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

The red indicator light on the voice recorder went out. Chen Ping put it back in his pocket, opened the car door next to the convenience store, and got into the driver's seat.

Han Zhiming climbed into the passenger seat, his mouth agape before he even fastened his seatbelt.

"Brother Li, no, Director~ Shall we go back now?"

"I won't reply."

Chen Ping started the engine, backed the car out of the convenience store, and drove back along the same route to the provincial highway.

"Notify the Organization Department of Qingjiang Municipal Party Committee that a general meeting of all cadres of the High-tech Zone will be held at 9:00 AM tomorrow. Attendees: All middle-level and above cadres of the Management Committee, and heads of all departments and sections. No one is allowed to be absent."

Han Zhiming took out his phone and started dialing.

"What's the reason?"

"Introduction and meeting of the newly appointed Party Working Committee Secretary".

Han Zhiming hovered his thumb above the screen, hesitated for half a second, and then pressed the call button.

That night, Chen Ping didn't stay at a hotel, but instead booked a standard room at a chain budget hotel opposite the High-tech Zone Management Committee. The kettle in the room had a thick layer of limescale buildup at the bottom, and the air conditioner remote was missing its battery cover; it could be opened with a coin.

He sat on the edge of the bed, transferring the contents of the two voice recorders into his laptop and adding timestamps to each segment. The segment about the approval section chief, from "Your boss knows the rules" to "Let your boss come and talk," lasted one minute and forty-two seconds. Wang Kai's segment was even shorter, fifty-seven seconds, but every word hit the mark.

Han Zhiming came over from the next room, holding an A4 sheet of paper in his hand.

"Director, the Organization Department of Qingjiang Municipal Party Committee has confirmed it. The meeting will be held at 9:00 AM tomorrow in the conference room on the fourth floor of the Management Committee. The Organization Department will send a deputy minister to announce the appointment."

What was the management committee's reaction?

"It is said that after receiving the notification, the current executive deputy director Zhao Deming made four phone calls, two to the city and two to unknown parties."

Chen Ping glanced at the A4 paper and placed it next to his pillow.

"Who is Zhao Deming?"

"A native of Qingjiang, he worked in the High-tech Zone for eleven years, rising from director of the investment promotion bureau to executive deputy director. After the former party committee secretary was interviewed, he effectively took charge of all work. It is said that he has very strong relationships with several members of the municipal standing committee."

"How hard is it?"

"Two years ago, a land transfer project in the High-tech Zone was found to have problems by the Provincial Audit Office, which issued a rectification notice. Zhao Deming had someone revise the rectification report three times, but in the end, nothing came of it."

Chen Ping turned off the computer and switched off the bedside lamp.

"Go to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be tough."

At 8:45 a.m. the next day, Chen Pingfang, wearing a dark gray jacket and without a tie, walked into the management committee building.

The elevator reached the fourth floor, and the conference room door was open. A long conference table was arranged in a U-shape, with name tags already inserted. The head seat was empty, and the first seat on the left was labeled Zhao Deming.

Han Zhiming followed behind, carrying a portable Bluetooth speaker and a USB flash drive.

At 8:50, people began to arrive. Twenty-seven middle-level and above managers filed in and took their seats, the room filled with a buzzing sound of whispering.

Zhao Deming was the last to enter. He was 1.75 meters tall, slightly overweight, with his hair neatly combed, wearing a navy blue suit with a silver watch chain peeking out from the cuff. He glanced at Chen Pingfang standing next to the head of the table, nodded slightly, and went straight to sit down in his own seat.

At 9:00 AM sharp, the Deputy Director of the Organization Department of the Qingjiang Municipal Party Committee read out the appointment document. It took three minutes; after reading it, there was applause, and he left.

The process was over, and the microphone was handed to Zhao Deming.

"Dear colleagues, on behalf of the management committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Secretary Chen."

Zhao Deming cleared his throat and opened a printed speech in front of him.

"Over the past two months, under the strong leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, all work in the High-tech Zone has progressed smoothly. In the first quarter, the amount of investment attracted increased by 12.7% year-on-year, 43 new enterprises were registered, and the satisfaction rate with government services remained above 85%."

Chen Ping sat in the main seat, his hands on the table, without turning over the materials in front of him.

Zhao Deming read for a full eight minutes. The data, achievements, and highlights were arranged neatly and presented flawlessly.

"Overall, the High-tech Zone is developing well, and the business environment continues to improve. Of course, there are also some areas that need improvement, and we will work under Secretary Chen's leadership..."

"Director Zhao."

Chen Ping spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but all the buzzing in the conference room instantly vanished.

Zhao Deming stopped and looked up.

"What instructions does Secretary Chen have?"

"Put the manuscript aside for now."

Chen Ping turned and glanced at Han Zhiming. Han Zhiming placed the Bluetooth speaker in the center of the conference table, plugged in the USB drive, and pressed play.

There was a burst of background noise from the speaker, and then the head of the approval department's voice boomed out.

"Your boss knows the rules."

"Let your boss come and talk."

"Hey bro, you're just a delivery guy, why are you worrying about this?"

In the conference room, all twenty-seven pairs of eyes were fixed on the speakers.

The recording switched to the second segment. Wang Kai's voice was three times louder than that of the approval section chief.

"Whether it's suitable or not is none of your business!"

"Get out of the way and stop blocking your way, do you hear me?"

The last words faded into the conference room. The humming sound from the air conditioner vents suddenly became piercing.

Chen Ping stood up.

"Yesterday afternoon, my colleague and I conducted an unannounced visit to the Management Committee's administrative service hall and approval department, posing as company employees."

He glanced around the U-shaped conference table.

"The queuing system in the government service hall was paralyzed, the window opening rate was less than one-third, and the staff at the guidance desk were playing on their phones during work hours. The approval department withheld enterprise subsidy applications on the grounds that there was no supplementary notice. The office director, Wang Kai, closed the hall during normal office hours and cleared out people seeking services, claiming that he was cleaning up for the city's inspection."

He paused for two seconds.

"Director Zhao just mentioned that the satisfaction rate with government services is over 85%. I would like to ask, how was this figure calculated?"

Zhao Deming's hand rested on his speech, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

"Secretary Chen, the data is from self-assessments submitted by each department, and has been compiled and summarized."

"Self-evaluation." Chen Pingfang emphasized these two words. "I gave myself a score of 85. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday; it wasn't even 60."

He turned to Han Zhiming.

"Three decisions will be announced."

Han Zhiming opened the folder.

"First, Liu Guodong, the head of the approval section, has been suspended from his duties for investigation, effective immediately. All approval documents he handled during his tenure will be fully reviewed by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office. It is recommended that the District Discipline Inspection Commission intervene in the investigation."

"Second, Wang Kai, the director of the management committee office, was relieved of his post and transferred to the logistics support center as a warehouse manager."

"Third, the government service hall will be rectified starting today, and all windows will be restored to full operation within three days. The queuing system will be repaired within forty-eight hours."

The meeting room was silent for five seconds.

Zhao Deming pushed aside the speech draft in front of him and leaned forward.

"Secretary Chen, I have a preliminary opinion to offer."

"Please speak."

"Personnel adjustments should be discussed and decided upon by the Party Working Committee of the Management Committee according to procedure. You just took office, and the meeting hasn't even started yet. Announcing your suspension and dismissal directly is against procedure."

"Director Zhao."

Chen Ping didn't sit down; instead, he leaned over and rested his head on the edge of the table, less than two meters away from Zhao Deming.

"The Party Working Committee Secretary, who also serves as the Director of the Management Committee, has the power to propose, nominate, and make final decisions regarding the appointment and removal of middle-level cadres. This isn't my statement; it's written in Article 21 of the 'Regulations on the Work of Party Groups.' Would you like to look it up now?"

Zhao Deming's back stiffened for a moment.

"This is now the Party Working Committee meeting," Chen Ping straightened up. "Do any of the Party Working Committee members present have any objections to the three decisions just announced?"

At the U-shaped conference table, the five members of the Party Working Committee looked at each other in bewilderment. No one raised their hand, and no one spoke.

"No objections, the decision is effective. Han Zhiming, prepare a summary and submit it to the Organization Department of Qingjiang Municipal Party Committee for record before the end of today's workday."

Zhao Deming put his speech into a folder, zipping it up twice before closing it.

Chen Ping sat down again and turned to the last page of the materials in front of him.

"Next item. Report on the park's financial situation."

He looked up at a thin man sitting at the end of the U-shaped seating arrangement. The nameplate on his chest read: Ma Jiancheng, Director of Finance.

"Director Ma, what stage has the finance department reached in preparing the innovation subsidy for Huaxing New Materials?"

Ma Jiancheng pulled his hand under the table and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Secretary Chen, this subsidy needs to be drawn from the park's special development fund, currently..."

He paused, then licked his lips.

"There's no money in the account right now."