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

The door to the private room slowly closed behind them, concealing Zhao Decai's face, which had turned deathly pale.

Chen Ping walked along the thickly carpeted corridor of the Cloud Pavilion, his expression unchanged, as if the argument just now was just an ordinary social interaction.

It was late at night, but the lights were still on at the Jinshuiwan project command center.

When Chen Pingfang pushed open the door and walked into the conference room, all the core members stood up at once, and dozens of eyes were on Chen Pingfang.

Guo Xiaojun rushed to the front and looked Chen Pingfang up and down. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw that Chen Pingfang was alright, but the worry on his face did not lessen at all.

"Director, you're finally back! That old fox Zhao Decai didn't do anything to you, did he? Did he make any unreasonable demands?"

"Yeah, Director, that guy doesn't look like a good person at all!"

"He's definitely up to no good!"

Everyone was talking at once, and anxiety was written on everyone's face.

Chen Pingfang raised his hand and pressed it down, signaling everyone to be quiet. Chen Pingfang did not answer any questions, but calmly walked to the conference table and gently placed his ever-present black personal cell phone in the center of the table.

Everyone was stunned, looking at Chen Pingfang's action with confusion.

Under everyone's questioning gaze, Chen Ping gently tapped the screen with his finger.

The next second, Zhao Decai's business-like tone, tinged with arrogance and condescension, rang out clearly in the quiet office.

"...As long as you allocate half of the procurement share for the Jinshuiwan project to local companies in Yunzhou, I, Zhao Decai, guarantee that the subsequent projects will proceed smoothly..."

"...And personally, I'd like to give Director Chen this amount as a token of my appreciation for your hard work..."

"...In Yunzhou, having more friends means having more options. But having more enemies... well, that makes things difficult."

After the recording finished playing, an odd silence fell over the office.

A few seconds later, the silence was completely shattered by angry chatter!

"Damn it! This is blatant threat and bribery!"

"How arrogant! Does he really think Yunzhou is his personal property?"

Guo Xiaojun's face turned red with anger, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. But he quickly calmed down, looked at the phone on the table, and his eyes lit up as if he had grasped a lifeline.

"Director, you've really thought of everything! With this, Zhao Decai has left himself with leverage!" Guo Xiaojun said with a look of relief. "We've got this recording in our hands; let's see if he dares to mess around again! This is our shield!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling that they finally had a trump card to counterbalance the other side.

However, Chen Pingfang slowly shook his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over everyone, and said something that made everyone's hearts jump.

"The defense is too passive."

Chen Ping paused, his eyes suddenly becoming very sharp.

"What I want is offense."

attack?

These two words struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer. Guo Xiaojun and the others were stunned. They were only thinking about how to protect themselves, but they never expected that Chen Pingfang's plan from the very beginning was to fight back.

Before anyone could recover from the shock, Chen Pingfang had already turned to his secretary and issued his first order, his voice calm and unwavering.

"We immediately sent this recording, along with the materials we had previously compiled regarding the abnormal price fluctuations in the Yunzhou building materials market over the past six months, to the official complaint email addresses of the Municipal Market Supervision Administration and the Provincial Price Bureau, respectively, in encrypted form."

"What?"

Everyone present, including Guo Xiaojun, gasped in shock.

They never dreamed that Chen Ping would be so resolute, directly reporting the matter to the regulatory authorities! This was a complete breakdown in relations, a fight to the death!

After the secretary quickly took the order and went to carry it out, Chen Pingfang looked at everyone who was still in a daze and announced a second, even more impactful decision.

"Notify the publicity department to draft a notice overnight." Chen Pingfang's clear and forceful voice echoed in the conference room. "In the name of the Jinshuiwan Project Command, officially release the 'Competitive Negotiation Announcement for Building Material Suppliers,' open to all compliant companies in the province for bidding. Remember, the announcement must clearly state that price, quality, and service will be our sole evaluation criteria!"

Two orders were issued, one to the government and the other to the market.

The combination of punches silenced the entire command center; everyone was stunned by Chen Ping's forceful approach.

The announcement was officially released through the official channels of the Jinshuiwan project early the next morning, quickly causing a sensation in the otherwise calm Yunzhou building materials industry.

Initially, most local suppliers were just watching the show, and no one dared to take the lead. They all knew Zhao Decai's methods and were afraid of being met with fierce retaliation.

However, where there is oppression, there is resistance.

Several small suppliers, who had long been squeezed to the point of bankruptcy by Zhao Decai's price alliance, discussed the matter for a long time in the meeting room. Finally, they gritted their teeth and decided to take a gamble.

At 10:00 AM, the first quotation was sent to the command center via fax.

Guo Xiaojun picked up the still-warm piece of paper himself, glanced at it, and froze on the spot, his eyes wide open like saucers.

"Director...look!" Guo Xiaojun's hands trembled as he held the price list, his voice trembling. "The price of rebar quoted by this supplier...is almost 20% lower than during Zhao Decai's monopoly period!"

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

After the first person to try something new appeared, the suppliers who were still hesitant and observing began to waver.

Within half a day, the command center's phone lines were ringing off the hook, and the fax machine was constantly rang. Price quotes far below the market monopoly price were pouring in like snowflakes.

Inside the command center, the expressions on everyone's faces gradually shifted from shock to great joy. They were witnessing firsthand how the seemingly solid price alliance that Zhao Decai had painstakingly built over several years was rapidly disintegrating from within.

At 3 p.m., an even more important piece of news arrived, completely igniting the entire business community of Yunzhou.

A joint investigation team composed of the Municipal Market Supervision Administration and the Provincial Price Bureau, escorted by several law enforcement vehicles, made a high-profile entry into the headquarters of Delong Investment Group to formally launch an investigation into Zhao Decai and his company for suspected market monopoly and malicious price manipulation.

The news shocked the entire city.

Zhao Decai's seemingly solid business empire instantly became shaky under these harsh measures.

This official announcement became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Zhao Decai's former allies, who used to call him brother, fled faster than anyone else in order to protect themselves. They all took the initiative to distance themselves from him, and some even rushed to the investigation team's camp overnight to hand over evidence and try to get leniency.

At the same time, they offered an even lower price to the Jinshuiwan project, attempting to demonstrate their reformed attitude and leave themselves a way out by cooperating with this key provincial project.

Overnight, Zhao Decai was abandoned by everyone and suffered a crushing defeat.

As evening fell, the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the earth.

Guo Xiaojun rushed excitedly into Chen Pingfang's office, holding a newly compiled statistical report, his face full of excitement.

"Director! We won! We won!" Guo Xiaojun slammed the report on the table, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. "By the end of the workday, we had received over fifty valid bids! According to the logistics department's preliminary calculations, if we renegotiate the contracts based on these quotes, the overall procurement cost for our project will be 15% lower than when we used land transportation!"

Chen Ping slowly stood up, walked to the large French window, looked at the construction site outside the window that had returned to its bustling state, full of vitality once again, and his face remained as calm as ever.

The breaking of the blockade actually became a good opportunity for the project to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Chen Pingfang's words to Zhao Decai at Yunding Pavilion, "What I want is the standardization of the entire Yunzhou building materials market," are no longer just arrogant empty words at this moment.

It is becoming a reality.