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

The Standing Committee's notice was issued at 9:00 a.m. that day. The agenda item was "Special Discussion on the Layout of the Semiconductor Industry in Southern Taiwan," and Chen Pingfang was not on the list of attendees.

When Jiang Fan handed over the agenda, he pointed to the "Attendees" section without saying a word.

Chen Ping glanced at the line of text and put it down.

"Did you call the mayor's office this morning?"

Jiang Fan shook his head.

"No, the notice was issued by the General Office."

Chen Ping opened the drawer, took out the folded equipment comparison table from the innermost layer, unfolded it, and then pulled out a bound report from the folder. The cover had a line printed on it: "Hongtuyuan Technology Introduction Compliance and Fund Security Early Warning Report".

He spent nine days putting together this report.

The equipment traceability, procurement chain, fund flow, original source of technology authorization documents, business registration information of secondary agents, approval timeline of land approval for Hongtuyuan, and electricity consumption data of the Energy Coordination Joint Conference are all attached at the end, with page numbers, totaling forty-seven pages.

The conclusion on the last page consists of only two paragraphs, highlighted in bold.

The first paragraph states that the original manufacturers of all the equipment introduced by Hongtu Park ceased providing technical support in 2021, and the equipment specifications fall under the "obsolete category" in the target country's 2018 export control list, thus lacking the technical foundation to undertake the task of upgrading the semiconductor industry in Nanzhou.

The second paragraph states that the Hongtuyuan project's funding chain contains a multi-layered equity structure that allows public industry revitalization funds to be converted into private equity fund holdings, posing a significant risk of capital outflow.

Chen Ping tucked the report into his briefcase, fastened the clasp, and stood up.

Jiang Fan waited on the side, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't ask.

"Let's go to the city hall."

Jiang Fan followed, his footsteps thumping on the corridor floor tiles, and the two of them went out of the building one after the other.

~

The Standing Committee meeting room is located on the east side of the third floor of the municipal government building. It has a long table, twelve chairs, and the curtains are half-drawn. The projection screen is hanging in front of it, but it is not yet lit.

When Chen Ping put it down, the meeting had already been going on for fifteen minutes.

The door opened from the outside, and the secretary stepped aside to let him pass without blocking his way. Li Jianguo sat in the main seat, glanced at the door, and lightly tapped the empty chair next to him with his pen.

No one asked him why he came.

Yan Qinghua was sitting in the third chair on the left side of the long table, speaking, with a document spread out beside him, his right index finger pressing on the edge of one of the pages.

"...Nanzhou's semiconductor industry cannot put all its eggs in one basket. The Chipfire project has certainly achieved results, but from the perspective of the city's overall situation, a dual-core approach driven by the southern and northern districts is the prudent strategic choice. Hongtu Park has completed the investment promotion framework, equipment has been installed, and the team is in place; all that's missing is a clear signal from the city."

He paused for a moment, turned to the next page of the material, looked up and glanced around.

"My suggestion is to provide Hongtuyuan and Xinhuo with equal support in terms of funding and orders, with both lines running in parallel and serving as backups for each other."

After he finished speaking, the vice mayor in charge of industry flipped through the documents in his hand but did not take them.

The organization minister took a sip of water from his cup, but didn't put the lid back on.

Chen Ping sat near the door, his briefcase resting on his lap, without moving.

Li Jianguo put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, glanced at everyone present, and began to speak.

"Comrade Pingfang is here today, perfect timing. Is there anything else Xinhuo needs to add?"

Chen Ping opened his briefcase, took out the forty-seven-page report, stood up, walked to the projection screen, and handed the report to his secretary.

"Please submit your vote, starting from page three."

The secretary took it, put it on the scanner, the projector lit up, and white light shone on the screen, covering the entire wall with the content of the third page.

Yan Qinghua withdrew his hand from the materials and turned half a body toward the curtain.

Chen Ping didn't sit back down. He stood next to the curtain, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, every word spoken with conviction.

"I traced the origin of the equipment that Hongtuyuan introduced."

A table popped up on the screen, with the equipment model on the left and the export control classification code of the original manufacturer on the right.

"All eleven core pieces of equipment were originally manufactured by KMT Semiconductor in South Korea, which ceased supplying parts and providing technical services in 2021. The specifications of this equipment are classified as 'obsolete' in the target country's 2018 export control list."

No one spoke in the meeting room.

Chen Ping turned the page to the seventh page.

"This is the equipment procurement chain. It was transferred from a closed packaging plant in Dongguan, and went through two second-level agents. There are only three technical authorization documents, and there is no original manufacturer endorsement."

Yan Qinghua moved his left hand from the table to his knee, his five fingers together, resting on the crease of his suit trousers, without moving.

Chen Ping turned to page twelve, where a chart showing the flow of funds was laid out. The arrow started from the city's special fund for industrial revitalization, passed through Hongtu Park, Haotian Industry, and Chengyuan Private Equity Fund, and finally pointed to an individual's account.

"The equity structure of Hongtuyuan, after passing through four layers, ultimately leads to a graduate student as the holder. This design objectively constitutes a channel for the transformation of public funds into private holdings."

He didn't say the name. There was no need. Everyone present could see the bottommost square on that diagram.

The air conditioner vent in the conference room made a buzzing sound, the speed jumped a level, and then stabilized.

Yan Qinghua took his hands off his knees and placed them on the table, interlacing his fingers tightly.

"Director Chen," he began, his Adam's apple bobbing, "has this report gone through the approval process? Has the data source been verified?"

Chen Ping didn't turn around. He flipped the page to the last page, where the two bolded paragraphs of the conclusion were pinned to the screen, each word as big as a fist.

"Business registration information comes from public databases, equipment traceability comes from product files on the original manufacturer's official website, and fund flow comes from municipal finance allocation records and private equity fund filing system. All of it is verifiable and verifiable."

There was a pause.

"If Vice Mayor Yan feels there are any problems, he can address them one by one."

Yan Qinghua pressed his lips together, but didn't take it.

The vice mayor in charge of industry closed the document in his hand and pushed it two inches towards the center of the table.

The organization minister put the cup lid back on, placed it on the corner of the table, and leaned back in his chair.

There were twelve chairs on the long table, with only the sound of the air conditioner blowing air from above.

Li Jianguo stood up.

The chair leg scraped against the floor tiles with a short, sharp sound, and everyone's backs straightened at the same time.

He walked to the screen, stared at the fund flow chart for a full ten seconds, turned around, his gaze fell on Yan Qinghua, paused for three seconds, and then looked away.

Then he slapped the table.

It wasn't heavy, but the air in the entire conference room was pressed down so hard that it didn't move an inch.

"Outdated equipment, 4,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity used for air conditioning, zero output, funds strung together through four layers of shell, with a student hanging underneath."

He rattled off these pieces of information in one breath, paused for a moment, and lowered his voice by half a tone.

"Vice Mayor Yan, you can't handle things in the South District."

Yan Qinghua loosened his fingers, then clenched them again. He moved his chair back half an inch, but neither stood up nor spoke.

Li Jianguo turned his head and looked at Chen Pingfang.

"From today onwards, the semiconductor industry in the southern district will also be under the overall coordination of Comrade Pingfang."

These words landed in the conference room without a sound, but all eleven people present paused for a moment.

The vice mayor in charge of industry pulled back the document that had already been sent out, opened it, pretended to look at it while holding his pen to the paper, but didn't write a single word.

The organization minister picked up the cup, but put it down before even taking a sip.

Yan Qinghua leaned back in his chair, his fingers slowly loosening, one by one, resting on the tabletop, his fingertips pausing on the wood grain, utterly exhausted.

Chen Ping stood beside the screen, the white light from the projection illuminating half of his body while the other half remained in shadow. The final line of the forty-seven-page report was still nailed to the wall behind him, not a single word of it fading away.

He handed the remote control back to his secretary, turned and walked back to his seat, the clasp of his briefcase clicking softly in the quiet conference room.