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

Seven people lined up to come in and stood by the door, but no one offered to sit down.

Chen Ping didn't look up. He opened the file bag, spread four lists on the table, and pushed them to the center of the table.

The seven people moved forward a little.

The first to recognize his own name was Song Yue, the head of the laser source system. He shrank back slightly, then quickly stood up straight, but a hint of red had already appeared at the base of his neck.

Chen Pingfang then looked up and scanned the seven faces from left to right.

HHRS, one of the top three global headhunting firms, is headquartered in Zurich.

He closed the file folder and placed his hand on top of it.

"Does anyone want to explain how they knew your names?"

No one spoke.

Zhou Lin, whose body was designed with EUV cavity, lowered his head and looked down at the tips of his shoes.

Chen Ping didn't force them to speak. He stood up from his chair and draped his coat over his arm.

"No need to go into the lab tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."

Everyone looked up at the same time.

"Wear casual clothes and meet downstairs."

---

The next morning, the sky was overcast and a bit damp.

Two bread carts were parked in the parking lot. Zhang Chao stood beside one of the carts, holding a stack of folders. It was impossible to tell from his face whether he was awake or not.

Seven technicians came downstairs one after another, each with their mobile phones in their hands. They stood by the car and looked at each other, but no one asked where they were going.

Chen Ping was the last to get off, his steps were very steady, and he had changed his suit into a light dark gray jacket.

"Get in the car."

The two cars left the city and drove for forty minutes before stopping at the end of a dead-end road in the old industrial area of ​​Nanzhou.

The iron gate was rusty and half-open. The words on the sign above the gate were illegible, except for the words "Nanzhou Integrated Circuit... Manufacturing..." which were still barely recognizable.

This was a semiconductor factory that received key support from the province twenty years ago. Later, due to problems with its technological approach, it failed to keep up with industrial upgrading.

So production was completely stopped five years ago, and no one has taken over the factory area to this day.

Chen Ping pushed open the iron gate and went inside first.

Seven people followed them inside.

The factory was very dimly lit, and the equipment inside was all rusty, covered in rust stains.

There were several etching machines, their shells still hanging on the racks, but the cores inside had long been removed, leaving only empty shells.

Song Yue stopped next to an old-fashioned lithography machine and glanced at the nameplate on it.

"What generation of machine is this?"

"In the late 1990s, we bought second-hand equipment from Japan, which cost the equivalent of two years' worth of industrial investment in the province at that time."

Chen Pingfang stood next to him, tilting his head slightly.

"At its peak, this factory had 400 engineers with an average age of 28. They were all graduates from top universities in China at the time."

Song Yue remained silent.

Chen Ping took a tablet computer from Jiang Fan, turned it on, and showed the screen to the seven people.

"We've found out who's behind the money that HHRS paid for this order."

On the screen is a diagram showing the ownership structure.

At the very top are the names of three overseas funds. Breaking them down further, layer upon layer, they ultimately end up under the names of two familiar shell companies.

Zhou Lin leaned closer, looked for two seconds, and then his back stiffened.

These two shell companies appeared on the sixth and eighth layers of the map showing the infiltration of foreign funds presented at last month's expo.

It's the connection behind Zhao Xilai.

"They've changed their identity." Chen Ping put the tablet away, saying those four words without emphasizing them.

"Zhao Xilai's case is closed, but the money is still there. We'll use a different headhunting firm as a shell to get back in. This time, we're not after the project, we're after the person."

The factory was so quiet that only the occasional sound of the wind blowing in from outside could be heard.

Chen Ping handed the tablet back to Jiang Fan and scanned the seven people again.

"I don't ask who answered their calls, nor do I ask who sent out the resumes."

He paused for a moment.

"But I want you to know that your worth is supported by the technological achievements of Corefire. Without Corefire, your individual abilities wouldn't be worth that much."

"If you leave here, you'll just be engineers waiting to be offered a price quote in the market. If you stay here, you'll be the designers of Light Chaser One."

"These two things are of different weight."

Song Yue turned his head to the side without replying, but secretly pushed his phone deeper into his pocket.

---

Back at the project center, it was almost lunchtime.

In the conference room, Jiang Fan placed a proposal on the table.

The cover has only one line of text: "Incentive Plan for Technology Equity Investment of Core Technology Team of Chipfire Project".

Chen Ping presented the plan to the seven people.

"A portion of the 10 billion yuan fund has been specifically allocated to retain talent like you. Each of you will be converted into virtual shares based on your technological contributions."

"After the project reaches mass production, dividends will be distributed according to shareholding, with a five-year lock-up period during which the contract cannot be terminated unilaterally."

Song Yue turned to the third page of the plan, scanned the numbers, and looked up at Chen Pingfang.

"Is this profit range... accurate?"

"Every number above has been reviewed by legal and financial departments. A third-party valuation agency can be consulted to verify them before signing the contract."

Chen Ping put the pen on the table.

"You deserve this price. I don't want outsiders to poach you with a little money."

Zhou Lin covered the plan back up and was the first to open it.

"I'll sign."

The other six people nodded in succession.

---

After everyone left, Zhang Chao stayed at the door, wrote a name on a note, and handed it to Chen Pingfang.

"Director, there's a situation with the purchasing department."

Chen Ping took the note and glanced at it.

"Sun Qiwen?"

"The logistics procurement staff member has been with the project center for two years without any problems."

Zhang Chao spoke the second half of his sentence very slowly.

"But in the last two weeks, he started frequently going to the equipment procurement department to inquire about the bidding process for that batch of precision equipment from Germany, asking very detailed questions."

Chen Ping folded the note.

"Whose side is he on?"

"I checked his background." Zhang Chao paused for a second. "He's a distant cousin of Vice Governor Wei Dahai. It's a complicated relationship, but it matches up on the family tree."

Chen Ping put the note in his pocket without replying immediately.

Vice Governor Wei, who is in charge of the province's industry and finance, is close to Director Liu. At the last Standing Committee meeting, he did not say a word about the tripartite co-management plan, but afterwards, rumors from the province indicated that he privately expressed his support for provincial-level coordination.

A logistics procurement officer inquired about equipment bidding, but the timeline was set after billions of dollars in funding had been secured.

He was testing the waters by doing this.

"Keep an eye on them, but don't alert them."

Zhang Chao wrote it down and went out.

Chen Ping sat on the chair for a while, then his phone vibrated.

The caller ID showed a name I hadn't been in touch with for ten years: Lin Zhuo, my college class monitor.

He answered the call.

"Lie flat!" The voice on the other end was full of energy and brimming with obvious joy. "There's a class reunion in Nanzhou this weekend, you absolutely have to come! Everyone knows you're a big shot now, they'll all have to show up!"

Chen Ping held the note with Sun Qiwen's name on it in his hand, his eyelids drooping slightly.

"Who's in your group?"

"I came with a few people. Oh, and Xu Ming is here too. He works at the Provincial Development and Reform Commission now, and he said you guys still have contact."

Xu Ming. Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Chen Ping flipped the note over and wrote the name and organization in the blank space.