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

After leaving Liu Youguang's office, Chen Shi called Xu Mo.

Director Chen

"Secretary Xu, is County Magistrate Zhang free? I'd like to report to him."

"Director Chen, please come here, I'll make arrangements for you."

Chen Shi arrived at the government office, Xu Mo's office.

"Xu Mi"

Xu Mo stood up to greet him: "Director Chen, please wait a moment. There are people in County Chief Zhang's office."

Chen Shi sat down, and Xu Mo poured him a cup of tea. The two chatted casually.

After waiting for a while, Xu Mo said to Chen Shi, "Director Chen, I'll go check if the people from County Zhang's office have come out yet."

Xu Mo went out and quickly returned: "Director Chen, County Chief Zhang wants you to come over."

Chen Shi arrived at Zhang Xiangdong's office: "County Chief Zhang..."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi: "How long has it been since you came to report to me?"

"Zhang County, I was here just last week."

"Were you here last week?"

"I really have been here, and I even swiped a packet of good tea from you."

Zhang Xiangdong smiled and said, "I remember now, what work did you come to report on today?"

Chen Shi chuckled: "I'll sit down and talk."

Chen Shi sat on the sofa, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip.

"In Zhang County, three key high schools have been completed and passed inspection, so the start of the new school year in September will not be delayed."

Zhang Xiangdong asked, "Have you reported this to Secretary Liu?"

"I reported that I just came from him. He asked me to make arrangements. Secretary Liu is going to inspect the school and said he wants to invite you along."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi: "The three key high schools are the most important projects for Chunyang County in the past two years. Not only will we be going, but the county TV station will also be there. You need to inspect them in advance to avoid any accidents that could be exposed on camera."

Chen Shi took out his notebook and wrote it down.

Zhang Xiangdong continued, "Gao County is your supervisor, so you should also invite him to join the inspection. Don't give others reason to criticize you."

Chen Shi had never taken Gao Rong, the supervisor in charge, seriously. When Zhang Xiangdong reminded him, he nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Xiangdong asked, "How much of the project payment is still outstanding?"

6.2 million

"How are you going to handle this 6.2 million?"

"The third batch of funding for the special education support project is still 300 million yuan. The funds will be disbursed after October. The three high schools in the township can be sold to the local government for 290 million yuan. Zhang County, you have to help me with the remaining 30 million yuan."

Zhang Xiangdong smiled and said, "You've come to me to take advantage of my situation. You can go and resolve this 30 million with Secretary Liu."

Chen Shi quickly said, "County Chief Zhang, I patted my chest and guaranteed to Secretary Liu that I can solve the project funding problem."

"You're putting on a brave face. After the project is finished, you need to tell Secretary Liu about your difficulties. If you don't, Secretary Liu will think it's a simple matter and that someone else could have handled it."

Chen Shi said with a wronged look, "County Chief Zhang, I also want to complain, but every time I complain, I get criticized. I've already been criticized by Secretary Liu several times. It's only 30 million short, not a lot, and I don't dare to take the risk. If I complain again and get criticized again, I might as well think of a solution myself."

"Xiao Chen, your political awareness needs improvement. You complained before because you hadn't done anything yet, so of course Secretary Liu would criticize you. Now that you've done things properly, no leader will criticize you if you complain again. Thirty million is just a matter of a word from Secretary Liu."

Complaining is an art. Don't complain before you start. Complaining is telling your boss you're giving up, and no boss likes that kind of subordinate. Complain after you've done a good job. Your boss will know you've worked hard and will give you more compensation. Understand?

Chen Shi remembered it in his heart: "County Chief Zhang, thank you for your teachings, I will keep them in mind."

Zhang Xiangdong thought for a moment and said, "I'll help you with the 30 million, but this is a one-time exception."

"I knew you wouldn't stand by and watch someone die," Chen Shi said with a forced smile.

After leaving Zhang Xiangdong's place, Chen Shi called Zhang Song, Gao Rong's liaison officer.

Director Chen

"Secretary Zhang, is County Magistrate Gao free? I'd like to come and report to him on some work."

"Director Chen, please wait a moment while I check the work arrangements for Gao County."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Song went to Gao Rong's office.

"County Magistrate, Chen Shi wants to report to you on his work?"

Gao Rong asked, "What's been happening at the Education Bureau lately?"

"The three key high schools have been completed and passed the inspection. Chen Shi should be reporting on this."

"Let him come."

Zhang Song walked out of the office and called Chen Shi.

Chen was waiting in the government office when Zhang Song called, and he quickly answered.

"Secretary Zhang"

"Director Chen, County Chief Gao asked you to come over. He's busy with work, but he still made time to see you."

"Thank you, Secretary Zhang."

Chen Shi arrived at Gao Rong's office: "County Chief Gao..."

Gao Rong stood up with a smile to greet him: "Director Chen, please have a seat."

The two sat down in the reception room, and Chen Shi said, "In Gao County, the three key high schools have been completed and passed inspection. I would like to invite you to inspect the schools."

Gao Rong asked, "Which leaders were invited?"

"Secretary Liu and County Magistrate Zhang were both invited."

"Please schedule a time and notify the government office in advance."

"Okay," Chen Shi said with a smile, "County Chief Gao, there's another matter I'd like to ask for your help with. The project is still short 6.2 million yuan. If the final payment isn't settled, Donghai Chengzhen Group won't hand over the school. I'm at my wit's end. Where am I going to raise this money?"

Gao Rong smiled and said, "Director Chen, finances aren't under my jurisdiction either. Go find the relevant leaders and think of a solution."

"County Chief Gao, you're the leader in charge of the Education Bureau, you have to help me think of a solution."

Gao Rong sneered inwardly, "You only realize now that I'm the supervisor in charge? When did you start taking me, the supervisor in charge, seriously?"

Looking troubled, he said, "Chunyang County is on a tight budget, with a serious fiscal deficit. You should go to the city and think of a solution. I will also talk to the relevant leaders and hold a meeting to discuss how to solve this problem."

Chen Shi was too lazy to argue with Gao Rong, he just wanted to let him know how difficult it was to build three key high schools.

Chen Shi returned to the Education Bureau and summoned Huang Ming to his office.

"I went to report to Secretary Liu and County Chief Zhang. Secretary Liu proposed to inspect the school and invited County Chief Zhang and County Chief Gao. We held a meeting to discuss and prepare for the school inspection."

Tomorrow morning, relevant leaders from the bureau will first inspect the school to check for any problems. The television station will broadcast the inspection live, so we can't afford any unexpected situations.

Huang Ming took out his notebook and wrote down: "I arranged for the three schools to be inspected, and no potential risks were found. I notified the project leader to be prepared tomorrow morning."

Chen Shi asked, "Has the 5.7 million yuan project funding been allocated to them?"

"The transfer has been arranged, and the handover of the three schools is being finalized."

"The handover procedures should be completed as soon as possible. Now we are convening a director's office meeting to finalize preparations for the relevant leaders' inspection of the school."

Chen Shi called Xu Mengmeng to his office: "Director Xu, notify the members of the second-level leadership team to hold a director's office meeting."

Xu Mengmeng was taking notes in her notebook: "Director Chen, when is the meeting?"

"Call an emergency meeting now."

Xu Mengmeng hurriedly went down to inform them.

When Chen Shi and Huang Ming arrived at the conference room, only half of the people were there. It took ten minutes for everyone to arrive.

Seeing that Chen Shi's expression was not good, Yang Xiaobo solemnly said, "In the future, if you receive an urgent meeting, please put down your work and go to the meeting room immediately."

I've noticed some colleagues taking their time, even when the leaders are already waiting in the meeting room. Next time, they'll all be treated as late.

The meeting room fell silent, and the meeting officially began.

Chen Shi briefly and concisely summarized the meeting's content and then invited everyone to discuss it.

The meeting determined the date for the leaders' inspection of the school to be August 25th, and Huang Ming was put in full charge of the reception work.