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

The text message lit up on the screen for about ten seconds before automatically turning off. Chen Ping's fingers hovered over the back of the phone for a moment, neither replying nor deleting it. He simply flipped the phone over and placed it face down on the table.

Vice Governor Wang is going to another province in the Yangtze River Delta to inspect the semiconductor industry. The timing is too coincidental.

The following morning, at the routine meeting of division-level cadres within the Department of Industry and Information Technology, halfway through the agenda, when the discussion turned to the progress of several key projects, Chen Pingfang suddenly sighed and put down his pen.

"Regarding that high-level talent introduction working group," he rubbed his temples, a hint of fatigue on his face, "I think it's unlikely. There's a lot of disagreement at the provincial government's executive meeting. Vice Governor Wang's side is very firm, believing the risks are uncontrollable."

The meeting room fell silent instantly, the department heads exchanging glances. The head of the Industry Department tentatively asked, "So... shall we continue contacting Dr. Gu Weizhen?"

"Contact what?" Chen Pingfang retorted. "They're on the FBI's radar, and we can't even give them official status. How can we talk? Forget it, forcing things won't work. I'll put this on hold for now. Let's all focus on the established plan for Corefire Phase II."

He waved his hand, indicating that the topic should be left at that.

After the meeting, the news spread quickly within the small circle of the hall. In less than half a day, the rumor that Chen Ping had run into a tough hole with the project and was planning to give up on bringing in Gu Weizhen had already reached several office buildings next door.

Chen Ping returned to his office, closed the door, and the tired expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a calm look in his eyes. He dialed Qin Yu's encrypted line.

"Qin Yu, do me a favor."

There was no small talk on the other end of the phone, just one word: "Speak."

"Vice Governor Wang will be visiting Jiangsu Province next week. I need all his non-public itinerary details, the names of everyone he meets, especially the names of business representatives and local investment promotion officials, and the key points of their conversations." Chen Pingfang spoke slowly, but every word carried weight.

There was a two-second silence on Qin Yu's end. "The level is a bit high; it'll cause quite a stir."

"I only care about the results," Chen Pingfang said.

"Understood." Qin Yu hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ping dialed Lin Yuanzhou's internal line again.

"Yuanzhou, please redo the technical solution for the second phase of Corefire."

Lin Yuanzhou paused for a moment on the other end of the line: "Director Chen, wasn't the plan already finalized?"

"Make a modified version." Chen Pingfang's voice was very low. "Remove all the 3nm GAA architecture core modules that we reserved for Gu Weizhen, and replace them with the current mainstream 5nm FinFET solution. Make the parameters look good, and make the solution look very complete, like a project that can be launched immediately. Don't let people know that we deliberately modified it."

Lin Yuanzhou's breath hitched; he immediately understood Chen Pingfang's meaning. "Director Chen, who...who is this meant to be seen by?"

"Department of Science and Technology." Chen Ping tapped the table. "I need to formally submit this plan to the Provincial Department of Science and Technology for record-keeping in the name of the Department of Industry and Information Technology, stating that it represents our current technological reserves."

"I understand." Lin Yuanzhou didn't ask any more questions.

For the next few days, things were calm at the Industry and Information Technology Department. Chen Pingfang went to get off work and left work on time every day, reviewed documents, attended various meetings, and never mentioned Gu Weizhen or the working group that had never been established. The calmer he was, the more real the rumors that he had given up seemed.

On the evening of the fourth day, the day after Vice Governor Wang returned from his inspection tour, Chen Ping's spare phone vibrated. It was an encrypted email from Qin Yu.

The email was short, but contained a wealth of information.

During his three-day visit to Jiangsu Province, Vice Governor Wang held two secret meetings in addition to his public inspection activities. The meeting was with Zhou Liqun, chairman of Jiangsu Chip Group, a leading state-owned enterprise in Jiangsu Province.

Both meetings took place in a private teahouse that was not open to the public, and lasted for two and three hours respectively.

The email attachment contained Zhou Liqun's background information, with a note at the bottom stating that Zhou Liqun was Vice Governor Wang's roommate in college.

Chen Ping closed the email and leaned back in his chair. Everything finally aligned.

Vice Governor Wang vehemently opposed the move at the executive meeting because he feared this lucrative opportunity wouldn't fall into his own network of connections. He used political risk as an excuse to obstruct the establishment of a working group in Nanzhou Province, simply to buy time.

Then, taking advantage of the inspection opportunity, he used Gu Weizhen as a valuable gift to make a deal with his old classmate, Zhou Liqun of Suxin Group. He wanted to bring Gu Weizhen, this top talent, along with the entire technical team and projects that he might bring, to Sujiang Province.

In this way, he could both do his old classmate a favor and reap considerable benefits. For Nanzhou Province, the official explanation was that they had avoided a major diplomatic risk.

That was a brilliant trick.

Chen Ping tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, one tap after another. He had already set a trap, just waiting for the other party to walk right into it.

On Friday afternoon, the provincial government convened a special meeting on the coordinated development of industries in the Yangtze River Delta region. Attendees included heads of several key economic departments, and Vice Governor Wang, as the leader in charge, presided over the meeting.

As the meeting drew to a close, the atmosphere became more relaxed. Vice Governor Wang took a sip of tea, put down his cup, and suddenly steered the conversation in that direction.

"By the way, Comrade Pingfang," he asked with concern, "that semiconductor expert you mentioned before, the one who returned from America, named Gu Weizhen, right? What happened to him?"

Chen Ping raised his head and calmly replied, "Reporting to Vice Governor Wang, after our assessment, we feel that your concerns at the executive meeting are very reasonable. This matter is too risky and procedurally unworkable. The Department of Industry and Information Technology has decided to temporarily shelve it."

"Oh, what a pity to let it go," Vice Governor Wang said with a regretful expression, glancing around at the others in the conference room. "Talent can't be wasted. Especially at this critical juncture when the United States is imposing a technological blockade on us, every top talent is a valuable strategic resource."

He paused for a moment, adopted a posture of considering the big picture, and then presented his prepared plan.

"During my recent trip to Jiangsu Province, I came up with a new idea," Vice Governor Wang said, his voice sounding as if he had just thought of it. "I discovered that their Suxin Group has a better foundation in advanced process research and development than we do, and their industrial chain is also more complete. Since the conditions in our Nanzhou Province are not yet ripe, why don't we do them a favor and proactively recommend Dr. Gu Weizhen to the Suxin Group?"

With a gentle smile, he continued, "In this way, we avoid losing talent, our province mitigates risks, and we even promote the development of neighboring provinces. Isn't this a response to the call for integrated and coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Vice Governor Wang leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and waited for Chen Pingfang to agree.

He saw Chen Pingfang also pick up his teacup, but he didn't drink it. He just looked at the tea leaves in the cup and didn't say anything.