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

"No need, I'll go myself."

Chen Ping hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. Sending a car to pick him up meant Fang Zhiyuan chose the route, the time, and the pace. He couldn't relinquish the initiative.

At seven o'clock on Monday morning, Jiang Fan drove the car downstairs. Chen Ping put it on the back seat, with a black briefcase tucked under his arm. Inside were the document bag that Su Qingwan had given him and three printed drafts of the industry standards alliance technology.

It takes two and a half hours to get from Nanzhou to Guangling via the expressway.

Jiang Fan glanced at it in the rearview mirror.

"Director, should we report this to Mayor Li?"

"I reported it. I mentioned it last night."

Jiang Fan didn't say anything more and stepped on the gas to get onto the ramp.

After the car passed the Guangling toll station, a black Buick GL8 was already parked outside the exit. The window rolled down, and inside sat a young man in his early thirties, his shirt buttoned up to the top, leaving a red mark on his neck.

"Secretary Chen, I am Zhou Heng, Mayor Fang's secretary. Mayor Fang asked me to show you the way."

Chen Ping rolled down the car window.

"Secretary Zhou, please lead the way."

The two cars drove into Guangling city one after the other. Instead of heading towards the municipal government, the GL8 turned onto the expressway in the industrial park.

Chen Ping leaned back in his chair, staring out the window.

Our first stop was Tianying Chemical.

The factory covers an area of ​​400 acres, and a giant GG sign stands at the main gate: "Guangling Chemical Industry Leader, Annual Output Value Exceeds 10 Billion Yuan." The gatekeeper raised the barrier and let us through, and the GL8 drove directly to the office building.

Fang Zhiyuan stood on the steps.

He was fifty-three years old, not very tall, about 1.68 meters, but with broad shoulders, making him look like a low wall when he stood there. His hair was shaved very short, revealing an old scar on his scalp. He wore a navy blue jacket, zipped up to his chest, with his hands in his pockets.

Chen Ping put down the car and walked over.

Fang Zhiyuan took the initiative to extend his hand.

"Secretary Chen, I've finally met you."

My palms were dry, and I had a strong grip; it took me a full three seconds to release my grip.

"Mayor Fang, I've heard so much about you."

Fang Zhiyuan stepped aside and walked into the factory area.

"Since we're already here, let's take a look at Guangling's resources first."

Tianying Chemical's production workshop is divided into three production lines, and Fang Zhiyuan led Chen Ping through them one by one. At each of the reaction vessels, distillation towers, and storage tank areas, technicians in white coats came up to report the parameters.

Chen Ping didn't speak, he just watched.

The reactor walls on the first production line were rusted, and yellowish-brown liquid seeped from the flange connections. In the control room of the second production line, the control panel was still the button type from the 1990s, and the data on the screen changed extremely slowly, with a refresh interval of more than thirty seconds.

Jiang Fan followed behind, turning to a new page in his notebook and writing down the device models one by one.

Fang Zhiyuan stopped at the exit of the third line and pointed to the tank area in the distance.

"Secretary Chen, Tianying alone provides employment for 6,000 people in the Guangling Development Zone. Huading New Materials and Oasis Technology together provide another 8,000 jobs. Forty percent of the province's basic chemical raw materials come from these three factories."

Chen Ping glanced at the dike in the tank area. At the bottom of the dike, the drainage ditch was blocked by a clump of black sediment with an oily sheen.

"Mayor Fang, I have read Tianying's environmental impact assessment report. The COD emission concentration is listed as 38 milligrams per liter."

Fang Zhiyuan nodded.

"The provincial standard is 50 for those who meet the requirements."

Chen Ping squatted down, picked up a small piece of sediment from the edge of the drain, and smelled it. A pungent, sour stench hit him, and he wiped his fingers on his trouser leg.

"This taste isn't up to par with a 38."

Fang Zhiyuan paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

"It's an old factory area, so the pipeline network is aging and there are occasional leaks."

Chen Ping stood up without asking any further questions.

The second stop was Huading New Materials. The third stop was Oasis Technology.

The layout of the three factories is almost identical: huge production capacity, outdated equipment, and shiny data boards. The electronic screens at the entrance of each factory display annual environmental impact assessment data. The numbers are neat and uniform: COD, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus are all below the provincial standards. Some values ​​are accurate to two decimal places. They are so neat and uniform, as if they were copied from the same template.

Jiang Fan copied the environmental impact assessment data of the three factories side by side into his notebook and handed it to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping glanced at it.

三家企业的COD数值分别是38.2、37.8、38.5。氨氮分别是4.1、3.9、4.2。

The error is no more than two percent.

The pollution discharge data of three chemical plants of different sizes, with different processes and different product lines were measured on the same day as if by the same instrument.

Chen Ping returned the notebook to Jiang Fan without saying anything.

At 5 p.m., Fang Zhiyuan took Chen Ping to the Chinese restaurant of Guangling Hotel. The private room was called "Lanyue Pavilion". Two waiters were standing at the door. When they pushed the door open, there were already more than a dozen people sitting on both sides of the long table.

The director of the Guangling Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the director of the Development Zone Management Committee, the chairmen of three chemical companies, plus several other faces that Chen Pingfang couldn't name.

Fang Zhiyuan arranged for Chen Ping to sit to the right of the main seat, while he himself sat in the main seat.

The liquor was served—Wuliangye, not Moutai. Fang Zhiyuan personally unscrewed the cap and poured the liquor.

"Secretary Chen, you've worked hard today. After visiting these three factories, you can see that Guangling has a solid foundation in the chemical industry."

Chen Ping raised his wine glass and clinked it against his.

"The foundation is indeed solid."

Fang Zhiyuan placed the cup on the table and twirled it halfway around the rim with his finger.

"Secretary Chen, let me be frank. I don't object to the province's direction of promoting a standards alliance. But how high the standards should be depends on the actual situation. For the equipment of these three companies in Guangling to all meet the technical standards in the alliance's draft, the total cost of upgrading them would be no less than four billion yuan."

The chairman of Tianying took over the conversation. He was a fat man in his fifties with a string of Buddhist beads around his neck.

"Secretary Chen, it's not that we're unwilling to upgrade. But Guangling City's finances can't afford 4 billion yuan, and the companies themselves can't handle it. If production really stops for rectification, what will happen to the supply of basic chemical raw materials for the entire province? Who will supply them?"

The chairman of Huading New Materials also spoke. He was tall and thin, and spoke with a heavy local accent from Guangling.

"The chip industry in Nanzhou needs raw materials, as do fine chemicals and new energy batteries. Forty percent of these raw materials come from Guangling. If the standards are cut off, our production line will stop as well."

The three of them spoke one after another, laying everything bare.

Chen Ping picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, put it in his bowl, chewed it, and slowly swallowed it.

"I understand the concerns raised by the chairmen. I acknowledge that the technical standards set by the Standards Alliance are not low, but they are not figures that were just randomly chosen. The draft stipulates a three-year transition period, with the standards to be met in stages. In the first year, only a few core indicators will be assessed."

Fang Zhiyuan picked up his glass, took a sip of wine, and twitched his lips as he put the glass back on the table.

"Secretary Chen, a three-year transition period is not enough. Guangling's situation is special, unlike that of Nanzhou."

Fang Zhiyuan stood up, took a document from his secretary Zhou Heng, and handed it to Chen Pingfang with both hands.

Red cover with gold lettering.

"Request for instructions on the establishment of a technical standard system for the chemical industry in Guangling City".

Signed by: Guangling Municipal People's Government. Addressed to: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology.

Fang Zhiyuan placed his hands on the edge of the table and leaned forward slightly.

"Secretary Chen, this request was submitted to the provincial government last week. Guangling plans to build its own standard system to align with the actual needs of local industries. Someone in the provincial department is already reviewing it."

There was a three-second silence in the private room.

The chairmen of the three companies simultaneously raised their glasses and handed them to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping placed his chopsticks on the plate, his fingers pinching the corner of the red-covered document under the table. The paper was thick and smelled of fresh ink.