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

Chen Ping hung up the phone, put the landline receiver back, and tapped his fingers twice on the table.

Three international semiconductor giants specifically requested to speak with him alone.

Less than 48 hours after the incident with the Suzhou power grid, representatives from ASUS, Renesas, and Xingxing Semiconductor all flew over. The news spread incredibly fast.

Fang Xudong pushed open the door and came in, carrying a stack of documents.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, the Foreign Affairs Office has sent over the draft agenda for the consultations with the three companies. Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, in the seventh conference room of the Provincial Government."

Chen Ping opened the draft agenda and scanned two pages. There was only one core issue: the access certification for the Chipfire standard. The three foreign companies accounted for 37% of the chip shipments in the Dragon Country market. Once the Chipfire standard was implemented in Nanzhou, all chips entering critical infrastructure would have to pass the Chipfire Trust Chain certification.

It's like having your neck stuck.

Who booked the meeting room?

"It was coordinated by Secretary-General Qin's office."

"Change it. Move to the reception room of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."

Fang Xudong was stunned for a moment.

Chen Ping screwed on the pen cap.

"The provincial government's conference room was where we hosted the dinner. The Industry and Information Technology Department's reception room was where they practically begged for it. Different locations, different atmosphere. Go revise the notice."

Fang Xudong turned and left.

At 8:50 a.m. the next morning, Chen Pingfang sat in the reception room on the third floor of the Department of Industry and Information Technology ahead of time.

An oval conference table with twelve chairs. Bottled water was placed on the table, but no tea was served.

At 9:00 AM sharp, the three delegations were brought in.

Amaz's team leader was Hans Weber, Vice President of Strategy for the Asia Pacific region, who was in his early fifties, wearing a gray suit with platinum cufflinks and walking with his chin slightly raised.

Renesas' representative was Hirofumi Tanaka, General Manager of Greater China. He was about half a head shorter, and after sitting down, he placed his briefcase in the center of the table, occupying the largest visual area.

The person who came from Xingxing Semiconductor was Li Shuheng, the Global Strategic Cooperation Director. He was from China, in his early forties, and wore frameless glasses. He nodded very slightly to Chen Pingfang as he entered.

The translator sat behind Weber and did not sit at the table.

Weber spoke first, in English, and the translator relayed his words simultaneously.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, Ames understands the Southern Province's push for Corefire safety standards. However, we believe that technical standards for safety certification should be based on internationally accepted frameworks, rather than local standards."

pause.

"Armes is willing to invest $1.2 billion to build an advanced packaging technology R&D center in Southern California. In exchange, we hope that Armes' products can obtain the ChipFire standard's exemption certification pathway."

$1.2 billion.

Fang Xudong sat in the corner taking notes, his pen hovering over the paper without falling.

Hirofumi Tanaka then spoke in Japanese, with the translator translating simultaneously.

"Renesas also proposed establishing a joint automotive-grade chip laboratory in Southern California, with an investment of no less than $800 million. Our demands are aligned—the ChipFire standard should grant mutual recognition and exemption from inspection for Renesas' existing product lines that have passed international CC certification."

Together, the two companies have a combined value of two billion US dollars.

Li Shuheng didn't rush to speak. He placed his hands on the table and waited quietly.

Chen Ping unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle, took a sip, and put the bottle back in its place.

"Mr. Weber, Mr. Tanaka, I appreciate your sincerity."

Weber leaned forward slightly.

"Three weeks ago, the core power grid dispatching system of Jiangsu Province was attacked at the firmware level. The attack vector was AetherX's 7200 series chip. An undisclosed debugging backdoor was embedded in the firmware, which the attackers used to tamper with the AC frequency parameters of the power grid."

Chen Ping took a document out of his briefcase and pushed it to the center of the table.

"This is the actual test report from the Corefire team. The attack lasted for 72 hours, with a frequency shift of 0.28 Hz. In another six hours, the generators for 34 million people will suffer physical damage."

Weber picked up the document and flipped through a couple of pages, his shoulders under his gray suit tensing slightly.

"This has nothing to do with Amex products..."

"Of course there's no direct connection."

Chen Ping moved the mineral water bottle an inch to the left.

"But here's the problem: if your chips also have similar undisclosed interfaces, who will cover it up? International CC certification can't detect firmware backdoors, and that was proven three weeks ago."

Hirofumi Tanaka withdrew his hand from his briefcase.

"The core of the Chipfire standard is not to restrict anyone's access, but to perform security verification at the bottom layer of the firmware trust chain. Not accepting this standard is equivalent to refusing security review. Chips that refuse security review cannot enter the critical infrastructure of Southern State."

Chen Ping removed the pen cap and then put it back on.

"Two billion dollars can't buy a safety net. This line is not for sale."

The meeting room was silent for five seconds.

Weber put the file back on the table and exchanged a few words with the translator in hushed tones. Tanaka Hirofumi unscrewed the bottle of mineral water, took a swig, and his Adam's apple bobbed twice.

Li Shuheng spoke at this moment, in Mandarin, so no translation was needed.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, Xingxing Semiconductor's position differs from the previous two. We are willing to unconditionally integrate all our products into the Chipfire certification system."

Weber turned and glanced at Li Shuheng.

Hirofumi Tanaka put down the mineral water bottle, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"What are the conditions?" Chen Ping asked.

"There are no conditions. If the Chipfire standard can prove its technological reliability, it will actually enhance the brand value of Star. What we need is not an exemption, but market credibility endorsement after certification."

Watertight.

Chen Ping didn't reply, but looked at Li Shuheng for three seconds. An international semiconductor giant was unconditionally throwing itself into his arms. It was too smooth. Things that are too smooth usually hide either a bigger appetite or some other scheme.

"Mr. Weber, Mr. Tanaka, this concludes the first round of consultations. The Chipfire team will provide a complete technical plan for the certification details within three days for your review."

Weber stood up, straightened his suit jacket, and stopped at the door.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, Ames will give this serious consideration. But I also hope you will seriously consider that the global semiconductor supply chain cannot be redefined by a single province."

"Mr. Weber, three weeks ago Sujiang almost burned down half of the province's generator sets. The definition of a supply chain depends on who can guarantee its safe operation."

Weber pushed open the door and left.

Tanaka Hirofumi followed and left, bowing slightly as he passed Chen Pingfang without saying a word.

There were three people left in the reception room: Chen Pingfang, Fang Xudong, and Li Shuheng.

Li Shuheng showed no intention of getting up.

"Fang Xudong, wait at the door."

Fang Xudong put away his notebook and quietly closed the door.

Li Shuheng took a thin kraft paper envelope from the inside pocket of his suit and pushed it across the table.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, this is not on today's agenda."

Chen Ping didn't touch the envelope.

"What is it?"

"A memo leaked from within M~Tek. Our people obtained it in Seoul."

Chen Ping tore open the seal and pulled out three pages. The paper was printed in English, with the M~Tek logo as a watermark in the upper left corner.

Title: Shadow Protocol ~ Phase III Implementation Brief.

Shadow Protocol. Phase Three Implementation Briefing.

The first paragraph is an overview, with obscure wording, but the core meaning is very straightforward: M-Tek has deployed a long-term infiltration network within China, codenamed "Shadow," with the goal of ensuring the irreplaceable role of M-Tek chips in China's critical infrastructure.

The second paragraph.

Chen Pingfang's fingertips tightened slightly.

"Phase III objective: Within the provincial-level or higher administrative system of the target country, cultivate no fewer than three key figures to ensure the continuous smooth flow of information and policy influence."

Three key figures at key moments.

The administrative system at the provincial level and above.

The "shadow" is never a single person. It is a network. An interest group embedded in the very bones of the system.

Zhou Zhixing is just one node. There are at least two more remaining.

Li Shuheng sat opposite him, his hands flat on the table, without urging him.

Chen Ping stuffed the three pages back into the envelope and looked up.

"Why did the people at Star Semiconductor hand this to me?"

Li Shuheng's frameless glasses reflected the cold white light from the overhead lamp.

"As long as M~Tek lives, the stars will always be second best."

The air conditioner vent made a buzzing sound, and the kraft paper envelope lay in the center of the table, the three thin sheets of paper weighing down the entire room with a deathly silence.