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

It was late at night, and the moonlight shone on the factory buildings of the Chipfire Industrial Park.

The lively hotpot party ended, and Chen Ping stood alone in front of the open space, Xiao Yuhan's question still echoing in his ears.

"If this project succeeds, what would you most like to do?"

Chen Pingfang did not answer Xiao Yuhan, but the answer in his heart was always clear.

To fulfill an agreement.

Many years ago, in a university laboratory, Chen Pingfang and a brother whose face he couldn't remember made a promise in front of an old oscilloscope.

We need to create our own things.

The next morning, Chen Ping didn't go to his director's office, but went directly to the management committee's archives.

The brass key Lin Yaodong gave him was inserted into the lock and made a "click" sound as it turned, which was clearly audible in the quiet corridor.

The door was pushed open, and a smell of dust hit the door.

Rows of metal filing cabinets stand upright, covered with a thin layer of dust. These cabinets contain all the documents related to the Corefire Industrial Park from its inception to the present.

Zhang Chao followed behind and asked in a low voice, "Director, what are we looking for? Evidence of Hu Jinshan's embezzlement? The Discipline Inspection Commission should be able to use it."

"No." Chen Ping shook his head. "I'm looking for someone."

Chen Ping walked directly to the back of the filing cabinet, where the earliest technical files from the project's inception were stored. Unlike the later reports prepared to pass inspections, these documents in manila envelopes were yellowed at the edges, covered with correction marks and handwritten calculation formulas.

These are what the project originally looked like.

Chen Ping opened more than a dozen file folders in a row. Most of the design drawings and technical solutions inside were nothing special, and some parts were obviously made to make them too complicated in order to get funding.

Until he opened a file folder numbered "003 - Core Architecture".

Chen Ping's gaze immediately fell on the blueprints.

It was a basic design drawing of the cleanroom's basic piping layout. The layout was bold and ingenious, leaving many interfaces for future upgrades. This design consideration was much higher than the general level in China at the time.

Chen Ping's gaze fell on an inconspicuous mark in the lower right corner of the drawing.

"ASML-EUV compatible interface reserved (theoretical)".

This is it.

The source of the details that both Governor Zhou Jiang and Li Wenbo noticed lies here.

Chen Ping's fingers traced the blueprint, his brow furrowing slightly. The design concept behind this blueprint was completely inconsistent with Hu Jinshan's style of making money and running away; Hu Jinshan couldn't possibly have thought that far ahead.

He turned to the signature page of the drawings.

In the "Chief Project Engineer" section, Hu Jinshan's name was haphazardly signed. However, in the "Chief Designer" section, a very neatly written name was signed.

Jiang Fan.

Chen Pingfang had never seen this name on any of the management committee's senior management lists.

Chen Ping immediately instructed Zhang Chao to retrieve the files of all individuals named Jiang Fan from the personnel department. Half an hour later, Zhang Chao returned with a thin document in hand, his expression somewhat strange.

"Director, we've found him. Jiang Fan was a genius specially recruited by Nanzhou University of Science and Technology. After graduation, he was introduced to the High-tech Zone as a technical talent and was one of the earliest technical architects of the Chipfire Industrial Park project."

"And then?"

"Later..." Zhang Chao said hesitantly, "The file says that during the first phase of the project's acceptance, he refused to sign the acceptance report that falsely reported the amount of work done, and he had a falling out with Hu Jinshan. After that, he was given a disciplinary action on the grounds of 'disobeying organizational arrangements and having a negative work attitude,' and then... he resigned on his own."

Attached to the end of the file was a resignation letter written by Jiang Fan himself, the handwriting of which was exactly the same as that on the drawing.

The letter was simple: "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together."

Chen Ping closed the file, his eyes lighting up.

The person he was looking for was Jiang Fan. A genius, driven away by someone like Hu Jinshan.

"Find out, find out exactly where he is and what he's doing," Chen Pingfang said. "Use every connection you have; I need all the information about this person today."

……

4 PM, Hongxing Road, Nanzhou City.

This is the old town area; the roads are narrow, and old residential buildings line both sides. The air is filled with the smells of food and the noise of people.

A black Audi was parked on the side of the road, making it quite conspicuous.

Zhang Chao pointed to a shop called "Brothers Auto Repair" not far away and said to Chen Pingfang in the back seat, "Director, that's it. After Jiang Fan resigned, I heard he lost all his money in the stock market and his wife divorced him. In the end, he opened a car repair shop here and is living a tough life."

Chen Ping got out of the car.

Inside the repair shop, a man in blue overalls, covered in oil stains, was leaning over an old Santana with its hood open, intently turning on a part.

His hair was a little messy, his beard was stubble, his profile was very defined, and his eyes were focused.

The disheveled mechanic in front of me is completely different from the genius designer in the file.

Chen Ping watched quietly.

It wasn't until the man straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand that he noticed the two people standing at the door.

The man looked Chen Pingfang and Zhang Chao up and down, frowned, and asked impatiently, "The car broke down? Pull over to the side of the road and tell me the problem."

Chen Ping didn't say anything, took something out of his briefcase, walked over, and gently placed it on the workbench.

It was a document in an envelope.

Jiang Fan glanced at it, but didn't pay any attention, and continued wiping the parts in his hands: "No time, I'm busy."

"Engineer Jiang," Chen Ping said, "Here are the receipts for the three months' salary and project bonus that Hu Jinshan withheld from you back then, totaling 73,600 yuan. The money has already been deposited into your original salary card."

Jiang Fan stopped wiping the parts.

He slowly raised his head and looked Chen Pingfang up and down for the first time.

"Who are you? From the Discipline Inspection Commission? Here to be a witness for my prosecution?" Jiang Fan's voice was a little dry, with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth. "Too late, Hu Jinshan is already in jail. Coming to me now is of no use."

"I'm not from the Discipline Inspection Commission," Chen Pingfang introduced himself. "I'm the new director of the Nanzhou High-tech Zone Management Committee. My name is Chen Pingfang."

"Director?" Jiang Fan smirked. "Another new director? What, new broom sweeps clean, are you planning to use us old hands as scapegoats to earn some credit?"

Having seen much of the ways of officialdom, he was very wary of Chen Pingfang.

Chen Ping handed over another document.

It was Huaxin International's assessment report on Plant No. 3, and the debt-to-equity swap reform plan that he personally drafted.

"I've taken over the mess left by Hu Jinshan. I'm prepared to turn it into a project that can produce something truly valuable."

Jiang Fan took the documents and glanced at them casually. But when his gaze fell on the Stardust Project, the third-generation semiconductor, and the technical evaluation details of Li Wenbo's team, the mockery on his face slowly disappeared, and his expression became focused and serious.

His fingers traced lightly across the report, his movements very careful.

"A shell company, just spouting empty concepts." He said this, but his eyes never left the document.

"The framework is complete, now we need a knowledgeable chief engineer." Chen Pingfang looked at him and said clearly, "Engineer Jiang, I've seen your design drawings. Only you know the value of that factory building. I need you back."

The repair shop fell silent.

The only sounds were the noise from the distant street and the occasional dripping of engine oil from under the hood.

Jiang Fan put down the documents in his hand, picked up a greasy rag again, and vigorously wiped his hands.

After a while, he raised his head, and his eyes, which had been dull before, were now fixed on Chen Pingfang.

"Do you really want to work on chips?" he asked, "or is it for a promotion?"