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

This is the authority of the top leader. Things you can't handle, they can resolve with just two phone calls. That's the difference between a deputy and the top leader.

Chen Shi looked at Wang Zhikai: "Director Wang, you said that Secretary Li Hong and Director Wang Jianming were not cooperating. Now I have spoken to them and they will actively cooperate with you in the land acquisition. If you still cannot complete it on time, then that is your problem."

Wang Zhikai cursed inwardly, "Damn it, Chen Shi has so much influence, and Li Hong and Wang Jianming are so obedient. They just lower the standards for land expropriation as they please. Is there no bottom line? It's the interests of ordinary people that are being harmed."

He still said, "I guarantee I'll complete the task on time."

Chen Shi looked at Li Zhe: "Director Li, tell me about the situation on your end."

Li Zhe said loudly, "Director Chen, I have visited No. 2 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School, and No. 4 Middle School. I have also spoken with the school leaders. No. 2 Middle School's school buildings are relatively old. The school is located on the main street. I contacted the local town government officials. They want to buy the school, demolish the school buildings, build a large farmers' market in one part, and use the dormitory buildings as a nursing home in another part. I tentatively asked them how much they were willing to pay. It was about ten million."

The No. 3 Middle School has relatively new school buildings, including a new teaching building and two dormitory buildings, which were only built five years ago. We had a meeting with the local town government and learned privately that the local town government is planning to build a middle school. Since we are selling the No. 3 Middle School's school buildings, they can take over the property.

As you instructed, I gave the relevant personnel a low price of 200 million.

The school buildings of No. 4 Middle School are neither new nor old. The local town government wants to buy them for use as a primary school. They've done some research and estimate that 40 to 50 million yuan is the highest price they can offer.

After listening to Li Zhe's report, Chen Shi said, "Send the relevant information to my office. It would be best to have a professional do an evaluation. I have only one requirement: it cannot be sold cheaply."

Li Zhe wrote in his notebook: "I'll go downstairs, organize the materials, and send them to your office."

Chen Shi glanced at the three of them: "You all have heavy responsibilities. Get the relevant work done as soon as possible. In the next period of time, I will go to the city and the province to raise funds. Director Huang will be in full charge of the work in the bureau. For major matters that cannot be decided, call me."

After handing over the tasks, Chen Shi said loudly, "Meeting adjourned."

Chen Shi returned to his office, opened his email, and checked the initial draft of the tender document sent by Huang Ming.

Overall, there were no problems. A few minor issues were fixed, and I replied to Huang Ming via email.

Huang Ming arrived at the office right after replying to the email.

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Director Huang, please have a seat."

The two sat down in the reception room, and Huang Ming said, "Director Chen, I would like to report to you some problems we encountered in the bidding process."

Chen Shi nodded, signaling him to continue.

"Before the bidding documents were even issued, many leaders came to me, all talking about the project. Secretary Zhang brought Yi Feng, the general manager of Yizhou Chengxin Group, to me, asking me to give them special treatment. I told them to wait for the bidding documents to be issued and submit their bids according to the requirements of the documents."

Yi Feng secretly had someone deliver 500,000 yuan in cash to my family.

My parents were unaware that they had accepted 500,000 yuan in cash. They thought it was a gift, but they never expected it to be full of money.

The 500,000 yuan in cash is still at my home. I want to give it to the Discipline Inspection Commission, but I'm afraid of offending Secretary Zhang, since he's the one who introduced me to him.

If it's not returned, what to do with the money is a problem.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Director Huang, this is easy to handle. Yi Feng was introduced to us by Secretary Zhang. You can send this 500,000 yuan to Secretary Zhang's office and keep the evidence. This way, you will not only give Secretary Zhang face, but also get rid of this hot potato and let Yi Feng know that next time he wants to send money, he should send it directly to the Discipline Inspection Commission."

Your attitude is very important. People will continue to send money to your family in the future. You need to show them your resolve. Whoever sends money again, no matter who it is, send the money directly to the disciplinary committee. Then no one will dare risk sending money to your family again, eliminating future troubles.

Huang Ming thought this was a good idea and nodded: "Thank you for your guidance, Director Chen. I know what to do now."

Huang Ming's ability to handle this matter well and tell Chen Shi was to let Chen Shi know that he was Chen Shi's absolute confidant. He was even reporting such a thing to Chen Shi, which showed that he had no secrets and that if things were to come to light later, he would have a leader to testify for him.

Chen Shi was very satisfied with Huang Ming's performance and felt confident in entrusting the project to him.

"Director Huang, I've reviewed the initial draft of the tender document you sent. Overall, there are no major issues, just a few minor aspects that need modification. Once revised, it can be officially sent out for formal bidding. I've marked the areas that need modification and replied to you via email."

Time is tight and the task is heavy; we must get on with it quickly and not let Secretary Liu down.

"Yes, Director Chen, I'll go and arrange it right away."

After Huang Ming left, Chen Shi called Guan Hui.

"Director Guan, are you free tonight? Let's grab a couple of drinks."

"Director Chen, since you're treating, you have to have a couple of drinks."

"Then let's go somewhere else. We often go to Xiaoyuan Renjia, but if we get tired of that, let's go to Qingcheng Restaurant at 7 pm."

"Okay, see you tonight."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi called Yang Xiaobo to his office and arranged for him to stay at the Qingcheng Hotel, where he booked a private room.

After getting off work, Chen Shi arrived at Qingcheng Hotel at 6:30.

Just arrived at 6:40, Guan Hui's car drove into the parking lot of Qingcheng Hotel.

Chen Shi greeted him, saying, "Director Guan, you've arrived quite early."

The two clasped hands tightly, and Guan Hui smiled and said, "Director Chen, didn't you arrive earlier?"

The two arrived at the private room. Chen Shi had arranged for Yang Xiaobo to order the dishes and call the waiter to bring them over.

Chen Shi brought two bottles of fine wine, personally opened them, took a decanter, and filled Guan Hui's glass with wine.

The two ate and chatted, drinking more than a bottle of wine. They felt they had had enough, and any more would be too much and would interfere with their business conversation.

Chen Shi put down his wine glass: "Director Guan, the Education Bureau is rebuilding three key high schools. Secretary Liu has given a strict order that the three key high schools must open at the same time next September. The first-year high school students will have to study at the new schools. Time is tight. I would like to trouble you to transfer the land acquisition funds to the Education Bureau as soon as possible."

Guan Hui blushed and said, "Director Chen, you don't need to tell me what Secretary Liu and County Chief Zhang asked us to do. The 500 million yuan allocation will be transferred to the Education Bureau as soon as possible this year."

As you know, Chunyang County is an impoverished county, and its budget is stretched thin. As for the amount of money to be allocated for land expropriation, just write a note and I'll follow up and implement it.

At the meeting, Secretary Liu emphasized that education must not be neglected, no matter how poor we are; this is a political task, and funding for the Education Bureau must be prioritized, no matter how much we have to squeeze it from elsewhere.

After a moment's thought, Chen Shi said, "I'll allocate 50 million yuan as funds for land acquisition and the commencement of preliminary projects. I'll send the note to the Finance Bureau tomorrow."

Guan Hui thought for a moment and said, "No problem. The guarantee will be transferred to the Education Bureau within a week. The subsequent funding will take one or two months. The finances are really tight, and there are expenses everywhere."

Chen Shi complained bitterly: "Secretary Liu ordered the reconstruction of three key high schools. The budget is 2.7 billion yuan, but the government only allocated 1 billion yuan, which will be allocated in two years. The remaining 1.7 billion yuan is a huge problem. I'm at my wit's end and have no idea where to get the money."

Guan Hui picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Chen Shi's, and drank it all in one gulp.

"The county's finances are tight, so we can only try to find a solution from the municipal finance bureau and the municipal education bureau, and go to the provincial department to see if there are any special funds allocated by the central government for education. We need to act quickly. If there are special funds, everyone is watching them closely. We need to act early, or we won't even get a bite of soup."

Chen Shi nodded: "Thank you for your guidance, Director Guan."

The two chatted for a while, and then the meal ended.