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

Chen Pingfang remained seated in the same spot, motionless.

His gaze remained fixed on the small USB drive on the table. Its black plastic casing appeared to have no light at all under the dim yellow light of the teahouse.

This is what Shen Yayun left behind; it's the key to uncovering the inside story of Jiangsu Province.

He reached out his hand, but didn't rush to grab the USB drive. He just ran his fingers across the table, and his fingertips touched the USB drive, feeling that the edge was quite cool.

Shen Yayun has left, and left quite decisively, taking all the responsibility upon herself.

This is a discarded pawn; even before leaving, they still leave this thing for Chen Ping.

Chen Ping looked at the USB drive, wondering if the gift was real or fake.

How much of this stuff is real, and how much is fake?

After thinking for a while, he finally held the USB drive between his fingertips, without opening it to see what was inside, and casually put it into the inside pocket of his suit.

This place is not safe. This thing needs to be thoroughly disassembled and analyzed in a sufficiently safe environment.

He stood up, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and turned to walk down the stairs. The entire teahouse remained empty, quiet except for the sound of his own footsteps.

The next day, the newly established office of the Jiangsu Provincial Chip Spark Program project was a scene of bustling activity. Han Zhiming was directing staff to move filing cabinets, while Lin Shaofeng carefully placed a server host in a corner.

The phone rang in Chen Ping's office. As soon as he answered, Lin Shaofeng's urgent voice came through the receiver.

"Something's happened. Huachang New Materials just announced that due to a major safety hazard on its production line, it will be completely shut down immediately for maintenance for at least one month."

Chen Ping took the phone and walked to the window.

Huachang New Materials is the only domestic company capable of stable mass production of J-3 type special photoresist. This photoresist is an indispensable key raw material in the CoreFire wafer 1.0 production process.

"How long can our inventory last?"

"Three days." Lin Shaofeng's answer was brief, but extremely weighty. "After three days, all production lines at the Jizhou laboratory and downstream packaging plants will have to shut down. The daily losses will be calculated in hundreds of millions."

The other party is trying to undermine the foundation of the project.

The other party directly targeted the supply chain, cutting off the source of manufacturing.

This move was swift and ruthless, and the reason given was perfectly plausible: safety in production is paramount. No one could find fault with it.

"Which department approved their shutdown and maintenance report?" Chen Pingfang asked.

"Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Industry Division." Lin Shaofeng paused for a moment on the other end, "The approval process was expedited; it only took two hours from submitting the application to receiving the approval document."

Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Qin Daguan's former superior was there.

The clue has finally become clear.

Chen Ping hung up the phone. He knew very well that this move was meant to force him to use his administrative power. If he, in the name of the Chipfire Project Office, forcibly ordered Huachang to resume work, he would immediately be caught in a media storm.

Interfering with the normal operation of a business and disregarding safety regulations—if such charges are proven true, it will be enough to cause him a lot of trouble.

"Zhiming, come in here for a moment," Chen Ping called out to the outside.

Han Zhiming put down his work and strode in. "Director Chen."

"Draft a notice in the name of the Chip Spark Project Office." Chen Ping's thinking was crystal clear. "The subject is: Public tender notice for launching the 'Chip Spark Program Domestic Supply Chain Security Substitution Project'."

Han Zhiming was stunned; he thought he had misheard. With things so urgent, shouldn't they be coordinating with Huachang to resume operations? Why were they still going through the bidding process?

"Don't worry about Huachang." Chen Pingfang saw through his doubts. "The announcement clearly states that the subject of this tender is the exclusive five-year supply right for J-3 type special photoresist and its iterative products."

Exclusive supply rights for five years.

This condition alone is enough to excite all domestic companies engaged in related research and development.

"In addition, the announcement needs to clarify one point," Chen Pingfang added, "The winning companies will have priority access to all high-tech industrial parks in Jiangsu and Nanzhou provinces, and will be provided with fully subsidized R&D loans by the Chipfire Project Office."

Han Zhiming's pen began to fly as he wrote, his heart pounding with anxiety.

This tender notice is actually using huge market interests to create a substitute for Huachang.

Chen Pingfang is going to completely destroy Huachang!

"Also," Chen Pingfang tapped his fingertips on the table, making a firm sound, "immediately contact the ten downstream companies that have already signed the chip procurement intention agreement, including Weiwei, DaMi, and Blue-Green factories, and have them sign this tender notice as joint demanders."

Han Zhiming gasped.

This move was brilliant. By bringing all downstream customers to their side, they've essentially announced to the entire industry that whoever can save the chip industry will be their partner. Huachang New Materials is about to be abandoned by the entire industry chain.

This is a fair and square counterattack using market rules.

"I'll take care of it right away!" Han Zhiming turned around and ran out, his steps becoming much lighter.

The announcement was distributed directly to major downstream companies and several top domestic technology media outlets via encrypted channels, bypassing the provincial publicity system.

In less than half a day, the entire domestic semiconductor materials industry was in an uproar.

Huachang New Materials' stock price plummeted in response, and several suppliers of raw materials immediately called to inquire about the situation. The production halt permit they had just received, stamped with the provincial Development and Reform Commission's official seal, instantly became worthless.

They thought they had the upper hand, but Chen Pingfang didn't take the bait at all and directly changed the whole situation.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Han Zhiming rushed into Chen Pingfang's office with a document in hand and a strange expression.

"Director, we've got a response!" His voice held a hint of disbelief. "A company in Nanzhou called 'Jingwei Microelectronics' has just submitted complete bidding qualification documents. They claim that their lab has mature J-3 type photoresist samples, with performance comparable to Huachang's, and they can organize small-batch production within three days and large-scale supply within a week!"

This speed is almost unbelievable.

Chen Ping took the documents and quickly flipped through them. The company's registration information, patent list, and technical team introduction were all complete, indicating that the preparations were quite thorough.

"Who is in charge of them?" Chen Pingfang's gaze lingered on the legal representative section.

"Gao Ran," Han Zhiming replied.

Chen Ping's fingers, which were flipping through the documents, suddenly stopped.

This name has been buried for too long, yet it is so familiar that it is etched into my bones.

He flipped directly to the last page of the document, where the resumes and ID photos of the core team members were attached.

The photo shows a man in a white shirt, with well-defined features and a calm expression. He looks much more mature than I remember, but his rebellious spirit remains unchanged.

It's really him.

His roommate in college, a computer science genius, was expelled from school in his junior year due to an academic espionage case that remains shrouded in mystery to this day, and disappeared without a trace.

Han Zhiming didn't notice Chen Pingfang's unusual behavior. He pointed to a line of small print in the company profile and added a sentence.

"Director, look at their company's R&D philosophy; it's written quite uniquely."

Chen Ping's gaze shifted to that line of text, which was printed in Song typeface.

"In order to find a place for the light, we are willing to become shadows."

Chen Ping unconsciously tightened his grip on the document in his hand, leaving deep marks on the edges of the paper.

He stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the photo and softly murmured the name.

"Gao Ran..."