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

After leaving the Education Department, Chen Shi called Zhou Hua.

"Where is Zhou Hua?"

"You came to Yizhou while I was at the company?"

"I'm in Yizhou, I'm coming to find you."

"The design plan has just been completed, and the renderings are also ready. Come and take a look. I'll send them to Section Chief Ding, and he's very satisfied."

"The house belongs to Section Chief Ding, so as long as he's satisfied, I'm coming over now."

Chen Shi got into the car and told Yang Bin to go to Zhou Hua's company.

Upon arriving at the company, the receptionist recognized Chen Shi and led him directly to his office.

Upon seeing Chen Shi arrive, Zhou Hua quickly stood up and said, "Sit down."

He poured tea for Chen Shi and Yang Bin, and showed the design plan to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi glanced at the design proposal: "You've done a great job. Have you come up with a quote yet?"

Zhou Hua smiled and said, "We're brothers, let's not talk about quotes. This time I've gotten to know Section Chief Ding, and if I have the opportunity to do government renovations in the future, will I still have to worry about making money?"

I spoke with Section Chief Ding about this apartment. We'll sign the contract for the model apartment, and we won't charge him a penny. We'll do the renovations for him for free, and he just needs to cooperate with us in promoting it in the community. Consider it a favor to us.”

"Zhou Hua, you're in business, not charity. I'm the one asking you for help, how can I let you pay for everything?"

This is business, not my personal matter. Once the renovations are finished, give me the invoice, and I'll have the finance department reimburse you.

"No rush, let's talk about it after the renovation is finished." Zhou Hua changed the subject, and the two started chatting casually.

That evening, the three of them went to a street food stall. Chen Shi got drunk again, so Yang Bin took him back to the hotel and slept on the sofa himself.

Chen Shi got up; it was already past ten o'clock. Yang Bin had breakfast and was waiting in the living room.

Chen Shi came out and saw Yang Bin there. He asked, "You didn't go home to sleep last night?"

Yang Bin said sincerely, "Director Chen, I'm afraid you might get up and need water, so I'll stay and take care of you."

"I'm drunk, so I usually don't get up halfway through. Don't stay and sleep on the sofa anymore, go back and rest."

Chen Shi washed up, ate lunch, and then returned to Chunyang County.

The next day at work, Huang Ming arrived at the office.

"Director Chen, the project registration closed yesterday. Seven companies passed the review, four from Yizhou and three from Mingzhou. The four companies with the strongest bids are Mingzhou No.1 Construction Group, Mingzhou Urban Construction Group, Yizhou Chengxin Group, and Donghai Zhencheng Group."

Huang Ming handed the information of the four companies to Chen Shi, who took it, glanced at it, and then took out the information of Donghai Zhencheng Group.

"Donghai Zhencheng Group has fixed assets of 100 billion yuan and is very strong. The project involves full upfront funding, so we need to ensure that only companies with strong financial backing win the bid."

Chen Shi handed Huang Ming the information on Donghai Zhencheng Group, and kept the information on the other three companies.

Huang Ming was a smart man; he understood Chen Shi's meaning: all three bidding sections had to be won by Donghai Zhencheng Group.

Bidding is often just a formality; the winner is already determined before the bidding process even begins.

If an unexpected situation occurs and another company wins the bid, the problem must be found, the bid must be rejected and resubmitted, until the predetermined company wins the bid.

Huang Ming, holding the information on Donghai Zhencheng Group, said, "Director Chen, all three bids were won by the same company. I'm worried people might gossip."

"If you're upright, you have nothing to fear. If we follow the bidding process, people will inevitably gossip. Does that mean we shouldn't do anything if we're afraid of being gossiped about?"

Huang Ming thought to himself, "You're the boss, so whatever you say goes, and I'll do it strictly."

"Director Chen, I'll go and make the arrangements."

"Go ahead and get busy."

After Huang Ming left, Chen Shi called Yang Xiaobo to his office.

"Old Yang, go down and do a survey on the current state of education in Chunyang County. Make it detailed, and make sure the data is accurate and reliable, without any exaggeration. Submit it to me by next Wednesday."

Yang Xiaobo took out his notebook and wrote it down.

After leaving his office, he went to the Party and Government Office. There were seven people in the Party and Government Office. After Diao Kuan was transferred, there was a shortage of a deputy director.

Of the seven people, three were young people and two were the bosses of the Party and Government Office, who were over fifty years old. They relied on their seniority to shirk their duties and avoid work whenever possible, just coasting along until they retired.

Yang Xiaobo generally doesn't offend them. He has nothing to lose. They have no hope of promotion, so they just give up completely. The leaders won't provoke them either. Of course, if there are any benefits, they won't get any.

The other two were middle-aged.

One of them was Dong Xuexi, Yang Xiaobo's junior high school classmate, who had been working in the Education Bureau for over ten years but was still just a clerk.

Based on seniority, the two bosses are too old to be promoted, and the three young people have only been working for a few years and are not yet senior enough.

Unless the deputy director is parachuted in from another department, one of these two middle-aged men will be chosen.

Another middle-aged man named Xiao Guang saw Yang Xiaobo enter the office and immediately stood up, his face beaming with smiles: "Director Yang, you've arrived."

The others quickly greeted him, calling him Director Yang, and Yang Xiaobo nodded to them.

Dong Xuexi turned his head to the side, refusing to look at Yang Xiaobo. He was very dissatisfied. This world was a mess, and he, an undergraduate, was being led by Yang Xiaobo, a vocational school graduate. Where could he go to seek justice?

In junior high school, he was the top student in his class, while Yang Xiaobo couldn't even get into the top ten. He was an excellent student, while Yang Xiaobo was nothing.

During the high school entrance exam, a vocational school came to their school to recruit five students. He gave up his spot to go to high school, while Yang Xiaobo barely made it into the vocational school.

If he had gone to a vocational school back then, Yang Xiaobo would be out of the picture; he would be farming in his hometown now.

Yang Xiaobo ignored Dong Xuexi and said with a smile, "Let's have a short meeting."

Xiao Guang hurriedly opened his notebook, grabbed a pen, and practically said, "Your orders are like imperial edicts, and I will carry them out immediately."

The other three young men also gathered around, and the two boss stools, each holding a thermos, sat down.

Dong Xuexi kept his head down, holding a notebook in his hand, but didn't open it.

Yang Xiaobo said solemnly, "Director Chen has assigned me a task: to conduct a survey on the current state of education in Chunyang County. The data must be accurate and reliable, without any exaggeration. Every piece of data must have a source, and I will conduct random checks at any time."

The next task is to complete this survey form; Director Chen needs it by next Monday.

Xiao Guang looked at Yang Xiaobo with anticipation. He needed this opportunity; it was time to perform well in front of his superiors.

As arranged by Director Chen, once the survey form was completed, Director Chen saw that it was done very well and that there was a chance for him to be promoted to deputy director.

Yang Xiaobo actually wanted to recommend Dong Xuexi, but Dong Xuexi disappointed him greatly. Diao Kuan was transferred to the Party and Government Office as deputy director, and Dong Xuexi was exchanging flirtatious glances with Diao Kuan and being sarcastic towards him. Yang Xiaobo was only spared because of their old classmate relationship.

Relying on Wang Zhikai's backing, Diao Kuan didn't take himself seriously. Dong Xuexi also became active, thinking that his opportunity had come. Diao Kuan squeezed out Yang Xiaobo and became the director of the Party and Government Office, so he would have the opportunity to become the deputy director.

As fate would have it, Diao Kuan was eventually forced out and sent to Laoyan Town. Yang Xiaobo, however, held absolute power in the Party and Government Office, and Dong Xuexi refused to bow down to him.

Yang Xiaobo ignored Dong Xuexi and looked at Xiao Guang: "Xiao Guang, you're in charge of this. Everyone in the office has to follow Xiao Guang's work arrangements."

The survey form needs to be submitted before the regular meeting next Monday.

Xiao Guang said loudly, "Director Yang, don't worry, I will definitely complete the task."

After assigning the tasks, Yang Xiaobo left the office.

Xiao Guang wouldn't let Dong Xuexi get involved in the tasks assigned by Director Chen. He couldn't command the two bosses, so he could only bring three young people to do the job.