After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the Qingyuan County government building was a bit strange.

A photo has been uploaded to the local forum all night.

The caption for the photo, which initially read "Thumbs up for our Dawan Elementary School volunteers," gradually changed to the more surprising "Is this our new County Magistrate Chen?" after people discovered the identities of the volunteers.

The young man in the photo was soaking wet and covered in mud, struggling to carry books—a stark contrast to the image of the county magistrate that everyone had in mind. The comments section was filled with all sorts of opinions: some praised him, some were curious, and some were skeptical, leaving the county officials feeling quite uneasy.

Chen Ping's office was still deserted.

But he himself has begun to take action.

At 8:30 a.m., his secretary sent a formal notice to the desks of all the heads of the county government departments: the county magistrate's office meeting would be held at 9:00 a.m.

This was Chen Pingfang's first official notice after taking office. The words were simple, but no one dared to disobey.

At five minutes to nine, the atmosphere in the county government's No. 1 conference room was tense.

The bureau chiefs arrived one after another, gathering in twos and threes to talk quietly, their eyes occasionally glancing at the empty seat in the head of the table with complicated expressions.

Most of them had been promoted by Ma Changsheng, the county party secretary. They hadn't taken the new county head seriously at first, but now they felt a growing sense of unease and uncertainty.

Finance Bureau Chief Zhao An sat steadily in his seat. He was Ma Changsheng's confidant, with a cold smile on his lips.

Just half an hour ago, he received a call from Secretary Ma.

Today, at the new county head's first office meeting, we're going to give him another rude awakening, and this time it'll be even tougher.

At nine o'clock sharp, Chen Ping walked into the conference room.

He was wearing a clean white shirt, his expression was calm, his eyes swept across the room, he nodded slightly to everyone, and sat down directly in the main seat.

Chen Ping didn't say any polite words.

"Meeting."

He uttered two words casually, signaling his secretary to start operating the projector.

The projection screen lit up, and a photo was clearly projected—the same photo that circulated yesterday. In the dilapidated classroom of Dawan Township Central Primary School, it was raining heavily, and the teachers were frantically trying to salvage the books that had been soaked.

The moment the photo was shown, the effect was obvious; the meeting room immediately fell silent.

Chen Ping spoke in a calm tone, as if he were talking about a trivial matter, and raised the first topic of the meeting:

"I propose that we immediately take a special fund from the county magistrate's reserve fund to thoroughly investigate and repair all the dilapidated school buildings in the county's primary and secondary schools."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"The safety of our children cannot wait."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao An, the director of the Finance Bureau, immediately stood up from his seat.

He wore an expression that suggested he was thinking about the overall situation of the county, and raised his voice to make sure everyone in the meeting room could hear him clearly.

"County Chief Chen, I understand your feelings. The children's safety is of course important, but..."

Zhao An sighed heavily, "The county really has no money."

He spread his hands, looking helpless, and said, "Moreover, the county party committee standing committee recently passed an important decision to immediately launch a town lighting project in order to improve our county's image and attract investment. This is our top priority right now, as it concerns the future development of Qingyuan County."

"So," Zhao An's voice suddenly hardened, "all the usable money, including the county magistrate's reserve fund you just mentioned, has been transferred to the lighting project's account in accordance with the Standing Committee's decision."

As soon as he said that, everyone in the conference room understood.

This is Secretary Ma's intention.

They used the county party committee's decision to pressure the county government, and used collective decisions to silence the county head.

This was a ruthless move; it completely blocked Chen Ping's path.

This is tantamount to publicly stating in front of all the bureau chiefs that Chen Pingfang, the new county magistrate, cannot even touch the money in his own account.

All eyes were once again focused on Chen Pingfang, eager to see how he would handle the situation.

A smug smile had already crept onto Zhao An's face.

But no one expected it.

Chen Ping's face remained calm, showing no sign of anger.

He nodded in agreement.

"Director Zhao is right."

His voice remained steady: "Every penny of public funds must be spent wisely."

Just as Zhao An's smile grew increasingly smug, Chen Ping abruptly changed the subject, slowly pulling a booklet from the folder in front of him.

A ledger that looks a bit old, with a worn-out cover.

It was the same canteen purchase bill that the principal of Dawang Township Elementary School had given him yesterday.

"Speaking of being thrifty," Chen Pingfang placed the account book on the table, "I happened to see an account book in the cafeteria of Dawan Township Elementary School yesterday, and it was very inspiring."

He slowly opened the ledger, his voice not loud, but every word was clearly heard by everyone present.

"Potatoes, purchase price: 3.2 yuan per jin (0.5 kg)."

"Chinese cabbage, 1.8 yuan per jin."

"The price of bottled cooking oil is more than twice as expensive as that in the city supermarket."

Chen Ping raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the entire room before finally settling on Zhao An's face, which had already changed color.

"The bureau chiefs here are all experts in their fields; they should know the market prices of vegetables better than someone as new as me, right?"

There was not a sound in the room.

Some bureau chiefs were already getting restless, subconsciously shifting their bodies, their foreheads beginning to sweat.

They were shocked, not expecting Chen Ping to obtain such concrete evidence so quickly.

Zhao An's face drained of all color, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Chen Ping gently closed the ledger with a soft "snap".

He leaned forward slightly, staring at Zhao An.

"Director Zhao, since you are so knowledgeable about the big picture and so concerned about the county's finances, I'd like to ask you a professional question..."

His voice was cold.

"For our huge investment in the county's lighting project, the light bulbs and cables we purchased, they wouldn't be...three times more expensive than the market price, would they?"

The entire conference room was eerily quiet.

Even their breathing seemed to have stopped.

The moment this question was raised, everyone was taken aback.

This directly linked the lighting project to the messy procurement process for the cafeteria.

This is an implication that the same group of people are making money behind the scenes.

Zhao An shuddered, cold sweat instantly soaking the back of his shirt. He opened his mouth, his throat gurgling, but he couldn't utter a single word.

All the officials present stared intently at the calm young man in the main seat with a completely new look.

This is no fool.

That's an amazing technique.

Before anyone could react, Chen Ping stood up and made his decision in an unquestionable tone.

"The children's safety is non-negotiable. The money to repair the school must be in place today."

He stretched out his finger and gently tapped the table.

"It will come from the budget for the lighting project."

"If Director Zhao finds the accounts difficult to balance," Chen Pingfang said, turning his gaze to Zhao An, who was almost unable to stand, "we can first ask the comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Audit Office to freeze the accounts of Qingyuan County Hengtong Agricultural and Sideline Products Supply Company. I think the funding gap should be filled soon."

He surveyed the room, his voice not loud, but carrying great weight.

"Who objects?"

"Anyone who objects should go and explain to the reporters at the provincial TV station why our children are having classes in leaky classrooms while we are eating potatoes that cost three times as much and buying exorbitantly priced light bulbs."

No one dared to respond.

End of the meeting.

At his first county magistrate's office meeting after taking office, the new county magistrate used only a small canteen bill to publicly overturn the finance bureau chief's, forcibly snatching the money back from the county party secretary's pocket.

The news spread rapidly throughout the entire county government compound the moment the conference room door opened.