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

After the meeting, Wang Zhikai returned to his office and paced back and forth. The last time he went to report to Gao Rong, Gao Rong sounded very dissatisfied with Chen Shi.

Gao Rong was the deputy county head in charge of the education bureau and Chen Shi's direct superior. Chen Shi rarely went to Gao Rong to report his work.

Chen Shi, relying on the support of Liu Youguang and Zhang Xiangdong, doesn't take Gao Rong seriously, so Gao Rong must have a lot of grievances against him.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Wang Zhikai took out his phone and called Gao Rong's secretary, Zhang Song.

The call was answered quickly, and Zhang Song said with a smile, "Director Wang, hello."

Wang Zhikai said with a smile, "Secretary Zhang, is County Magistrate Gao free this afternoon? I'd like to come and report to him."

"Please wait a moment while I check the work schedule for Gao County this afternoon. I'll call you back shortly."

Zhang Song called back quickly, and Wang Zhikai answered immediately: "Secretary Zhang, are you free in Gao County?"

"Gao County originally had work scheduled for us, but we heard you were coming to report on your work, so we've cancelled some of our work. Please come at 3 PM this afternoon."

"Thank you, Secretary Zhang. I'll come over at three o'clock this afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhikai called Lei Liangping.

When Lei Liangping saw that it was Wang Zhikai calling, he quickly answered, his face beaming: "Director Wang."

Wang Zhikai said in a heavy tone: "Old Lei, the Party Committee meeting was held earlier. Li Zhe proposed to give you a Party warning and transfer you to Laoyan Town Central School as principal. Ding Xiaochi, the principal of Laoyan Town Central School, will be transferred to Fushan Town Central School as principal."

Huang Ming and Chen Shi both supported Li Zhe's decision, and I was powerless to change it; I couldn't do anything alone.

Lei Liangping cursed, "Li Zhe is so insidious. Damn it, I haven't offended him at all since he became the deputy director of the Education Bureau, so why is he trying to kill me?"

I had no idea that Qinghe Village Primary School had become a dangerous building; Li Huawu was in charge. Using this as an excuse to frame me is something I absolutely refuse to accept.

"Old Lei, what can you do if you're not satisfied? Go ahead and sue him."

"If I have evidence of his embezzlement and bribery, I will immediately write to the Discipline Inspection Commission to report him."

Old Salt Town is such a remote place, and it's so polluted that even ghosts wouldn't want to go there. He wants to transfer me there, but I just won't go. Let's see what he can do to me.

Ding Xiaochi was very close to Li Zhe, so he must have given him money, which is why Li Zhe targeted me and transferred Ding Xiaochi to Fushan Town.

"Old Lei, don't say such hurtful things. If you want to sue, you need to have evidence. A higher-ranking official can crush you. First, go to the Central School in Laoyan Town to serve as the principal. When the opportunity arises, we'll find a way to transfer you to the county seat."

If we take a longer view, why didn't Li Zhe act like a big shot in the Education Bureau before? I told him to go east, and he wouldn't dare go west. Now he's just relying on Chen Shi, finding a backer, and acting like a fox borrowing the tiger's power.

Our real opponent is Chen Shi. As long as Chen Shi is transferred out of the Education Bureau, I can take over as the top official and crush Li Zhe as easily as crushing an ant.

"Director Wang, Chen Shi has Liu Youguang and Zhang Xiangdong backing him up, and he also has a mayor uncle. If we fight him, it's like an egg hitting a rock, or a futile effort."

"Liu Youguang and Zhang Xiangdong will eventually be transferred. When a new leader comes in, we will have a chance. His uncle, the mayor, is too far away. A local official is more effective than a distant one, so he may not be able to achieve anything."

Our goal is to get Chen Shi transferred out of the Education Bureau, and I believe we can do that.

Lei Liangping asked, "Director Wang, what should I do next?"

"Go to Laoyan Town to take up your post first, and wait for the right opportunity."

"Okay, Director Wang, I'll do as you say."

After hanging up the phone, Lei Liangping flew into a rage in his office, cursing Li Zhe's ancestors for eighteen generations.

At 3 p.m., Wang Zhikai arrived at Gao Rong's office. Gao Rong greeted him with a smile and stood up.

"Director Wang, please have a seat."

Wang Zhikai sat down, Zhang Song poured him a cup of tea, and then left the office.

Wang Zhikai said with a big smile, "County Chief Gao, the bureau's party group held a meeting this morning and decided to rebuild Qinghe Village Primary School. Qinghe Village Primary School is the school in Director Chen's hometown."

At this point, Wang Zhikai glanced at Gao Rong, who remained calm, and continued, "In 2008, the local village secretary of Qinghe Village Primary School discovered cracks in the classrooms and had an assessment conducted. The assessment concluded that the buildings were dangerous and was reported to Li Huawu, the vice principal of Fushan Town Central School. Li Huawu did not report this to the principal, Lei Liangping, and suppressed the matter."

Back in 2008, the Education Bureau couldn't even pay teachers' salaries, let alone rebuild Qinghe Village Primary School.

Knowing about this, Director Chen set up an investigation team, appointing Director Li as the team leader, to investigate the fact that the Qinghe Village Primary School building had become a dangerous structure and that classes had been held there for three or four years, and to hold the relevant leaders accountable.

This matter only involved Vice Principal Li Huawu; other relevant leaders of Fushan Town Central School were unaware of it.

Director Li proposed a disciplinary action, stating that Lei Liangping had seriously neglected his duties, as Qinghe Village Primary School had been in a dangerous state for three or four years without his knowledge, and therefore bore an unshirkable leadership responsibility.

Lei Liangping was given a party warning and transferred to Laoyan Town Central School as principal. Ding Xiaochi, the principal of Laoyan Town Central School, who was very close to Director Li, was transferred to Fushan Town Central School as principal.

Both Director Chen and Director Huang supported Director Li's handling of the matter, but I still stood up to oppose it. This is unfair to Comrade Lei Liangping. This matter is under the responsibility of Vice Principal Li Huawu, so how can we hold Comrade Lei Liangping accountable?

"I'm all alone in the Education Bureau; my opinion is less effective than some people's farts."

Gao Rong listened calmly to Wang Zhikai's complaints, thinking to himself that Wang Zhikai was useful and could be used to deal with Chen Shi. If anything went wrong, he could just push Wang Zhikai out to take the blame.

A smile appeared on his face: "Actually, I was against Chen Shi becoming the director of the Education Bureau. How could an outsider like him manage education well?"

Wang Zhi was secretly delighted. Gao Rong had responded, and he quickly said, "That's right. When I was in the Education Bureau, Chen Shi was probably still playing in the mud somewhere. Now he's standing in front of me, pointing fingers and messing things up. If he keeps doing this, the education in Chunyang County will be finished sooner or later."

Gao Rong asked, "The Education Bureau is currently short of funds. Where will the funding for the reconstruction of Qinghe Village Primary School come from?"

"Huang Ming proposed at the Party Group meeting that Donghai Zhencheng Group donate funds to rebuild Qinghe Village Primary School."

Chen Shi agreed to the proposal and put Li Zhe in charge of rebuilding Qinghe Village Primary School.

Gao Rong said calmly, "Donghai Zhencheng Group won three bids from the Education Bureau, with a total bid amount of over two billion yuan. Director Wang, do you really believe there's nothing going on here?"

Wang Zhikai shook his head repeatedly: "I don't believe it. There's no transfer of benefits involved. Such a big project, three sections, all won by the same company. How can a cat not eat the fish?"

"Without any transfer of benefits, why would Donghai Zhencheng Group donate funds to build Qinghe Village Primary School?"

Gao Rong nodded: "I don't believe it either, but everything needs evidence."

Gao Rong emphasized the word "evidence" and gestured for Wang Zhi to go and investigate.