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

Chen Ping took out his phone and dialed Su Qingwan's number.

"You're still awake?"

"Just got home, about to take a shower." Su Qingwan's tone was a little tired. "What's wrong?"

Chen Ping looked down at the insulated box.

"chicken soup."

"Um."

"Did you cook this?"

"Otherwise what?"

Chen Ping didn't say anything more and inserted the key into the lock.

Thanks.

"Give me back the box after you finish drinking." Su Qingwan paused, "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow..." Chen Ping opened the door, entered the room, and placed the insulated food container on the table. "Are you free?"

"What time is it?"

"I'd like to invite you for a walk along the river tonight."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft "okay".

---

8 PM, Riverside Park.

The streetlight cast two shadows on the bluestone pavement, one long and one short, as they walked at a leisurely pace.

There weren't many people in the park; the elderly taking a walk and the children flying kites kept a distance from them.

Chen Ping draped his coat over his arm and put his free hand in his pocket.

Su Qingwan wore a white cotton-linen shirt, her hair loosely tucked behind her ears. She looked less sharp as a reporter and more like an ordinary girl.

"Where did you go to university?" Su Qingwan asked first.

"Northern University, Eastern University."

"Science and engineering?"

"Materials engineering." Chen Ping paused, "And you?"

"Journalism, Kyoto University, Tsinghua University and Peking University."

No wonder.

"No wonder what?"

"No wonder the questions are always roundabout."

Su Qingwan nudged him with her elbow, not hard, just a light bump.

What's wrong with the news reports from Tsinghua and Peking Universities?

"No problem." Chen Ping didn't shy away. "It's just that the reporters from over there like to cover up a question in three layers."

"That's a technique."

"That's because he talks too much."

Su Qingwan stopped and turned to look at him.

Chen Ping raised his hand and pushed up a branch that was blocking the edge of her hair. He didn't say anything and continued walking forward.

Su Qingwan followed, and instead of arguing, she brought up another old story.

"Were you particularly withdrawn when you were in college?"

Why do you say that?

"It's like," she said casually, "the kind of person who never goes to dorm gatherings and prefers to spend time in the library alone."

Chen Ping took a few steps before speaking.

"It was like that before my junior year."

"What happens after your junior year?"

"After my junior year, I took all four of my roommates to the library with me."

Su Qingwan couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was a genuine laugh, not the polite kind, but the kind that came out after a moment of distraction and a little embarrassed.

"How did you do that?"

"I let them copy my homework, and they came with me to study."

Su Qingwan walked to a street lamp, stopped, and turned her head to look at him.

"Were you like this back then?"

"What is it like?"

"To scheme against someone, and to scheme so well that the other person is willing to do it."

Chen Ping did not rush to answer.

A breeze blew by the river, scattering a strand of hair from Su Qingwan's ear, which fell across her face. She raised her hand to tuck it away, but it wasn't completely covered.

Chen Ping glanced at it, then turned his gaze away and looked down at the river.

"That's called mutual benefit."

"Alright then." Su Qingwan also turned her gaze to the river. "Mutual benefit."

The two walked along the riverbank for a while longer, without mentioning Xin Huo, Zhao Xilai, or anything about today's press conference.

The streetlights receded one by one, encircling them in a small halo of light, then released them, and replaced them with the next one.

Su Qingwan suddenly spoke.

"The newspaper is going to offer me a position as editor-in-chief."

Chen Ping didn't reply immediately and continued walking.

"Do you want to?"

"I don't know." Su Qingwan said these two words very seriously, not perfunctorily. "Once you sit in that position, you can't be on the front lines anymore. You have to revise other people's manuscripts, review other people's topic selections, and your own hands will never touch the ground again."

"Then don't go."

Su Qingwan turned her head.

"It's that simple?"

"It's simple for you." Chen Ping shifted his coat around his arm. "You're a frontline reporter, not a manager. Putting you in that position would be putting you in an unsuitable frame."

Su Qingwan didn't say anything, but bent down and kicked a pebble, watching it roll into the grass.

"There's still so much to report on with CoreFire," she said. "I want to keep going."

Chen Ping paused for a moment before letting out the next sentence.

"My exclusive rights are only for you."

Su Qingwan stopped kicking the pebble.

She didn't say thank you, nor did she say anything sentimental.

He simply looked up again, took two steps forward, and halved the distance between them, but they didn't walk side by side.

"Then I won't become the editor-in-chief."

This statement was made with confidence and conviction.

Chen Pingfang didn't laugh. He walked to her side, and the two of them walked side by side again, continuing to walk the remaining half of the road.

The streetlight cast two long shadows, lying side by side on the bluestone pavement.

When she reached the park exit, Su Qingwan stopped and turned to the side.

"By the way, I heard something during the interview, I don't know if it's important."

Chen Ping waited patiently without urging him.

"Director Liu of the Provincial Department of Finance," Su Qingwan's tone softened, "recently, he's been saying internally that the Chipfire project bypassed the provincial department and directly received 10 billion yuan, which is procedurally problematic, and he's very dissatisfied."

Chen Ping stopped in his tracks.

Director Liu. Provincial Department of Finance.

Lin Xiangdong's statement at the dinner table, "Several departments in the province are speaking out at the same time," coincided with this name at that moment.

This is not the opinion of any one person, but the attitude of the Finance Department.

"Is he referring to a programming problem?"

"The exact words were, 'The allocation of major special funds should go through a provincial joint review mechanism; bypassing the finance department and directly allocating funds is not in compliance with regulations.'"

Su Qingwan repeated the sentence verbatim, clearly having memorized it carefully.

Chen Ping stood under the streetlight, going over the sentence in his mind, and a weight lifted from his heart.

What Director Liu wanted was a "joint review mechanism".

Joint review means that the Ministry of Finance wants to intervene in the flow of this money.

"Where did you hear this news?"

"A retired section chief from the Finance Department let it slip over tea," Su Qingwan paused, "It wasn't intentional."

So it's not a test, but the real internal situation.

Chen Ping took his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the time, and then put it back in his pocket.

"Thanks."

Su Qingwan took two steps forward, stood on the steps at the park exit, and turned back to say her last words.

"Remember to return the chicken soup box."

---

Early the next morning.

Chen Ping pushed open the door to the coordination center's office. Zhang Chao was already at his workstation, holding a red-headed document in his hands, supporting it steadily, but his expression was strange.

"director."

Zhang Chao handed over the document without any further explanation.

Chen Ping took it and glanced at the person looking up.

[Notice from the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Finance Regarding Cooperation in Conducting a Special Verification of High-Tech Industry Funds Across the Province]

The date on the document is today.

Issuing authority: Provincial Department of Finance.

The third line of the "Action Target" column has four characters printed on it.

"Chipfire Project".

Chen Ping stared at those four words for two seconds, then flipped to the first paragraph of the main text.

"...Given that the relevant special fund allocation procedures are still incomplete, a province-wide special verification of high-tech industries is now being launched...Relevant project units are required to provide complete fund usage ledgers within five working days..."

He put the document back on the table, his hand resting on the cover, without moving.

Director Liu, you've made your move.