chief.
Only a select few elites could rise to a second or even third level Clerk Chief before retirement; anything higher required luck.
As everyone knows, those from ordinary families generally do not have much luck in the bureaucratic system.