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

After leaving Zhang Xiangdong's office, Chen Shi went to find Gao Rong and reported on this year's college entrance examination results.

Gao Rong was very polite, but there was a hint of distance in his politeness.

Chen Shi stayed for five minutes before leaving.

The next day at work, Chen Shi asked Xu Mengmeng to go down and inform the three deputy directors to hold a party group meeting.

Chen Shi was fairly satisfied with Xu Mengmeng, as she was quite meticulous in her work. Xu Mengmeng arrived at the Education Bureau twenty minutes early to clean Chen Shi's office.

Chen Shi arrived at the conference room, where the three deputy directors, Huang Ming, Li Zhe, and Yang Xiaobo, were also present.

Chen Shi sat down, glanced at the three of them, and said solemnly, "This year's college entrance examination results are much better than last year's, but still not ideal. I made a pledge to Secretary Liu to get out of the bottom three and improve our ranking to sixth. Chunyang County's undergraduate admission rate this year ranked third from the bottom, and we have not completed our task."

I went to Secretary Liu to apologize and offered my resignation. Secretary Liu, seeing my deep understanding of the problems in Chunyang County's education system, gave me another chance. He said that if I couldn't meet the targets next year, I would resign again.

The meeting room fell silent. Chen Shi took a sip of water and continued, "This year, the undergraduate admission rate of No. 1 High School is 46.5%, No. 2 High School is 13%, No. 3 High School is 14.6%, and No. 4 High School is 9.8%."

The principals of all four high schools have made a pledge that they will resign if they fail to meet the targets. None of the high schools have met the Education Bureau's quotas, and so far, not a single high school principal has come to me to resign.

A military order is not just a slogan; it must be strictly enforced.

This year, our high school produced a student who was admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University, and the undergraduate admission rate has also improved significantly compared to last year. We can give Comrade Yang Xiong a chance. If he still cannot meet the Education Bureau's college entrance examination targets next year, he should resign voluntarily.

Chen Shi raised his voice: "Comrades Yin Ping, Li Fuguo, and Hou Weigui have all resigned from their positions as principals and will temporarily serve as acting principals, pending further arrangements."

Huang Ming and the other two exchanged glances; Chen Shi was serious.

Chen Shi looked at Huang Ming and the other two: "Do you have any different opinions?"

Huang Ming immediately understood Chen Shi's meaning and solemnly said, "I support the decision of the Party Group meeting."

Li Zhe understood Chen Shi's intention: "I support the decision of the Party Group meeting."

Having followed Chen Shi for over a year and knowing Chen Shi's style of doing things, Yang Xiaobo quickly said, "I support the decision of the Party Group meeting."

Chen Shi is the spokesperson for the Party Group meeting; supporting the Party Group meeting is supporting Chen Shi.

Chen Shi looked at Xu Mengmeng, who was taking meeting minutes, and said, "Director Xu, go and distribute the decisions of the Party Group meeting."

After the meeting, Chen Shi received a call from Li Nan and answered it immediately.

Aunt

"Xiao Shi, are you free tomorrow morning? At 10:30 a.m., Mingzhou No.1 Middle School is holding a meeting about one-on-one support for Chunyang County No.6 Middle School. I would like to invite you to attend."

"I'll come up for the meeting tomorrow morning."

"Come early," Li Nan instructed.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi knew that Li Nan wanted him to come early so she could talk to him.

Xu Mengmeng walked in: "Director Chen, Principal Yang wants to report to you and is waiting in the lounge."

"Have him come to my office."

A short while later, Yang Xiong walked into the office and solemnly said, "Director Chen, I've come to apologize to you. No. 1 Middle School failed to meet the Education Bureau's college entrance examination targets this year, and I'm applying to resign as the principal of No. 1 Middle School. Please approve my resignation."

Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiong: "This year, the undergraduate admission rate of No. 1 High School is 46.5%. The Education Bureau gave No. 1 High School a college entrance examination target of 55%, which is still 8.5% short. This gap is not large. Principal Yang, can you meet this gap next year?"

Yang Xiong knew that Chen Shi was giving him a way out, so he quickly said, "Director Chen, I assure you that we can narrow this gap next year."

Chen Shi said in a deep voice, "What I want is not to narrow the gap, but to ensure that the undergraduate enrollment rate reaches 55%, no less. If you can't achieve this, you can resign and leave right now."

Yang Xiong realized that Chen Shi was serious. He had only intended to put on a show in front of Chen Shi. If he said he couldn't complete the task now, he would be dismissed like the principals of the other three high schools.

Raising his voice, he said, "Director Chen, I assure you that we will definitely meet the college entrance examination targets set by the Education Bureau for No. 1 High School next year."

Chen Shi nodded in satisfaction: "This year, No. 1 Middle School did not meet the Education Bureau's target. However, one thing is still worth noting: No. 1 Middle School sent a student to Tsinghua or Peking University. This is the first time in Chunyang County's history that a student from No. 1 Middle School has been admitted. This is worth celebrating. Once there is a first, there will be countless more. I hope No. 1 Middle School can maintain this record."

Yang Xiong was confident and said, "Director Chen, I assure you, No. 1 Middle School will break this record."

"Very good. Confidence is very important. Don't say you can't do it before you've even started. If you put your heart into it, the results will be obvious."

"No. 1 High School is the senior school, and I hope you will set a good example."

Chen Shi praised Yang Xiong a few times, and Yang Xiong left with a happy face, as he had Shen Xiaorong as his trump card.

In the morning, Jiang Yiqiu reported to him that Shen Xiaorong was going to take the college entrance examination a year earlier. Jiang Yiqiu brought Shen Xiaorong the 2013 Donghai Province college entrance examination questions, in which she scored 698 in the science stream.

Yang Xiong was shocked. If Shen Xiaorong studied for another year, she could score over 700 points, making Tsinghua and Peking University a sure thing.

He could sit back and let Jiang Yiqiu recruit another top student from Chunyang County from Mingzhou No. 1 High School, ensuring that No. 1 High School would have students admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities every year.

Chen Shi went to Mingzhou early the next morning and arrived at Mingzhou No. 1 Middle School at 9:20 a.m.

Chen Shi arrived at Li Nan's office. The assistant poured Chen Shi a glass of warm water and then left the office.

Li Nan smiled and said, "Chunyang County did well in the college entrance examination this year, producing a student who was admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University."

Chen Shi said somewhat embarrassedly, "Auntie, this student was recruited from your school by No. 1 Middle School."

"We have too many top students here, one more won't make a difference."

Li Nan looked at Chen Shi: "What's the construction progress of the three key high schools? Can you guarantee they'll open smoothly in September?"

"The main structures of the three key high schools have been completed and are now being renovated. By mid-August, the renovations will be finished and will not affect the start of the new semester in September."

Li Nan nodded: "We'll have a meeting later to decide on the principal of No. 6 Middle School. I'd like to send Vice Principal Hu Ping to oversee the teaching at No. 6 Middle School."

Hu Ping is a veteran teacher with rich teaching experience. With him at No. 6 Middle School, the school will do well.

"Aunt, you've always been in charge of education, so I'll listen to you; I lack experience."

"I want to send more teachers down there. The previous plan was to send 30% of the teachers down to teach, but now it's been increased to 40%. I hope to turn No. 6 Middle School into the second Mingzhou No. 1 Middle School."

Chen Shi said with a grateful look, "Thank you very much, Auntie, for your support of education in Chunyang County."

Li Nan added, "Mingzhou No. 1 Middle School has finalized the leadership team for No. 6 Middle School. You also need to finalize your leadership team. After the high school entrance examination, you need to arrange enrollment and determine the office location for No. 6 Middle School so that the staff can work there temporarily."

Chen Shi took out his notebook and wrote it down.

When the time came, Chen Shi and Li Nan went to the conference room. Li Nan, who was at No. 1 Middle School, had absolute say and unanimously approved the appointment of Vice Principal Hu Ping to concurrently serve as the principal of Chunyang No. 6 Middle School, increasing the number of teachers from 30% to 40%.

Mingzhou No.1 Middle School is providing financial and personnel support to Chunyang No.1 Middle School, aiming to create a second Mingzhou No.1 Middle School in Chunyang County.