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

"Secretary Deshan, I have something to report..."

The phone call lasted forty minutes. Chen Ping stood in the hallway outside the study the entire time, not listening, nor should he have. Liu Mingyuan only opened the door after hanging up, his wrinkles deepening.

"The higher-ups will arrange for someone to cooperate with what happened next Friday."

This is the only sentence; there are no extra words.

Chen Pingfang put the three documents back into his briefcase, nodded to Liu Mingyuan, and turned to leave. In the elevator, Chen Pingfang glanced at his phone; it was 1:09 AM. He wouldn't get home to Nanzhou until 3:30 AM, having driven from the provincial capital back.

The highway was almost empty. Chen Ping kept his speed at 120 km/h, mentally reviewing the schedule for next Friday. Ma Donglin was responsible for liaising with the provincial economic crime investigation department. Lin Yuanzhou's reverse analysis report should be available within 48 hours, and Jiang Fan's equity information should be in hand by tomorrow morning. Every step was time-sensitive; no mistakes could be tolerated.

At 3:27, the car turned into the underground parking garage of the Xinhuo Center residential area.

Chen Ping carried his briefcase upstairs, but stopped at his doorstep.

The motion-activated light at the end of the corridor had long been off, but the one Chen Ping had placed by his front door was still on. A person was squatting under the light, a canvas bag on his knees, his head against the wall, his eyes closed.

Su Qingwan.

She was wearing a faded khaki trench coat, her hair casually tied in a ponytail, with a few stray strands sticking to her forehead. She looked unwell, with dark circles under her eyes, and appeared to have lost weight.

Chen Pingfang's footsteps startled Su Qingwan. She opened her eyes, leaned against the wall to stand up, and stumbled.

What are you doing here?

"Wait for you."

Su Qingwan patted the dust off her trousers, her lips were chapped, and her voice was hoarse when she spoke.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Less than two hours."

Chen Pingfang didn't ask any more questions, took out his keys, opened the door, and stepped aside to let her in. The living room light was on, and the documents he had been reading that afternoon were still spread out on the coffee table. Chen Pingfang casually flipped them over and placed them face down on the table.

Su Qingwan didn't sit on the sofa, but stood in the entryway, clutching the straps of her canvas bag with both hands.

"About that report from Guangling," she began, her voice dry and hoarse. "The editor-in-chief spoke with me three times."

Chen Ping took a cup of warm water from the water dispenser and handed it to him.

Su Qingwan took it, but didn't drink it; she just held it in her hands.

"The first time they said my interview process was wrong, the second time they said there was a problem with the topic, and the third time they laid it all out on me, saying I had moved people I shouldn't have, and that I couldn't stay in the feature department anymore, so they asked me to edit the digest for the supplement."

She spoke these words at a very flat pace, but the tips of her fingers holding the water glass were white.

Chen Ping leaned against the water dispenser, not in a hurry to reply.

Su Qingwan raised her head.

"I'm here to let you know that the report touched on the interests of some people, and they are trying to suppress it."

Chen Ping took the water glass from Su Qingwan's hand and placed it on the coffee table.

Have you eaten yet?

Su Qingwan was stunned for a moment.

I had bread for lunch.

"Come on, let's go outside and sit for a while."

At 3:40 a.m., most shops on the streets of Nanzhou were dark. Chen Ping led Su Qingwan into a small alley at the end of Jianshe Road. Deep in the alley was an old 24-hour teahouse. The storefront was so narrow that only one person could pass through at a time, but the inside was spacious. Seven or eight bamboo chairs were scattered around the courtyard, and an incandescent light was draped overhead, casting a dim yellow light.

The proprietress recognized Chen Pingfang. She brought over two cups of covered tea, said nothing, and turned to go back behind the counter to doze off.

Su Qingwan lifted the tea lid, and a waft of steam rose up, causing her to squint slightly.

"What's the editor-in-chief's last name?" Chen Pingfang asked.

"Zhou. Zhou Weiguo."

"Is this his own intention, or is he relaying a message for someone else?"

Su Qingwan paused for a moment while holding the teacup lid.

"On behalf of someone else. There's a real estate developer in Guangling surnamed Lü. After the report came out, his polluting project was halted by the Provincial Environmental Protection Department. Boss Lü has connections in the provincial capital and can influence the newspaper's decision."

Chen Ping picked up the teacup and took a sip. The tea was this year's Maojian, with a hint of bean aroma.

"Qingwan, these kinds of things happen everywhere."

Chen Ping placed the teacup back on the saucer, the lid making a crisp sound as it tapped.

"You did the right thing. Leave the rest to the right people."

Su Qingwan stared at Chen Pingfang for two seconds without saying a word.

Chen Ping took out his phone from his pocket, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed a number.

I called at four in the morning, and the other end actually answered.

"Old Fang, this is Chen Pingfang."

A rustling sound of someone turning over came from the other end of the phone, followed by the slightly sleepy voice of a middle-aged man.

"Lay it flat? At this point..."

"Sorry to wake you. There's an important event at Xinhuo Phase II tomorrow, organized by the provincial government, and we'd like to invite you to come and join us."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Fang Qiming, deputy director of the provincial propaganda department, had met Chen Pingfang during their training at the Party School. Their relationship wasn't close, but they maintained a certain level of respect for each other.

"What activity?"

"The donation ceremony and strategic cooperation signing will be detailed in a letter to you tomorrow." Chen Ping paused for a moment, but his pace remained the same. "There's something else I wanted to mention. There's a reporter in the provincial newspaper's special features department named Su Qingwan. Her previous investigative reports were a great help to us, and I personally admire her. If it's convenient, I hope you can talk to her."

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

Fang Qiming, a veteran of the propaganda apparatus, immediately understood Chen Pingfang's meaning. This was Chen Pingfang standing up for a journalist who was being suppressed.

"Okay, I've got it. See you tomorrow."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket, picked up his teacup, and took another sip.

Su Qingwan sat opposite her, her hands resting on her knees, her fingertips trembling slightly. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"Don't overthink it." Chen Ping pushed the teacup towards Su Qingwan. "Drink your tea."

Su Qingwan lowered her head, picked up the covered bowl, and took a big gulp, wincing from the heat.

A small patch of sky peeked out above the courtyard; the stars were not visible, but the night had already changed from pure black to deep gray.

Su Qingwan put down her teacup and suddenly spoke.

"Oh, right, there's something I almost forgot to tell you."

Su Qingwan rummaged through her canvas bag and pulled out a brown paper envelope, then took out a few sheets of printed paper and spread them on the bamboo table.

"I was recently sorting through old materials about the Guangling case and came across something that showed that three months before Yan Qinghua was brought down, he went on an overseas inspection trip to the Netherlands."

Chen Ping's hand, which was holding the teacup, hung in mid-air.

"The inspection report stated that we visited ASML's lithography machine production line, but one day in the itinerary was blank, with no record of any arrangements."

Su Qingwan's fingertip touched the blank space on that page of the itinerary.

"The itinerary for an overseas inspection trip by a department-level official was detailed down to the hour, but nothing was written about this one day."

Chen Ping put the teacup back on the saucer, picked up the few pages of paper, and held them up to the light bulb to read them.

The Netherlands. A blank day. Yan Qinghua.

Nexvance B.V. is also registered in the Netherlands.

Chen Ping folded the paper, put it back in the envelope, and handed it back to Su Qingwan.

"Keep this for yourself, and don't show it to anyone."

Su Qingwan put the envelope into her canvas bag and zipped it up.

Su Qingwan stood up and buttoned her trench coat all the way to the top.

I will be present at tomorrow's ceremony.

Chen Ping looked up at Su Qingwan.

Su Qingwan looked down at Chen Pingfang, pursed her lips, and then spoke, word by word.

"I will report this out so that everyone can see it."

Su Qingwan turned and walked out of the alley, her footsteps echoing on the bluestone slabs, the sound fading into the distance.

Chen Ping sat motionless in the bamboo chair, holding the lid of the covered bowl in his hand, his thumb circling the rim of the bowl.

The Netherlands. Yan Qinghua. A blank day.

This line is longer than Chen Pingfang had anticipated.

The sound of Su Qingwan hailing a taxi came from the alleyway entrance. The car door slammed shut, and the engine noise faded into the distance. The sky was beginning to lighten.

In fourteen hours, everyone will be standing on the same stage.

Chen Ping put the lid back on the teacup, the porcelain clinking together with a crisp sound that echoed for a long time in the empty teahouse.