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

The cold night wind blowing on his face made him feel exceptionally awake.

He lit a cigarette, the embers flickering in the darkness.

Looking back towards the city hall building, the lights were still on.

Wang Jianzhong's good days are about to end.

……

Early in the morning, the atmosphere in the Yunzhou Municipal Government compound was somewhat strange.

Xiao Yuhan walked out of the office.

She changed into a dark formal suit, her expression was very serious, and she was carrying a black briefcase.

The bag contained a laptop computer with the contents of a USB drive.

As Xiao Yuhan passed the General Affairs Section, she didn't stop walking, but merely glanced at it.

Chen Ping was sitting in his seat, head down, organizing documents, as if nothing had happened.

Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.

Xiao Yuhan's eyes were firm.

Chen Ping nodded slightly to her, his expression calm, as if what was about to happen had nothing to do with him.

He looked away and noticed that Sun Zhigang's seat was empty.

This is very unusual, as Sun Zhigang usually values ​​attendance very much.

In the office, the other staff members were also working with their heads down, and the sound of typing on the keyboard was much quieter than usual. No one dared to speak loudly.

……

Inside Wang Jianzhong's office.

He slammed the receiver down in frustration, but the same message came through: "The number you dialed is currently switched off."

This was already his 10th or so phone call to Sun Zhigang.

Wang Jianzhong's heart sank.

He immediately grabbed the red internal phone on the table and dialed the number of a deputy director he knew in the municipal government office, wanting to inquire about the meeting arrangements for the provincial inspection team today.

"Old Zhang, what will the inspection team say today?"

On the other end of the phone, the person stammered, "Mayor Wang... this is a meeting where Team Leader Li wants to hear the final report. It's a very high-level meeting, and I... I'm not entirely clear on the specifics."

After saying that, he hung up the phone hastily without waiting for Wang Jianzhong to ask any more questions.

This deliberate distancing made Wang Jianzhong's heart sink again.

Not right.

Wang Jianzhong stood up and walked quickly to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He kept a close eye on the movement of vehicles inside the yard.

The provincial inspection team's black Audis did not park in front of the municipal government conference center, but in an unusual location—downstairs in a private conference room that is not open to the public, near the municipal party committee building.

Wang Jianzhong's eyes widened suddenly.

That conference room is a place used only for secret meetings of the core leadership of the municipal party committee.

He was bypassed.

He was excluded from the meeting.

This realization made his hands and feet cold.

This shows that the Jinshuiwan project matter couldn't be glossed over, and it also shows that an unknown card has appeared on the table.

A cold sweat broke out, soaking the back of my shirt.

Suppressing his inner panic, Wang Jianzhong dialed the number of his backer in the provincial capital with trembling hands.

That's his true source of confidence.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, but it was the other party's secretary who spoke.

The other party's tone was very cold, completely businesslike.

"Mayor Wang, the leaders are attending a very important meeting, and all arrangements for today have been cancelled. If you have any issues, you can follow the normal procedures and submit materials to the Provincial Party Committee Office."

Normal procedure.

These four words completely chilled Wang Jianzhong's heart.

He held the phone, his entire arm frozen in mid-air, and the busy tone on the receiver went on for a long time, but he didn't put it down.

He got it.

The person in the province has already decided to give up on him.

He felt pressure from all sides, and his path was blocked.

Just then, his personal cell phone in his pocket vibrated briefly.

It was an encrypted text message.

It came from an informant he had planted at great expense in the municipal party committee conference center.

His hands trembled as he opened the message. The text was short, but each word struck his heart like a hammer blow.

"Xiao confronts Li directly, bypassing Sun. The black USB drive. The key."

These nine short words left Wang Jianzhong completely dumbfounded.

Black USB flash drive.

Wang Jianzhong's mind went blank for a moment. He instantly remembered the thing that had been missing for years—the USB drive left behind by Lin Weiguo!

That USB drive contained all his dirty laundry from the past ten years; it was his Achilles' heel!

He had always thought that with Lin Weiguo's death, that thing was long gone.

He never dreamed that this thing, which could send him to prison, would fall into the hands of Xiao Yuhan and Chen Pingfang!

"Well……"

Wang Jianzhong let out a muffled sound, his body could no longer hold on, he took two steps back and slumped into the large leather chair behind him.

He went limp, his face ashen.

He knew it was all over.

What awaited him was handcuffs and prison.

After the initial fear subsided, only one thought remained in his mind: self-preservation.

Wang Jianzhong suddenly jumped up from his chair, his eyes bloodshot, his usual demeanor completely gone, looking somewhat frightening.

He rushed over and locked the solid wood office door from the inside with a "click".

Then, he rushed to the bookshelf, touched the back of a hardcover edition of "Zizhi Tongjian" on the third row, and a hidden compartment popped open.

He took out a black, unused satellite phone from it.

His fingers trembled violently, and it took him several tries to dial an overseas number he knew by heart. He spoke rapidly into the receiver using a code:

"Initiate the clearance sale! Immediately! All of it!"

After hanging up the phone, he seemed to have used up all his strength, but he didn't dare to stop for a moment. He rushed back to his desk, turned on his computer, and booked an international flight to South Asia that would depart from a neighboring city's airport in three hours.

After doing all this, he opened each drawer and stuffed handfuls of documents, notes, and ledgers into the shredder in the corner.

After a long while, the sound of shredding paper stopped, and only Wang Jianzhong's heavy breathing remained in the office.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently out the window.

He knew that with the advent of USB drives, the old ways of playing the game were no longer effective.

Now, we have no choice but to use other methods.

Wang Jianzhong picked up the black satellite phone again, his fingers turning white from gripping it so tightly. He spoke into the receiver in a low voice: "Second step of the clearance plan: shut that Chen guy up forever, make it an accident, and do it cleanly."

……

As Chen Ping walked out of the city government building, the afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, but his heart felt cold.

Xiao Yuhan bringing the USB drive to the venue was just the first step. A man like Wang Jianzhong, driven to the brink, is capable of anything.

His gaze unconsciously swept across the parking lot, then suddenly sharpened slightly.

In a corner of the parking lot, there was a black minivan. It had out-of-town license plates, and the windows were heavily tinted, making it almost impossible to see inside.

In the driver's seat, a man wearing a baseball cap was staring intently at him through the windshield.

His gaze was cold and devoid of any emotion, as if he were looking at prey.