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

Less than ten minutes after Li Jianguo left the workshop, He Zhou escorted the mayor and his entourage to the parking lot, turned around and came in. He rubbed his hands together in front of his work clothes, found Chen Pingfang, moved closer, and lowered his voice to the lowest possible level.

"Director Chen, have you heard of Hongtuyuan in the South District?"

Chen Ping draped his briefcase over his arm and waited for him to speak.

He Zhou glanced around before speaking.

"Last month, they brought a batch of equipment from Dongguan, saying they wanted to build a semiconductor supporting industrial park. Their investment promotion team has already started contacting suppliers everywhere. One of our component suppliers was contacted last week, and the offer they made was 20% higher than what we offered."

Chen Ping didn't speak immediately. He took two steps toward the factory gate and turned his head to the side.

"Hongtu Garden, whose plate is it?"

He Zhou followed, but his pace slowed down, and he didn't answer.

The pause itself is clear enough.

Chen Ping fastened his briefcase and walked out without asking any further questions.

~

Zhang Chao verified the information in the afternoon, and the briefing was slapped directly onto Chen Ping's table, the printed paper still warm.

"Nanzhou Hongtu Semiconductor Supporting Industrial Park, registered in Nan District, with Liu Zhengming as its legal representative, is Zheng Wei's college classmate. Last month, it obtained a 30-mu land quota from the city. The approval was obtained through the Nan District Industrial Revitalization Special Channel. From project approval to land approval, it took less than 20 days."

Chen Ping turned to the second page.

"Where did the equipment come from?"

Zhang Chao took half a step forward and lowered his voice.

"In Dongguan, a closed packaging factory is being sold as a package of used equipment for eleven million yuan. The accompanying technical authorization documents consist of only three copies, all issued by a second-level agent, indicating that the equipment has changed hands twice."

I paused for a second and then added the most crucial sentence.

"I checked the equipment model; it's a specification from before 2015, which is a full six years older than SMIC's immersion packaging line."

Chen Ping closed the briefing, pressed his fingertip on the cover twice, and remained silent.

He remembered something. The approval for Hongtu Park could be obtained in twenty days through the South District Industrial Revitalization Special Channel. Xinhuo, on the other hand, took nearly three months to acquire its land.

The same channel, but the speed difference was more than two months.

This means the passage has always been open, just waiting for the right opportunity.

Yan Qinghua's confidence in this move wasn't based on technique, but on positioning.

~

The message from the Standing Committee arrived on the evening of the third day.

Zhang Chao sent over the audio file, timestamped at 4:27 PM. The recording came from an internal channel, and while some parts were unclear, the core content was all there.

Chen Ping plugged in his earphones, turned the volume down, and listened intently.

In the recording, a voice spoke calmly and deliberately, carrying the composure honed over twenty years of working in conference rooms.

"While the introduction of the Xinhuo project has been effective, the industrial layout of Nanzhou should not allow a single entity to dominate. A balanced approach is the only sustainable development strategy. I suggest that the city provide equal support to the Hongtu Supporting Industrial Park in the Nan District in terms of land, funding, and order placement."

There was a pause of a few seconds.

"Have you assessed Hongtu's technical capabilities?"

Another person spoke up; it was probably the vice mayor in charge of industry.

Yan Qinghua spoke again, pausing for a moment.

"The assessment is underway, but policies should not wait for the assessment; policies must be forward-looking."

The recording ends here.

Chen Ping took off his headphones, put them on the table, and leaned back in his chair.

Forward-looking.

These three words swirled in his mind, and he lowered his head, not managing to laugh.

A common tactic of seasoned officials with twenty years of experience: secure policy positions before the evaluation is even released. By the time the evaluation results are available, the land has already been acquired, orders have already been placed, and the die is cast—it's too late for anyone to change the situation.

This tactic is not ineffective.

But Yan Qinghua used it in the wrong place this time.

Semiconductors are not like road construction or building construction; the generational gap in equipment cannot be filled in by administrative documents.

~

Jiang Fan knocked on the door and came in, holding a contact list in his hand.

"Hongtu has already sent letters to the three downstream suppliers of Xinhuo, saying that the city has made overall arrangements and requires these three companies to refer to Hongtu's plan when submitting their quotations. The wording is vague, but the meaning is clear: they want to share the orders."

Chen Ping took the list and scanned it from beginning to end.

One of the three companies is called Hengyuan Precision, which makes precision connectors. They have been cooperating with Xinhuo for four months, and the delivery time has been stable.

Which of these three companies has signed an exclusive agreement with us?

Jiang Fan paused for a second.

"We didn't have any. Things progressed too quickly back then, and we didn't manage to secure an exclusive deal."

Chen Ping put the list back, clasped his hands together, stared at the three factory names, and didn't move.

Jiang Fan stood to the side, twisting the pen cap again and again, not daring to make a sound.

After nearly a minute, Chen Ping looked up.

"Make a complete comparison between the technical specifications of Hongtu's equipment and those of SMIC's line, tonight. Send someone to Hengyuan Precision to visit them under the guise of a routine follow-up visit, to find out their true attitude towards Hongtu's solution."

Jiang Fan wrote down the two things in his notebook, and walked out twice as fast as he had come in.

Chen Ping reopened the briefing and pressed two marks on the equipment model line with his pen.

Yan Qinghua said that the rain and dew should be distributed equally, and those four words are beautifully put.

However, there is a prerequisite for both plots of land to receive equal benefits: both plots must be able to produce something.

~

The comparison table was sent in at 10 PM sharp.

The two sets of data are side by side. On Xinhuo's side, all indicators are at a high level, while the extreme values ​​of Hongtu's batch of equipment are all running at the bottom line. Four core parameters are completely blank. It's not that they weren't tested, but that the equipment was not capable of this when it left the factory.

Chen Ping printed out the form, folded it in half, and tucked it into the innermost layer of the folder, then pressed it down in the drawer.

Song Yue called at that moment, getting straight to the point.

"I heard that some people in the city are directing orders to Hongtu."

"The news came quickly." Chen Ping closed the drawer and leaned back in his chair.

"I asked someone in the industry about that batch of equipment. The original manufacturer has stopped supplying parts, and even routine maintenance cannot be guaranteed for the next three years."

Song Yue paused for a moment.

"What are your plans to do?"

"Don't move for now."

"Wait until they receive the order."

There was a three-second silence on the other end before someone spoke.

"Are you waiting for them to run into it themselves?"

"Not waiting."

Chen Ping stood up, took two steps to the window, parted the curtains a crack, and glanced towards the south area.

Through the darkness, you can see a cluster of construction site lights, their white glow illuminating half the sky in the distance, creating a continuous expanse.

"Letting the data speak for itself is much less effort than me stepping in."

Song Yue paused for a moment on the other end.

"You can wait."

It's not a question.

Chen Ping closed the curtains, didn't reply, and hung up the phone.

~

The investment promotion display board for Hongtu Park is said to have been erected, with the words "Nanzhou Semiconductor Supporting Park" printed on it.

Chen Ping turned off the light and walked outside, stopping at the threshold.

The comparison table had four blank parameters, which were inherent defects of the outdated production lines that were purchased from the day they left the factory. These defects could not be remedied by technological breakthroughs or filled in by policy support.

The first garden uses equipment from 2015 to accept orders from 2025.

He closed the door and walked down the corridor, humming softly to himself. He didn't laugh out loud, but that was enough.

As for what can grow on Yan Qinghua's land, let the data speak for itself.