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

After Chen Ping finished speaking, the entire conference room became very quiet.

"I'll give you ten minutes to consider."

These words, though not harsh, made everyone's hearts sink, and panic spread through the crowd.

ten minutes.

These were the ten minutes that would determine their fate.

Ge Hengshan stood at the front of the crowd, his expression shifting repeatedly. As Qian Bo's brother-in-law, he had assumed Chen Pingfang would at least consider the consequences and wouldn't dare to go too far. He hadn't expected the other party to immediately overturn the table, completely disregarding the bureaucratic rules and regulations.

Ge Hengshan cannot retreat. If he does, the hundred or so men behind him will immediately scatter, leaving him all alone and at the mercy of others.

"Director Chen," Ge Hengshan forced himself to calm down, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, "What do you mean by that? We are all legitimate entrepreneurs who came to Guangling to invest in response to the government's call. Now that we've encountered difficulties and are reporting the situation to the government, how come we're ending up like Qian Bo and Zhang Jingru?"

Ge Hengshan tried to unite himself with the others, attempting to use reason to confront Chen Pingfang.

Chen Pingfang didn't even look at him directly, but simply raised his wrist and glanced at his watch.

"Nine minutes left."

These calm words choked Ge Hengshan, leaving all the prepared arguments stuck in his throat.

Ge Hengshan felt that his words had no effect; the other party was not responding at all and was just using time to put pressure on him.

The atmosphere in the conference room became even more tense. Some of the bosses who were originally standing behind Ge Hengshan had unconsciously taken a half step back, wanting to get further away from Ge Hengshan.

Chen Pingfang finally shifted his gaze from his watch to Ge Hengshan, but asked a completely unrelated question.

"Chairman Ge, I heard your business has been booming lately, even expanding to Hong Kong?"

Ge Hengshan's heart skipped a beat.

Hong Kong? He kept his trip to Hong Kong very secret, how could Chen Pingfang have known?

"Director Chen is joking. I'm just a small business owner in the chemical industry. How could I have that kind of ability?" He immediately denied it, but fine beads of sweat had already begun to seep from his forehead.

"Is that so?" Chen Pingfang's tone was completely flat. He turned to Zheng Xian behind him. "It seems Chairman Ge has a bad memory. Zheng Xian, help Chairman Ge recall."

Zheng Xian nodded, took a voice recorder out of his briefcase, and pressed the play button.

After a slight static, a man with a Hong Kong accent spoke, accompanied by the clinking of glasses in the background.

"...Mr. Ge, rest assured. Far East Capital is the most professional at this. The 50 million is just the first transaction. Once it's in our account, after a single procedure, we guarantee it will be cleanly transferred to your Swiss account. As for those factories you mentioned, consider it a way to cut your losses and survive. As long as you have capital, you can always rebuild..."

The recording was very short, only a dozen seconds long, but every word struck a chord with everyone present.

Ge Hengshan's face drained of color in an instant.

Far East Capital! Swiss account! Cutting losses to survive!

The meaning of these words combined is crystal clear.

While he organized people to cause trouble at the municipal government, putting on an act of wanting to live and die with Guangling, he was secretly transferring assets and preparing to run away!

The business owners who had previously followed him now looked at him differently. First came shock, then suspicion, and finally, only undisguised anger remained.

They were used by Ge Hengshan as cannon fodder to draw enemy fire!

"This is fabricated! This is slander!" Ge Hengshan roared, pointing at Chen Pingfang, "You're abusing your power and settling personal scores!"

Chen Ping completely ignored his roar and glanced at his watch again.

"Five minutes left."

He strolled leisurely to the conference table, took a stack of papers from the file bag Zheng Xian handed him, and casually scattered them on the table.

It was an enlarged version of a bank statement copy.

At the very top, a transfer record from an overseas account was circled in red, and the number made everyone's eyes widen.

Fifty million!

"Chairman Ge, your distant relative has really treated you well." Chen Pingfang picked up one of the photocopies and showed it to everyone. "The day after you blocked the city government gate, this money was about to leave through underground banks. Unfortunately, it was intercepted by our people."

He threw the paper back onto the table with a soft "thud".

"You tell them that environmental regulations are cutting off everyone's livelihood. But you've found your own way to make a living quite quickly."

Chen Pingfang's voice remained calm, but it carried a chill.

"You're dragging them down, gambling with their lives and fortunes, to buy you time to transfer assets. Ge Hengshan, do you think everyone here today should thank you or hate you?"

This series of probing questions broke down Ge Hengshan's psychological defenses.

Recordings, bank statements.

With irrefutable evidence, all his pretense and sophistry proved utterly useless.

He felt all his strength drain away, his legs went weak, and he collapsed into the chair, gasping for breath, unable to utter another word.

He's finished.

It's completely over.

The deathly silence in the conference room was broken.

A business owner who lived closest to Ge Hengshan suddenly pointed at him and shouted, "Director Chen! It's him! He forced us to come!"

That sound was like a signal.

"Yes! It's Ge Hengshan! He said he has connections in high places, the provincial government won't dare touch him, and he told us to work for him, guaranteeing we'd be fine!"

"He also said that if anyone doesn't come, he'll have the environmental protection and fire departments inspect the factory every day!"

"I...I have his WeChat messages to me! He threatened me, saying that if I didn't contribute money, he would make sure my child couldn't stay at school!"

The entire conference room erupted in chaos.

The business owners who had been following Ge Hengshan just moments before now all became victims, rushing forward to hand over stacks of documents and chat logs from their phones to Chen Pingfang.

They cried out loudly, accusing Ge Hengshan of threats and attempts to win them over, and were eager to sever ties with him.

The wall fell and everyone pushed.

In less than ten minutes, Ge Hengshan's so-called "Entrepreneurs' Rights Protection Alliance" had already disbanded.

Ge Hengshan slumped in his chair, looking at the distorted faces of his former "allies," listening to the reports and curses, until finally his vision went black and he fainted.

The meeting room was in complete chaos.

The sounds of crying, cursing, and desperate attempts to clear their names were all mixed together, creating a headache.

"Quiet."

Chen Ping's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the hall could hear it.

He didn't raise his voice; he simply stood there, calmly watching the chaotic scene unfold before him.

The business owners who rushed to the front to submit their materials froze in their tracks.

The entire conference room fell into an eerie silence.