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

The gold thread flashed one last time. Chen Ping put the pen back into the inner pocket and zipped up his briefcase.

The lobby lights were half off, and the receptionist intern had long since left. Jiang Fan finished tidying up the registration book and stood at the door waiting for Chen Ping, holding a stack of documents.

"Director, shall we go back?"

"You go first. Leave the car to me."

Jiang Fan opened his mouth, but didn't ask where they were going. He turned around and left.

Chen Ping drove onto Binjiang Road. At 9:30 p.m., a breeze from the river blew in through the car window cracks, carrying moisture and the aroma of roasted meat. Chen Ping parked the car at the end of a row of colorful tarpaulin sheds and turned off the engine.

The barbecue stalls were crammed below the river embankment, with seven or eight folding tables set up crookedly, and plastic stools worn smooth. A string of small light bulbs hung overhead, casting a warm yellow light on the metal skewers.

Su Qingwan was already sitting at the table in the far corner.

Su Qingwan wore a gray-blue cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, and her hair was casually tied in a ponytail. On the table were two unopened bottles of beer and several skewers of grilled eggplant, sizzling with oil.

Chen Ping pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Twenty minutes." Su Qingwan unscrewed a bottle of beer and pushed it over. "I thought the newly appointed Standing Committee member wasn't coming."

Chen Ping took it and gulped down a mouthful. The liquor was very cold, rushing down his throat and into his stomach.

"Who was so quick to tell you?"

"The news of your appearance on the Standing Committee reached the provincial TV station's editorial department this afternoon," Su Qingwan said, taking a bite of her eggplant. "Our editor-in-chief was the first to know, even faster than your municipal propaganda department."

Chen Ping didn't respond, but instead brought over a plate of lamb skewers from the grill. The meat was grilled until crispy, and the cumin flavor was so strong it was almost pungent.

Su Qingwan put down her chopsticks, put her arms on the edge of the table, and tilted her head to look at Chen Pingfang.

"Secretary Chen, I have a question for you."

"ask."

"Last week I went to Guangling to investigate the pollution problems of three chemical companies. The provincial environmental protection department had already issued a press release, and the data matched. But when I arrived in Guangling, people from the municipal propaganda department were waiting for me at the highway exit. They smiled and said to me, 'Reporter Su, Guangling is currently undergoing a review for its efforts to become a civilized city. The leaders suggest you come back another time.'"

Su Qingwan tapped her fingers twice on the beer bottle.

"I took a detour and exited the highway at another toll station. As soon as I entered the industrial park, the security guard stopped me. He said the park was under maintenance and visits were not allowed. I showed him my press pass, and the guard said he didn't recognize it."

Chen Ping tore off a piece of mutton, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times.

"Who made the call?"

"I don't know. But the security captain who stopped me was driving an Audi A6, and the license plate number was from the Guangling Municipal Government's official vehicle number range."

Su Qingwan pulled a file folder from her canvas bag, but instead of handing it over immediately, she picked it up and tapped it on the table to neatly arrange the papers inside.

"Although I can't get into the park, I have other channels."

Chen Ping's hand stopped on the beer bottle.

Su Qingwan placed the file bag in the middle of the table.

"The environmental impact assessment reports for three chemical companies in Guangling—Tianying Chemical, Huading New Materials, and Oasis Technology—were all issued by the same intermediary agency last year, called Hengda Environmental Assessment. The actual controller of Hengda Environmental Assessment is the son-in-law of the former deputy director of the Guangling Environmental Protection Bureau."

Chen Ping didn't touch the file folder.

"Anything else?"

"There's something even more interesting," Su Qingwan said in a low voice. "Last month, these three companies jointly invested in and established an industry association called the 'Yangtze River Midstream Chemical Industry Innovation Alliance.' The list of initiators includes the official seal of the Guangling Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology."

Chen Pingfang's back tensed slightly.

Innovation Alliance for the Chemical Industry in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River.

The PDF that Chen Ping saw on his laptop on the fourth floor of Building B that afternoon—"Joint Statement on Resisting the Provincial Industry Standards Alliance"—had the first stamp reserved at the end for the Guangling City Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.

The two clues overlapped.

Su Qingwan stared at Chen Pingfang's reaction, her lips pursed slightly.

"You're not surprised."

"Go on."

Su Qingwan leaned forward and pushed the beer bottle aside.

"Chen Pingfang, Fang Zhiyuan's influence in the province is much greater than you think."

This was the first time Su Qingwan had called Chen Pingfang by his full name that evening.

"Fang Zhiyuan served as the vice mayor of Guangling for seven years, in charge of the industrial sector. He held the power to coordinate 40 percent of the chemical production capacity in six provinces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. When the province promoted the standards alliance last year, Fang Zhiyuan did not publicly oppose it, but he secretly colluded with the industrial and information technology systems of three prefecture-level cities to conduct a preliminary research report on an 'anti-monopoly investigation'."

Chen Ping broke the bamboo skewers for the lamb skewers in half and threw them onto the plate.

"Preliminary research report? To whom was it submitted?"

"The Provincial Development and Reform Commission, ostensibly investigating market competition in the chemical industry, is actually targeting the industry standards alliance led by your Chipfire Center. The report states that the alliance's technical standards are too exclusive, potentially restricting small and medium-sized chemical enterprises from entering the market."

Su Qingwan leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Fang Zhiyuan isn't fighting alone. The chemical giants behind him have a combined annual output value of over 80 billion. Once the standards alliance is established, at least one-third of their existing production lines will be substandard, requiring either upgrades or shutdowns. Who will bear the cost of these upgrades? They're unwilling to, so they want to prevent the alliance from being established."

The river wind suddenly picked up, and the string of light bulbs overhead swayed a few times, casting flickering shadows on the two people's faces.

Chen Ping picked up the file bag, tore open the seal, and took out the materials inside.

Seven pages. Printed, each page with Su Qingwan's handwritten source notes and date in the bottom right corner. It included a shareholding structure diagram of the three companies, Hengda Environmental Assessment's business registration information, a copy of the initiation document for the Chemical Industry Innovation Alliance, and a blurry but legible photo of Fang Zhiyuan signing in at a closed-door meeting on the last page.

Chen Ping flipped through the pages one by one and put the materials back.

"Did you keep backups of these things yourself?"

"One USB drive and one cloud drive."

"Okay." Chen Ping put the file bag into his briefcase.

Su Qingwan picked up the beer and took a sip. Her Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and when she put the bottle down, her fingers lingered on the bottle for a moment longer.

"Secretary Chen, I'm helping you because this matter needs to be investigated. But I'm giving you a heads-up."

"explain."

"Right now, you're dealing with Sun Zhaohui in Nanzhou, cleaning up incubators, and investigating shell companies. These are all things that happen in Nanzhou, and Li Jianguo can protect you. But once the Standard Alliance touches Fang Zhiyuan's schemes, the battlefield will no longer be in Nanzhou. Fang Zhiyuan can mobilize resources across three cities, and he also has people in the Provincial Development and Reform Commission."

Chen Ping finished the last half bottle of beer, and knocked the bottom of the bottle onto the table.

"You think I can't handle it?"

"I think you can handle it. But being able to handle it and winning are two different things."

Su Qingwan slung the canvas bag over her shoulder and stood up.

"You've done a great job in the High-tech Zone, and you've secured your position on the Standing Committee. But have you ever considered that every step you take now is being taken alone?"

Chen Pingfang also stood up, carrying his briefcase, and walked side by side with Su Qingwan towards the river embankment.

The river was wide, and the lights on the opposite bank formed a line. The water lapped against the stone embankment with a muffled sound.

The barbecue stall owner was packing up the tables in the back, and the sound of metal plates clattering could be heard from twenty meters away.

Su Qingwan walked to her white Honda Fit, opened the car door, but did not get in immediately.

She turned around, took half a step forward, and leaned close to Chen Ping's ear.

The air was filled with the slightly bitter taste of beer and the smoky aroma of roasted eggplant.

"Secretary Chen, don't become a lone minister."

The sound was so soft that it could be heard with a gust of wind.

Su Qingwan got into the car, closed the door, started the engine, and the white Fit drove onto Binjiang Road. Its taillights turned into two red dots and disappeared after turning a corner.

Chen Ping stood there alone, his briefcase containing the file folder, with a black fountain pen clipped to each side of the inner pocket, making it look heavy on him.

The river water lapped against the shore, the sound growing louder and louder.

Chen Ping stood there for a while, then took out his phone and scrolled to the bottom of his contacts. There was a contact whose name he had saved, so he just saved the number there.

He placed his thumb on the dial button and paused for about three seconds.

But it wasn't pressed.

He locked his phone, put it back in his pocket, opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and started the car.

Looking in the rearview mirror, the row of light bulbs at the barbecue stall had gone out, and it was pitch black on the river embankment, so nothing could be seen.

Just as the car drove out of Binjiang Road, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

It was a text message. He glanced at the number; the location displayed was Guangling.

"Secretary Chen, I've heard so much about you. I'll pay you a visit another day. — Fang Zhiyuan"