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

There was no response on the other end of the phone, only a very soft laugh, and then the call ended.

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket and stood on the steps of the municipal party committee building, glancing at the parking lot out of the corner of his eye. Three official vehicles still had their taillights on, and the drivers rolled down their windows to smoke, the red dots of their cigarette butts flashing in the twilight.

Nobody noticed him.

He stepped down the stairs, opened the car door, started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot. The clock on the dashboard jumped to 6:47.

There is still more than an hour before ignition.

~

It was exactly 8 p.m.

The homepage of the Nanzhou Provincial Daily's new media platform was refreshed. A deep investigative report popped up at the top, with a title that took up two lines:

"A Graduate Student's 'Capital Game': Unveiling the Multi-Billion Yuan Financial Mystery Behind Nanzhou Hongtuyuan"

Signed by: Su Qingwan, reporter for this newspaper

The first paragraph is concise, immediately presenting a diagram showing the ownership structure.

Chengyuan Private Equity Fund is actually controlled by Yan Chengyuan, a postgraduate student at Nanzhou University. The fund has a three-tier structure, and after tracing back, the ultimate beneficiaries are four individual accounts.

The holders of two of the accounts are Yan Chengyuan's mother, Zhao Shumin, and Zhao Shumin's cousin, Zhao Zhigang.

The second paragraph includes a screenshot of Hongtuyuan's business registration information. The registered capital is 50 million, but the paid-in capital is zero. The establishment date is eleven days earlier than the approval date of the South District industrial plan.

Su Qingwan used a sentence in this passage: "Hongtuyuan has not yet been approved for construction, but its shell company has already been registered and is waiting to receive money."

The third section concerns the land approval document. The Southern District Government, under the guise of "semiconductor industry support," transferred the land for the Hongtu Industrial Park at a price of NT$32,000 per mu. During the same period, the listed price for adjacent industrial land was NT$117,000 per mu.

Multiplying the price difference by the total area, the value of the land transferred by the government exceeds 200 million yuan.

The signatory on the document was Liu Yuejin, the head of the South District, but in the draft section of the document number, another name was circled in red by Su Qingwan: Office of the Executive Vice Mayor of Nanzhou City.

The fourth section discusses the flow of funds.

This is the core of the entire report. Su Qingwan extended the fund flow chart that Chen Ping had shown at the Standing Committee meeting, starting from the industrial support funds allocated by the Nanzhou Finance Department, through the matching funds of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, local subsidies, and equipment procurement funds, passing through four layers of shell companies, and finally flowing into the fundraising account of Chengyuan Private Equity Fund.

Each transfer was accompanied by a copy of the bank statement.

Each contract is marked with the signing date and the company that affixed the seal.

Su Qingwan converted the handling fees, management fees, and consulting fees for each intermediate link into a figure that readers can understand—equivalent to the total operating expenses of three primary schools in Nanzhou City for one year.

The last paragraph consists of only three lines:

"Hongtuyuan consumes 4,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity, but its output value is zero."

"A graduate student has gained control of an industry fund worth billions of dollars."

"This money should have been used to manufacture Chinese-made chips."

~

Chen Ping sat in his office at the Corefire Center, his laptop screen lit up, the page displayed on the news report.

The number of views jumps up every time it's refreshed.

At 8:12, 30,000.

At 8:25, 170,000.

At 8:40, 430,000.

The comment section exploded. The most upvoted comment was only eight words: "Investigate! Investigate further! Investigate to the end!"

Article 2: "A graduate student manages billions of dollars—who is his father?"

No one directly named Yan Qinghua. But everyone was waiting for an answer.

Jiang Fan pushed open the door and came in, holding a tablet in his hands, his face flushed red.

"Director, it's fourth on Weibo's trending topics. The topic is 'Nanzhou's 10 Billion Yuan Chip Scam,' and it's still climbing."

Chen Ping closed his notebook without saying a word.

Jiang Fan swiped the tablet again.

"That's the third one."

Zhang Chao followed him in, phone to his ear, and after hanging up, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Director, supplier Lao Zhao just called and said that Yan Chengyuan's phone is no longer reachable and is switched off. He posted a message on his WeChat Moments with only three words: 'It's all fake.' He deleted it after posting it, but the screenshot has already spread."

Chen Ping stood up from the chair and walked to the window.

The construction site of Xinhuo Phase II was brightly lit. Night shift workers were pouring concrete for the load-bearing columns on the third floor. The rumble of the concrete pump truck came through the glass, muffled and muffled.

His phone vibrated.

Lin Xiangdong.

"Old Chen, did you see that?"

"I saw it."

"The province is in an uproar. Governor Zhou's secretary just called me, asking who arranged the reporter for this report and whether the data source has been verified."

Chen Ping switched the phone to his other hand.

"What did you reply?"

"I said that the data comes from audit materials and business registration information provided by the Chipfire Industry Center, and all the evidence can be verified through public channels."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Old Chen, Governor Zhou didn't ask any more questions. He only said one sentence: 'When it's time to act, don't hesitate.'"

Chen Ping hung up the phone and placed it face down on the windowsill.

~

9:30.

The number of views has exceeded one million.

Major portal websites have all featured reposted links on their homepages, with headlines edited to be even more blatant: "Nanzhou Hongtu Park Allegedly Embezzled Billions in Industrial Funds, a Shell Company Scam" and "Graduate Student Manages Billions, Who's Backing Him?"

Netizens were faster at uncovering information than investigative journalists. Yan Chengyuan's academic background, enrollment date, and advisor information were all exposed. Some people traced the equity ownership structure upwards, finding Zhao Shumin's name and then her husband.

The name "Yan Qinghua" began to appear in various variations in the comments section, such as "a certain executive vice mayor," "Yan Mouhua," and "the second-in-command of Nanzhou."

Chen Ping turned off the office lights, leaving only the construction site lights outside the window shining through the glass, dividing his silhouette into light and shadow.

Zhang Chao knocked on the door frame twice.

"Director, Liu Yuejin called the front desk and said he wants to see you."

"I won't answer."

"People from the South District Political and Legal Affairs Commission also called, saying that Su Qingwan's report was suspected of leaking state secrets and asked us to assist in the investigation."

Chen Ping turned around.

"Every piece of data in the report comes either from the business registration information system or from verification materials stamped with the official seal of the audit team. Which word is classified? Ask them to send an official letter; I'm waiting."

Zhang Chao didn't say anything more, left, and closed the door behind him.

~

After midnight, Nanzhou City quieted down, but the online uproar grew stronger, with three major state media outlets reposting the report.

Although no comment was added, the action itself constitutes a statement.

Chen Ping didn't go home; he lay on the sofa in his office for three hours.

My phone lit up around 4 a.m.

It was a link forwarded by Jiang Fan.

The provincial discipline inspection commission issued a notice at 4:00 PM.

The announcement was very short.

"Yan Qinghua is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently under investigation."

Chen Ping stared at the screen, his thumb resting on his phone.

The sofa creaked, and the lights from the construction site crane outside the window flashed, shining into the room.

The screen was still lit; the first comment was posted at 4:01.

"The investigation has been completed."