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

Chen Ping put the portable hard drive into the inner bag.

"074, Yan Qinghua, Veridian."

Once the three anchor points are marked in my mind, they are locked in and never touched again.

Lin Yuanzhou stood up from the shelf, folded the anti-static bag, and stuffed it back into the bottom shelf. "Should we make a mirror backup first?"

"No." Chen Ping buttoned his coat and picked up his briefcase. "Don't mention this hard drive to anyone, not even Jiang Fan."

Lin Yuanzhou didn't ask any further questions and turned back to the lithography table.

The light in room 304 was still on. Chen Ping pushed open the door and went out. The corridor was dark, with only the emergency light at the entrance of the corridor casting a faint white glow.

Yan Qinghua. I've seen this name in the purchasing ledger, but I haven't thought much about it. Now I need to start thinking about it.

Chen Ping paused for two seconds in the corridor before walking towards the stairs.

---

Three days later, at 9:00 AM in the second conference building of the provincial government.

The first plenary meeting of the Provincial Semiconductor Industry Leading Group had an agenda placed in front of each seat, with a total of five topics.

The third point, printed in bold, states: "Establishment of a cross-city fund allocation mechanism."

Chen Ping took his seat as deputy team leader and placed the authorization letter signed by Lu Zheng on the right side of the table, face down.

spare.

Liu Mingyuan sat in the main seat, flipping through the folder beside him without looking up. On either side were rows of officials from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, and the Provincial Department of Finance, with assistants and entourages forming the outer circle against the wall. The air conditioning was set rather low; sitting for a while would make one's back feel cold.

The first and second agenda items were completed in sequence without any disagreement, and the sound of notebooks turning pages was uniform.

When the third topic was discussed, the atmosphere in the meeting room became slightly subdued.

Shen Depei, deputy director of the Provincial Department of Finance, opened the draft in front of him, turned to the second page, pushed it forward half an inch, and began to speak.

Shen Depei was about fifty-five years old, his suit was impeccably pressed, and his hair was combed from left to right. He paused for a beat before speaking, as if he had a habit of controlling the rhythm of his speech.

"There are a few things I need to clarify in person regarding this cross-city fund allocation plan."

"For cross-city transfers of special funds, according to the Ministry of Finance's 2022 normative document, a special approval from the provincial finance department and joint signatures from the finance bureaus of the two cities are required before the funds can be implemented."

Shen Depei raised his head, his gaze bypassing Liu Mingyuan, and glanced at the side of the table where Chen Ping was sitting.

"I acknowledge that the leading group has the authority to coordinate and collaborate. However, the financial procedures cannot be omitted in the fund disbursement process. New colleagues, make sure you understand the rules before pushing forward your plans, so you don't end up with your application rejected halfway through, which would be embarrassing for everyone."

Someone at the table was looking down at documents, flipping through them very slowly. The director of the National Development and Reform Commission sitting next to him coughed lightly, then cleared his throat without saying a word.

Chen Ping turned to page eight of the draft and pressed his index finger on the third clause.

The words "new comrade" crossed his mind. Shen Depei joined the provincial department in 2008, the same year he entered the system. The phrase "new comrade" was deliberately attached to him.

"Director Shen, the 2022 document only restricts the cross-city allocation of local government funds. The overall allocation of provincial special guidance funds follows a different authorization system. The two are not in the same regulatory framework."

Chen Ping flipped the authorization letter over so that the front was facing up, and pushed it two inches towards the center of the table.

"This is a special authorization from the Provincial Party Committee, signed and approved by Secretary Lu, and the overall coordination authority rests with the deputy head of the leading group. The disbursement vouchers from the municipal finance bureaus follow normal procedures, and the countersignatures from the finance department will not be missing. This is clearly stated in Section 3 on page 8 of the draft."

Shen Depei's gaze fell on the authorization letter, paused for two seconds, but did not pick it up to flip through it.

"The power to coordinate and the power to allocate funds are two different concepts."

"right."

Chen Ping answered without any delay.

"Therefore, the draft separates the boundaries of the two powers. If Director Shen still has any questions, please come to me in writing after the meeting."

Chen Ping took another printed document out of his briefcase, placed it flat on the table, and did not push it over.

"However, Director Shen specifically mentioned compliance today, so I'd like to take this opportunity to ask a question."

"From April to August last year, the Provincial Department of Finance allocated industrial development subsidies to three science and technology innovation enterprises, totaling 210 million yuan. The evaluation basis in the attachment is the recommendation letter from the management committee of each city, but I compared the dates and found that the issuance time of the recommendation letter was four to seven days later than the disbursement time."

Shen Depei slowly raised the hand that was resting on the draft and changed its position to rest it back on the armrest.

"How should this process—funding the money first and then signing the recommendation letter later—be classified according to Director Shen's current compliance standards?"

The only thing left in the conference room was the air conditioner humming.

Shen Depei closed the draft, put it back in its original position, placed his hands on the table, adjusted his posture, and did not speak immediately.

"Those subsidies have specific background circumstances and cannot be simply applied interchangeably."

"No need to apply it."

Chen Ping flipped the printed document over, put it into his briefcase, and zipped it up neatly.

"I just want to confirm whether the standard for compliance is the same for everyone. If the standard is not uniform, it will be easy for everyone to have different opinions when discussing it later."

Chen Ping looked up at Shen Depei's side and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Director Shen, if you have any new standards regarding compliance in the future, please feel free to come and discuss them with me."

The director from the National Development and Reform Commission next to me quietly closed his laptop, making a sound a fraction louder than usual.

Liu Mingyuan pushed the folder towards the center of the table, not too hard, not too softly.

"The third item was passed according to the draft, and the detailed provisions will be coordinated between the deputy head's office and the relevant departments."

Shen Depei did not raise any objections.

---

As the meeting adjourned, the sound of leather shoes clicking on the marble floor echoed down the corridor, while the rustling of assistants tidying up documents drowned out the scattered chatter.

Liu Mingyuan handed the folder to his assistant, stopped next to Chen Ping, and gestured with his chin towards the depths of the corridor.

The two walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, leaving only the two of them in the corridor. Outside the window were the magnolias in the provincial government compound, their leaves motionless in the cold wind.

Liu Mingyuan put his hands behind his back and lowered his voice to a level that only the two of them could hear.

"The province has some plans for Guangling this month."

Chen Ping switched his briefcase to a handbag and waited for Liu Mingyuan to continue.

"Fang Zhiyuan's problems involve far more than the entries in that ledger. The province's intention is to reorganize the Guangling Municipal Party Committee leadership and transfer someone from outside to fill the position of Party Secretary."

Liu Mingyuan paused for a moment.

"You single-handedly built up Guangling's current industrial structure, and the province doesn't want to see that foundation shaken up again. But if the leadership isn't stable, the foundation won't be stable either. The management committee and the high-tech zone need someone who understands industry to take charge. You can nominate names; the province respects your judgment. But there's one condition—this person must be able to handle the mess in Guangling and can't have any unclear relationship with Fang Zhiyuan."

Chen Ping went over the requirements in his mind: understand the industry, and have a clean break with Fang Zhiyuan. A name came to mind, but he didn't rush to speak.

"How much or less authority does the province grant this position compared to when I first entered the High-tech Zone?"

Liu Mingyuan did not answer immediately. He turned around, facing away from the window, and took his hands off his back, putting them into his coat pocket.

The sound of footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor, finally being cut off by the sound of the stairwell door closing.