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

"Medical parole".

The four characters were pinned to the red cover, and even through the white light of the twenty-meter corridor, every stroke was clearly visible.

Chen Ping stepped out of the ward, closing the door behind him. His steps were unhurried, the soles of his leather shoes tapping rhythmically on the terrazzo floor, each step perfectly measured.

Qin Daguan came forward and handed the document to Chen Pingfang, his manner impeccably polite.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, Zhou Zhixing's situation is special. The General Office of the Provincial Government has completed the preliminary review process, and the Jizhou City Procuratorate has no objections. All the conditions for medical parole are met; all that's missing is your signature."

Chen Ping took the document and opened it.

The first page contains a health assessment report issued by the Jizhou City Detention Center, concluding that the patient suffers from "severe depression with self-harm tendencies, and it is recommended that they be transferred to another hospital for treatment." The second page contains a letter of no objection from the Jizhou City Procuratorate, dated 10:08 AM today.

It was 10:08 AM. At that time, Chen Pingfang was still in the hearing room watching Wang Limin crack the sandbox.

"Director Qin, this letter from the procuratorate was issued this morning. Zhou Zhixing's wrist-cutting incident happened around noon."

Chen Ping turned the document back to the second page, his fingertip resting on the timestamp.

"How did the prosecutor's office know he was going to self-harm five hours in advance?"

Qin Daguan's chin tucked in by half a centimeter, and his Adam's apple moved slightly.

"The prosecutor's office's document was issued based on a preliminary psychological assessment, which is completely different from wrist-cutting."

"Two different things?"

Chen Ping closed the file, holding it in his hand, the pages making a slight creaking sound.

"The psychological evaluation was dated September 15th, and the prosecutor's office's letter is dated today. Eleven days have passed, and no new evaluation report has been submitted during those eleven days. On what grounds does the prosecutor's office suddenly issue a letter?"

Qin Daguan moved his right foot back a tiny half step, but his center of gravity had already shifted.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, medical parole is a standard procedure..."

"conventional?"

Chen Ping held the document up to the height between the two of them, with the seal across the cover facing the fluorescent light tube.

"I just came out of the ward. Zhou Zhixing has two cuts on his left wrist, the deepest being 0.3 centimeters, requiring six stitches. Blood tests showed phenobarbital—controlled drugs were found in the detention center's controlled area. Is this considered routine?"

The prosecutor and two armed police officers at the end of the corridor were both watching this side. Zhao Zheng stood behind the nurses' station, his pen, which was being used to write medical records, stopped.

Qin Daguan pursed his lips into a thin line, and a vein throbbed in his temple.

"Old Chen, some things don't need to be taken too far. Zhou Zhixing is just a retired deputy director from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; his case isn't that serious. If we bail him out, it'll be easier to explain to everyone."

"In which aspect?"

You know the answer in your heart.

Chen Ping stared at Qin Daguan's meticulously tied tie, a blue one with subtle patterns, the same one issued uniformly at the provincial government office's annual meeting. This man had been immersed in this system for twenty years, and every pore of his being exuded the instinct to "settle things."

What he wanted to deal with wasn't Zhou Zhixing. It was what Zhou Zhixing was talking about.

An old musician. Spreading refined cultural traditions. Shuangqing Branch.

If this information is released along with Zhou Zhixing, it will evaporate within three days.

Chen Ping turned to the last page of the document. The countersignature section was empty, waiting for his name.

He looked up and stared at Qin Da for three seconds.

Then, hold the document by the top edge with both hands and tear it in half.

The crisp sound of paper tearing echoed through the corridor, fragments falling from between fingers, the seal torn in two, and red ink seeping out in a crooked line along the break.

Qin Daguan's feet were rooted to the spot, and his pupils shrank.

"Chen Pingfang!"

He didn't use a title for the first time.

Chen Ping loosened the pieces of paper and let them float to the floor.

"Secretary-General Qin, Zhou Zhixing is not involved in an economic case."

He took his phone out of his briefcase, pulled up an encrypted text message, and turned the screen toward Qin Daguan.

"At 2:40 PM today, I consulted with Secretary Deshan of the Provincial Party Committee. The Zhou Zhixing case involves infiltration by foreign forces and has been transferred to the Provincial State Security Department for special handling. The procedures for medical parole are now frozen."

Qin Daguan stared at the line of text on the screen, his jaw muscles twitching slightly.

"You overstepped your authority."

"Overstepping authority?"

Chen Ping put his phone away.

"The preliminary review of medical parole issued by the General Affairs Department was not approved by the Executive Vice Governor of the Provincial Government, nor was it copied to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection's resident disciplinary inspection team in the government. Even the comments section for the Director of the General Office was blank. Director Qin, you say I overstepped my authority—then whose authority did this document circumvent?"

Qin Daguan withdrew his right hand from the document, his five fingers joined together beside the seam of his trousers, and his index finger lightly flicked his middle finger.

This was a small movement, but Chen Pingfang did not overlook it.

This is a habitual reaction of someone who has made a decision but hasn't said it yet.

You'll regret it.

Qin Daguan turned around, his leather shoes stepping over the scraps of paper on the ground, and walked towards the fire escape. He didn't look back, his pace didn't quicken, and the lines of his shoulders were even straighter than when he came.

He paused at the entrance to the fire escape.

"Old Chen, no one can win forever in the provincial government compound."

The iron gate opened and closed again, the spring hinges emitting a dull metallic groan.

Chen Ping stood in the middle of the corridor, looking down at the scraps of paper at his feet. A fragment of the red seal was stuck to the toe of his left shoe, like a drop of congealed blood.

My phone vibrated again.

Liu Mingyuan.

"Lie flat, I've already landed. The original approval document from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is in my briefcase. The investigation into the Chip Spark Program has been temporarily suspended, but it has been included in the list of key national support projects. You will give the keynote speech at the provincial semiconductor industry conference tomorrow morning."

"The materials are ready."

"There's one more thing," Liu Mingyuan lowered his voice slightly, "Secretary Deshan just called me. He knows about Zhou Zhixing's matter. People from the National Security Bureau are coming to Jizhou tonight."

The call ended.

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket, bent down to pick up the largest piece of scrap paper on the ground, squeezed it, and threw it into the trash can at the corner of the corridor.

The following morning.

The main auditorium of the Jiangsu Provincial Conference Center was packed with 1,200 seats. The provincial semiconductor industry conference had been elevated to a level jointly hosted by the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government.

Chen Ping stood on the podium, with the huge LED screen behind him lit up.

The screen displays a map showing the province-wide deployment plan for the Corefire Certification Standard System. Fourteen cities are marked with blue dots, and the lines connecting the dots form a dense network.

Seated in the audience were members of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, vice mayors from various cities in charge of relevant matters, heads of more than 30 chip companies, and the media in the last four rows. Su Qingwan was in the third row by the aisle, her recorder resting on the armrest of her chair, the red light still on.

Chen Ping had just finished presenting the third slide of the PPT and was about to switch to the next screen.

At the very back of the lecture hall, on the left side, the double wooden door was slowly pushed open a crack from the outside.

A man in a gray linen suit walked in sideways, his steps very light, and sat down in an empty seat in the corner of the last row. He was around sixty years old, with gray hair, and his left hand rested on his knee.

The ring finger of that left hand, at the second joint, was half a length shorter.