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

Monday morning, Nanzhou City Government Building.

Chen Pingfang, dressed in a white shirt and holding an official document from the Municipal Party Committee's Organization Department, walked into the office building he had only ever seen in the news before.

The marble floor was so polished it reflected your image, and people came and went in the corridor, each with a polite smile on their face.

Chen Ping went straight to the top floor and knocked on the door of Mayor Li Jianguo's office.

"Pingfang, you're here." Li Jianguo put down the documents in his hand, got up and walked over, patting Chen Pingfang on the shoulder.

"Mayor Li," Chen Ping nodded.

Li Jianguo asked him to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and his smile disappeared.

"Pingfang, now that you've been appointed as the deputy secretary-general, overseeing the city's industry, you need to be prepared. This job won't be easy. The relationships within the city's industrial sector are very complex and difficult to manage."

Li Jianguo paused, his gaze darkening.

"Wang Weidong has worked in the industrial sector for over a decade, and his men are all under his command. If you go there, Wang Weidong won't let you off easy."

Chen Ping picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke in a steady voice.

"I see."

Li Jianguo looked at the young man in front of him and sighed inwardly.

"Go ahead, report to the general office first."

---

The office is on the third floor.

As soon as Chen Pingfang reached the door, Lao Liu, the director of the General Office, came to greet him.

"Secretary Chen, welcome, welcome." Old Liu extended his hand with a standard smile on his face.

Chen Pingfang shook hands with Lao Liu.

"Secretary Chen, I'll take you to your office." Old Liu turned around and led the way without saying another word.

Old Liu led Chen Ping through the long corridor and stopped in front of the innermost room, then pushed open the door.

"Ding-dong—"

The elevator announcement sounded shrilly, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Chen Ping stood at the door and glanced around the room.

The office was right next to the elevator, opposite the cleaning staff's storage room, with mops and buckets piled up by the door. The office was small, with only an old table and chairs, and a layer of dust covered the table.

Old Liu looked a little awkward and said embarrassedly.

"Secretary Chen, I'm really sorry, but office space has been tight lately. This was specially arranged by Vice Mayor Wang, so please make do for now."

Chen Ping didn't say anything, walked into the office, pulled out a chair and sat down.

The chair creaked.

Old Liu stood at the door, took out a thick file from his bag, and handed it over with both hands.

"This is the first task assigned by Vice Mayor Wang—the relocation project of Hongxing Chemical Plant in the East District."

Chen Ping took the file and turned to the first page.

"This Hongxing Chemical Plant has been a mess for ten years. It's heavily polluted, has a mountain of debt, and the resettlement fees for hundreds of workers are still nowhere to be seen." Old Liu's voice was calm, but the meaning behind his words was clear: this was not a good thing to do.

"Vice Mayor Wang said that you are in charge of this matter, and you can contact him anytime if you need anything."

After saying that, Old Liu turned and left, walking very quickly, as if afraid that Chen Ping would call him back.

---

At the other end of the corridor, several office staff members were quietly discussing the matter. They pretended to be getting water from the water dispenser, but their eyes were secretly glancing this way.

"See that office? It's right next to the elevator, it must be incredibly noisy."

"And then there's the task of the Red Star Chemical Plant. Nobody dared to touch that project for ten years, but Vice Mayor Wang just handed it over to him directly."

"This isn't giving him a chance; it's clearly a ploy to get rid of him."

"Director Chen was so powerful when he was in the Chipfire Industrial Park, but now that he's in the municipal government, he has to behave himself."

A few people huddled together, talking quietly, their eyes filled with amusement.

---

After Lao Liu left the office, Chen Ping closed the door. He felt that this matter was definitely not simple.

So he walked to his desk, sat down, opened his briefcase, and took out the black ledger.

His finger traced across the yellowed paper and quickly found the page about the Red Star Chemical Plant.

Lin Yaodong's handwriting was very strong: The relocation project of Hongxing Chemical Plant appears to be a matter of employee resettlement fees, but in reality, it's Hongda Real Estate that's dragging its feet. The actual controller of Hongda Real Estate is Zhao Ming, Wang Weidong's brother-in-law.

Chen Pingfang's gaze fell on the name Zhao Ming. He understood, and then he sneered.

He closed the ledger, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

---

Half an hour later, Chen Ping took the document and went directly to knock on Wang Weidong's office door.

"Come in."

Chen Ping pushed open the door and went inside.

Wang Weidong was sitting behind his large desk, holding a teacup in his hand, with a smile on his face.

"It's laid out flat, please sit down." Wang Weidong pointed to the sofa opposite him, speaking in a very polite tone.

Chen Ping didn't sit down; he went straight to the desk and placed the document on it.

"Mayor Wang, I have accepted the task from Hongxing Chemical Plant."

Wang Weidong paused for a moment while holding the teacup.

"Okay, okay." Wang Weidong nodded with a smile. "Ping Fang, this is not an easy matter. You can take your time, there's no need to rush."

"No," Chen Ping interrupted him, "I want to get this done quickly."

Wang Weidong's smile froze instantly.

Chen Pingfang continued, "The problem that Hongxing Chemical Plant hasn't been able to solve in ten years is that its accounts are terrible. I would like to ask Mayor Wang to sign off on my authorization to audit Hongxing Chemical Plant's bad debts. I want to thoroughly investigate where all the funds have gone over the years."

"What?" Wang Weidong was shocked when he heard this. His hand trembled and he spilled the tea.

His face turned ugly, and he glared angrily at Chen Pingfang.

"Lie it flat... this... this isn't up to the rules." Wang Weidong's voice trembled slightly.

"How is it against the rules? I'm currently overseeing the city's industry, and investigating bad debts is part of my job. Mayor Wang, is there something you're finding inconvenient?"

Wang Weidong was very nervous; sweat was beading on his forehead.

He knew that Chen Pingfang wanted to investigate Zhao Ming's money.

But Chen Pingfang's reasons were all aboveboard and followed proper procedures, so he couldn't find any reason to refuse.

"Okay." Wang Weidong gritted his teeth, took out an authorization letter from the drawer, and signed it quickly.

Chen Ping took the authorization letter, glanced at it, and turned to leave.

"Lie it flat," Wang Weidong called out to him in a low voice, "Don't go too far."

Chen Ping stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"Mayor Wang, I just want to get things done."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and walked out.

---

The news quickly spread within a small circle of the office.

"Have you heard? Secretary Chen has obtained the auditing rights for Hongxing Chemical Plant!"

"What? Vice Mayor Wang agreed?"

"This is going to be interesting. Hongda Real Estate is the company of Vice Mayor Wang's brother-in-law."

"That Secretary Chen is something else! He wasn't fooled; instead, he turned the tables and demanded the power to audit the accounts!"

The clerks chatted amongst themselves, their eyes wide with surprise.

---

Chen Ping returned to the noisy office and placed the audit authorization documents and chemical plant information on the table.

The elevator outside the window was still noisy, and Chen Ping sat at the table, motionless.

The overall coordination of the city's industry began here.