I have a friend inside the system who is currently in a position of real authority and once met a female section chief.

At that time, there were only the two of them in the department. The female section chief was over 40, remarried, with a skeptical attitude, glasses, stick-like legs, sharp-tongued, delicate and refined, good at scheming, and had a strong personality.
Three years ago, the female section chief told him: "Work hard, I will help you get promoted. You just need to do a good job in our department."
Over the past three years, he has gotten up early and stayed up late, worked diligently, doing the work of two people alone. The female section chief almost didn’t have to do anything, but he was willing and never complained.
After three years, he saw his peers being promoted to section chief, while he remained a staff member. He was a bit anxious and wanted to improve his salary and subsidies for his family.
He asked the female section chief. The result was that she said: "I told you before, I can’t handle your promotion. It depends on you."
Later, he left.
It took him three years to finally understand that working within the system means you can’t just bury your head in the work; you also need to look up and watch the road at all times.