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

"Xu Ming, Provincial Development and Reform Commission."

The four characters landed on the blank space of the note, and the pen paused for a moment.

Chen Ping folded the note and put it in his pocket, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

The gathering of classmates from the class monitor group, along with people from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, couldn't be a coincidence.

He picked up his phone and sent Lin Zhuo a message: "See you then."

Saturday evening at 7 pm, a private room on the top floor of Huating Grand Restaurant.

Su Qingwan, wearing a navy blue dress, tucked her hands into her arms and followed Chen Pingfang into the elevator.

Are you sure you want to take me?

"You said you wanted to experience the local customs and culture of Nanzhou." Chen Ping buttoned up his suit jacket. "You'll have plenty to see tonight."

Su Qingwan shifted her handbag to the other side, said nothing, and reached out to press the button on the top shelf.

As soon as the door to the private room was pushed open, a cacophony of noise burst out.

Lin Zhuo stood guard at the door, his hands outstretched, his round face beaming with a smile.

"Lie flat! You're here! I knew you'd come!"

Lin Zhuo's gaze swept over Su Qingwan, and just as he was about to ask a question, Chen Pingfang pushed the door open and went in.

A dozen or so people were sitting scattered around, and the private room suddenly became half quiet. Several people turned to look at them, unsure whether they should stand up.

Xu Ming sat by the window, fiddling with his cup with his head down. He didn't look up, but his back tilted slightly to this side.

Wu Kai, who works in engineering, was the first to stand up and patted Chen Ping firmly on the shoulder.

"Lie flat! You're something else now! I told my wife I was classmates with Director Chen from Xinhuo, and she didn't believe me at all!"

On the main table, two bottles of Moutai were already laid out, the seals still on, five years old. Chen Ping glanced at the wine list: 36,000 yuan.

Lin Zhuo pulled out the chair in the main seat and placed one hand lightly on the back of the chair.

"This seat is reserved for you, please sit down."

Chen Ping sat down.

Su Qingwan sat down next to him, placed her handbag on the table, took out a ballpoint pen and held it in her hand. She glanced around the private room without saying anything.

The first two rounds of drinks went fairly well; we reminisced about old college days, talking about who chased whom back then, and who cheated on exams with notes—the atmosphere was lively.

After the third glass of wine, the conversation started to go astray.

Wu Kai slammed his cup on the table and moved closer to Chen Ping.

"Flat-lay, I heard that your Chipfire Phase II project is about to start construction. Do you have any slots available for infrastructure subcontracting? Our company just obtained several qualifications last month, and the municipal work is going smoothly. We're looking to take on a big project."

Zhou Sheng, who runs a building materials business next to them, took the cup and brought it in.

"Yes, we can supply pipe materials at competitive prices, and the quality is guaranteed. It's just a matter of you saying a few words."

The people at the table all looked this way, silent, waiting for what would happen next.

Chen Ping slowly swallowed the wine in his glass, put it down, and leaned back in his chair.

"You've all heard of Zhao Xilai, right?"

Wu Kai was stunned for a moment.

"The one at the expo... who was taken away on the spot?"

"Yes." Chen Ping picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of food, and said, "Before he came in, he also took this route, pulled some strings, and got himself into the supply chain."

"Every receipt in the case file, traced down to the very bottom, reveals who signed it and who made the request; it's all there."

He swallowed the food and put his chopsticks back down.

"My power is in a cage, but I don't have the key."

This is a very straightforward statement; it simply presents a fact as it is.

"I can't open that door."

The private room fell silent for a moment. Wu Kai downed the rest of his drink and stopped talking.

Xu Ming looked up from the window, glanced in this direction, then looked down again, picked up his cup and drank his tea without making a sound.

During this brief moment, Su Qingwan switched the pen to her other hand and turned to look at Zhou Sheng.

"Mr. Zhou, you just mentioned that your building materials business mainly focuses on municipal projects? I'm currently working on a special report on the infrastructure industry chain in Nanzhou, so let's chat for a bit."

She wore a professional smile, without a hint of pressure, but as soon as she placed the pen in front of him, Zhou Sheng subconsciously swallowed back the words he was about to say about subcontracting, and instead perked up and moved closer.

"Oh, you're a reporter? Well, we're mainly..."

The topic was thus casually steered in a new direction.

Su Qingwan framed both Wu Kai and Zhou Sheng within the framework of the feature interview, using a question-and-answer format to shut down anyone else who wanted to speak.

Chen Ping picked up his glass again and drank the rest of the wine.

With reporters' notebooks scrutinizing them, who would dare to veer towards subcontracting?

The meal lasted from seven o'clock to nearly ten o'clock, and more than half of the drinks were consumed. Lin Zhuo later tried to steer the conversation in two separate ways, but Su Qingwan countered with another interview question each time. In the end, even Lin Zhuo himself began to seriously answer questions about the market trends of small and micro-sized engineering contracting in Nanzhou.

After the event ended, several designated drivers were called, and people walked out in twos and threes.

Chen Ping said a few words to Lin Zhuo at the door, fastened the clipboard, and walked towards the elevator.

At the end of the corridor, someone called out softly.

Lay it flat.

He stopped and turned around.

It was Chen Ming, the one with the lowest profile in the class. He had worked at the Nanzhou Municipal Planning Bureau for eight years, and he spent the entire dinner eating without saying more than twenty sentences.

He pulled a folded brown paper envelope from his coat and stuffed it into Chen Ping's hand.

"Just open it and take a look, you'll know." Chen Ming glanced around the corridor; seeing no one, he continued, "I've seen this kind of material at the planning bureau; you should know about this."

"I'm handing it to you; I'm not asking you to exchange it for anything."

Chen Ping opened the envelope and took out the contents.

It is a planning map, printed in black and white, with the Changning District Land and Space Comprehensive Adjustment Plan (internal discussion draft) printed in the upper left corner, and the timestamp is the end of last month.

Unfolding the blueprints, he went directly to the border area between the High-tech Zone and Changning District.

The reserved land for the second phase of Xinhuo was marked as an industrial land expansion reserve area in the approval document of the High-tech Zone. He had been eyeing that land for some time.

However, on this map, that piece of land is drawn in red.

This red color is for commercial and residential land.

Chen Ming kept his voice very low.

"This change application was submitted the week before last. They used a comprehensive adjustment method, which avoids the normal land use change procedure. The approval process is quick, probably within a month."

Chen Ping stood there without saying a word, holding the planning map.

Who submitted the application?

Chen Ming took a step back.

"The applicant is Changning District Urban Investment Group."

Changning District Urban Investment Group.

Chen Ping folded the blueprints and put them back in the envelope.

Thanks.

Chen Ming turned and left without saying another word.

Chen Ping stood in the corridor, looking down at the envelope in his hand, his mind in turmoil.

He was thinking to himself that the application for commercial and residential land in Changning District was submitted the week before last.

However, the blueprints for the second phase of Corefire were only discussed last month.

This means that someone knew about the news in advance, and that person acted even faster than him.