The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

After the meeting, Chen Shi called Huang Ming to his office.

Yang Xiaobo poured Huang Ming a cup of tea and left the office.

Chen Shi handed the revised plan to Huang Ming.

"Director Huang, the plan is generally fine. As for the details, please make some revisions to the parts I marked, and then compile a report. The County Party Committee Office and the County Government Office should each submit a copy."

Huang Ming took the proposal, glanced at it, and marked more than ten places that needed to be modified.

"Director Chen, it's revised. I'll send it over for you to review. If there are no problems, then submit it to the County Party Committee Office and the County Government Office."

Chen Shi was very satisfied with Huang Ming's performance and treated him, the top leader, with great respect.

"After the meeting yesterday, I went to report to Secretary Liu and County Chief Zhang. Secretary Liu told me the truth: the government can only allocate 1 billion yuan to rebuild the three key high schools. We have to find a way to solve the remaining 1.7 billion yuan ourselves."

County Chief Zhang poured cold water on my enthusiasm again, saying that this 1 billion yuan was not a one-time allocation; only 500 million yuan could be allocated this year, and another 500 million yuan would be allocated next year.

"The funding gap is so large, do you have any good solutions?"

Huang Ming knew the government was short of funds, but the allocation of only 1 billion yuan still exceeded his expectations.

Liu Youguang supports education reform, which should require an allocation of around 1.5 billion yuan. 1 billion yuan is less than half of that; it's impossible to build three key high schools simultaneously.

"Director Chen, do you think we should change our strategy and build one key high school first, and then build the other two when the budget allows?"

Alternatively, we could build two key high schools, smaller in scale, with around seven or eight thousand students, and allocate one billion yuan from the government. We could then try to find ways to request additional funding from the municipal and provincial departments.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, this afternoon I'll go with you to the county committee to find Secretary Liu and report on this plan."

Huang Ming nodded: "Okay, I'll go down first and draft a preliminary plan."

How can education be carried out without money? Chen Shi was in a real bind. The funding for building just three key high schools was already severely insufficient. Without an investment of over a billion yuan, basic education reform would hardly make a ripple.

At noon, Yang Xiaobo came to the office: "Director Chen, would you like your lunch to be eaten downstairs or have it brought up?"

Chen Shi was so preoccupied with money that he had no appetite to go downstairs for dinner: "Bring it to my office."

"Director Chen, what would you like to eat? I'll have the cafeteria chef prepare it separately."

"Just cook a few simple home-style dishes, you decide."

Yang Xiaobo went down to make the arrangements, and ten minutes later, four dishes and a soup were delivered to his office.

A stir-fried pork dish, a fish head dish with chopped chili peppers, a sweet and sour pork ribs dish, and a seaweed soup dish.

The aroma filled the air, and Chen Shi felt a little hungry, so he quickly started eating.

After arriving at work in the afternoon, Chen Shi called Liu Feng.

"Secretary Liu, are you free this afternoon? Director Huang and I are coming over to report on our work."

"Director Chen, Secretary Liu has twenty minutes at 3:30. Please come over with Director Huang, and I'll make the arrangements for you."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi called Huang Ming.

"Director Huang, I called Secretary Liu. Secretary Liu has twenty minutes at 3:30. We'll go there to report on our work. Have you drafted the preliminary plan we discussed this morning?"

"Director Chen, it's almost done. Give me half an hour to get it done before 3 o'clock."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi waited in the office. Before three o'clock, Huang Ming brought over the proposals; he had drafted two proposals.

Option 1 involves concentrating resources to build a school with a student body of around 15,000, with a budget of 1.1 billion yuan.

Option 2 involves building two key high schools with a student body of around 8,000. The budget for one school is around 650 million yuan, and for both schools it would be 1.3 billion yuan.

After Chen Shi reviewed the proposals, Huang Ming asked, "Director Chen, which of these two proposals do you think is more suitable to report to Secretary Liu?"

Chen Shi thought for a moment: "Take both of them with you. Report on Plan One first. If Secretary Liu is not satisfied with Plan One, then report on Plan Two."

The two arrived at the county party committee office, where Liu Feng was waiting. Upon seeing Chen Shi and Huang Ming arrive, he went to greet them.

"Director Chen, Director Huang, please have a seat in my office for a moment. Secretary Liu is still talking to Director Guan."

The two arrived at Liu Feng's office and waited for more than ten minutes. Guan Hui came out of the office with a cold sweat on his forehead. He was worried about how to raise 500 million yuan to allocate to the Education Bureau, since money was needed everywhere.

Chen Shi came out of the office and greeted him with a smile: "Director Guan, it's not hot today, why are you sweating?"

Guan Hui sighed, "Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. Secretary Liu gave me a firm order to allocate 500 million yuan to your Education Bureau. Right now, the treasury account is stretched thin. Where am I supposed to find the money to allocate to you? Money is needed everywhere. I'm in a difficult situation."

Chen Shi said softly, "Director Guan, I'd like to ask you for more money. Running an education system costs a lot of money, and you can't run an education system well without money."

"I'm having such a hard time. Other county finance bureaus have several luxury cars, but our finance bureau hasn't increased its office budget in five years. Look at my official car, it's almost falling apart."

Secretary Liu is waiting for you in his office, go quickly.

Chen Shi glanced at Huang Ming, and the two understood each other without saying a word. They would be lucky to get the 500 million yuan smoothly. They should stop trying to take money from the finance department and try to find a way through the municipal bureau and the provincial department.

The two men entered the office, and Liu Youguang asked, "What brings you two here together?"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Secretary Liu, I went back yesterday and discussed it with Director Huang. We came up with an improvement plan and would like to report it to you."

Huang Ming presented the plan to Liu Youguang: "Secretary Liu, Director Chen went back and discussed it with me overnight. In view of the current situation, we have put forward a plan to concentrate resources to build a key high school with a student body of about 15,000. Later, we will raise funds to build two more key high schools with a student body of about 8,000 each."

Liu Youguang didn't even glance at the plan, and said sternly, "Xiao Huang, you've been my secretary for over three years. Don't you know what I'm sending you to the Education Bureau for?"

Liu Youguang pointed at Chen Shi and said, "And you, Xiao Chen, I have always recognized your abilities, which is why I entrusted you with such an important position as the head of the Education Bureau. You have disappointed me greatly, and you have learned to bargain."

Whether someone can do a good job or not, there are plenty of others who can.

These were serious words, but Chen Shi braced himself and immediately said loudly, "Secretary Liu, don't worry, I can do a good job and I guarantee I'll complete the task."

Liu Youguang said sternly, "Didn't I make myself clear yesterday? Don't come up with any other plans. Just follow the plan I drafted yesterday: three key high schools, each with about 10,000 students, will be built at the same time. The three high schools will open and enroll students simultaneously next June."

Liu Youguang stared intently at Chen Shi: "Xiao Chen, don't make me doubt your abilities. A living person won't die from holding their pee. People can come up with solutions. The county can only allocate 1 billion yuan to you, to be disbursed over two years, with 500 million yuan disbursed at a time. You'll have to figure out the rest yourselves. Go to the municipal bureau, the provincial department, or even the Ministry of Education to ask for it."

Chen Shi and Huang Ming stood in the office, being sternly reprimanded by Liu Youguang. The two lowered their heads and dared not breathe.

Liu Youguang said in a deep voice, "I'll give you a week to turn the plan into a report and submit it to the County Party Committee Office. February is almost over, so it must be finalized in March and implemented in April."

He glanced at Chen Shi and Huang Ming: "Get out of here."

The two slunk away from the office.