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

Chen Shi stayed overnight at Jiang Yiqiu's place, and Yang Bin drove to the teachers' apartment early in the morning to wait for him.

Chen Shi ate breakfast and didn't come out until 8:20. Yang Bin had been waiting since 7:30. When he saw Chen Shi come out, he quickly opened the car door.

Chen Shi got into the car and went back to the Education Bureau.

Upon arriving at the office, Yang Xiaobo found it spotless, which pleased Chen Shi greatly, as he appreciated the cleanliness of the workspace.

Yang Xiaobo personally cleaned Chen Shi's office, refusing to let his subordinates do it; he had his own reasons for doing so.

Yang Xiaobo was promoted by cleaning the leader's office, which earned him the leader's appreciation. He didn't want anyone else to follow the path he had taken.

Cleaning the boss's office may seem like a thankless task, but with a little effort and dedication, there are opportunities within it.

Cleaning the boss's office every day allows you to observe its messiness and, over time, figure out the boss's preferences.

This requires keen observation, a good memory, and an understanding of the leader's preferences in order to tailor your approach, get close to the leader, and gain their appreciation.

Every day on his way to work, Chen Shi would read the Mingzhou Daily and the Donghai Provincial Party Newspaper. Yang Xiaobo would place the newspapers within easy reach of Chen Shi.

At 10 o'clock, a director's office meeting was held. Chen Shi entered the meeting room, and everyone else had arrived. Chen Shi sat down in the head seat.

He glanced at Yang Xiong, the principal of No. 1 Middle School, Li Fuguo, the principal of No. 2 Middle School, Yin Ping, the principal of No. 3 Middle School, and Hou Weigui, the principal of No. 4 Middle School, picked up his thermos, and took a sip of water.

He put down his thermos and slowly said, "I'm sure everyone knows what the agenda for today's director's office meeting is."

Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiaobo, who was taking notes: "Director Yang, tell me about this year's college entrance examination results."

Yang Xiaobo announced loudly: "In the 2012 college entrance examination results of Chunyang County, the top scorers in both arts and sciences were from No. 1 High School. The top scorer in science was 614, and the top scorer in arts was 601. The undergraduate admission rate of No. 1 High School was 34.5%, No. 2 High School was 9.5%, No. 3 High School was 10.1%, and No. 4 High School was 8.8%."

春阳县2012年的本科率15.7%，2011年是21%，下降了5.3个点。

In 2012, Chunyang County ranked last in the undergraduate enrollment rate in Mingzhou City and seventeenth from the bottom in Donghai Province.

No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School, and No. 4 Middle School all failed to meet their 2012 college entrance examination targets.

Chen Shi glanced at Yang Xiong and the other three: "You all heard it, not a single high school has met its college entrance examination targets."

Let me tell you, in 2012, the undergraduate enrollment rate in Donghai Province was 41.2%, while in Mingzhou City it was 59.5%.

Chen Shi raised his voice: "Do you know what this means? The undergraduate rate in Donghai Province is more than twice, but less than three times, that of Chunyang County. The undergraduate rate in Mingzhou City is almost four times that of Chunyang County. You may not feel ashamed, but I do."

Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiong and the other three: "I've been at the Education Bureau for less than six months. This year's college entrance exam results have nothing to do with me. Tell me, how many of next year's targets can you meet?"

The four men exchanged glances, and Yang Xiong spoke first: "Director Chen, I guarantee that the college entrance examination target for No. 1 High School next year will be 39% for undergraduate admission."

Yang Xiong spoke first, and then Li Fuguo, the principal of No. 2 Middle School, thought for a moment and said, "Director Chen, I guarantee that No. 2 Middle School will achieve its college entrance examination target of 12% for next year."

Principal Yin Ping of No. 3 Middle School continued, "No. 3 Middle School's college entrance examination target for next year is to achieve an undergraduate admission rate of 12%."

Li Fuguo glanced at Yin Ping. The students from No. 3 Middle School were better, and the undergraduate rate was 12%, which was not difficult.

When Hou Weigui, the principal of No. 4 Middle School, met with No. 2 and No. 3 Middle Schools, who both mentioned a 12% target, he also said, "No. 4 Middle School's college entrance examination target for next year is to achieve an undergraduate admission rate of 12%."

Chen Shi glanced at the three deputy directors, Huang Ming, Li Zhe, and Wang Zhikai. Seeing Chen Shi's serious expression, Li Zhe slammed his fist on the table and said loudly, "The targets you set are like child's play; they're too low. Set them again."

Yang Xiong and his three companions exchanged glances, and then the other three gestured for Yang Xiong to speak.

Yang Xiong, the head of the four principals, said with a troubled expression, "Director Li, the top students in Chunyang County have all been poached by high schools in other places. Those who remain are students with weak foundations. It will be difficult to improve their grades in a short period of time. The targets we set are based on the students' foundations. If we set them too high, they will not be able to be achieved, and it will be meaningless."

Li Fuguo, Yin Ping, and Hou Weigui quickly chimed in: "That's right. Our rural high schools have even weaker students. If we set the bar too high, they simply won't be able to complete it."

Li Zhe shouted, "The students' foundation is weak. Find a way to tutor them and improve their basics. Don't talk about your difficulties here. As long as you are willing to use your brains, there is always a way to solve the problem. The targets have been redefined and must be completed. They cannot be castles in the air."

Yang Xiong and the other three looked at each other, none of them speaking, remaining silent.

Chen Shi picked up his thermos and took a sip of water. Yang Xiaobo stood up and added water to Chen Shi's thermos. He then brought over a water bottle and poured water for everyone.

The meeting room fell silent; no one spoke, unsure of what Chen Shi meant.

Chen Shi glanced at everyone and solemnly said, "Yesterday afternoon, Secretary Liu talked to me and gave me a political task: to get out of third-to-last place and into sixth place in next year's college entrance examination."

I made a pledge: if I fail to fulfill it, I will resign. I didn't want to make this pledge, but Secretary Liu said directly, "If you don't make a pledge, resign now and let someone with the guts take over."

"To accomplish anything, you need decisiveness."

Chen Shi's sharp eyes looked at Yang Xiong and the other three: "I checked the results of this year's Mingzhou rankings. It's Fuping County, with an undergraduate rate of 32.7%, which is about twice ours. How can we catch up with them? Our students' foundation is weaker than theirs. How can we improve their foundation? There's only one way: spend time. Others study for twelve hours a day, but we study for sixteen hours a day. That's four hours more than them every day. In 365 days a year, that's 1460 hours, which is a full two months."

"The early bird catches the worm. With a weak foundation and no time spent studying, how can your grades be good? I looked at the study hours at your four high schools; less than ten hours a day. Your foundation is better than ours, yet you spend two more hours studying every day. How did you manage to catch up? Tell me."

No one dared to speak in the meeting room; it was so quiet that you could hear your own breathing.

Chen Shi said sternly, "I will set the college entrance examination targets for you next year. Anyone who fails to meet them will be dismissed before I resign."

Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiong: "Principal Yang, No. 1 High School is the best high school in Chunyang County. The college entrance examination target for 2013 is an undergraduate admission rate of 55%. Can we achieve that?"

Yang Xiong's head was buzzing. How could this possibly be accomplished? Before Yang Xiong could even speak, Chen Shi shouted, "If you can't do it, submit your resignation now. I'll approve it immediately and let someone who can do it take over."

Yang Xiong swallowed his words, realizing Chen Shi was serious. He needed to keep his position first. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Director Chen, I can do it."

"Principal Yang, do you always speak this softly? It's like a mosquito buzzing."

Yang Xiong raised his voice and said, "If we can achieve a 55% undergraduate enrollment rate for No. 1 High School in 2013, or if we can't, I will resign voluntarily."

Chen Shi said solemnly, "Very good. This is the pledge made by Principal Yang. Director Yang recorded it. If the undergraduate enrollment rate of No. 1 Middle School cannot reach 55% in 2013, Principal Yang will voluntarily resign and leave."

We need a principal with decisiveness.

Yang Xiong was sweating profusely; he had absolutely no idea what to expect.