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

After Chen Shi finished reporting his work, Zhang Xiangdong smiled and said, "You're not bad, kid. You made a trip to Mingzhou and got four hundred million. I might not even be able to get four hundred million if I made a trip."

"Didn't you say I'm a lucky charm? When a lucky charm is involved, all the major units in the city have to give him face."

Zhang Xiangdong thought to himself, "Is it to give you face? It's to give face to your uncle."

After chatting for a while, Zhang Xiangdong had to go to a meeting, so Chen Shi got up to leave. Seeing that it was still early, he decided to go back to the Education Bureau first and come back later.

At five o'clock sharp, Chen Shi arrived at Deputy County Head Gao Rong's office. Gao Rong stood up to greet him with a smile: "Director Chen, please have a seat."

Chen Shi sat down and reported to Gao Rong on the progress of rebuilding the three key high schools, as well as the fact that he had gone to Mingzhou to get 400 million. He told Gao Rong the truth.

This can't be kept secret forever; Gao Rong will find out sooner or later, after all, he's my direct superior.

Gao Rong highly praised Chen Shi's work: "Director Chen, you are really amazing. When I went to the city, I couldn't even get four hundred million."

"From now on, you need to go to the city more often. The funding for rebuilding the three key high schools all falls on your shoulders. I believe you will find a way to solve it."

Chen Shi thought to himself, "Do you know why I don't come to you to report on my work? You're of no help at all. How can a direct supervisor like you expect his subordinates to respect you?"

He smiled and said, "In Gao County, the main difficulty in rebuilding the three high schools is the lack of funds. There's still a shortfall of 1.3 billion yuan. As the leader in charge of the Education Bureau, you have to help us find a solution."

"Regarding funding, you should try to get more funding from the city. The county's finances are in serious deficit. I'll also talk to the relevant leaders and see if we can find a solution."

Gao Rong glanced at his watch: "Director Chen, let's have a couple of drinks later. I've never had a drink with you before."

Chen Shi couldn't refuse, knowing that what he was saying now was all nonsense and that the important thing would come later.

"Gao Xian, I've always wanted to have a couple of drinks with you, and today I finally have the chance."

"Let's go to Xiaoyuan Renjia now, we can have a drink and chat."

Chen Shi followed Gao Rong to the courtyard. A fat, middle-aged man jogged over and opened the car door for Gao Rong.

With a broad smile, he said, "Brother, you've arrived."

Gao Rong got out of the car, and the man quickly ran to open the door for Chen Shi.

Director Chen

Chen Shi did not recognize the man, who quickly introduced himself: "Director Chen, I am Hu Liang, the general manager of Chunyang County Shuncheng Development Co., Ltd."

He quickly took out his business card and handed it to Chen Shi. Chen Shi took it, and Gao Rong said with a smile, "Director Chen, this is my cousin. His company is in the engineering project business. They built the teaching building for the Chengnan Subdistrict Primary School."

Chen Shi greeted him with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Hu."

After shaking hands with Hu Liang, the three of them entered the courtyard and went to a private room.

Hu Liang called the waiter to serve the dishes, and the table was full of delicious food. Hu Liang took out some fine wine and poured it for Gao Rong and Chen Shi.

Hu Liang raised his glass, smiling, and said, "Director Chen, it's my honor to meet you today. Let me toast you."

Out of respect for Gao Rong, Chen Shi clinked glasses with Hu Liang, who then drank it all in one gulp.

Chen Shi also drank the glass of wine: "Eat some food first. Drinking wine on an empty stomach is bad for your stomach."

Hu Liang smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Yes, yes, let's eat first."

After the three of them had eaten for a while, Chen Shi put down his chopsticks, raised his wine glass, and said, "County Magistrate Gao, I'd like to toast you."

Gao Rong picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Chen Shi's, and the two drank it down in one gulp.

After Chen Shi had eaten a few bites of food, Hu Liang raised his glass and said, "I'd like to toast the two leaders."

Gao Rong raised his glass, and Chen Shi followed suit. They clinked glasses with Hu Liang, and the three of them drank it all in one gulp.

Gao Rong put down his wine glass: "Director Chen, when will the bidding documents be issued so we can officially begin the bidding process?"

"It will be released soon. Secretary Liu has given a firm order that the three high schools must start enrolling students simultaneously next September."

Chen Shi was now confident that the bidding process could proceed normally, as Liu Youguang and Zhang Xiangdong had not given any explicit hints.

Gao Rong said slowly, "It's quite rushed. I suggest dividing it into several sections and having different companies undertake the construction. That way, the construction period will be faster."

All three high schools are in the same construction project contract, and the fact that one company won the bid will definitely affect the project's progress.

He glanced at Hu Liang: "My cousin is very familiar with this area. Director Chen can learn more from him. After all, you used to work in the public security system and have never led such a large project before. You still lack experience."

Chen Shi understood Gao Rong's implication. Hu Liang's small company had limited resources and couldn't possibly handle such a large project. They had the ambition to build a school, which was divided into three sections. In fact, they had a big ambition. Otherwise, Gao Rong wouldn't have made such a blatant implication.

We still had to give Gao Rong face, so I smiled and said, "What County Magistrate Gao said is quite right. We'll discuss it at a meeting when we get back and decide to put the tenders in three sections."

Gao Rong nodded in satisfaction, feeling that Chen Shi was still giving him face.

Hu Liang quickly replied, "Director Chen, our company has undertaken many government projects and accumulated a lot of experience. If there's anything we need our cooperation with, I'll be there whenever you call."

Chen Shi looked at Hu Liang: "President Hu, the Education Bureau's project is open to public bidding, and we welcome you to submit your bid. However, we need to verify the company's strength. Without fixed assets of 5 billion, you are not qualified to participate in the bidding."

The raging fire that had just ignited in Hu Liang's heart was extinguished by Chen Shi's bucket of water. His company didn't even have five million in fixed assets, let alone five billion.

Gao Rong knew the current state of Hu Liang's company. It was only good for small-scale operations, and it had no chance of competing with large companies on a large scale. That's why he wanted to get closer to Chen Shi and ask him to give him special treatment.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shi's move completely dashed their hopes.

Hu Liang looked at Gao Rong, who had an idea in his mind: this piece of meat was too big, and he would feel unwilling if he didn't take a bite.

We can leverage existing resources by partnering with powerful companies to bid on projects; the key is to win over Chen Shi.

There isn't a single company in Chunyang County with fixed assets of 5 billion yuan, and there are very few in the entire Mingzhou area.

Gao Rong raised his glass: "Director Chen, this is our first time drinking together, let's drink to our hearts' content tonight."

Chen Shi and Gao Rong clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Gao Rong put down his cup: "Director Chen, isn't the vetting of the company too high? Mingzhou is an underdeveloped city. Looking at the whole of Mingzhou, there are only a handful of companies with fixed assets of 5 billion. There isn't a single one in the entire Chunyang County. Excluding all the companies in Chunyang County from local projects is not good for the political impact."

I suggest lowering the standard a bit; fixed assets of around 50 million would be sufficient. This way, at least two or three companies in Chunyang County could meet the requirement, and no one would raise any issues with it.

Chen Shi said with a smile, "In Gao County, the project to rebuild three high schools is being spearheaded by Secretary Liu, but the government funding is insufficient, and the Education Bureau doesn't have the money to advance the funds. We've held a meeting to discuss this, and we've decided that if we don't raise the standards, and if no well-funded company wins the bid, the project simply cannot proceed normally."

This project requires full upfront funding. Payments will be settled in three installments after project acceptance. Only companies with substantial financial resources can win the bid; shell companies will be excluded.

Gao Rong and Hu Liang exchanged a glance and fell into deep thought.