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

The conference room was deathly silent.

The brass key lay silently in the center of the table, and everyone felt suffocated.

The color drained from Hu Jinshan's face at a visible speed. He stared intently at Chen Pingfang, his eyes filled with disbelief. He couldn't understand how anyone in this world could choose to stab themselves in the back before attacking their opponent.

This is a tactic only a madman would use: mutual destruction, leaving no room for retreat.

Governor Zhou Jiang stopped tapping his fingers on the table. He looked at Chen Pingfang, his approval more evident in his eyes. The officialdom has no shortage of experts at smoothing things over, but it desperately needs capable individuals who dare to break the mold.

"it is good."

Governor Zhou Jiang only said one word.

Without consulting anyone, he looked directly at the secretary at the door, his tone calm yet brooking no argument.

"Notify the comrades from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection that they may come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the heavy door to the conference room was pushed open again.

This time, four people entered. They were all dressed in dark suits and had serious expressions. They had no name tags on their chests, walked steadily, and had sharp eyes as they went straight to the conference table.

The man in the lead walked up to Hu Jinshan, showed his identification, and said in a completely flat voice, "Comrade Hu Jinshan, we are staff members of the Fifth Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. We need your cooperation in investigating some matters. Please proceed."

"No...I..."

Hu Jinshan's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word. He subconsciously looked at Governor Zhou Jiang, then at the Municipal Party Secretary, and finally his gaze swept over his former colleagues, seeking help.

Nobody was watching him.

The deputy directors all lowered their heads, pretending to study the patterns on the table.

Lin Yaodong, who hadn't spoken until now, picked up his teacup and blew on the steam, as if what was happening in front of him had nothing to do with him.

"I...I'm sick..." Hu Jinshan's voice was hoarse as he gave his final reason, "I'm still on sick leave, I need to go to the hospital..."

The man in the lead nodded, his expression remaining calm: "We've already communicated with the nursing home. During the investigation, we'll provide you with the best medical care. Let's go."

He made a "please" gesture.

Two staff members stepped forward, one on each side, seemingly to help him up, but in reality, they had already taken control of Hu Jinshan's arms.

With a "thump".

Hu Jinshan felt as if all his strength had been drained away, and he collapsed to the ground. If the two men hadn't been supporting him, he would have slid to the floor. His oversized hospital gown now seemed incredibly ironic.

He was half-dragged, half-carried out of the conference room.

From beginning to end, no one else spoke in the meeting room. Only when the door was closed again, cutting off Hu Jinshan's last view, did the municipal party secretary seem to come to his senses, his forehead already covered with fine beads of sweat.

Governor Zhou Jiang stood up, seemingly unaffected by the incident.

He picked up the evaluation report of Huaxin International on the table, walked up to Chen Pingfang, and handed the report back to him.

"The reform pilot project of the Chipfire Industrial Park will proceed according to your plan." Zhou Jiang's tone left no room for argument. "Starting today, a special working group for the reform of state-owned enterprises in the Chipfire Industrial Park will be established, with Comrade Chen Pingfang as the group leader and Comrade Lin Yaodong as the advisor. Other members of the High-tech Zone Management Committee will fully cooperate."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over each of the deputy directors present.

"Anyone who doesn't cooperate will have the disciplinary committee members talk to them. Anyone who tries to pull any tricks behind the scenes," Zhou Jiang's voice turned cold, "is Hu Jinshan's fate today, and his tomorrow will be the same."

Meeting adjourned.

After Zhou Jiang finished speaking, he left directly, accompanied by the municipal party secretary and the mayor.

In the conference room, the remaining deputy directors looked at each other, and finally all eyes were on Chen Pingfang.

The previous disdain and perfunctoriness were gone from his eyes, replaced only by awe.

……

3 PM.

Office of the Director of the Management Committee of the High-tech Zone.

This place used to be Hu Jinshan's territory. The decoration was very elaborate, with a huge huanghuali wood desk in the center of the room and calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall.

At this moment, Chen Pingfang was sitting behind this desk, while Lao Ma, along with two sharp-looking young men in black T-shirts, were inspecting every corner of the office with professional equipment.

"Director, we've checked everything; there are no eavesdropping or surveillance devices," Old Ma reported.

Chen Ping nodded, his gaze falling on a safe about half a person's height in the corner.

"Open it."

Old Ma responded, and one of the young men immediately stepped forward and took out a set of sophisticated instruments from the toolbox. Less than five minutes later, with a slight "click," the heavy safe door was opened.

There wasn't much inside.

A few gold bars, stacks of foreign currency, and a thick pile of documents.

Chen Ping ignored the gold bars and picked up the document on top. The first document was a one-way ticket to Vancouver for next week, in the name of Hu Jinshan.

He was indeed preparing to flee.

Chen Ping's gaze remained unchanged as he continued flipping through the pages.

The second document made his pupils shrink slightly.

It was a draft land transfer contract. Party A was the High-tech Zone Management Committee, and Party B was an offshore company registered in the Cayman Islands. The contract stipulated that a 300-acre industrial land plot next to the Xinhuo Industrial Park would be transferred to this company at an absurdly low price.

The contract was signed shortly after the governor's inspection.

So this was Hu Jinshan's final act. As soon as the news of the debt-to-equity swap came out, he knew there was no hope for the factory, so he immediately activated his backup plan, hoping to transfer his most valuable land assets at the last minute and then flee far away.

What a clever escape!

Watching from the side, Zhang Chao gasped, "That bastard is really going to hollow out the entire High-Tech Zone!"

Chen Ping closed the document and handed it to Lao Ma: "Give these documents to the provincial discipline inspection commission's investigation team intact."

"Yes."

After dealing with all of this, Chen Ping leaned back in his large boss's chair and let out a long sigh. Ever since he took over the Corefire Industrial Park, his nerves had been on edge, and only now had he truly regained control.

Although his position remains director, the newly established special task force leader has made him the de facto number one figure in the High-tech Zone.

He rubbed his temples, preparing to call Xiao Yuhan to let her know he was safe, but his phone vibrated first.

It was a text message sent by Xiao Yuhan.

The content was short, but it instantly tightened Chen Ping's nerves, which had just relaxed.

"Be careful of Hu Jinshan's former superior. I just received news that he went to the provincial capital last night and is currently lobbying."