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

Wang Zhikai said with a worried look, "Chen Shi has Liu Youguang and Zhang Xiangdong backing him up, and he also has an uncle who is the mayor. Even if we have evidence and report him, we may not be able to do anything to him."

If he's fine, then the person who reported him is in trouble.

Gao Rong said with a relaxed expression, "As long as the evidence is conclusive, there are many leaders who are dissatisfied with Chen Shi, and no one dares to protect him, not even his uncle."

Wang Zhikai really wanted to ask which leaders were dissatisfied with Chen Shi, but he wasn't familiar enough with Gao Rong to ask yet.

From Gao Rong's words, it seems he wants to offer a "pledge of allegiance," which means gathering evidence to report Chen Shi.

Wang Zhikai decided to take the plunge and seek refuge with Gao Rong. With the support of the county leaders, he hoped to have a chance at becoming a section chief.

"Gao County, starting today, I will keep a close eye on Chen Shi's every move. Once I have collected evidence, I will report him to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the County Commission for Discipline Inspection immediately."

Gao Rong needed Wang Zhikai as a pawn, and a smile appeared on his face: "This year's project of the Education Bureau is the largest project in the county, and it can even be ranked in the top ten in the city. Whoever handles such a big project will have a lucrative job."

Gao Rong hinted to Wang Zhikai to gather evidence in this regard, as there must be some kind of transfer of benefits between Chen Shi and Donghai Zhencheng Group.

Within the system, if you want to report a leader with powerful connections, you must have solid evidence.

Wang Zhikai understood Gao Rong's meaning, nodded repeatedly, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.

"Lord Gao, are you free tonight? I haven't had a drink with you yet, so I'd like to invite you for a couple of drinks tonight."

Gao Rong thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll ask Secretary Zhang if he's free, and we can have a couple of drinks together."

Wang Zhikai was overjoyed. No wonder Gao Rong said that as long as the evidence was conclusive, no one could protect Chen Shi. It turned out that Gao Rong had sided with Zhang Kaizhi.

Behind Zhang Kaizhi is Zhu Ming, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, who can rival Wang Mingzhang.

Wang Zhikai's fear of Chen Shi vanished completely; from today onward, I too have powerful backers.

Gao Rong took out his phone and called Zhang Kaizhi.

With a broad smile, he asked, "Secretary Zhang, do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Gao County Magistrate, are you treating us?"

"It wasn't me who treated them; it was Deputy Director Wang Zhikai of the Education Bureau who treated them."

"Okay, let's go to our usual spot and have a couple of drinks."

Gao Rong hung up the phone: "Director Wang, Secretary Zhang is free. Let's grab a couple of drinks later."

Wang Zhikai was surprised to have an unexpected bonus—connecting with Zhang Kaizhi. He smiled broadly and said, "Great!"

At 6:30, Gao Rong and Wang Zhikai left the government office and took Gao Rong's car to a farmhouse restaurant.

This farmhouse restaurant looks ordinary from the outside, but inside it's luxuriously decorated. The last time Zhang Kaizhi brought Yi Feng, the general manager of Yizhou Chengxin Group, to treat Chen Shi to dinner, it was here.

As soon as the car stopped, Wang Zhikai quickly got out and rushed ahead of the driver to open the car door for Gao Rong.

Gao Rong got out of the car: "Director Wang, Secretary Zhang will be here soon. We'll wait outside."

Wang Zhikai repeatedly agreed.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Zhang Kaizhi's car pulled into the farmhouse. Wang Zhikai quickly ran forward, opened the car door, and said with a big smile, "Secretary Zhang."

Zhang Kaizhi got out of the car. It was the first time he had met Wang Zhikai, and he was not familiar with him.

Gao Rong stepped forward: "Secretary Zhang, this is Wang Zhikai, Deputy Director of the Education Bureau."

Wang Zhikai extended his hand to shake hands with Zhang Kaizhi, but Zhang Kaizhi did not reciprocate. Wang Zhikai smiled awkwardly and withdrew his hand.

Zhang Kaizhi could match the names of cadres at the level of section chief and above, but there were too many deputy section chiefs, and he couldn't remember many of them.

He had no recollection of Wang Zhikai whatsoever.

Gao Rong quickly said, "Secretary Zhang, Director Wang is treating us tonight, let's have a good drink."

Zhang Kaizhi said with a smile, "Okay, we must drink to our hearts' content tonight."

The three walked into the farmhouse. Zhang Kaizhi knew all the officials in Chunyang County who had connections, but there was no one named Wang Zhikai.

Upon learning of Zhang Kaizhi's arrival, the owner of the agritainment business jogged over to greet him: "Secretary Zhang, from Gao County!"

He looked at Wang Zhikai and, seeing that it was his first time there and he didn't recognize him, Gao Rong introduced him, saying, "This is Director Wang from the Education Bureau."

"This is Director Wang's first time here, he didn't recognize me."

Wang Zhi smiled and nodded to the owner of the agritainment business.

The owner of the farmhouse asked, "Secretary Zhang, would you like to eat first, or take a sauna first?"

Zhang Kaizhi said, "After a busy day at work, I'll take a bath first to relax, and then eat."

The owner of the agritainment business asked again, "Secretary Zhang, do we still need the technicians who provided the same service as before?"

Zhang Kaizhi nodded.

The guesthouse owner looked at Gao Rong: "County Chief Gao, are you also looking for the technician who provided the service before?"

Gao Rong smiled and nodded.

This was Wang Zhikai's first time there. The manager took him to choose a technician and arranged for him to have a sauna in a private room.

Gao Rong and Zhang Kaizhi were taking a sauna in a large private room. After soaking in the bath and getting a massage, they lay down on the sofa to rest.

Zhang Kaizhi asked, "What is Wang Zhikai's background?"

Gao Rong smiled and said, "Wang Zhikai doesn't have much of a background. He's dissatisfied with Chen Shi, so we can use him to deal with Chen Shi."

Chen Shi has a powerful background, so it's not convenient for us to directly intervene. Wang Zhikai works in the Education Bureau and knows Chen Shi's weaknesses better than we do; it would be easier for him to deal with Chen Shi.

Zhang Kaizhi nodded. Chen Shi dared to disrespect him because he was Liu Youguang's confidant. He had to let him know the consequences of offending his superior.

"Let's go out for dinner. I took a bath and my stomach is empty."

The two changed their clothes and came out. The owner of the farmhouse restaurant arranged a private room and asked, "Secretary Zhang, what would you like to eat tonight?"

"Let's get some wild game, and we need to hurry, we're getting hungry."

The owner of the farmhouse restaurant smiled and said, "Okay, it'll be up soon."

Wang Zhikai didn't dare to shower for too long and came out early to wait. Seeing Zhang Kaizhi and Gao Rong come out, he quickly went to greet them with a smile.

Zhang Kaizhi looked at Wang Zhikai: "Director Wang, why don't you massage me a little longer? The masseuses here have excellent massage skills."

Wang Zhikai said with a big smile, "The masseuses here have excellent massage skills, but I'm hungry, so I came out early to wait for you and Gao County to have dinner."

"We came out because we were hungry too. You don't need to wait for us, you can eat first."

Gao Rong added, "There are pastries and snacks available. If you're hungry, you can fill your stomach first."

Upon entering the private room, the waiter brought out snacks and placed them on the table.

Zhang Kaizhi and Gao Rong took some to eat, and Wang Zhikai followed suit, as he was genuinely hungry.

Soon, the wild game arrived, filling the table to the brim.

The owner of the farmhouse restaurant drank a few cups with me before leaving.

Wang Zhi raised his glass: "Secretary Zhang, let me toast you."

Zhang Kaizhi smiled and clinked glasses with Wang Zhikai. Wang Zhikai lowered his glass, touched the glass briefly, and then drank it all in one gulp.

He quickly filled Zhang Kaizhi's glass with wine, then filled his own, raised it, and said with a smile, "County Magistrate Gao, I'd like to toast you."

Gao Rong smiled and said, "You should drink slowly, not like you, one glass after another. You'll get drunk easily. You should eat something in between drinks."

"What Magistrate Gao said is quite right. After drinking this cup, I'll have something to eat."

The two clinked glasses, and Wang Zhikai drank it all in one gulp, while Gao Rong only took a small sip.

After finishing this cup, Wang Zhikai had already drunk more than ten cups and was slightly drunk.