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

On Monday afternoon, three black Audi A6Ls, bearing provincial government license plates, quietly drove into the Qingyuan County government compound.

The car door opened, and several middle-aged cadres with serious expressions stepped out. Leading them was an elderly man with graying hair and black-rimmed glasses; he was Zhang Wenbo, deputy director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, a department-level official, and also the leader of this joint research team.

County Party Secretary Ma Changsheng, along with Li Wei, director of the County Party Committee Office, and other members of the leadership team, were already waiting in front of the office building.

"Director Zhang, you must be tired from your journey!" Ma Changsheng greeted him with a big smile, shaking Zhang Wenbo's hand with a very humble posture.

Zhang Wenbo simply nodded slightly, but his gaze swept across the crowd.

"Where is County Chief Chen?"

Ma Changsheng's smile froze for a moment, then he quickly explained, "Comrade Pingfang is probably still dealing with the aftermath of the sand and gravel plant. Young people are energetic, and sometimes they don't pay much attention to these details of welcoming and seeing off guests."

These words were pointed out, implying that Chen Pingfang didn't know the rules, while also making the speaker appear magnanimous.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Pingfang walked out of the office building, his steps steady and his face showing no sign of tension.

"Director Zhang, welcome to Qingyuan." Chen Ping extended his hand, his attitude calm.

Zhang Wenbo glanced at Chen Pingfang, shook hands, and didn't say anything more.

No one spoke in the meeting room; the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

Ma Changsheng personally poured Zhang Wenbo a cup of tea, then took a thick kraft paper document bag from Li Wei and placed it in the center of the conference table.

"Director Zhang, distinguished leaders," Ma Changsheng cleared his throat, his expression turning serious. "I know that the main reason this research team is here is to discuss the integration of sand and gravel resources along the river. Our Qingyuan County Party Committee firmly supports the decisions of the Municipal and Provincial Party Committees."

He then changed the subject and sighed: "However, in the actual implementation, some of our comrades, in pursuit of efficiency, used some irregular methods, skipped organizational procedures, and made decisions on their own, which confused the cadres and brought risks to local stability."

He gently patted the file folder.

"This document contains a list of information compiled by our county party committee, including details about the adjustment of relevant unit leaders without formal discussion by the county party committee standing committee; and serious irregularities in the establishment of the state-owned sand and gravel company and the related asset appraisal and liquidation processes. Every single one of these matters is documented."

The purpose of these words was clear: to direct the criticism at Chen Pingfang in front of the provincial leaders.

All eyes in the conference room were focused on Chen Pingfang.

Chen Pingfang seemed not to have heard Ma Changsheng's accusation. He picked up his teacup, blew on it gently, and then looked up with a slight smile on his face.

"Director Zhang, the situations that Secretary Ma mentioned do indeed exist."

One sentence left Ma Changsheng stunned. He hadn't expected Chen Pingfang to admit it so readily.

"However," Chen Ping put down his teacup, stood up, "I think that looking at materials in the meeting room is not as good as seeing the actual results on the ground. Theory without practice is always empty talk. Since the research team is here, why don't you leaders come with me to the grassroots level of Qingyuan and see for yourselves what these irregular operations have actually brought about?"

Zhang Wenbo frowned slightly, glanced at Ma Changsheng, then at Chen Pingfang, and finally nodded slowly: "Alright."

Ma Changsheng's expression was rather unpleasant. He had prepared a whole host of arguments, intending to overwhelm Chen Pingfang with the issue of procedural violations. But Chen Pingfang didn't argue with him at all and directly changed the subject.

The first stop was neither the county government nor the sand and gravel plant.

The convoy drove directly to Dawan Township, which is dozens of kilometers away.

When the research team's car stopped in front of the Dawang Township Central Primary School, everyone was somewhat surprised. The school looked brand new, with bright and clean windows.

A brand-new synthetic running track, a freshly painted school building, and bright classrooms filled with the sound of children reading aloud.

"Director Zhang, this is the first result of our illegal operation." Chen Pingfang stood at the school gate, his voice not loud, but very clear.

"This primary school was previously in dire need of repairs because of the county's tight finances; the school buildings had become unsafe. Recently, our county government took the lead and used a special fund to completely renovate it."

Ma Changsheng's heart skipped a beat. He remembered it—it was the money he had received in advance from Hengtong Sand Quarry.

Just then, a dark-skinned woman, who looked very simple and honest, walked briskly out of the school with several parents. She held a letter in her hands; the edges of the letter were curled, and it was covered with bright red handprints.

"You must be the leader from the province?" The woman's eyes lit up with excitement and her voice trembled as she saw Zhang Wenbo. "We are parents of students here. We are not very educated and don't know how to say nice things. We just want to tell you that County Chief Chen is a good official who truly works for us ordinary people."

She solemnly handed the joint letter of thanks to Zhang Wenbo.

"We parents can finally rest easy now that the school is finished. We heard that County Chief Chen worked under a lot of pressure to get this money back from the sand mining bosses. If anyone says anything bad about County Chief Chen, all the people in our township will be the first to disagree."

Zhang Wenbo held the heavy letter, staring at the dense red handprints on it, remaining silent for a long time. The expressions on the faces of the research team members behind him also changed.

Ma Changsheng stood to the side, feeling his face burning with embarrassment.

His prepared procedural issues simply couldn't stand up to these hundreds of red handprints.

After leaving the school, the convoy did not return to the county town, but drove directly to the sand and gravel quarry by the Qingyi River.

The sand and gravel quarry now bears the sign "Qingyuan County State-owned Sand and Gravel Resources Management Company". The site is orderly, with workers in uniform and several newly purchased environmental protection equipment in operation.

Chen Pingfang didn't give much of an introduction; he simply led the research team on a tour of the sand quarry.

Coincidentally, they ran into the contractor who had led the debt collection efforts back then.

"Hey, County Chief Chen is here." The contractor saw Chen Pingfang, immediately dropped what he was doing, and ran over with a big smile on his face, his attitude completely different from that day.

"Hello, leaders, hello, leaders." He bowed and scraped to the research team, his eyes full of sincere gratitude. "Thanks to County Chief Chen, all of our hard-earned money was settled last week. Not only that, County Chief Chen also pointed out a clear path for us, allowing our small construction team to become shareholders. Now we are also shareholders of this state-owned sand and gravel company. We feel at ease now."

"Before, we were working for unscrupulous bosses; now we're working for ourselves. How can that be the same? Everyone's enthusiasm is much higher than before."

These words surprised the members of the research team, who exchanged glances.

Before they came down, they had heard that Chen Ping had forcibly taken over private enterprises, causing great conflict. But the scene before them was one of harmony.

It was already late when we returned to the county government's conference room.

Ma Changsheng remained silent throughout, his face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

Chen Ping instructed his secretary, Xiao Li, to distribute a document to each leader.

"Director Zhang, this is a comparison table of tax and fee collection for our sand and gravel company over the past month since its establishment."

The file is very simple, with only two columns of data.

On the left is the average monthly tax payment of Hengtong Sand and Gravel Co., Ltd. over the past three years.

On the right is the total tax payment of the state-owned sand and gravel company in the first month after its establishment.

The two numbers are very different.

The number on the right is thirty times that on the left.

"In less than a month since the reform, the various taxes and fees collected have already exceeded the total amount collected by Hengtong Company in the past year." Chen Pingfang's voice was calm, as if he were stating a fact.

"I have also considered the stability issues that Secretary Ma is worried about. But I think the greatest stability in Qingyuan County is to prevent the loss of state assets, to return the back wages to the people, and to ensure that the year-end bonuses of cadres and employees are paid."

The meeting room was deathly silent.

Zhang Wenbo closed the thin report slowly. He looked up and gave Ma Changsheng, whose face had turned a deep purplish-red, a meaningful look.

"Secretary Ma, what you call 'irregular operations' is actually the 'Qingyuan Experience' we're seeing."