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

Before the hum of the metal sheet had even faded, Jiang Fan's phone call came through.

The call was from the provincial government.

Chen Ping answered the phone, and Jiang Fan's voice was very low, as if he were making the call from the end of the corridor.

"The Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Audit Office jointly issued a notice to establish a joint investigation team for the use of high-tech industry funds to conduct a one-month special audit of all major projects in Nanzhou that receive provincial subsidies."

Chen Ping switched the phone to his other hand and walked towards the gate of Hongtuyuan.

"When did the notification arrive?"

"Just arrived, a faxed document, stamped by two departments."

Who is the team leader?

Jiang Fan flipped through the paper and gave his name.

"Zhou Deming, Deputy Director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission."

Chen Ping paused for a moment by the provincial highway. Zhou Deming, a veteran of the provincial development and reform system, had spent fifteen years in the department before being transferred from Nanzhou in the late 1980s. Nanzhou, late 1980s. Yan Qinghua also entered the system in the late 1980s.

What is the relationship between the team leader and Yan Qinghua?

Jiang Fan turned to the next page of his paper.

"Students of the same class at the Provincial Party School, autumn class of 1989, four months of full-time training."

Old classmate.

Chen Ping held the phone between his ear and shoulder, opened the car door, sat in the back seat, nodded to Zhang Chao, started the car, and turned around towards the North District.

The provincial investigation team arrived overnight to seize Hongtu. The approval process takes at least three days, and if the date of the notification is traced back, it was most likely drafted before he took action.

Yan Qinghua wouldn't sit idly by and wait for his fate. As soon as Chen Ping seized Hongtu, he immediately used his connections in the province to retaliate, and the entire process was completely compliant with regulations, leaving no room for criticism.

When will the investigation team arrive?

"It says in the notice, the day after tomorrow."

"What about the first audit target?"

Jiang Fan paused for two seconds before reading the line aloud.

"ChipSpark Semiconductor Industry Incubation Project".

Chen Ping took the phone off his shoulder and placed it on his knee, without hanging up.

Of the forty-six industrial parks inspected by the provincial authorities, Xinhuo was the first one selected. The park with the highest output on the ranking list became the target of the investigation team.

This method serves the same purpose as the previous power outage, but this time the personnel involved are of a much higher rank.

Last time, it was a resolution passed at a joint meeting of the city government, which he blocked by making the data public. This time, it was stamped by the provincial department, jointly by two departments, and no one in the city could stop it, not even Li Jianguo.

Does the main body of the notification specify the exact audit content?

Jiang Fan turned to the attachment page.

"The procurement contracts need to be checked, the financial accounts need to be checked, and even personnel files and technology transfer agreements are included. They say it's a comprehensive audit."

"Full caliber." These three words mean that Corefire must hand over all its core data.

One of Chipfire's key procurement contracts is an import agreement for precision instruments from Germany, detailing the price, payment terms, and acceptance standards. The compensation agreement for Song Yue's team is even more sensitive; consulting fees for academic teams have always been a gray area within the system, making them easy to uncover problems during investigations.

Yan Qinghua didn't need to uncover the real problems; he only needed to investigate. Once the audit team arrived, they would review files, interview personnel, and seal accounts. This whole process paralyzed Xinhuo's daily operations. Song Yue's testing equipment couldn't get on site, SMIC's yield verification stopped, and suppliers, seeing the provincial audit vehicle parked at the door, immediately withdrew their hands from signing contracts.

He's trying to use legal procedures to bring down Corefire.

The car stopped downstairs at the center building. Chen Ping got out of the car and strode upstairs. Jiang Fan had already come out of his office to greet him, clutching the fax in his hand; the edges of the paper were crumpled.

Chen Ping took it, scanned it from beginning to end, paused for two seconds on the line about full-caliber audit, and turned to the last page for the date of issuance.

three days ago.

Just as he predicted. Before Yan Qinghua lost the Hongtuyuan meeting, this notice had already been going through the procedures at the provincial department. He had made two preparations: if he lost, he would use this investigation team to fight back; if he won, he would pretend that the notice never existed.

A seasoned official with twenty years of experience, he left himself room to maneuver in both advancement and retreat.

Jiang Fan stood to the side, flipping through his notebook.

"The investigation team is arriving the day after tomorrow. Should we prepare in advance? Several ledgers in the finance department need to be reorganized, and the original contract for the German equipment is locked in a safe. Should we make a backup copy?"

"Need not."

Jiang Fan paused for a moment.

"Don't change anything. Don't reorganize the accounts, don't make copies of the contracts, and don't hide anything."

Chen Ping folded the fax in half and slapped it on the table.

"Notify all departments to fully cooperate with the investigation team. Provide them with the files they request, the data they need, and arrange interviews with whomever they wish to interview immediately. Don't waste a single minute."

Jiang Fan unscrewed the pen cap and screwed it back on, turning it three times.

"Proactively opening up?"

"Take the initiative to open up. Make all the meeting rooms available for the investigation team. Prepare tea and water, let them use the printers freely, and arrange workstations as well. Make them feel that there is no unit in the entire Southern Prefecture that is more cooperative with the audit than Xinhuo."

Jiang Fan wrote these down, his pen scribbling so heavily that the paper dented.

"But what about the contract for the German equipment, and Professor Song's salary agreement...?"

"Give them all."

Chen Ping sat back down in his chair, picked up the fax from the table, and held it up to the light. The official seals of the two offices were a bright red.

They were targeting Corefire's weaknesses; their objective was clear. But to succeed, they first had to believe that what they saw was all there was to it.

"Zhang Chao."

A head peeked in through the doorway.

"exist."

"Come in and close the door."

Zhang Chao slipped in, closed the door behind him, and leaned against it.

Chen Ping took out a kraft paper envelope from the bottom of the drawer. The seal was still on, and two letters, B, were written on it in pencil.

This envelope sat in the drawer for twenty-three days. From the very first day of the approval process for the second phase of the Chipfire project, he had Zhang Chao create a separate parallel file. Inside were alternative plans for all procurement contracts, evaluations of alternative technical routes, and even deductions of different scenarios for fund usage—all packed together, with separate page numbers, and not a single word overlapping with the official file.

The official records are all factual and can withstand scrutiny.

The Plan B file records the thought process behind each key decision, such as why other options were not chosen. There are several comparison options for each expenditure, and each technical agreement is accompanied by industry reference data.

An audit only examines official files, which at most can prove that Corefire is not problematic. However, if these decision-making processes are proactively handed over, the focus of the investigation team's report will become why Corefire chose the most appropriate solution at every step.

Even if others want to find fault, they need to have something to find fault with. Chen Ping prepared to hand over something that would leave them with no way to find fault.

Chen Ping pushed the envelope to the side of the table, towards Zhang Chao's direction.

"Give this to the investigation team on their first day of work."

Zhang Chao walked over, picked up the envelope, and weighed it in his hand; it was quite thick.

"Just hand it over?"

"Deliver it directly, without any intermediaries. Take it to the team leader's desk yourself."

Zhang Chao stuffed the envelope into his inner pocket, patted it, and turned to leave.

Chen Ping added a sentence at the end, speaking in a very low voice, just enough for the two of them to hear.

"Tell Zhou Deming that this is supplementary material provided voluntarily by Chen Pingfang to help the investigation team fully understand the decision-making process of Xinhuo."

Zhang Chao's hand rested on the doorknob, paused for a moment, and then he turned his head.

"You need to let him figure it out for himself."

Chen Ping didn't nod, but pushed the drawer shut, the sound of the rails scraping against the floor lingering in the office for a long time.

"After reading that file, he will discover something."

Zhang Chao waited.

"Every penny of Xinhuo is spent more cleanly than that of Hongtu."

He picked up the fax from the desktop, folded it twice, and stuffed it into the outermost layer of the folder, placing it right next to the equipment comparison table.

"He came to investigate Xinhuo with orders from the province, but after the investigation was completed, it was no longer up to Yan Qinghua to decide who the investigation should target."