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

Chen Shi picked up his chopsticks and ate, thinking to himself, "You guys are right. When I said shell company, I was talking about you guys."

Gao Rong saw that Chen Shi was not giving him any face, and as the supervisor in charge, he had no way to deal with him.

The project was overseen by Liu Youguang, and Chen Shi was Liu Youguang's confidant. Chen Shi had limited power and had not even been admitted to the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee. He had no say in personnel matters.

Gao Rong gave Hu Liang a look, realizing that they could only resort to a last resort: Chen Shi came from a rural background and should be interested in money.

Hu Liang understood Gao Rong's meaning, made an excuse to leave the private room, went to the car, and brought in the prepared gift.

With a broad smile, he said, "Director Chen, this is wild ginseng from our hometown. It's very nourishing. I brought a few pieces over to give to you to take back and make into wine. Drinking wine made from wild ginseng can strengthen your body."

Hu Liang placed the gift box next to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi put down his chopsticks: "Thank you, Mr. Hu, but I don't like drinking infused liquor."

Gao Rong and Hu Liang exchanged a glance. Hu Liang smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Director Chen, wild ginseng has many uses besides being used to make medicinal wine. I dug this myself in the mountains when I went home. It has excellent medicinal properties. My elderly relatives have rheumatism, and it can cure their rheumatism if they take it."

These people shouldn't be given too much face; the attitude must be clear. Chen Shi solemnly said, "President Hu, I appreciate your kindness, but I don't need this wild ginseng. You can keep it for yourself."

Chen Shi glanced at the time, stood up, and said, "County Magistrate Gao, I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave first. You and General Manager Hu, please enjoy your drinks."

Before Gao Rong could speak, Chen Shi had already strode away, showing Gao Rong absolutely no respect.

Gao Rong watched Chen Shi's departing figure with a cold eye, his teeth itching with hatred.

Hu Liang whispered, "Brother, Chen Shi isn't giving you any face at all. With such a big project in his hands, I don't believe he won't take a single penny."

Gao Rong picked up his wine glass, drank a glass of wine, and slammed it down on the table.

"Fine, isn't Chen Shi's attitude obvious enough?"

"It's such a big project, it's hard to give up so easily."

"This project is the biggest project in Chunyang County this year. It is under the leadership of Secretary Liu and ranks among the top in Mingzhou. Many people are eyeing it, and it is not something we can take for granted."

Even if I eat it, I can't digest it. It's better to stick to small projects and avoid taking risks.

Hu Liang was very unwilling, but he had no choice but to give up.

The next day, Chen Shi came to the office and read the Mingzhou Daily, which contained reports about relevant city leaders. As a qualified subordinate, he had to keep track of the leader's activities in order to carry out his work and not go against the leader's true intentions.

Huang Ming had just put down his newspaper when he arrived at his office.

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Director Huang, please sit down."

Huang Ming held a thick stack of documents in his hand, and the two sat down in the reception room.

"Director Chen, the tender documents have been revised according to your instructions. Please take a look."

Chen Shi took the tender documents; there was too much content, so he glanced at the important parts.

The tender documents are divided into three sections, one for each high school. Chen Shi nodded in satisfaction: "I see no problems. Send out the tender documents. The tendering process should be completed in April."

Huang Ming wrote it down in his notebook.

"Director Chen, the Finance Bureau's allocation has been deposited into the account. Should the land acquisition compensation be transferred to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office as well?"

"Go down and make arrangements to transfer the land acquisition compensation to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office."

"We'll be holding a director's office meeting later to discuss the project's progress."

Huang Ming returned to his office to prepare for the meeting.

Chen Shi called Yang Xiaobo to his office: "Old Yang, inform the three deputy directors that there will be a director's office meeting at 10:30."

Chen Shi checked the time; it was ten o'clock. He gave them half an hour to prepare.

At 10:30, Chen Shi arrived at the conference room, where the three deputy directors were also present.

Chen Shi sat down and first said that he would ask for 400 million in Mingzhou. Wang Zhikai glanced at Chen Shi and thought to himself, if it were me asking for money in Mingzhou, would I be able to get 400 million?

The answer is yes, without that, even 40 million would be difficult to achieve.

As the top leader, you must solve the problems that your deputies cannot solve in order to gain their respect and acceptance.

Chen Shi glanced at the three deputy directors: "Next, you will report on the progress of your respective project assignments."

Huang Mingxian gave a report, and Chen Shi affirmed his work, saying, "Director Huang is conscientious and responsible in his work, which is worthy of our learning."

Next, Wang Zhikai reported: "Director Chen, the land acquisition work is being carried out in accordance with your instructions and the compensation standards for forest land. Secretary Li Hong and Director Wang Jianming have asked several times when the land acquisition compensation will be transferred to them. If the villagers don't receive their compensation, they will cause trouble, and then they won't be able to resolve the issue."

Chen Shilang said loudly, "The Finance Bureau has already allocated the land acquisition funds, and we can transfer them to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office this afternoon. Before the transfer, Director Wang, you need to go to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office and find Secretary Li Hong and Director Wang Jianming to sign an agreement with them. The agreement requires the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office to complete the infrastructure construction, including water and electricity, and hardened roads, before the project officially starts construction. This is very important; it's their job, and there's no room for negotiation. It must be strictly enforced."

Wang Zhikai wrote it down in his notebook, cursing Chen Shi in his heart. He felt that all the preliminary work he had done was thankless, and when the project was completed, all the credit would go to Huang Ming, and he would have nothing to do with it.

But the hardest work is all done by myself. I've been going to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office a lot lately, and I've lost weight.

You can't find a reason to refuse a task assigned by the top leader.

The Dawang area is still a wasteland, undeveloped, with zero infrastructure. To build up the infrastructure, it would cost at least ten million. Does the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office have that kind of money?

Wang Zhikai did not voice his concerns, but solemnly said, "After the meeting, I will go to the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office to see Secretary Li Hong and Director Wang Jianming to finalize the infrastructure agreement."

Li Zhe glanced at Chen Shi: "Director Chen, the local governments of the three township high schools are all interested in buying them. We have signed letters of intent with them. The estimated value of No. 2 High School is 30 million, No. 3 High School is 250 million, and No. 4 High School is 50 million."

Chen Shi was satisfied with the valuation: "Director Li, according to this valuation standard, when you talk to the local government, you can make some concessions, keeping it below five percent. Especially for No. 3 Middle School, the new teaching building, male and female dormitories, teachers' apartments, canteen, etc., were all built only a few years ago, so we can't make major concessions."

Li Zhe nodded repeatedly and wrote it down in his notebook.

After the meeting, Wang Zhikai returned to his office and called Li Hong.

"Secretary Li, the Finance Bureau has already allocated the land acquisition funds. Director Chen gave instructions, and the money will be transferred to you in the next couple of days."

Hearing this good news, Li Hong was very happy: "Director Wang, that's great! Once the land acquisition compensation arrives, it should be distributed to the villagers. Only when the villagers receive the money will they not cause trouble."

The villagers are all pragmatists; there's no point in talking to them if you can't get real money. A weight has finally been lifted from my shoulders.

"Secretary Li, it's almost lunchtime. I've come to invite you and Director Wang to dinner. There are a few things I need your support on."

With the money in hand, everything was negotiable, and Li Hong readily agreed.

Wang Zhikai also called Wang Jianming to tell him about the land acquisition compensation being allocated. Wang Jianming was very happy and agreed to have lunch together.