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

Three massive bulldozers stood at the intersection, their cold buckets hanging high above the crowd, casting long shadows.

The creditors, who had been so agitated just moments before, now instinctively shrank back, their hopes turning to fear. They were there to collect their money, not to fight. Wang Heng and his gang of thugs were infamous throughout Qingyuan County.

Wang Heng was very satisfied with the scene. He tapped his palm with the baseball bat intermittently, his eyes sweeping over Chen Pingfang with disdain.

"Hey Chen, I'll give you a chance." Wang Heng grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Now, take your bunch of beggars and get lost, and I can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise... it's normal for a few nameless people to disappear from this riverbank every year."

Chen Pingfang's face remained unchanged, and he didn't even blink.

Chen Ping calmly turned around and gave an instruction to his secretary, whose legs were already trembling.

"Xiao Li, take out your phone."

The secretary was taken aback, not understanding what the county head wanted to do, but still subconsciously took out her phone.

"Open the live streaming software." Chen Pingfang's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Use the county government's official account to start a live stream."

live streaming?

The moment those two words were uttered, not only Wang Heng, but also his thugs and hundreds of creditors were stunned.

Why start a live stream now?

"The title of the live stream will be—" Chen Pingfang said slowly and deliberately as he watched his secretary operate the system: "Qingyuan County People's Government, On-site Meeting on Historical Debt Issues."

The secretary had barely finished speaking when she pressed the start button for the live stream.

Chen Ping didn't even glance at Wang Heng. He took the phone from his secretary, pointed the camera at himself, and then turned to the hundreds of creditors behind him.

"Dear fellow citizens of Qingyuan County, and fellow netizens watching the live stream, hello everyone, I am Chen Pingfang, the county magistrate of Qingyuan County."

His voice was instantly transmitted through the phone's microphone.

"Today, we are holding a special on-site meeting to address the long-standing issue of triangular debt among enterprises that has plagued the development of our county. As you can see behind me are creditors who have been owed money by government projects; what they want is their hard-earned money."

The camera pans across the faces of those holding IOUs, their expressions complex.

Next, Chen Ping pointed the camera at the mountain of sand and gravel and the huge sand dredger.

"What we are standing before is the largest sand and gravel quarry in Qingyuan County. According to preliminary calculations, this quarry has engaged in serious illegal mining and tax evasion over the past few years, and the state-owned assets it has seized are enough to cover all our debts."

Wang Heng's expression changed the moment Chen Pingfang uttered his first words.

He had never seen anything like it. A live stream right in front of him?

"You fucking want to die!" Wang Heng shouted, grabbing a baseball bat and trying to charge forward.

"Mr. Wang," Chen Pingfang said calmly, turning his gaze to Wang Heng for the first time, "I am currently conducting a live broadcast of government affairs in my capacity as county magistrate. The entire nation is watching. Are you sure you want to obstruct official business and violently resist the law?"

Wang Heng stopped in his tracks.

He looked at the phone screen in Chen Ping's hand and knew that there were some things he absolutely could not do.

"You..." Wang Heng trembled, but couldn't utter a single word.

Chen Ping ignored him and nodded to the auditor and water conservancy engineer beside him.

"Now, please have the comrades from the Audit Bureau announce to the people of the county the estimated amount of tax evasion by Hengtong Sand and Gravel Co., Ltd. for the past year alone."

The auditor, wearing glasses, took a deep breath, stepped forward, unfolded a document in front of the phone camera, and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

"Based on our cross-referencing of existing data and market estimates, Hengtong Sand and Gravel Co., Ltd. is suspected of evading various taxes and fees totaling no less than... 87 million yuan in 2022 alone!"

This figure caused an uproar among all the creditors.

Eighty-seven million! And all in just one year!

This money is enough to pay off the debts of the vast majority of them!

Before everyone could recover from their shock, the hydraulic engineer stepped forward, pointed to the haphazardly dug riverbed, and said:

"According to hydrological models, this predatory and illegal mining has severely damaged the riverbed structure of the Qingyi River, causing the safety coefficient of downstream flood control dikes to decrease by 30%! In the event of a catastrophic flood, the economic losses would be astronomical!"

These two conclusions were clearly presented to everyone through the live broadcast.

Wang Heng's face turned a deep shade of liver. He felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown in front of the entire county.

"Bullshit!" he finally blurted out. "This is my territory! My sand pit! Anyone who dares to touch it will have to try!"

Wang Heng gestured to the bulldozer driver behind him.

The engines of three bulldozers roared as they slowly approached.

A gasp rippled through the crowd, and they retreated once more.

Just then, Chen Pingfang's voice rang out again, still calm.

"Wang Heng, let me remind you one more thing."

He took out a document from his briefcase and displayed it clearly in front of the camera.

The bright red title and seal made Wang Heng's pupils shrink slightly.

"According to the 'Guiding Opinions of Yunzhou City on Integrating Sand and Gravel Resources Along the River and Ensuring the Construction of Key Projects,' the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee has decided to authorize the Qingyuan County Government to immediately conduct a unified nationalization integration and inventory of all sand and gravel resources along the Qingyi River."

Chen Pingfang's voice was very steady.

"In other words, from now on, every grain of sand here belongs to the public and to all the people of Qingyuan County."

"What you're doing now isn't just affecting my office, it's influencing the municipal party committee's decision. Think carefully about the consequences—can you and the people behind you bear them?"

Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee.

These five words left Wang Heng completely stunned.

He didn't expect that Chen Pingfang would have city documents in his possession.

Ma Changsheng wasn't referring to Secretary Zhou from the city...

Just then, Wang Heng's cell phone started ringing incessantly.

He frantically answered the phone, and on the other end came Ma Changsheng's almost distorted roar: "Wang Heng! If you fucking want to die, don't drag me down with you! Bring your men back here right now! Immediately! Right now!"

Wang Heng's hand holding the phone was trembling uncontrollably.

He stared blankly at Chen Pingfang in front of him, finally realizing who he had offended.

He slowly lowered the baseball bat in his hand and waved weakly at the bulldozer driver.

The roar of the three bulldozers gradually subsided.

Wang Heng glanced at Chen Pingfang, the arrogance gone from his eyes. He said nothing, turned around, and got into the car with his men.

Before leaving, Wang Heng rolled down the car window, stared at Chen Pingfang, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.

"You surnamed Chen, you've got guts. Let's see how you get out of this tomorrow."