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

The four characters "Dingsheng Venture Capital" burned on the screen for an entire night.

Chen Pingfang didn't sleep. He went through the compressed file Su Qingwan sent him three times, marking each page of the equity penetration diagram in red pen. Finally, he wrote a line in his notebook: Series B due diligence report, environmental technology falsely labeled, reviewer: Qian Bo.

The following morning at 9:00 AM, in the conference room on the eighth floor of the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology.

This time, there were nineteen people sitting around the table, not seven. Four deputy directors, two discipline inspection team leaders, one secretary of the organization, and twelve division chiefs. Cai Minghui greeted them at the door with a standard smile, muttering, "Expanded Party Group Meeting, please take your seats quickly."

Qian Bo arrived earlier than yesterday, and had already prepared tea in the conference room before eight o'clock.

His seat was still the first one on the left, but the teacup had been replaced with a larger one, the lid off and placed aside, the aroma of Longjing tea wafting into half the room.

When Chen Ping walked in, Qian Bo immediately stood up, his smile even wider than yesterday.

"Director Chen, last night someone organized the data on Jinshan Chemical Industrial Park until 2 a.m., six large boxes, all original documents, and they have been delivered to your office."

Chen Ping glanced at him, didn't reply, and walked straight to the head of the table, placing his briefcase on the table.

"sit."

Nineteen people took their seats, the clinking of teacups on the table echoing throughout. Twelve section chiefs sat in the outer ring of seats, some flipping through notebooks, others fiddling with pen caps. Zhao Yonggang, the section chief of the Industry Department, sat directly behind Qian Bo, his back against the chair, his hands folded on his lap, looking like he was waiting to see what would happen.

Chen Ping opened his briefcase and took out a USB flash drive.

"Director Cai, project the screen."

Cai Minghui jogged to a corner, turned on the projector, and plugged in the USB drive. The white screen lit up, displaying the first page of a PDF file.

It's not material from Jinshan Chemical Industrial Park.

Qian Bo picked up his teacup, about to drink, but stopped halfway through.

The document title on the screen was clearly written: "Due Diligence Report of Dingsheng Venture Capital on Hongye Chemical Group's Series B Financing," dated September three years ago.

The air in the conference room seemed to have been drawn away.

Zhao Yonggang separated his hands from his lap, pressing his left hand against his knee. The two discipline inspection team leaders simultaneously leaned towards the curtain.

Qian Bo put the teacup back on the table, the bottom of the cup hitting the table with a louder sound than he expected.

Chen Ping stood up, walked to the screen, took the remote control pen in his right hand, and turned to the seventh page.

"This report is from the due diligence conducted by Dingsheng Venture Capital on Hongye Chemical's Series B financing three years ago. The investment amount was 180 million yuan, of which 60 million yuan came from the provincial industrial guidance fund."

He pressed the remote control pen, and the red laser dot landed on a section of bold text in the middle of the seventh page.

"Look here, everyone. Hongye Chemical claims in its application materials that its independently developed 'HY-3 wastewater treatment system' achieves 147% of the national Class A standard in terms of treatment efficiency. This data is one of the core bases for obtaining the lead investment from Dingsheng Venture Capital, and it is also a key technical indicator for the provincial industrial fund's approval."

He turned to page twelve.

"But~"

The laser point moved to a line of small gray text in the bottom right corner of the page. Chen Ping slowed down and read it out word by word.

"Note: The above technical parameters are quoted from the 'HY-3 System Performance Test Report' submitted by Hongye Chemical. No independent third-party re-inspection was conducted during this due diligence investigation."

Even breathing became lighter in the conference room.

Chen Ping closed the remote control pen, turned around, and faced the long table.

"Yesterday, I had someone retrieve the actual emission monitoring data of Hongye Chemical from the Provincial Environmental Protection Department for the past three years. The actual treatment efficiency of the HY-3 system is only 61% of the national Class A standard. It didn't even reach the compliance line."

He paused for two seconds, scanning the nineteen faces present.

"In other words, the technical basis for approving that 60 million yuan industrial fund three years ago was fake."

Qian Bo's teacup lid rolled on the table and he quickly pressed it down.

Chen Ping didn't look at him and continued flipping through the pages. On page fifteen, a scanned copy of an approval form filled the entire screen.

The approval form bears the official seal of the Department of Industry and Information Technology in the upper left corner, and in the signature column in the lower right corner, the three handwritten characters are clearly written: Qian Bo.

The meeting room fell completely silent.

Zhao Yonggang shrank back in his chair, pressing his legs together. The deputy director of the Industry Department secretly took out his phone to take a picture of the screen, but was glared at by the head of the Discipline Inspection Team next to him and shoved it back.

Qian Bo placed his hands on the table, his fingertips trembling slightly. He opened his mouth, but managed to squeeze out half a word.

"Director Chen, well... the approval process at the time was compliant. The Industry Division conducted the initial review, and I only signed off on the final approval."

"Deputy Director Qian."

Chen Ping interrupted him, not raising his voice, but every word was firmly spoken.

"What is the responsibility of the review signatory? It is to make the final check on the authenticity of the submitted materials. Hongye Chemical falsely reported technical parameters and defrauded 60 million yuan of state funds. You signed the approval form, which is not called compliance, but dereliction of duty. To put it more seriously, it is malfeasance."

Qian Bo's back was stiff in the chair, two fingers still pressing on the teacup lid, his knuckles alternating between blue and white.

No one spoke in the meeting room. The heads of all twelve section chiefs were lowered in unison, as if they wanted to bury themselves inside their laptops.

Chen Ping did not continue grinding at this point.

He walked back to the head of the table, placed his palms on the table, and changed his tone.

"Deputy Director Qian reminded me yesterday that the problems at Jinshan Chemical Industrial Park have dragged on for three years. He's right. But the root of the problem isn't the pollution rectification itself, but rather why a group of companies with substandard technology were able to receive huge amounts of government subsidies and brazenly enter the park, only to become so entrenched and difficult to manage today."

He straightened up.

"Therefore, the rectification plan needs to change its approach. Starting today, a joint investigation team composed of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, and the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology will be established to review the technology application materials of 127 companies in Jinshan Chemical Industrial Park one by one. The focus will be on investigating false technologies and fraudulent subsidies. I will serve as the team leader."

He glanced at the approval form on the screen.

"First stop, Hongye Chemical."

Qian Bo didn't move. He sat in the chair, leaning back against the seat, his eyes fixed on the crooked lid of the teacup on the table. He swallowed three times, but didn't utter a single word.

The meeting adjourned.

Nineteen people stood up and walked out, their footsteps clattering. No one looked back at Qian Bo, and no one whispered among themselves. Zhao Yonggang stumbled at the door and nearly bumped into the frame. Cai Minghui waited outside, his standard smile replaced by a standard seriousness, nodding to each of the section chiefs who came out.

Qian Bo was the last to leave. He slowly stood up, reached for the folder on the table, paused for a moment when his fingers touched the edge of the clip, and then withdrew.

I walked out of the meeting room empty-handed.

Chen Ping sat in the main seat, unplugged the USB drive, and put it back into his briefcase.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

Zheng Xian.

Chen Ping took out his phone and swiped it.

"Director Chen, it's an emergency."

Zheng Xian lowered his voice to the very bottom.

"The person has arrived in Dan Port, boarded a fishing boat, and is heading towards international waters. Our people followed for twelve nautical miles in the open sea, but the other side switched the fishing boat's AIS signal and lost track of them."

Chen Ping zipped up his briefcase, his fingers resting on the metal chain teeth.

"But we intercepted the last encrypted communication he sent before leaving the coast."

"What content?"

Zheng Xian paused for a moment.

"Just one word—'kite'."

Chen Ping pressed his thumb against the edge of his phone. The projector in the conference room was still on, and the light from the white screen shone on half of his face, flickering on and off.