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

It was 11 p.m. at the city government office building.

The light in Chen Ping's office was still on.

He sat in front of his computer, a pile of materials spread out on the table—all evidence of the Jinshuiwan project's stalling in the past few days. There were recordings of the power company's excuses, emails from the water company delaying the process, and the dates of the three rejections by the Housing and Construction Bureau; each item was clearly marked with the date and the responsible party.

The streetlights outside the window were shining, and only the light in his office was still on in the whole building.

Chen Ping lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and his eyes were very calm.

The phone screen lit up; it was a message from Huang Qianshu: "Secretary Chen, thank you for today."

Chen Ping glanced at it, but didn't reply. Instead, he opened his contacts, found a number called "Old Li," and noted it was from the Provincial Daily.

In his past life, this reporter Li was severely punished for reporting on such matters. In this life, Chen Pingfang is determined to make him rip the sky apart.

He pressed the dial button.

The phone rang three times before a somewhat tired voice came from the other end: "Feed?"

"Reporter Li, this is Chen Pingfang from the Yunzhou Municipal Government Office," Chen Pingfang said calmly. "I have a formal complaint in my hand, alleging that a national-level pilot project is being obstructed by local protectionism. Are you interested?"

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

Send it to my email.

……

The next morning at nine o'clock, at the Yunzhou Daily office.

Chen Ping pushed open the door to the office of the head of the interview department and placed a thick document on the table.

The director's surname is Zhang, he is in his fifties, and he has worked in journalism in Yunzhou for twenty years.

He turned to the first page, his brows furrowing immediately. The headline was glaring: National pilot project encounters obstruction from local protectionism.

Director Zhang scrolled down and found transcripts of the power supply bureau, water company, and housing and construction bureau's shirking of responsibility, timelines, and recorded phone conversations—everything was documented and verifiable.

He looked up and stared at Chen Pingfang: "Little Chen, if this material is released, the entire officialdom of Yunzhou will be shaken up."

Chen Ping sat opposite him, speaking calmly: "This is a formal complaint, and the evidence is all here. Since your Yunzhou Daily doesn't dare to report it, I'll go directly to the provincial media."

Director Zhang tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes darting back and forth between the materials and Chen Pingfang.

After a long pause, he took a deep breath: "Give me two hours."

……

At 2 p.m. that day, in Wang Jianzhong's office.

Sun Zhigang rushed in, forgetting to even knock, his face ashen.

"Mayor Wang, something terrible has happened!"

Wang Jianzhong was reviewing documents when he looked up, frowned, and asked, "What's the rush?"

Sun Zhigang slammed a copy of the Yunzhou Daily on the table, his voice trembling: "The Yunzhou Daily published a front-page report on the malicious obstruction of the Jinshuiwan project, and now several media outlets in the province are reprinting it. The internet is in an uproar!"

Wang Jianzhong suddenly stood up and snatched the newspaper.

The front page of the newspaper featured a headline in bold: "National pilot project encounters local protectionism," accompanied by a picture of the Jinshuiwan construction site, where excavators were shut down and workers sat idly by.

The article details the timeline of how the power company, water company, and housing and construction bureau blocked the project. Although no names were mentioned, everyone knows who they were targeting.

Wang Jianzhong's hand trembled, and the newspaper slammed onto the table with a "thud".

"Investigate! Find out who leaked the information!"

Sun Zhigang swallowed hard: "Mayor Wang, investigating this is useless now! The provincial media have all reported on it, and the internet is in an uproar..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Jianzhong's phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, and his expression darkened even further.

It's Sun Chuanhong.

……

At 3:00 PM at the entrance of the city government compound.

Several black sedans bearing license plates from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection slowly drove in.

The security guard stood at attention and saluted, his expression three times more serious than usual.

The convoy stopped directly at the main entrance of the office building. Several people wearing dark suits and work badges got out of the cars. Li Xiangyang, the leader of the third inspection team of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, glanced at the building expressionlessly and walked straight to the elevator.

When the city government staff saw this commotion, they all lowered their heads and quickly walked away, and the atmosphere in the building immediately became tense.

In the corridor, several staff members huddled together, whispering among themselves.

"Why did the provincial inspection team suddenly arrive?"

"What else could it be? It must be because the incident at Jinshui Bay has blown up."

"I heard Mayor Wang is going to suffer a setback this time..."

……

The office of Sun Chuanhong, the top official in the city.

Li Xiangyang placed a letter of supervision from the province in front of Sun Chuanhong, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Secretary Sun, the Jinshuiwan project is a national-level pilot project listed by the Ministry and supervised by the province. Now the media has exposed local protectionism that is hindering the project's progress. The provincial leaders are very angry and have ordered us to come down and investigate immediately."

Sun Chuanhong's face was gloomy. He glanced at the red seal on the supervisory letter, took a deep breath, and said, "Team Leader Li, I will personally look into this matter and give the province an explanation."

Li Xiangyang nodded: "Then we'll wait for Secretary Sun's decision."

After saying that, he got up and left, leaving Sun Chuanhong alone sitting behind his desk, his face ashen.

He picked up the intercom on the table, his voice icy: "Notify all team members of an emergency meeting at 3:30. No one is allowed to be absent."

……

At 3:30 p.m., in the city government's emergency conference room.

Sun Chuanhong sat in the main seat, followed by Wang Jianzhong, Xiao Yuhan, and the heads of various bureaus.

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.

Sun Chuanhong didn't mince words and went straight to the point: "Who's going to explain the Jinshuiwan project?"

Before Wang Jianzhong could speak, Sun Chuanhong raised his hand to interrupt him: "I don't want to hear excuses. The provincial inspection team is downstairs right now, the media is watching, and it's causing such a stir online. Tell me, why is this national-level pilot project being blocked?"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Wang Jianzhong's forehead, and his voice was somewhat strained: "Secretary Sun, there's a misunderstanding here. We were just approving it according to normal procedures..."

"Normal procedure?"

Sun Chuanhong slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising: "The power supply bureau, the water company, and the housing and construction bureau are all blocking the same project—is this what you call normal procedure?"

Everyone in the conference room kept their heads down, not daring to breathe.

Xiao Yuhan sat to the side, quietly watching Wang Jianzhong without saying a word.

Sun Chuanhong pulled the Yunzhou Daily from his briefcase and slammed it down in front of Wang Jianzhong: "Look at this for yourself! The whole province is laughing at Yunzhou! Even the ministry leaders are calling to inquire. How am I supposed to explain this?"

Wang Jianzhong's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled as he tried to explain, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Sun Chuanhong coldly surveyed the entire room: "From this moment forward, all approval processes for the Jinshuiwan project are given the green light. Anyone who dares to obstruct us again will face my wrath!"

His gaze finally landed on Wang Jianzhong, and he said in a low voice, "Think before you do anything."