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

The watermarks left by his leather shoes on the wet stone slabs hadn't dried completely when Chen Ping was already sitting in the conference room of the Corefire Industrial Center.

At six in the morning, the fluorescent lights cast a whitish glow on the long table. Song Yue, rubbing his eyes, rushed over from the lab building, his hair sticking up, still wearing his white lab coat. Jiang Fan's notebook was already open, the pen cap unscrewed, and placed on the corner of the table. The four members of the finance team sat on the right side of the table; the youngest was still yawning when the team leader next to him nudged him with his elbow, and he immediately sat up straight.

Without exchanging pleasantries, Chen Ping stood up, picked up the remote control, and pressed a button.

The big screen lit up.

It wasn't an audit report, nor was it Corefire's output data; instead, it was a densely packed list of export trade transactions.

The list lists three companies, all shell companies under Hongtuyuan, registered in Qianhai, Shenzhen; Hengqin, Zhuhai; and Nansha, Guangzhou, respectively. There is only one counterparty on the list – Hong Kong Hengtong Capital.

"In the past fourteen days, these three companies have signed nine cross-border contracts with Hengtong Capital."

Chen Ping zoomed in on the screen and tapped a line of bold text with his finger.

"The contracts are all titled 'Technical Service Fees' and 'Breach of Contract Compensation.' The finance team spent two hours filtering out the amounts, payment schedules, and corresponding arbitration agreements for all nine contracts."

The finance team leader adjusted his glasses; he had already written it down in his notebook.

"Where did you get the data from?"

"No need to adjust."

Chen Ping took the fax paper out of his pocket, flattened it, and pasted it on the whiteboard.

"The account numbers are all there. You can find the business registration information through Tianyancha. The arbitration agreement can be found on the Nanzhou Arbitration Commission's public information system, which was just posted online yesterday."

Song Yue stared at the string of numbers on the screen, and all his drowsiness vanished.

"Is this a money transfer?"

"It's not transferring money." Chen Ping put down the remote control. "It's money laundering. After the Hongtuyuan project was halted, they took advantage of this window of opportunity to sign a batch of fake breach of contract arbitration agreements. Once the arbitration ruling is issued, this money can be legally transferred out of the country under the guise of court compensation, going through the judicial enforcement channel."

Jiang Fan's pen tip paused on the paper, and the ink splattered to form a dot.

"The judicial enforcement channel... neither administrative audits nor financial supervision can stop it."

"right."

Chen Ping pointed out the notes on the third line of the fax paper to everyone.

"The legal representative of Hengtong Capital's mainland affiliate is Zhao Shumin's cousin. Hengtong's quarterly settlement date is this Friday. All funds will be centrally cleared on that day and mixed into normal cross-border trade transactions."

"Once the money reaches Hong Kong, it can never be recovered."

The meeting room was silent for three seconds.

Song Yue pulled his chair forward half an inch and braced his arms on the table.

"These guys are really daring."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Fan's phone vibrated. He glanced at it and handed the screen to Chen Ping.

A letter from Liu Yuejin, the head of the South District, arrived by fax, stamped with the seal of the South District government.

The content is very short: Given that Hongtu Park is involved in multiple international trade contracts, in order to maintain the business environment of Nanzhou and avoid the risk of international trade litigation, the Xinhuo Industry Promotion Center is required to immediately lift the administrative freeze on the capital accounts of Hongtu Park's related companies.

The date on the document is today.

The letter was sent in the early hours of the morning, even before their meeting.

Chen Ping put the fax back on the table, his lips twitching slightly, but it wasn't exactly a smile.

"Liu Yuejin is back from his studies in the provincial capital? He learned very quickly."

Zhang Chao stood at the door, arms crossed.

"This letter was clearly instructed by Yan Qinghua. The wording was written by the legal team. They're using international litigation to pressure us."

Chen Ping didn't look at the official letter again. He turned around, picked up his phone, found Lin Xiangdong's number, and dialed it.

It rang four times, then I answered.

"Director Lin, this is Chen Pingfang."

"Old Chen, what's wrong calling at this hour?"

"Yan Qinghua is transferring assets through cross-border arbitration, and the liquidation will take place on Friday. I can't stop him; administrative freezing can't stop judicial enforcement."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Do you have evidence?"

"Nine fraudulent arbitration agreements, three shell companies, all pointing to the same Hong Kong account. The account is linked to a relative of his wife."

Lin Xiangdong did not ask for any further details.

"What do you want to do?"

Chen Ping lowered his voice, slowed his speech, and broke down each word.

"Instead of taking the anti-corruption route, we're taking the export control route. I have the model list of the batch of obsolete equipment that Hongtuyuan imported from Dongguan. Among them are the core components of three etching machines. Although they are obsolete, according to the 'Dual-Use Items Export Control Regulations,' anything involving semiconductor manufacturing processes is considered a sensitive item."

The breathing on the other end of the phone paused for a beat.

"Are you going to use export controls to block his cross-border passage?"

"Yes." Chen Ping walked to the window, lowering his voice. "As long as a technical security review is initiated against a company on the list, customs has the right to suspend all related cross-border transactions. It's not a freeze, it's a circuit breaker. Judicial enforcement channels are also blocked, because the subject matter involves national security review, and the arbitration award is automatically suspended."

Lin Xiangdong remained silent for a full five seconds on the other end.

"I'll report to Governor Zhou within half an hour. Please prepare the materials and send the encrypted copy to my email."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket and turned to look at the people in the conference room.

"The finance team continues screening, two hours. Jiang Fan, print out three copies of the model list of all imported equipment in Hongtu Park, one for the province, one for your records, and one for backup."

"Zhang Chao."

"exist."

"Go to Nanzhou Customs, find Director Huang of the Comprehensive Business Division, and submit the export control registration verification application for the Xinhuo supply chain companies. Request expedited processing."

Zhang Chao grabbed the car keys and ran out, his footsteps echoing down the corridor.

~

Two days.

From the provincial level to the ministries, and from the ministries to the General Administration of Customs, this process progressed faster than Chen Pingfang had anticipated.

On Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m., an urgent notice, spearheaded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and issued with the cooperation of the General Administration of Customs, was faxed directly to the Comprehensive Business Department of Nanzhou Customs.

The notification number was marked with a red header, and the main text consisted of only three paragraphs.

The first paragraph states: In accordance with Article 17 of the Dual-Use Items Export Control Act, a three-month technical security review will be initiated on the export trade of semiconductor manufacturing-related items by companies on the list.

Second paragraph: During the review period, all cross-border fund transfers of the aforementioned companies will be suspended, including but not limited to trade settlements, service fee payments, and judicial enforcement payments.

Third paragraph: All relevant banks shall cooperate in implementation starting immediately.

Jiang Fan's hands were trembling when he handed the copy of the notice to Chen Ping.

"The seal of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."

Chen Ping turned to the last page; the date of issuance was yesterday.

From the time Lin Xiangdong made the phone call to the time this notice was issued, less than 48 hours had passed.

Governor Zhou's statement, "What's wrong with giving another 10 billion?" was not just polite talk. The province's support for Chipfire is so strong that it can directly mobilize resources from ministries.

~

Friday.

In the Hong Kong office of Hengtong Capital, Zhao Shumin sat in the second-floor reception room with a stack of liquidation documents spread out in front of her, a pen in her hand with the cap removed.

Her phone rang.

It was Hengtong's CFO who called up from downstairs.

"Ms. Zhao, the transfer failed. The bank system displayed an interception code, indicating that the payment is temporarily suspended due to domestic export control review. All cross-border channels for related accounts have been frozen."

Zhao Shumin's pen slipped from her fingers, the tip pointing downwards and piercing into the documents on the table, leaving a dot of ink.

~

Zhang Chao pushed open the office door, holding his phone in his hand, the screen still lit up.

"Director, the news just arrived."

Chen Ping looked up from behind the table.

"A supplier boss who does business with Yan Chengyuan just called and said that Yan Chengyuan called him half an hour ago and cursed at him for fifteen minutes. Later, he got confused and started rambling, and finally hung up the phone."

Zhang Chao locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

"The supplier said that Yan Chengyuan's last words were, 'Chen Ping has gone mad.'"

Chen Ping didn't respond to that sentence.

On the table lay the execution receipt from Nanzhou Customs, with the cross-border channels of all three shell companies marked in red with the words "circuit broken".

He stacked the receipt and the forty-seven-page report together, put them in a folder, and fastened them with a click.

Outside the window, the crane boom at the Xinhuo Phase II construction site is turning, the steel cables are taut, and the precast slab hanging at the top of the boom is slowly rising, passing over the third floor of the main building.

Chen Ping closed the folder, placed his palm on the cover, and didn't move.

The phone lit up again.

The number that popped up on the screen wasn't from the provincial capital, it was from Beijing.