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

Almost everyone has arrived.

Chen Ping loosened the slats of the blinds, turned around, and picked up the car keys on the table.

The clock struck 9:40 PM. The journey from Nanzhou to the provincial capital took two and a half hours on the highway, arriving at Liu Mingyuan's doorstep just past midnight. Visiting at this hour itself demonstrated an attitude—the matter was urgent, but not urgent enough to warrant a phone call; the matter was significant, but still within manageable limits.

He didn't let the driver take him; instead, he drove himself onto the ramp leading to the Nanzhou East exit.

There weren't many cars on the highway. The high beams cut through the darkness ahead, and the road markings seemed to disappear under the cars. Chen Ping rested his right hand on the steering wheel and his left elbow on the window frame, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say tonight three times.

Which should be said first, which should be said later, which should be said only halfway, and which should be asked by Liu Mingyuan himself.

The order cannot be changed.

At 12:12 a.m., the car stopped in the underground garage of a retirement community in the western suburbs of the provincial capital. Chen Ping turned off the engine, picked up his briefcase from the back seat, which contained three things: Lin Yuanzhou's macro photograph of the chip, Jiang Fan's equity penetration chart of Jiacheng Precision, and Wang Dexin's offshore account structure diagram.

The elevator reached the sixth floor, and the security door at the end of the corridor was ajar.

Chen Ping knocked twice, and the door opened from the inside. Liu Mingyuan was wearing an old gray sweater, cotton slippers, and holding a pair of reading glasses. His hair was unkempt, with a few strands of white hair sticking out on his forehead.

"Come in."

There were no pleasantries or formalities. Liu Mingyuan turned and walked towards the study, and Chen Ping followed, closing the security door behind him.

The study was small, with bookshelves lining three walls, crammed with various folders and old newspapers. A mahogany desk stood by the window, a green-shaded lamp lit on it, and a half-cold cup of tea beside it.

Liu Mingyuan sat down in the wicker chair behind the desk, put on his reading glasses, and then raised his chin.

"Speak, what's the matter that you came all this way so late?"

Chen Ping didn't sit down. He stood opposite the desk, placed his briefcase on the corner of the desk, unzipped it, and took out the equity penetration chart that Jiang Fan had prepared.

He unfolded an A3 sheet of paper and laid it out in front of Liu Mingyuan.

"Governor Liu, I've discovered something regarding the second phase of the Chipfire project."

Chen Pingfang then began to talk about Jiacheng Precision.

He mentioned the 1 billion yuan equipment donation, the 42 precision instruments, and also mentioned Han Zhengke.

Finally, the agreement also mentioned the TPS-9X 3D topology scanner, noting that the intellectual property chain for that instrument was unusual, originating from Germany and ending in Singapore.

Liu Mingyuan didn't speak; he just looked down at the various lines on the diagram, looking from top to bottom.

"The actual controller of Jiacheng Precision is Han Zhengke, but there are three layers above Han Zhengke."

Chen Ping's finger traced the arrow on the map.

"The second layer is an investment company in Hong Kong, the third layer is Nexvance B.V. in Singapore, and going further up, there are two seats on the board of directors of Nexvance B.V., which belong to Company M."

Liu Mingyuan tapped the box next to NexvanceB.V. with his finger.

"Company M".

"right."

Liu Mingyuan took off his reading glasses, placed them on the table, and leaned back in his wicker chair. The chair creaked.

"Equity relationship alone is not enough."

Chen Pingfang was waiting for this sentence. He pulled out a second document from his briefcase—macro photographs of the chip taken by Lin Yuanzhou, printed on A3 paper, the outline of the gray ceramic package clearly discernible.

"During the joint acceptance inspection by the three parties, I had Lin Yuanzhou conduct a physical inspection of the hardware."

He pushed the photo in front of Liu Mingyuan, pointing his fingertip at the four-millimeter-square gray block.

"This thing is not on the equipment's factory drawings, nor is it in the BOM. It is directly connected to the underlying data bus via a physical layer flywire, and has its own independent energy storage. It can continue to run for more than 72 hours after a power outage."

Liu Mingyuan put his reading glasses back on and looked closer.

"Lin Yuanzhou's assessment is that this isn't a data backdoor," Chen Ping paused for a moment. "It's a high-precision timing physical disturbance. After being remotely triggered, it can create tiny voltage fluctuations during critical stages of wafer epitaxial growth, causing dislocation defects in the crystal lattice. These defects cannot be detected during factory testing, but they will cause mass failures under actual high-voltage and high-frequency operating conditions."

The study was quiet for a few seconds. The green shade of the desk lamp lowered the light, illuminating the two A3 sheets of paper spread out on the table, while the rest of the room remained in darkness.

Liu Mingyuan flipped the photo over, then flipped it back, and put it down.

"Out of forty-two devices, how many were found to be faulty?"

"Two units have been confirmed so far. Reverse engineering is still underway, and a full report will be available within 48 hours."

Liu Mingyuan stopped looking at the photos, placed his hands on the table, and slowly rubbed his thumbs together a couple of times.

"Ping Fang, you came here tonight not just to report on this."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Chen Ping took out the last document from his briefcase. It was the offshore account structure diagram drawn by Wang Dexin, folded twice, the pencil lines on the paper already somewhat blurred from being touched.

He unfolded the paper and placed it in front of Liu Mingyuan, without rushing to speak.

Liu Mingyuan looked down for ten seconds.

The structure in the diagram is very clear: Nexvance B.V.'s funds flow through three layers of offshore accounts, with one line ultimately pointing to China, and the terminal is labeled with a name - He Hongru.

Liu Mingyuan's thumb stopped moving.

Where did this picture come from?

"I obtained this information by chance from an anonymous tip while investigating the Sun Zhaohui case," Chen Pingfang replied calmly, without any further explanation. "After obtaining it, I didn't use the internal network or report it to any department. Because this lead involves a serving department-level official, I dared not make a judgment on my own, so I came to consult you."

Liu Mingyuan could tell the weight of those words.

Not daring to make a judgment on one's own is to leave oneself a way out. Coming to ask for instructions is to hand over the decision-making power. Chen Ping drove for two and a half hours on the highway and came to his door in the early morning, just to hand this hot potato to him in person.

Liu Mingyuan picked up the structural diagram, held it up to the lamp, looked at each line, then put it down, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his nose.

"What are you planning to do?"

Chen Ping waited two seconds before speaking.

"Next Friday, there will be a donation ceremony for the second phase of Chipfire. It will be a provincial-level event, with leaders from the provincial government, the Department of Industry and Information Technology, and the Development and Reform Commission all in attendance. Han Zhengke will be there, He Hongru will be there, and Han Zhengke has even offered to bring a representative from the Dutch headquarters."

He paused for a moment.

"All parties involved will make a public appearance at the same time, in the same place, and on the same stage."

Liu Mingyuan's rattan chair creaked again as he sat up straight.

"My plan is to use this ceremony as a pretext for an economic espionage case, to gather evidence on-site, and to make a public arrest. Lin Yuanzhou's reverse analysis report will serve as the core physical evidence, while the equity penetration and offshore account structure will serve as evidence of the money chain. We will close the net on all three fronts simultaneously."

Chen Ping arranged the three documents in a row on the table.

"The purpose of doing this is not just to arrest people. If Han Zhengke is arrested, Company M will send another Han Zhengke. But if he is arrested on the spot in a public setting witnessed by provincial leaders, and is classified as an economic spy, this signal will make all foreign forces that covet the domestic semiconductor project think twice."

The study fell silent again.

Liu Mingyuan stared at the three documents on the table: a shareholding chart, a photograph of a chip, and a diagram of an offshore account structure. Three pieces of paper, three lines, converging on the date next Friday.

The silence lasted for almost a minute.

Chen Ping stood across the table, neither moving nor urging him. The green light from the table lamp shone on Liu Mingyuan's face, making the wrinkles on his forehead appear even deeper.

Then Liu Mingyuan reached out and picked up the red telephone on the right side of the desk.

The dial went around seven times, clicking each time.

The call was connected.

"Secretary Deshan, I have a situation to report..."