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

"Sun Zhaohui's wife."

As soon as Zheng Shouzheng finished speaking those two words, the pile driver on the construction site stopped for a moment, and the surroundings were so quiet that you could hear the wind whistling through the fence.

Chen Ping put the envelope into the inner compartment of his briefcase.

"Master Zheng, I've received this letter."

Zheng Shouzhen nodded and turned to leave.

"etc."

Chen Ping stopped Zheng Shouzheng.

"Are those three companies still in the incubator?"

"Floors 3 to 5 of Building A, and the entire Building B. The doors are locked, the curtains are drawn, and occasionally someone goes in or out to move things."

Zheng Shouzhen glanced back at him, put his helmet back on, and walked eastward along the fence.

Chen Ping stood still, took out his phone, found Li Jianguo's number, dialed it, and it rang twice.

"Mayor Jianguo, this is Chen Pingfang. I need to borrow one of your men for something."

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

"explain."

"The incubator in the high-tech zone has been seized by three shell companies, suspected of causing the loss of state-owned assets. I need the Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau to cooperate with a surprise inspection."

"How big is the plate?"

"Incubator Buildings A and B, totaling 16,000 square meters. The original 17 tech companies were forced to relocate."

Li Jianguo coughed on the other end of the phone.

"The captain of the Economic Crime Investigation Division is Ma Donglin. He'll be there in half an hour."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Ping put away his phone and turned to look at Jiang Fan.

"Go to the incubator."

The car departed from the second phase construction site, passed through the main road of the high-tech zone, and turned into a narrow road lined with plane trees. The incubator building was at the end of the road, two gray-white six-story buildings standing side by side, with pieces of the exterior tiles peeling off, revealing the cement underneath.

The iron gate was half open, and there was no one in the guard booth.

Jiang Fan parked the car downstairs at Building A. Chen Ping didn't get out of the car; he leaned back in his seat, staring at the window on the second floor of Building B. The curtains were drawn tightly, but a sliver of light shone through the gaps.

Twenty-five minutes later, three unmarked vans turned onto Falcon Road and lined up in front of Building A. The doors opened, and twelve people jumped out, all wearing dark jackets with bulging waists, clearly carrying something.

The leader was a man in his early forties with a crew cut, who walked very quickly.

"Secretary Chen, this is Ma Donglin from the Economic Crime Investigation Division. Mayor Li sent me."

Chen Ping got out of the car and shook hands with Ma Donglin.

"Floors 3 to 5 of Building A, and the entire Building B. Focus on checking company registration documents, financial records, and evidence of actual operations. Do not touch any electronic devices; wait for the evidence collection team to arrive."

Ma Donglin turned around and waved his hand. The twelve people split into two groups, one group rushing towards Building A and the other group rushing towards Building B.

Chen Ping followed Ma Donglin upstairs.

The security door on the third floor of Building A was locked with two locks. Ma Donglin took out a search warrant issued by the court and slammed it on the door frame.

"unlock."

The technician crouched down, and in forty seconds, the lock cylinder popped open.

The moment the door was pushed open, a musty smell wafted out.

From the third to the fifth floor, there were nine offices, all empty. The desks and chairs were still there, but covered in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs grew behind the computer monitors. The water in the water dispenser had turned yellowish-green.

There wasn't a soul in sight, the equipment had stopped operating, and there was no sign of any business activity.

Jiang Fan flipped through the folders piled on the table; they were all empty, not even filled with printing paper.

"What about Building B?"

Ma Donglin's walkie-talkie rang.

"Captain, there's an emergency on the fourth floor of Building B."

Chen Ping hurried downstairs, crossed the connecting corridor between the two buildings, and went up to Building B.

The door on the fourth floor was open.

Economic crime investigators surrounded the entrance to a large office. Two young men were pinned to the ground, their faces pressed against the floor tiles. One was wearing designer sportswear and a green-dial Rolex on his wrist, while the other had a Porsche car key around his neck.

There was a pile of things on the table.

Three unopened cases of Moutai liquor. Two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes. A still-running laptop with a gambling website open on its screen.

There was also a stack of express delivery slips, all addressed to the same person: Yan Chengyuan.

Chen Ping squatted down and flipped through the stack of express delivery slips.

Yan Chengyuan. Yan Qinghua's son.

The young man in sportswear looked up, saw Chen Pingfang, and kicked his legs.

"Who are you? What right do you have to investigate us? We have a legal lease agreement!"

Ma Donglin came around from behind and threw a document in front of him.

"Search warrant. Show me your valid lease agreement."

The sportswear-clad figure shut its mouth.

Chen Ping stood up and looked around. The office was at least 200 square meters, with freshly painted walls and a huge solid wood billiard table in the center, with several balls rolling on a green cloth. Golf bags, wine cases, and imported snacks were piled up in the corner.

This is a private club, not a company at all.

Yan Qinghua's son and his cronies treated the state-owned incubator like a private club.

Chen Ping put the express delivery receipt into an evidence bag and handed it to Ma Donglin.

"The entire area has been sealed off. The individuals have been taken away and handed over to the Economic Crime Investigation Department for further processing."

Ma Donglin nodded, waved his hand, and the economic crime investigators began to affix seals.

When Chen Ping walked out of Building B, there were seven or eight more people in the parking lot. They were all wearing work clothes, men and women, ranging in age from thirty to fifty. Zheng Shouzhen was standing at the front, still wearing his safety helmet.

These people stood in a row, none of them spoke, just staring at Chen Pingfang.

Chen Ping walked past the crowd.

A woman in her thirties suddenly spoke up.

"Secretary Chen, is it possible for our laboratory to be moved back?"

Chen Ping stopped walking.

Which company do you work for?

"We were doing MEMS chip packaging and testing. Two years ago, we were kicked out, and three of our devices were damaged during relocation. To this day, no one has compensated us."

Chen Ping glanced at the woman.

"Within a week, the management committee will release a relocation plan for the incubator companies. As for the equipment loss, proceed with legal procedures, and the management committee will assist you in obtaining evidence."

The woman's lips trembled slightly, but she said nothing, lowered her head, and retreated back into the crowd.

Zheng Shouzhen nodded to Chen Pingfang.

Chen Ping put it in the car.

"Go to the management committee."

When the car arrived at the entrance of the management committee building, Zhao Guangming was already waiting on the steps.

Chen Ping did not enter the building.

"Director Zhao, please clear out the reception area in the lobby on the first floor. Starting today, I will be working in the lobby."

Zhao Guangming's face twitched.

"hall?"

"That's right. All companies that come to handle business or departments that come to report can come directly to the lobby to find me. No appointment is needed, and there's no need to wait in line for approval."

Zhao Guangming turned and ran inside, his heels clicking loudly on the marble floor.

Half an hour later, the sofa and coffee table in the lobby on the first floor were moved away and replaced with an office desk, a chair, and a computer.

Chen Ping sat down.

The glass doors to the lobby were open, and anyone coming in or out could see Chen Pingfang.

The first person to come to him was the deputy head of the planning department, who stood in front of the table for a long time, holding a stack of blueprints and rubbing his hands together.

"Secretary Chen, Director Sun approved a draft of the green belt plan on the south side of Phase II, but it conflicts with the route of the municipal pipeline network..."

"Who did you clash with?"

"The municipal housing and construction bureau's pipeline plan."

"The Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau's final draft was just delivered to me yesterday. Go find Jiang Fan to get a copy, check it before you leave work today, and give me a revised version tomorrow morning."

The deputy section chief paused for two seconds, then turned and ran away with the blueprints in his arms.

Over the next two hours, Chen Ping signed fourteen documents in the lobby, met with the heads of nine departments, and resolved three approval bottlenecks that had been dragging on for two months.

After processing each case, Jiang Fan would make a note of it on the small table next to him.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Jiang Fan walked into the lobby carrying a box of documents retrieved from the scene of the seizure of Building B.

"Director, the Economic Investigation Department has completed the initial inventory. There are a large number of files on the laptops on the fourth floor of Building B. Ma Donglin had someone make a backup copy for us."

Chen Ping took the USB drive and plugged it into the computer.

The folders were a mess, containing games, movies, and chat logs. Chen Ping flipped through them one by one, and when he reached the third-to-last folder, his finger stopped on the touchpad.

The folder is named "General Manager Fang's Materials".

There is only one PDF file inside.

Chen Ping opened it.

Twelve pages. The heading reads "Joint Statement (Draft) on Resisting the Provincial Industry Standards Alliance".

The signature section listed the names of six companies and the official seals of the industry and information technology bureaus of three cities. The seal slots were empty, but next to the first reserved space, there was a line of small handwritten text:

"Reviewed by Fang Zhiyuan, Guangling Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology."

Chen Ping removed his hand from the touchpad.

Fang Zhiyuan. Vice Mayor of Guangling City, in charge of industry and information technology.

The preparatory group for the standards alliance has not yet been established, but the boycott agreement has already been drafted.

Jiang Fan leaned over to take a look at the screen, and his expression changed.

Chen Ping unplugged the USB drive and locked it in the drawer.

Footsteps echoed from all directions in the hall, but no one noticed that Chen Pingfang, behind the desk, was twirling a black fountain pen without any brand logo in his hand, the thin gold thread on the cap shimmering under the fluorescent light.