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

Wang Mingzhang said coldly, "If you don't return it, even a god couldn't save you. Don't even think about getting promoted. Just stay in the Municipal Political Consultative Conference."

With your limited skills, transferring you to a powerful department would harm both you and me.

Chen Shi's position as Director of the Education Bureau was earned by himself; it has nothing to do with me.

Wang Xiaoya previously served as a section chief in the Water Resources Bureau, at the level of a full section chief. During the construction of a hydropower station in Fuping County, she accepted bribes of over one million yuan. She took the gifts but failed to fulfill the requests, which led to her being reported.

The head of the disciplinary committee showed the letter of complaint to Wang Mingzhang. If the disciplinary committee got involved, Wang Xiaoya would go to jail.

Wang Mingzhang treated the head of the Discipline Inspection Commission to a meal, thus incurring a favor and suppressing the matter.

They urged Wang Xiaoya to return the bribes she had received, and only then did the other party not pursue the matter further.

Wang Mingzhang saw that Wang Xiaoya was not cut out to be an official. If he promoted her further and she gained power, who knew what kind of trouble she would cause? That's why he transferred her to the Municipal Political Consultative Conference to retire, so that she wouldn't have any power and wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

Wang Xiaoya said angrily, "Brother, I'm only in my forties, and I'm already hanging out with a bunch of old men. I can see my future from the start. I don't want to stay in the Municipal Political Consultative Conference. Even if it's a demotion, a transfer to the county to be the top official, I'd be willing."

"Don't even think about it. Know your own limitations and stay in the CPPCC honestly."

Seeing that Wang Mingzhang was angry, Wang Xiaoya dared not argue any further and said with a forced smile, "Brother, if you won't help me change positions, your brother-in-law will have to help him. Remove the 'deputy' title and promote him to general manager of Mingzhou Urban Construction Group."

Wang Mingzhang sat down, picked up his cup, and took a sip of water.

"Gao Zhiyuan is ambitious but incompetent; he's not cut out to be the top leader. He's only good as a deputy. Let him give up on that idea."

"Brother, is that how you talk about your brother-in-law?"

Wang Mingzhang retorted, "Don't you know what kind of person he is? He's all talk and no action. He has absolutely no ability to get things done."

It's not that I didn't give him a chance; I promoted him to director of the Land and Resources Bureau. What did he do? For three whole years, he didn't accomplish a single decent thing. The entire Land and Resources Bureau was a mess, full of complaints. Without me, he would have been in jail long ago.

"You only get one chance, and none of you seized it. You can't blame anyone else. Just stay in your current positions and don't cause me any trouble."

Wang Xiaoya left with a dark expression.

When Li Nan came downstairs and saw Wang Xiaoya's face, she knew that things had not gone well. She asked, "Xiaoya, what's wrong? You look so pale. Did your brother scold you again?"

Wang Xiaoya said irritably, "No, my brother cares about me a lot."

He looked at Gao Zhiyuan and said, "Old Gao, let's go."

Li Nan smiled and said, "What's the rush? The food is ready. Eat before you go."

"We're not hungry, we're just stuffed from eating too much."

Gao Zhiyuan stood up and shook hands with Chen Shi. Chen Shi quickly stood up as well: "Auntie, Uncle, please have dinner before you leave."

Gao Zhiyuan chuckled and said, "I won't eat anymore, Chen Shi. We get along really well, you must come to my house."

"Okay," Chen Shi replied with a smile.

Gao Zhiyuan followed Wang Xiaoya as they left the municipal party committee compound. Wang Xiaoya had a dark expression on her face and didn't say a word the whole way.

Back home, Gao Zhiyuan saw that Wang Xiaoya's anger had subsided somewhat before he dared to ask, "Did your brother scold you again?"

Wang Xiaoya rolled her eyes at Gao Zhiyuan: "He wasn't talking about me, he was talking about you. Can't you do something right?"

"What did he say about me?"

"Ambitious but incompetent, he is unfit for important positions."

"Nonsense, did he give me a chance? I'm incredibly talented, did he give me a stage to showcase my abilities?"

"You're being stubborn. Why didn't we show you? We promoted you to the Land and Resources Bureau, and you were in charge for three years. Don't you have any self-awareness what you've done to the bureau?"

Gao Zhiyuan argued, "Several deputy directors are opposing me, how can I carry out my work?"

"Several deputy directors have been replaced, and each one of them is opposing you. Doesn't that prove it's a problem with your ability?"

Before Gao Zhiyuan could defend himself, Wang Xiaoya interrupted, "Stop talking. You're always right. My brother said you're not going to get promoted again. You'd better stay and be his deputy at Mingzhou Construction Group."

Gao Zhiyuan said in a deep voice, "If you don't want to promote me, then don't. I'll just stay at Mingzhou Urban Construction Group and coast along."

He looked at Wang Xiaoya: "Your nephew is quite something, isn't he?"

"What nephew?"

"Chen Shi is so young, yet he's already the head of the Education Bureau. Your brother probably wants to promote him as his successor. Your brother is already fifty-one. If he can't be promoted to the provincial level and get into the central government's sights, his career is basically over."

If he doesn't promote a successor, who will care about him after he retires?

Wang Xiaoya thought it made sense; otherwise, how could Chen Shi have become the head of the Education Bureau? This was to train Chen Shi.

Gao Zhiyuan added, "We need to go to the countryside and acknowledge you as our half-sister. If Chen Shi gets promoted, we'll have to rely on his protection in the future."

"We need to improve our relationship with Chen Shi. You can call her and ask her to come over to our house. It's fine if she goes to the countryside. She's just a country bumpkin. She doesn't come to curry favor with me, but she expects me to curry favor with her."

"We'll call again tomorrow. Chen Shi will definitely be staying at the municipal party committee compound tonight."

Chen Shi sneezed. "Damn it, who's talking about me behind my back?"

After Xiao Chen finished cooking, he called out, "Sis, dinner's ready."

Li Nan said, "Xiao Shi, Yi Qiu, go eat quickly."

"I'll go up and call my uncle."

Li Nan called out, "No need to go up, I'll call him."

Just as Li Nan was about to make a call, Wang Mingzhang came downstairs. Li Nan put down the phone and said, "Dinner's ready."

Chen Shi quickly called out, "Uncle!"

Jiang Yiqiu also quickly greeted him and joined in calling him "uncle".

Wang Mingzhang nodded to them.

After everyone sat down, Chen Shi, not seeing Wang Lingze, asked, "Aunt, isn't Lingze home?"

"I went to Yizhou for fun, and I haven't stayed home for a single day since I came back."

Chen Shi picked up the wine bottle on the table and poured wine for Wang Mingzhang. Wang Mingzhang asked, "Did Chunyang County receive the special education funding from the Education Department?"

"The results were announced in October, and all the investment was allocated to Chunyang County for basic education."

Wang Mingzhang nodded, acknowledging Chen Shi's abilities; he was impressed that Chen Shi had secured a 1 billion yuan education funding project from the Department of Education without his help.

Chen Shi raised his glass: "Uncle, I'd like to toast you."

"No rush, let's eat first, and drink slowly."

Chen Shi put down his wine glass and picked up his chopsticks to eat.

When Jiang Yiqiu went to the municipal party committee compound, she spoke little and listened more. She answered Li Nan's questions, but remained silent when not asked.

Seeing that Wang Mingzhang had almost finished eating, Chen Shi put down his chopsticks and quickly picked up his wine cup: "Uncle, I'd like to toast you."

Wang Mingzhang picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Chen Shi's, and drank the whole glass in one gulp.

After finishing his drink, Chen Shi quickly refilled Wang Mingzhang's cup.

Wang Mingzhang asked, "How is your mother's health?"

"My mom has rheumatism. It hurts when the weather changes. I took her to the hospital, and the doctor said that rheumatism is something that accumulates over time when she was young, and it can't be cured. When she's in pain, she can only take medicine."

Li Nan added, "My older sister has worked in the fields since she was a child, so it's normal for her to have rheumatism."

Wang Mingzhang looked at Chen Shi: "Be good to your mother. Her life has been tough."

"Yes, Uncle." Chen Shi didn't know if Wang Mingzhang had a change of heart and genuinely cared about his mother.