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

Sweat rolled down Zhong Mingyuan's forehead to his chin, dripping onto the edge of the three pages of paper and spreading into a small water stain.

Chen Ping hadn't gone far. He leaned against the wooden railing in the corridor, took out his phone, scrolled through two messages, and waited.

The door to the private room was pushed open from the inside.

Wei Liangjun leaned out halfway, his gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting the light from the corridor.

"Secretary Chen, Director Zhong would like to ask you to sit down for a while longer."

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket and turned to go into the private room.

Zhong Mingyuan remained seated, but his posture had changed. He lowered his legs, which had been crossed, leaned forward, and rested his hands on the edge of the table. He had flipped the three pages of paper over, leaving the blank back side up, as if to cover something.

"Secretary Chen, I've reviewed the conditions you offered."

Zhong Mingyuan's Sichuan accent was heavier than before, with the final syllables falling instead of rising.

"Five slots, two seats on the Standards Committee, and three years of free tuition. Is that enough for Sichuan Province? Yes. But for me, it's not enough."

Chen Ping pulled up a chair and sat down, without saying a word.

"I signed the suspension letter, and the province already knows. If I withdraw it now, it's tantamount to admitting that my previous judgment was wrong. In the administrative system, you know better than I do the cost of admitting mistakes."

Zhong Mingyuan picked up the covered bowl on the table. The tea had gone cold, but he still took a sip.

"You have to give me something so I can stand firm when I go back. It's not a condition, it's an achievement."

Chen Ping tapped his thumb on the table.

That's quite blunt. Zhong Mingyuan isn't after personal gain; he's after political achievements. He took the blame for the suspension letter, and now he needs something bigger to offset it—signing the suspension letter was wrong, but bringing in a bigger project would be a success. Only by balancing his mistakes and achievements can he appease the provincial authorities.

"What kind of results does Director Chung want?"

Zhong Mingyuan put down the covered bowl and interlaced his fingers.

"The technology chain for Chipfire 2.0 involves R&D in Jiangsu and the supporting facilities in the other four provinces. But the term 'supporting facilities' sounds too harsh; it sounds like contract manufacturing. Could you take a segment of the chain and place it in Sichuan?"

What section do you want?

"Research and development".

Chen Ping didn't rush to answer. He picked up the glass of water in front of him and slowly turned it around.

Research and development. Zhong Mingyuan immediately asked about the most crucial aspect. If the R&D capabilities of Corefire 2.0 were dispersed to Sichuan, Jiangsu's dominant position would be diluted. This was something all the provinces in the alliance envied.

But looking at it from another angle, the underlying technology of Chipfire 2.0 is already mature, and the core patents are held by Su Jiang. Whether the R&D center is located in Sichuan or not does not change the ownership of the technology. The key is what name this "R&D center" will have and what it will do.

Chen Ping put the water glass down.

"Can."

Zhong Mingyuan's fingers loosened.

Wei Liangjun tilted his head slightly to the side.

"But it's not called a research and development center."

Chen Ping took a pen out of his briefcase, turned over the back of the three pages, and wrote a line in the blank space.

"Chipfire Southwest Application R&D Center"

He put down his pen and pointed to the line of text.

"Note that it is 'application development,' not 'basic development.' Basic development will remain in Jiangsu, while application-level adaptation, optimization, and scenario development will be carried out in Sichuan. The center's sign will be hung in Chengdu, and the provincial leader will be appointed by Sichuan Province itself."

Zhong Mingyuan stared at the line of text for five seconds.

"A provincial-level leader?"

"Yes. Whoever takes the lead in establishing this center will be the key figure in Sichuan Province within the CoreFire system. This person will have an independent voice at the five-province alliance's meeting table."

Chen Ping didn't mention that name.

But all three people in the private room knew that this sentence referred to Zhong Mingyuan himself.

The person who signed the suspension letter became the hero of introducing the R&D center. The stone blocking the way was turned into a paving brick.

Zhong Mingyuan's Adam's apple bobbed. He flipped the three pages back to the front, folded them together with the line of text on the back, and put them into his suit pocket.

"Do you have the authority to approve this plan?"

"The official seal of the Sujiang Chip Spark Project Office is already affixed to the first page. I'll coordinate the provincial approval."

Zhong Mingyuan stood up and pulled the zipper of his jacket up an inch.

"I'll handle the suspension letter tomorrow."

"A seven-day window~"

"Not seven days," Zhong Mingyuan interrupted him, "three days."

Chen Ping also stood up. The two stared at each other across the coffee table for three seconds, neither of them reaching out.

Zhong Mingyuan turned and walked out of the private room, his footsteps thumping down the wooden stairs.

Wei Liangjun was the last to get up. As he passed Chen Pingfang, he slowed his pace by half a beat.

"Secretary Chen, that orchid~"

"It's being raised very well, and my mom likes it."

Chen Ping didn't look at him and zipped up his briefcase.

"But next time, remember to hide things deeper under the flowerpots. The glaze of Qionglai kiln clay is too smooth, and the glue won't stick properly."

Wei Liangjun stood rooted to the spot.

Chen Ping picked up his briefcase, brushed past him on the shoulder, and went downstairs.

Han Zhiming and Wu Fangping waited in the lobby for almost two hours, drinking three pots of tea and eating two plates of peanuts. When they saw Chen Ping put down, Han Zhiming jumped up.

"Director, how did the talks go?"

"Let's go back to the hotel."

Once they emerged from the narrow alley, the night rain had stopped, and the water stains on the bluestone slabs were drying. Chen Ping walked ahead, his pace slow, his hands in his pockets.

"Han Zhiming, after you get back, draft a letter for me and send it to the secretariat of the Five Provinces Alliance in the name of the Sujiang Core Fire Project Office."

"What content?"

"Announce the upcoming resumption of communication with Sichuan Province, and at the same time announce the establishment of the Chipfire Southwest Application R&D Center in Chengdu. The letter should specify that the center is being established under the leadership of the Sichuan Provincial Information Technology Leading Group, and the specific person in charge will be confirmed after approval by Sichuan Province."

Han Zhiming typed in his phone's memo app as he walked.

"In addition, Jinjiang Microelectronics' underlying license application has been included in the first batch of applications. We've asked the technical team to expedite the application process, reducing it from sixty working days to forty-five days."

"Do we need to contact Shen Changlin again?"

"No need. Zhong Mingyuan will talk to him himself."

Chen Ping parked his car at the intersection and waited for the traffic light to turn green. When the light turned green, he stepped across the road.

"There's one more thing. Tell my mom not to throw away that orchid, to keep it."

Han Zhiming looked up at him.

"Why not remove the listening device?"

"Keep it. It might come in handy later."

Three days later, the Sichuan Provincial Information Technology Leading Group officially issued a letter revoking the suspension decision and resuming the interface protocol docking work for Chipfire 2.0. The letter was signed by Zhong Mingyuan himself.

On the same day, the secretariat of the five-province alliance received a notification from the Sujiang Chipfire Project Office that the Chipfire Southwest Application R&D Center had been established in Chengdu, and the first batch of five Sichuan enterprises' underlying authorization applications had entered the fast-track review process.

After the news spread, the other three provinces reacted differently. That afternoon, Guangdong province pressed Su Jiang on the possibility of establishing a "Chipfire South China R&D Center" as well. Chen Pingfang instructed Han Zhiming to reply with four words: "Conditions to be discussed separately."

The gears of the five-province alliance meshed again, and the rotation speed was half a beat faster than before it paused.

On Friday afternoon, Chen Ping picked up his boarding pass at the Chengdu Shuangliu Airport departure lounge. He had changed his high-speed rail ticket back to Suzhou once, but ultimately chose to fly.

A long queue formed at the security checkpoint. Han Zhiming followed behind, dragging two suitcases, when his phone screen lit up briefly.

"director."

Chen Ping was taking off his belt and putting it through the security scanner without turning his head.

"explain."

Han Zhiming leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"It came from the High-tech Zone. We received another anonymous tip-off letter."

Chen Ping put the belt into the basket and pushed it onto the conveyor belt.

"The same as the last one?"

"The format is the same, printed, unsigned, and mailed to the management committee's front desk. But this time, the person being referred to isn't from the district."

Chen Ping walked out of the security gate and took the phone from Han Zhiming.

The screen displays a photograph of the whistleblower letter; the resolution is low, but the text is clear.

He stared at the name on the last line for three seconds.

He was from the provincial level. His rank was two levels higher than he had imagined.

The conveyor belt of the security scanner was still rolling, and the belt slid out from the exit and onto a metal tray, but no one picked it up.